Fitbit

By  Dave Muoio 04:18 pm November 22, 2019
There are few clinical areas more in need of innovation than heart disease. It’s the leading killer among men and women in the US, accounting for one in every four deaths by the CDC’s numbers, and yet it’s also a body of health conditions that could be substantially mitigated through a number of lifestyle and behavior changes. So of course it’s little surprise that cardiovascular health and care...
By  Laura Lovett 02:44 pm November 21, 2019
Earlier this month Google announced its plans acquire Fitbit for roughly $2.1 billion, shaking up the wearable industry, opening up a number of questions about exactly what lies ahead, and what an integration of the two companies looks like.  But the wearables company has long planted its roots in a handful of different markets and business strategies — consumer trackers, health plan partnerships...
By  Dave Muoio 03:01 pm November 13, 2019
New health tracking features are on the menu for Fitbit’s next smartwatch OS update. Unveiled this morning and set to go live on December 3, FitbitOS 4.1 brings some of the sleep health capabilities promised by the company back in August, refines the heart rate tracking algorithm on Versa 2 devices and adds new features to its subscriber offering. In terms of the latter, Fitbit Premium users will...
By  Dave Muoio 02:33 pm November 7, 2019
Fitbit’s year-over-year device sales flatlined in Q3 2019, which combined with lower sales tag prices drove a decline in revenue, according to the wearables maker’s latest quarterly earnings. The reporting — which was bereft of an investor’s call, Q&A and any forward-looking statements due to the company’s pending acquisition — is the latest look at a wearables business Google apparently...
By  Laura Lovett and Dave Muoio 09:53 am November 1, 2019
After a month of rumors, this morning Google and Fitbit announced that the former has officially purchased the wearable giant for roughly $2.1 billion, or $7.35 per share, in cash. Fitbit stressed that its devices will remain platform-agnostic across the Android and iOS ecosystems. Still, a blog post from Google discussing the acquisition made it clear that we can also expect to see some Google...
By  MobiHealthNews 11:55 am October 30, 2019
Articles referenced in today's episode: Alphabet makes offer to acquire Fitbit Facebook's new tool tells users what checkups they need, where to get them Amazon makes its second digital health acquisition with Health Navigator
By  Dave Muoio 04:43 pm October 29, 2019
Alphabet serious about health wearables? Alphabet has reportedly put in an unspecified offer to buy out Fitbit, according to anonymous sources talking to Reuters. The news comes roughly a month after another report from the outlet suggesting that the wearables maker had brought on investment firm Qatalyst Partners to explore a potential sale, in which Alphabet was name dropped as a potential...
By  Dave Muoio 03:30 pm October 29, 2019
Alphabet serious about health wearables? Alphabet has reportedly put in an unspecified offer to buy out Fitbit, according to anonymous sources talking to Reuters. The news comes roughly a month after another report from the outlet suggesting that the wearables maker had brought on investment firm Qatalyst Partners to explore a potential sale, in which Alphabet was name dropped as a potential...
By  Dave Muoio 09:03 am October 17, 2019
Fitbit will be working with the cardiovascular-focused Bristol-Myers Squibb-Pfizer Alliance to develop “educational content and guidance” that will help device owners recognize if they are at risk of atrial fibrillation, as well as to seek appropriate support and diagnosis of the condition. A spokesperson for the companies noted that although the specifics of these programs are still in...
By  Dean Koh 01:11 am September 30, 2019
Fitbit and Taiwan-based diabetes management app Health2Sync announced last week that Fitbit health, sleep and fitness data can now be integrated with the Health2Sync app to support Health2Sync’s 360,000 users in Taiwan and Japan to better manage their diabetes. The voluntary integration of Fitbit data with the Health2Sync platform gives users who have a Fitbit account access to an in-app...