Google touches on Samsung’s development of Wear OS, with Fitbit launching new smartwatches

Another big reason Google is behind the smartwatch competition is its poor health and fitness portfolio. In recent years, Apple has added electrocardiogram (ECG) and blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) measurements to its watches, and rumors say it will be a monitoring of blood glucose. the next new health feature in the next series of 7 smart watches.

But Google now owns Fitbit, and the skill of the company it leads is being used in this area. The next smartwatch supplied with Google will have the same features you can find on Fitbit devices, such as health tracking and workout progress, as well as wrist celebrations that provide more motivation. Fitbit will be producing smart watches in the future with Wear.

However, features like ECG and SpO2 are not natively incorporated into Wear’s furnace. “Any of these specialized features like ECG will be available to the manufacturer,” says Kilburn. “We’ve been able to bring that kind of innovation to market, so it would be a launch of a specific device.” Samsung and Fitbit offer SpO2 and ECG tracking existing clocks and followersSo it’s likely (though not confirmed) that these features will be present at the later release of their Wear Watch watches.

Kilburn says Google has also worked with Fitbit (and Samsung) to rebuild Wear’s underlying health and fitness framework to make tracking activities more accurate and to make it easier for developers to collect and use tracking data. “In the past, they would have to go to all the operating systems to collect different data, but we’ll take them to a framework where they can use them all.”

Since the Fitbit app will also be released on Wear, future Wear smartwatch owners can use the Fitbit app or Google Fit to track fitness data. Kilburn has been unable to comment on future plans, but says anyone who chooses a Fitbit Wear smart watch will “continue to have a great experience” with Fitbit.

As for future updates to Wear, Kilburn did not say whether Google will follow an annual update cycle with Android or how Apple will release a new version of watchOS each year. Instead, it is expected to have more frequent updates.

Playing Catch Up

It should be noted that Google announced the closure of Fitbit in January after its approval by the European Union’s anti-competitive commission – Google said it could not use Fitbit users’ health data for ads and had to fit Fitbit and Google separately. it does not mean that it has been automatically signed by the U.S. Department of Justice.

A Google spokesman said it has complied with the department’s review and “closed the expected agreement without their hindrance,” but the DOJ review is still underway and has enforcement tools that could be used to harm competition.

However, even though it’s been seven years since Google launched the smartwatch platform, the company has nothing to show for it. According to the analysis company, in the fourth quarter of 2020, Wear OS takes into account a 2.7 percent reduction in the market Counterpoint Research. Apple has seen a 19 percent increase in worldwide sales of smart watches at the same time and now promises 40% market share. Samsung jumped to 10% market share, with Fitbit at a standstill of 7 percent. Google now owns 7 percent of that, but it still needs Samsung to grow the Wear platform.

“Obviously Apple is dominant, but Samsung is a clear two player,” says Jeff Fieldhack, research director at Counterpoint Research. “They have brand recognition. They sell the most highly connected devices, and that’s also the trend: cellular connectivity. With a modem, you can have a standalone device and you don’t need your smartphone companion. ”