google: With Google Pixel Watch coming, what happens to Fitbit; this is what the CEO has to say – Times of India

Google is finally entering the smartwatch fray with its very own hardware — Pixel Watch. The much-speculated smartwatch was announced at the latest edition of Google’s annual developers event, Google I/O 2022. Pixel Watch was part of the biggest-ever hardware unveiling done by Google at I/O. At the two-day conference, Google confirmed that it is launching Pixel Watch. From the looks of it, the Pixel Watch that borrows fitness tracking from Fitbit will take on the premium smartwatches from Apple and Samsung. But the big question is: Where does this leave Fitbit (and its proprietary health tech), the company that Google acquired in 2019 for $2.1 billion.
James Park, VP, GM and co-founder of Fitbit answered this in an interview to CNET. For those unware, Park heads Google’s wearables division, leading development of the Pixel Watch. “At a high level, the mission of Fitbit still continues at Google: It’s to help make everyone in the world healthier. The Pixel Watch is going to be part of a family of devices from Google and Fitbit that fits into different ranges of prices. So you can have super premium devices under the Pixel brand. And then we’ll continue to have Fitbit devices at other prices as well,” said Park.
Talking about Google Fit, he said, “I think for now, Google Fit and the Fitbit app are just going to continue as is — I don’t think we want to interrupt the experience for either set of users. Both user groups, which are fairly substantial, like the app they are using for a variety of reasons. For now, we don’t see any reason to change that.” Google Fit is a fitness tracking app that works on Android, iOS and WearOS. It is designed to be a virtaul coach to help users acahieve their fitness goals.
Pixel Watch: What we know and don’t
Pixel Watch seems to be impressive, but while there are some knowns, there are also some key unknowns. Let’s start with what Google told us: The upcoming Google smartwatch will run on an updated version of Wear OS 3. It will feature a Fitbit integration to helps users keep track of their health metrics, including heart rate and sleep tracking. The smartwatch will launch laong with Pixel 7 series in Fall this year. Going by the history of Pixel launches, it will likely be in October 2022. Pixel Watch sports a circular design and features a “tactile” crown and side button. The watch is made of recycled stainless steel and will have swappable bands. As per Google, Pixel Watch will come with native Google apps including Google Maps, Google Assistant and more.
The unanswered questions include the chip that will power the smartwatch, size and colour options and its price.