New Details on Fitbit's First Smartwatch Leak

Fitbit’s eagerly-anticipated debut in the smartwatch market is likely to take place in the fall, after several delays that were caused by certain technologies not being ready for launch.

But Fitbit claims all these reports are false and the smartwatch is actually on track, emphasizing that the device would undoubtedly succeed.

Development of the smartwatch and third-party apps “are on track,” the company wasquoted as saying, and “claims that the developer program is struggling are false.”

And yet, people familiar with the matter seem to be claiming otherwise. Company employees said that the smartwatch is indeed late to the market, with Fitbit’s board originally planning to launch it as a rival to Apple Watch 2

“This thing is designed to compete with the Apple Watch 2,” a company insider said. “But by the time it comes out, there will be the Apple Watch 3.”

So why is it taking so long for Fitbit to launch a smartwatch? While previous reports indicated that Fitbit might have a hard time putting all the hardware it wants inside the watch, it appears that the firm is also struggling with its app store, which not even now is ready to go live

Proprietary operating system

Instead of going for Android Wear, which would have provided access to a large collection of apps, Fitbit is building its own proprietary platform with a dedicated app store based on tech developed by Pebble, the smartwatch company that it purchased last year.

Fitbit wants its smartwatch to sell for less than $300 and come with rich application support, though that’s clearly a risky bet given that the firm is building its own operating system and this is the only device supporting it. The app store will be available on Android phones and iPhones, and users will have to download them on their smartphones before transferring them to the watch via Bluetooth.

One of the company’s primary goals is to allow owners to listen to music on their watch, so Fitbit attempted to sign a deal with Spotify. After negotiations had failed, Fitbit moved to Pandora, and now the two are working on features that could make it to the device launching later this year

In terms of features, the new smartwatch will be an evolved version of the Blaze activity tracker, coming with a built-in GPS sensor, a square display, and features that you typically find on the majority of smartwatches these days. As a result, analysts are reluctant when it comes to the chances of Fitbit’s first smartwatch to succeed, especially because the company seems to be late to the party and only planning to bring features that have been on the market for a long time.