By will-buy
Google Assistant has become accessible through the Fitbit Sense and Versa 3 smartwatches. The voice assistant arrives right around when Fitbit said hello would once the two smartwatches debuted in August. This is actually the very first time Google Assistant continues to be incorporated into Fitbit devices; something anticipated ever since Google started acquiring Fitbit for $1.2 billion in November. Amazon Alexa will still be a voice assistant option as it has since the smartwatches presented, and in fact, has been upgraded to be able to communicate with a wearer audibly, not just by text as had been the case so far.
Watch Talk
The small speaker within the Versa 3 and Sense smartwatches managed to get clear immediately that vocal interaction using the voice assistants would be a feature. But, like Google Assistant, that wasn’t an option at first. Now, both voice assistants can listen and respond to voice commands, awakened by tapping a button on the watch. Along with activating features around the watch itself, Google Assistant and Alexa can connect to smart home devices and otherwise operate like miniature smart displays. The smartwatches can also connect with the wearer’s smartphone with Bluetooth to make and receive phone calls. The smartwatches end up being the kind of wrist phone to make Dick Tracy green with envy, although the microphone and speaker’s size makes long conversations probably uncomfortable.
The voice assistants aren’t the only upgrade for the smartwatches. The blood oxygen tracking offered by both the Versa 3 and the Sense has become automatic. Rather than having to set up a specific watch face at night to track it, the watch will appraise the blood oxygen level without anyone's knowledge. That measurement is really a major feature for the smartwatches, using more than millions of downloads from the until-now mandatory clockface from Fitbit’s app gallery. Making it simpler to help keep running without extra steps is really a small, but potentially significant, upgrade that may encourage more wearers to join the Fitbit Premium subscription program, which already has more than half a million members. According to Fitbit, all of the additional features are aimed at helping people track and keep their own health.
“Once we head further into the flu season amidst the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, keeping track of changes for your day-to-day health metrics is more important than ever before,” Fitbit CEO James Park said inside a statement. “Fitbit Sense and Versa 3 are Fitbit's most innovative devices yet and may play an important role for making new information available regarding your physical and mental health and wellbeing. We're empowering you with the tools you need to better understand and take control of your health and wellness.”
Healthy Competition
Alexa has been a part of Fitbit for some time before Google arrived to the picture, first appearing around the Versa 2 smartwatch last year. Fitbit’s decision to create its smartwatches open to both voice assistants is likely to keep and attract more customers than limiting its devices to just Google Assistant. The main reason could also be as easy as an existing contract with Amazon that requires Fitbit to host Alexa on its devices for at least some time longer. Amazon will likely be happy about maintaining Alexa’s place on Fitbit and the vocal upgrade, especially since its very own new Halo fitness wearable is Alexa-free. On the other hand, Amazon did just choose to cancel plans to sell the Echo Loop smart ring, giving Fitbit’s smartwatches a rather bigger bit of the Alexa-enabled wearable market. How Google handles Alexa’s presence on its devices as and when buying experiences remains seen. Fitbit could be a semi-independent brand under the Google and Alphabet aegis, but it may end up appearing like Nest, a completely subsumed brand inextricably linked to Google. Unfortunately, there’s no sensor around the smartwatches to say which variation would be healthier.
