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Apple Watch Competition to Grow as Google Plans Its Own Wearables Following Fitbit Acquisition

honglong1976 said:
Prediction, Google releases a watch with 7 days battery and sleep tracking.
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Prediction, Google releases a watch with 7 days battery and sleep tracking........

..... Within days your Fitbit starts popping up notifications such as;

You didn't seem to sleep well last night. Did you know there's a genuine link between sex and a better sleep?
May we direct you to these companies who sell prophylactics, safety first!

;)
 
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I'm not going to be as quick as others here to write off FitBit or Google's Wear OS.

If we've learned anything from Android vs iOS, and Windows vs MacOS, marketshare/popularity is often driven by price and not quality or security.

It wouldn't be surprised to see WearOS taking over a few years down the road.
Would Apple like to retain the number one spot? Sure. But of course like most of their divisions, profits, ecosystem and quality is probably more important to them than marketshare.
 
swingerofbirch said:
I've always thought of FitBit as like what Apple did with the original iPod.

Until recent models that added complexity, it's had a narrow focus, been stylish, and been very simple to use.

When the Apple Watch came out, it was the antithesis of all of that (well you can argue about style). Even the original iPhone didn't launch with an App Store, but the original Apple Watch did.

I like my FitBit over an Apple Watch mainly because of the FitBit app, which also draws a parallel to the original iPod which used iTunes as its hub. If I lose a device or want to check my FitBit data anywhere anyplace, I just log onto fitbit.com or re-download the app, and all of my data is right there. On the other hand, the Apple Health app is sprawling and it's stuck on your one single phone (I think newer OS versions maybe sync it over iCloud?).

The FitBit isn't perfect at pulse, but for me my use is mainly sleep tracking and it's eerily good at that.

I really hope they keep some of the "narrow" original iPod-like models around.

I know the trend has been for all devices to be all-purpose computers, so that may not be in the long-term direction of FitBit now. Still I'm not sure why Google would buy them if it didn't see that appeal, as I don't think that FitBit's "smarter" bands are necessarily what they are most known for.

If I had not known what the future was going to hold post original iPod and you told me in the future there would be one thin band that would track your steps, heart rate, and sleep (FitBit), and one that had a sizeable color display that could run arbitrary applications and used a couple of buttons and loaded apps off of a connected cell phone, I would have guessed the first device was made by Apple and the second made by Microsoft. I wouldn't have thought of Google being involved at all. But here we are. To me the FitBit is still the most Apple-like product in this category despite it not at all being an Apple product.
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This is one of the more puzzling comments I’ve read recently. To each their own, but I have owned multiple fitbits. The reason I’ve owned multiple is because they are POORLY made and have fallen apart. 3 of them in less than a year. (Warranty got me one for free) I started with Fitbit because I didn’t want to afford the AW. After switching, I would NEVER go back. it may seem complicated to you, but the fact you have to view a Fitbit app to get use from it is itself the worst aspect Of Fitbit.

the best aspects of the AW are the ones you don’t notice They are so seemless. Fitness tracking, cell and text notification (FAR better silent notification quality), build quality, water resistance, band compatibility. The Apple Watch is the Apple product and seems like it. The lack of quality and integration in the fitbit is the giveaway... not your personal use case or desire for a one or two trick pony. I honestly think the Apple Watch is the leading Apple product with respect to its own market category compared to other Apple products in their own market categories.
 
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Relentless Power said:
Not to mention, ‘Tizen’ that’s run on some of the galaxy watches, it is absolutely garbage. Choppy with a poor U.I.
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Yeah, the competitors have no clue on what they should do for wearables. But at least Samsung keep working on it.
Google on the other hand just doesn’t do anything and left WearOS in a zombie state.
 
aaadktda said:
Apple is changing their business strategy away from making profit from selling hardware. All companies want as much data as they can get their hands on. One would have to be extremely naive to think otherwise. Privacy is just an illusion not matter what you use. It's funny how some of you criticize Tim China for his stance on different things yet believe that he will guard all your personal information no matter what. You can't get to 1 trillion if you are stupid. Or nice. These people are ruthless. All of them.
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True that!
 
I think people whining about privacy are massively overestimating how much companies are interested in their private lives. The data collected is anonymous. No one will know what you as a person are up to. No one is snooping in on your personal lives.
 
I still consider the Pebble to have been the real pioneer and one of the best smart-watches out there. It was a smart-watch, it wasn't really trying to be a fitness tracker, which for me was fine. They got purchased by FitBit. Them I never really liked. My first and last FitBit broke (literally) in 6 months. I now use a Garmin. pretty solid going for nearly 3 years now!
 
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I might be wrong (probably am) but does Google have any paid product/service in which they created from the ground up without an acquisition and that they're #1? I feel sorry for anyone on fitbit Google loves user data.
 
JM said:
Apple sells hardware. Now they are selling services to cover the slowing hardware sales.

Apple doesn’t sell ads as their primary method of profit. Google does.

The data Apple does collect is used to make their products better. Google collects data to sell advertisements.

Google is not the same as Apple.
Click to expand...

Apple -> collects data do make their products better.

Google -> makes their products better so they can collect more data.

Result: the same. Both companies have all our data and both companies have good products.
 
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pika2000 said:
Competition? LOL
Google had a head start on wearables, yet they failed. Google has zero vision in wearables. They cannot even decide what UI they want on WearOS.

The competitions are Samsung (minor) and Xiaomi (upcoming) with their own interpretations as Google is not doing anything useful in wearables other than tricking some watch brands to use WearOS.
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Google has zero vision in any of their products. They’re all data collecting machines. Once people don’t want to use them anymore, they dump the product and create the next data collection machine.
 
satchmo said:
I'm not going to be as quick as others here to write off FitBit or Google's Wear OS.

If we've learned anything from Android vs iOS, and Windows vs MacOS, marketshare/popularity is often driven by price and not quality or security.

It wouldn't be surprised to see WearOS taking over a few years down the road.
Would Apple like to retain the number one spot? Sure. But of course like most of their divisions, profits, ecosystem and quality is probably more important to them than marketshare.
Click to expand...
Didn’t happen with iPad. Even if it does, market share isn’t important when you have to give product away to get it.

You want the monopoly AND the profit, like Microsoft. Apple makes most of the profit in mobile, so screw the monopoly.
 
vvs14 said:
I think people whining about privacy are massively overestimating how much companies are interested in their private lives. The data collected is anonymous. No one will know what you as a person are up to. No one is snooping in on your personal lives.
Click to expand...

That’s incorrect. Google deals in personalized data.
 
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kis said:
They're not using for ads, but they will use it for whatever else it is they do with data. Same for Nest: all data handed over to Google. They don't use video recordings from Nest cameras for ads, but they still process it.
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WearOS has much better exercise detection through Google Fit. But that's about where the fun ends. I've been using WearOS devices for work for years and they're absolutely terrible, crappy, useless. Battery lasts until 4 p.m. if you're lucky, slow as molasses, App Store selection is tiny.
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Been wearing either an LG Urbane 2 or an LG Watch Sport for years.
The Sport has much better battery life. It runs about 2 days before needing a charge.
Notifications are fine along with Google Fit.
I guess it depends on which watch you own.
No ads show up on my watch, unless it's Amazon and I like Amazon. 😁
 
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More stuff I have to give up.... Nest, WhatsApp, Waze and now Fitbit. I try to live a Google free live as much as possible. Trust health (or any) information to Google? Insanity.
 
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