Wearables

U.S. watchmaker Fossil Group is launching over 100 products across eight brands this year as it and other traditional watchmakers try to counter rising competition from Apple and Samsung.

Swatch Group said it would focus its smartwatch technology on its plastic Swatch brand in response to devices launched by Apple and others before considering installing it in its pricier brands.

Gatorade is developing a microchip-fitted “smart cap” bottle and sweat patch that communicate digitally and provide athletes and fitness buffs constant updates on how much they should drink.

Employees at a handful of companies will get an Apple Watch for just $25. But they must meet monthly fitness goals over two years or pay the full price.

Best Buy warned sales will continue to fall during the first half of 2016, extending the decline the electronics retailer experienced in the fourth quarter amid slow demand for mobile phones and tablets.

Fitbit gave downbeat financial projections for the current quarter, warning that a global launch of new products including a smartwatch will weight on results.

Germany’s Deutsche Telekom will work with will.i.am’s i.am+ to market a new smartwatch in several European countries.

Under pressure from China in the East and California in the West, the Swiss watch maker has clocked a dismal second half.

Smartwatches and fitness trackers are still relatively new products. But analysts predict that device makers will soon offer more holistic systems that collect better data to provide consumers more constructive lifestyle advice.

AIG has invested an undisclosed sum in a maker of wearable devices designed to monitor the movements of employees in factories, on construction sites and at other hazardous workplaces to reduce on-the-job accidents.