Recently Google unveiled its first smartwatch at its annual developing conference. This Watch contains its Wear operating system with the Fitbit health tracking facility. The Fitbit was acquired by Google in 2019 at $2.1bn. The watch can pair with Android devices only and it is 4G-compatible. Due to its compatibility, it can function on its own without being near a phone- but for functioning this requires its data plan. Also, Google stated that both the phone and watch would also need to be on the same network. The tech giant hasn’t revealed a price for the wearable, but it is said that it would be a “premium product” when it launches in the autumn season. 

Google faces stiff competition from the likes of Apple and Samsung, these are already market leaders in smartwatches. In the market, many third-party Android watches already run on Google’s Wear Operating system but so far Google has not had its device. Rick Osterloh, senior vice-president of devices and services at Google, said that the combination of “Google’s ecosystem and Fitbit expertise” was what made the product unique.

Despite the speculation that the Pixel Watch might also pair with Apple products, Google confirmed this will not be the issue. The company’s initial takeover of Fitbit was probed by the European Commission; they eventually permitted it. 

Furthermore, Google had to make numerous promises, including not to “degrade the user experience of third-party smartwatches when paired with an Android phone” for 10 years, in Europe. It also had to guarantee not to use Fitbit data for advertising purposes. Google said to the BBC it was dedicated to maintaining health and wellness data separate from other user data and had worked with regulators for addressing privacy concerns.

New Pixels 

Google has announced two new Pixel phones- the budget Pixel 6a and premium Pixel 7. Now, It is going on sale in July, a new Pixel tablet will be released in 2023, and its updated earbuds, Pixel Buds Pro, with 11 hours of battery life (or 7 hours with noise-cancelling function activated).

Google’s Pixel smartphones have received decent reviews in the past but it hasn’t become a major player in the market. In February, Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said the last three months of 2021 had set an “all-time quarterly sales record for Pixel”, but did not give actual numbers. Mr. Osterloh said the global chip shortage had “no doubt had a significant effect” on Google’s hardware sales. “We would have sold more Pixels if it weren’t for supply chain issues,” he said.