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Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

reuters.com

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Re: Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

#271

Post by interestica »

gnicholas wrote: post #202
jammygit wrote: post #183

Fitbit has a privacy policy that says they won't sell or transfer your data IIRC, but that does not prevent them from doing so in the case of a sale or merger. I hate those clauses: the hypothetical argument is always 'what if some data miner buys them' ? This is health data we're talking about

> If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, we will continue to take measures to protect the confidentiality of personal information and give affected users notice before transferring any personal information to a new entity. from https://www.fitbit.com/legal/privacy-policy

"we're giving you notice. You can't do anything, but we are letting you know."

Re: Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

#272

Post by RandomBacon »

PopeDotNinja wrote: post #233
zamalek wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you own a Fitbit (I do), it's great news. Fitbit have done an unmatched job of destroying the device already. I was honestly considering buying a different device already. They don't support Spotify, or really any music app except the one (which I don't remember). Their subscription service provides no real value at all. Their devices track heart rate and nothing else. They simply don't innovate at all.

Why would one connect a FitBit to Spotify? Honest question.

Listen to music with a tempo that matches your workout (heartbeat).

Re: Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

#273

Post by calypso »

dTal wrote: post #247
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given that your EOL'd Pebble currently uses servers maintained by an independent nonprofit using an open source stack, it's about as far from Google's influence as anything can be.

My EOL Pebble doesn't use any servers at all, with Gadgetbridge. Why should moving data from my watch to my phone, over bluetooth, require a server on the internet? Silliness.

An app store, watch face store, dictation, weather. those features are the reason it requires a server. That's what you give up by not using rebble or similar services.

Re: Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

#274

Post by jschwartzi »

ofcrpls wrote: post #265
bonestamp2 wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple has allegedly had spO2 monitoring capability on Apple Watch for years too without making that function available in production. I wonder if there's a similar reason for this. I mean, I can buy a $12 spO2 monitor on Amazon, and most clinics seem to use that exact model... why not let my fitness device do it too?

It is due to the regulatory purview on the difference of calling something a "vitals display device" vs a "vitals monitor" Source: Spouse, who worked on a field spO2 monitor at her first job and has since spent the next decade in the medical device regulatory industry.

Yeah, they would at least have to do a 510k submittal provided they could show a predicate device existed, and that there were existing standards that they could follow. If they're making an SpO2 monitor that doesn't work like any other SpO2 monitor on the market then the FDA would probably put them in De Novo hell for a very long time.

Re: Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

#275

Post by snazz »

PopeDotNinja wrote: post #233
zamalek wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you own a Fitbit (I do), it's great news. Fitbit have done an unmatched job of destroying the device already. I was honestly considering buying a different device already. They don't support Spotify, or really any music app except the one (which I don't remember). Their subscription service provides no real value at all. Their devices track heart rate and nothing else. They simply don't innovate at all.

Why would one connect a FitBit to Spotify? Honest question.

Nearly all other products competing in the “smart watch” category allow you to use the watch as a music source for wireless earbuds. It’s a very nice feature if you’re doing some activity where bringing your phone is impractical (like running).

Re: Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

#276

Post by [deleted] »

TimMurnaghan wrote: post #76

Anybody know a good way to get your data out of fitbit? I've got a year's worth of decent data and it's obviously at risk if google shutter it. Also I don't want them to have it - so I guess I'm in the market for something independent.

[deleted]

Re: Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

#277

Post by wrkronmiller »

jjoonathan wrote: post #264
insulanus wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh man. I'm definitely on both sides of the fence. After Fitbit bought Pebble, they made the ecosystem poorer. The Pebble tech team was stronger than the team that absorbed them. Fitbit customer service is excellent, but their warranty is bad, and their build quality seems poor. My Fitbit Ionic (about $300) stopped working one month after the 12 month warranty ran out, and they offered me a 20% discount on my next pu…

> My Fitbit Ionic (about $300) stopped working one month after the 12 month warranty ran out My Fitbit Ionic stopped working 6 months into the 12 month warranty and they flaked on the warranty anyway. Many Ionics were secretly sold without the manufacturer's warranty. The problem turned out to be a shorted capacitor. My secretly-warranty-less ionic was sold during the Great Capacitor Shortage. Coincidence? Maybe. I d…

How can a device be sold to an end-user without a warranty? Was the device sold by a third party or something?

Re: Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

#278

Post by staz »

TimMurnaghan wrote: post #76

Anybody know a good way to get your data out of fitbit? I've got a year's worth of decent data and it's obviously at risk if google shutter it. Also I don't want them to have it - so I guess I'm in the market for something independent.

Gdpr request maybe?

Re: Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

#279

Post by Sysreq1 »

ignoramous wrote: post #16

> Fitbits’ stock shot up almost 30 percent after the first rumors surfaced. In recent months, the company’s stock often traded below $3, down from close to $48 shortly after its IPO in 2015. Today, after the announcement, it went up to around $5.20. Good lord, must the acquisition offer feel like a relief? Surely, Fitbit wouldn't do a Groupon now. The article fails to mention Fossil, but Google recently did acquire t…

How do you say, “That’s a bingo!”

Google isn’t buying Fitbit to improve Fitbit, Google is acquiring a company to gain their experience in the wearables space to compete with Apple and Samsung. I suspect Google thinks AppleWatch is helping them erode the Android market share and/or preventing switchers from moving to Pixel.

Re: Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

#280

Post by _57jb »

jjoonathan wrote: post #264
insulanus wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh man. I'm definitely on both sides of the fence. After Fitbit bought Pebble, they made the ecosystem poorer. The Pebble tech team was stronger than the team that absorbed them. Fitbit customer service is excellent, but their warranty is bad, and their build quality seems poor. My Fitbit Ionic (about $300) stopped working one month after the 12 month warranty ran out, and they offered me a 20% discount on my next pu…

> My Fitbit Ionic (about $300) stopped working one month after the 12 month warranty ran out My Fitbit Ionic stopped working 6 months into the 12 month warranty and they flaked on the warranty anyway. Many Ionics were secretly sold without the manufacturer's warranty. The problem turned out to be a shorted capacitor. My secretly-warranty-less ionic was sold during the Great Capacitor Shortage. Coincidence? Maybe. I d…

That was a fantastic little run-through on your teardown and repair of the ionic.

Do you make videos/streams of your work? Would love to watch.

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