Yahoo Finance has nabbed a couple of photos reported to show Fitbits upcoming smartwatch, along with a handful of reports that build the whole undertaking sound like one big fiasco. Sources are talking complained about designing, production lags, antenna issues and software problems.
The device looks to share design language with the companys Blazedevice, which was something between a fitness tracker and a full-fledged smartwatch. A source told Yahoo that the device, codenamed Higgs, is definitely not sexy, which the renders seem to bear out.
Its said to sport GPS, have local storage for music and built-in heart-rate monitoring. The contactless payment and four-day battery life, meanwhile, seem like no-brainers, dedicated some of the acquisitions the company has attained over the past year. Its likewise apparently scheduled to arrive with some optional Bluetooth headphones, marking a new product category for the wearable maker.
The device was reportedly due out in the spring in an attempt to get it out well before Apples next watch bulletin, but a number of factors have apparently pushed it back to the autumn. Among them are GPS problems due to antenna placement and some recently reported software issues.
As a number of other hardware makers have been abandoning the smartwatch space due to waning consumer interest, Fitbit has run toward it, picking up distressed pioneer Pebble, along with Vector and Coin in hopes of making a device that would crack the whole space wide open, as few beyond Apple and Garmin are truly making a run of things.
Fitbits been undergoing its own growing sufferings in recent years, but CEO James Park believes that a well-made smartwatch could be precisely what turns around the wearable makers fortunes.
We believe we are uniquely positioned to succeed in delivering what consumers are looking for in a smartwatch: stylish, well-designed devices that combine the right general purpose functionality with a focus on health and fitness, Park said in a statement that arrived as the company was announcing a six percent staff cut. With the most recent acquisition of assets from Pebble, Vector Watch and Coin, we are taking action to post the company for long-term success.
The future success of the company is a lot to hang on a single device, and as such Fitbithas clearly expended everything into the product. Perhaps too much, in fact. Three acquisitions, disrupting the smartwatch space and its own long-term healthare a lot to pour into a single device. Fitbit has certainly need to get this one right. Thus far, at the least, it sounds like its been doing anything but.
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