Today, we’re announcing that Google has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Fitbit, a leading wearables brand.
[…]Over the years, Google has made progress with partners in this space with Wear OS and Google Fit, but we see an opportunity to invest even more in Wear OS as well as introduce Made by Google wearable devices into the market. Fitbit has been a true pioneer in the industry and has created engaging products, experiences and a vibrant community of users. By working closely with Fitbit’s team of experts, and bringing together the best AI, software and hardware, we can help spur innovation in wearables and build products to benefit even more people around the world.
Maybe this will get Google to take Wear OS seriously, because it has been lingering for years now.
i find this worrying to be honest. more and more various services converge around few major companies.
i was not really thrilled with fitbit’s (or any competitor’s) model of harvesting user’s health data for their own gain, but at least it was less centralized than now.
few decades from now we’ll have all companies act like Oracle. buy out a product, wring it out, harvest user data and merge it with yours. if not viable, kill it off.
[email protected],
+1
Tech companies keep consolidating. Competition is a thing of the past. The future is fewer and fewer corporations running everything.
Pretty sure Thom would have had a lot more to say on the subject if Apple had been the company that had acquired FitBit.
Right! If this was Apple the world would be coming to an end.
But ether way Android only sells well on cheap phones.
Watches = Flop
Tablets = Flop
TV boxes = Flop (Outside of cheap fire sticks)
Speakers and other devices = Flop
Cheap phones will be Androids only foot hold.
Maybe Microsoft can sell more then others as they are now hawking Samsung Phones. Lol
Let’s hope this puts and end to FitBits shady practices of wallgardening customer data in their systems (and likely making it a side hustle business). Some 5 years and 5000 comments too late. https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Suggestions/Integrate-with-iOS-Health/idc-p/3861625#M226944
WearOS I’m afraid is a dead end. The more recent FitBit OSes, have some Pebble DNA in them and are actually pretty decent. I hope they decide to extend and develop FitBit’s watch platform rather than sink it trying to shoehorn WearOS into it.
Personally, I’d prefer that Google focus on a standard for interoperating with wearables, rather than a specific OS. That is – Android should “just work” with any watch – whether a tizen device, an apple watch (should Apple implement support), a Fitbit or Pebble device, or a WearOS device, all through the same interfaces and apps.
Unfortunately, Google don’t have a great history with device makers they acquire…