{"id":339757,"date":"2017-05-02T00:43:07","date_gmt":"2017-05-01T16:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1483713"},"modified":"2017-05-02T00:43:07","modified_gmt":"2017-05-01T16:43:07","slug":"fitbits-upcoming-smartwatch-has-reportedly-been-a-giant-mess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/fitbits-upcoming-smartwatch-has-reportedly-been-a-giant-mess\/","title":{"rendered":"Fitbit\u2019s upcoming smartwatch has reportedly been a giant mess"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Yahoo Finance has nabbed a couple of photos<\/a> reported to be Fitbit\u2019s upcoming smartwatch, along with a handful of reports that make the whole undertaking sound like one big fiasco. Sources are talking complaints about design, production delays, antenna issues and software problems.<\/p>\n

The device looks to share design language with the company\u2019s Blaze\u00a0device<\/a>, which was something between a fitness tracker and a full-fledged smartwatch. A source told Yahoo that the device, codenamed \u201cHiggs\u201d is \u201cdefinitely not sexy,\u201d which the renders seem to bear out.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 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 given some of the acquisitions the company has made over the past year. It\u2019s also apparently scheduled to arrive with some optional Bluetooth headphones, marking a new product category for the wearable maker.<\/p>\n

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The device was reportedly due out in the spring in an attempt to get it out well before Apple\u2019s next watch announcement, but a number of factors have apparently pushed it back to the fall. Among them are GPS problems due to antenna placement and some recently reported software issues<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As a number of other hardware makers have been abandoning the smartwatch space due to declining consumer interest, Fitbit has run toward it, picking up troubled pioneer Pebble<\/a>, along with Vector<\/a> and Coin<\/a> in hopes of making the device that would crack the whole space side open, as few beyond Apple and Garmin are really making a go of things.<\/p>\n

Fitbit\u2019s been undergoing its own growing pains in recent years, but CEO James Park believes that a well-made smartwatch could be precisely what turns the wearable maker\u2019s fortunes around.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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,\u201d Park said in a statement that arrived as the company was announcing a six-percent staff cut<\/a>. \u201cWith the recent acquisition of assets from Pebble, Vector Watch and Coin, we are taking action to position the company for long-term success.\u201d<\/p>\n

The future success of the company is a lot to hang on a single device, and as such Fitbit\u00a0has clearly invested everything into the product. Perhaps too much, in fact. Three acquisitions, disrupting the smartwatch space and its own long-term health\u00a0are a lot to pour into a single device. Fitbit will really need to get this one right. Thus far, at least, it sounds like it\u2019s been doing anything but.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\" Yahoo Finance has nabbed a couple of photos reported to be Fitbit’s upcoming smartwatch, along with a handful of reports that make the whole undertaking sound like one big fiasco. Sources are talking complaints about design, production delays, antenna issues and software problems. The device looks to share design language with the company’s Blaze\u00a0device, which was something between… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

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