In its latest research, Wearables May 15, UK digital research specialist Clicked has identified an evolution in the use of smart watches.

Its latest analysis, based on over 2,000 quantitative interviews and qualitative in-situ depth interviews, was intended to understand why consumers might want a smart watch, when they have a smartphone that provides the same functions, but more easily.

Clicked’s research suggests that behaviour of the smartwatch user is evolving, indicating a divergence in the role of a smartwatch vs. a smartphone. A big indicator of this divergence is that users of smartwatches look at their smartphones less often – the convenience of glancing at the wrist for notifications means they are spending less time looking at the smartphone screen.

Stephen Mellor, MD and founder of Clicked, says, “Smartwatch usage has not replaced the smartphone and we didn’t expect it to. But we’ve heard how the smartphone has remained in the handbag all day since the smartwatch was acquired. Many users tell us that the smartwatch compliments the smartphone, providing them with greater convenience and security”.

This suggests that the role of the smartwatch in providing greater convenience is a core issue for device manufacturers to communicate, but more importantly, it suggests a behaviour change in usage of smartphones.

This notion of convenience is core to the role of Smartwatches and Activity Trackers. Clicked research suggests that with time pressured lives so common, the idea of wearable devices providing meaningful benefits is becoming a more interesting proposition for UK people.

Mellor says, “There’s much more knowledge amongst consumers than 6 months ago. Of the 39 benefits (apps) of owning a wearable device that we track, we’ve seen rises in extreme interest for 37 of them. We attribute this to an increase in awareness, knowledge and excitement within the category”.

However, this increased knowledge has resulted in an increase in resistance to purchasing a wearable device. Barriers to purchasing wearables have risen since the last wave 6 months ago, with worries about data access and security breaches increasing for potential owners.

Google has unveiled a surprise restructuring, creating a new parent company called Alphabet Inc. Under the rebranding, Google will retain its best-known businesses, such as search, apps, YouTube and Android. Some of the newer entities, such as the investment and research divisions, the "smart-home" unit Nest, and the drone arm will be run under Alphabet. Google founder Larry Page said it would create a simpler structure for what had become a diverse group of businesses.

Research from HP Fortify has found that 100 per cent of tested smartwatches exhibit security flaws, raising concerns about their use in a number of different areas, including ecommerce.

As part of an ongoing series looking at Internet of Things (IoT) security, HP released an assessment confirming that smartwatches with network and communication functionality represent a new and open frontier for cyberattack. The study questions whether smartwatches are designed to store and protect the sensitive data and tasks for which they are built. The study assessed 10 smartwatches, along with their Android and iOS cloud and mobile application components, uncovering numerous security concerns, and 100 per cent contained significant vulnerabilities, including insufficient authentication, lack of encryption and privacy concerns.

As the IoT market advances, smartwatches are growing in popularity for their convenience and capabilities.  As they become more mainstream, smartwatches will increasingly store more sensitive information such as health data, and through connectivity with mobile apps may soon enable physical access functions including unlocking cars and homes.

“Smartwatches have only just started to become a part of our lives, but they deliver a new level of functionality that could potentially open the door to new threats to sensitive information and activities,” said Jason Schmitt, general manager, HP Security, Fortify. “As the adoption of smartwatches accelerates, the platform will become vastly more attractive to those who would abuse that access, making it critical that we take precautions when transmitting personal data or connecting smartwatches into corporate networks.”

The most common and easily addressable security issues reported include:

• Insufficient User Authentication/Authorization:Every smartwatch tested was paired with a mobile interface that lacked two-factor authentication and the ability to lock out accounts after 3-5 failed password attempts. Three in ten, 30 per cent, were vulnerable to account harvesting, meaning an attacker could gain access to the device and data via a combination of weak password policy, lack of account lockout, and user enumeration.
• Lack of transport encryption:Transport encryption is critical given that personal information is being moved to multiple locations in the cloud. While 100 per cent of the test products implemented transport encryption using SSL/TLS, 40 percent of the cloud connections continue to be vulnerable to the POODLE attack, allow the use of weak cyphers, or still used SSL v2.
• Insecure Interfaces:Thirty percent of the tested smartwatches used cloud-based web interfaces, all of which exhibited account enumeration concerns. In a separate test, 30 per cent also exhibited account enumeration concerns with their mobile applications. This vulnerability enables hackers to identify valid user accounts through feedback received from reset password mechanisms.
• Insecure Software/Firmware:A full 70 per cent of the smartwatches were found to have concerns with protection of firmware updates, including transmitting firmware updates without encryption and without encrypting the update files. However, many updates were signed to help prevent the installation of contaminated firmware. While malicious updates cannot be installed, lack of encryption allows the files to be downloaded and analyzed.
• Privacy Concerns:All smartwatches collected some form of personal information, such as name, address, date of birth, weight, gender, heart rate and other health information. Given the account enumeration issues and use of weak passwords on some products, exposure of this personal information is a concern.

As manufacturers work to incorporate necessary security measures into smartwatches, consumers are urged to consider security when choosing to use a smartwatch. It’s recommended that users do not enable sensitive access control functions such as car or home access unless strong authorisation is offered. In addition, enabling passcode functionality, ensuring strong passwords and instituting two-factor authentication will help prevent unauthorised access to data. These security measures are not only important to protecting personal data, but are critical as smartwatches are introduced to the workplace and connected to corporate networks.

Additional guidelines for secure smartwatch use are outlined in the full report

PARIS RETAIL WEEK THE NEW EVENT DEDICATED TO 360-DEGREE RETAIL

 Taking place from 21 – 23 of September 2015, PARIS RETAIL WEEK will brings the two trade shows E-commerce Paris and Digital(in)Store by Equipmag under one banner for the first time. This dual event will bring together brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce professionals from around the world, making Paris the capital of Retail. 

Ecommerce Paris is the perfect mix between an exhibition and conference: more than 300 conferences held in plenary rooms where visitors learn from the brand’s winning strategies, and solution workshops, the visitor’s «tool boxes » providing practical solutions for business issues. 

Digital(in)Store by Equipmag is the new event dedicated to point-of-sale digitisation and connected commerce. Built around business meetings and innovative content, DIGITAL(in)STORE by Equipmag highlights the new point-of-sale technologies.

For more information, visit ecommerceparis.com and digital-in-store-event.com

Request your free access badge: http://badge.ecommerceparis.com/Default.aspx?idInvitation=BAN31&IdLangue=EN

LAST CHANCE FOR EARLY BIRD TICKETS TO INTERACT LONDON

On 20 - 21October 2015, Interact London will be descending on the beautiful settings of The British Museum for two days of cutting edge talks from some of the leading thinkers in the UX, IA and Design world. Among the names confirmed so far are the great minds of Anjan Chatterjee, Todd Wilkens, and Steve Portigal. All of the confirmed speakers can be seen here and they will be unveiling lots more in the coming weeks so make sure you keep an eye on Interact London’s twitter for regular updates.

This is your last chance to grab your Early Bird tickets, with the offer available until Thursday 30^th April with two day passes available for just £300* + the usual fees and VAT. Grab yours today, here >>

Ticket cost covers refreshments including pastries on arrival, teas and coffees throughout the day and buffet lunch.
If you have any questions, are interested in speaking at Interact London or would like to discuss sponsorship opportunities, please contact interactconf@nomensa.com or call 0117 929 7333