New health tracking features are on the menu for Fitbit’s next smartwatch OS update. Unveiled this morning and set to go live on December 3, FitbitOS 4.1 brings some of the sleep health capabilities promised by the company back in August, refines the heart rate tracking algorithm on Versa 2 devices and adds new features to its subscriber offering.
In terms of the latter, Fitbit Premium users will...
Fitbit’s year-over-year device sales flatlined in Q3 2019, which combined with lower sales tag prices drove a decline in revenue, according to the wearables maker’s latest quarterly earnings.
The reporting — which was bereft of an investor’s call, Q&A and any forward-looking statements due to the company’s pending acquisition — is the latest look at a wearables business Google apparently...
After a month of rumors, this morning Google and Fitbit announced that the former has officially purchased the wearable giant for roughly $2.1 billion, or $7.35 per share, in cash.
Fitbit stressed that its devices will remain platform-agnostic across the Android and iOS ecosystems. Still, a blog post from Google discussing the acquisition made it clear that we can also expect to see some Google...
Articles referenced in today's episode:
Alphabet makes offer to acquire Fitbit
Facebook's new tool tells users what checkups they need, where to get them
Amazon makes its second digital health acquisition with Health Navigator
Alphabet serious about health wearables? Alphabet has reportedly put in an unspecified offer to buy out Fitbit, according to anonymous sources talking to Reuters. The news comes roughly a month after another report from the outlet suggesting that the wearables maker had brought on investment firm Qatalyst Partners to explore a potential sale, in which Alphabet was name dropped as a potential...
Alphabet serious about health wearables? Alphabet has reportedly put in an unspecified offer to buy out Fitbit, according to anonymous sources talking to Reuters. The news comes roughly a month after another report from the outlet suggesting that the wearables maker had brought on investment firm Qatalyst Partners to explore a potential sale, in which Alphabet was name dropped as a potential...
Fitbit will be working with the cardiovascular-focused Bristol-Myers Squibb-Pfizer Alliance to develop “educational content and guidance” that will help device owners recognize if they are at risk of atrial fibrillation, as well as to seek appropriate support and diagnosis of the condition.
A spokesperson for the companies noted that although the specifics of these programs are still in...
Fitbit and Taiwan-based diabetes management app Health2Sync announced last week that Fitbit health, sleep and fitness data can now be integrated with the Health2Sync app to support Health2Sync’s 360,000 users in Taiwan and Japan to better manage their diabetes.
The voluntary integration of Fitbit data with the Health2Sync platform gives users who have a Fitbit account access to an in-app...
Fitbit and Belgium-based FibriCheck announced today that device owners living in certain UK countries now have access to a smartwatch app that uses photoplethysmography (PPG) to detect heart rhythm irregularities such as atrial fibrillation.
Available in Belgium, the UK, the Netherlands and Ireland, the CE-marked tool is similar to FibriCheck’s smartphone app in that it uses light and sensors to...
Reuters reported on Friday that Fitbit is weighing a sale of its business. While nothing is set in stone, the fitness wearables and health services company is said to have brought on investment firm Qatalyst Partners to explore its options, with the latter pushing for Alphabet or private equity firms as potential buyers.
The report pins Fitbit’s new mindset on middling smartwatch success, which...
