Author: Denny

As smartwatches rise in popularity partly for use as a fitness tool, there is now footwear designed to do the same.

A company from India has now entered the wearable technology market not with the typical fitness band or smartwatch device, but with a pair of shoes that are enabled with GPS tech to help to provide wearers with directions.

These red sports shoes will become available for purchase later on in September.

Consumers interested in purchasing this wearable technology will need to look for vibrant red sneakers called LeChal, which is a Hindi term that means “take me along”. Aside from providing directions to the wearer through its GPS, these shoes also work as a pedometer, counting steps, and will estimate the number of calories that are burned by a workout or in a given day.

This wearable technology also includes a Bluetooth transceiver that is detachable from the shoes.

The Bluetooth feature on these wearables allows the shoes to connect to a smartphone app that uses Google Maps. This way, the wearer can receive indications as to whether he or she should turn left or right. The shoes vibrate to signal to the wearer that he or she should turn in one way or the other.

The LeChal shoes are the creation of Anirudh Sharma, 28 and Krispian Lawrence, 30. These are two engineering graduates who began their startup company, Ducere, back in 2011. It has experienced rapid growth and is now the employer of 50 people. The company decided to stay away from the typical wearables that currently look like devices out of science fiction films. Instead, they chose to create a product that looks just like something that people are already choosing to wear, so that fashion and function could be combined in a more subtle way.

While it may not be outfitted with all of the various functions that are contained within the standard smartwatch found in today’s wearable technology marketplace, it still contains some useful features that are practical for the purposes of the wearers of this type of product. Moreover it does not result in the obligation of the wearer to add a new element to his or her fashions, particularly in terms of what is worn during workouts.

JD.com IPO raises $1.78 billion from US investors

American investors may be strongly interested in Chinese Internet companies, thanks to the recent success of JD.com’s IPO. JD.com is an e-commerce organization based in China, which launched an initial public offering recently to great success. The IPO raised some $1.78 billion for JD.com, which exceeded the company’s expectations by a significant margin. The warm reception that JD.com has received may bode well for other Chinese companies that are preparing to launch their IPOs in America.

Chinese retailers engaging mobile consumers are attracting the attention of investors

Like other companies that have placed a priority focus on e-commerce, JD.com has been working to engage the mobile audience in China. More consumers are becoming reliant on their mobile devices, using smartphones and tablets to interact with one another and shop online. Companies like Alibaba and JD.com have taken notice of this trend among consumers and are positioning themselves to become powerful forces in the mobile space.

Alibaba’s IPO may benefit from efforts in the mobile commerce space

Alibaba is on the verge of launching its own IPO in the U.S., hoping to generate a great deal of interest among investors. Alibaba has been working to establish a strong presence in the mobile commerce space and has managed to find significant success in this endeavor in recent years. Engaging the mobile space may help Alibaba’s forthcoming IPO performance. JD.com has also been working to engage mobile consumers more effectively and this effort may have had a significant impact on the company’s IPO in America.

Investors are eager to involve themselves in companies that have a mobile commerce focus because of the promise of return

Investors have been showing interest in companies that engage a mobile audience because of the growing popularity of mobile commerce. The advent of mobile technology sparked a major shift in commerce, which is becoming more noticeable as consumers begin to rely more heavily on their mobile devices in daily life. Investors are eager to support companies that are finding success in the mobile space and reap some of the benefits in doing so as well.