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Smartwatch

The lock-in problem at the heart of the Apple monopoly lawsuit

Apple’s approach to smartwatches, green bubbles, and digital wallets makes up a huge part of the DOJ’s antitrust case.

Fitbit by Google is now just Google Fitbit.

Three years after completing its $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit, Google has taken another step towards integrating the fitness-tracking company into its hardware lineup with some updated branding.

Recent changes on the Fitbit website, first spotted by 9to5Google, include an updated wordmark that uses capitalized Google Sans font and ditches the dotted arrow logo, which is still featured on the brand's favicon.


A screengrab of the Fitbit website showing updated Google branding.

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Here’s the updated “Google Fitbit” branding on the top left of the website homepage.
Image: Google
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Health data migration is coming to the OnePlus Watch 2.

Currently, OnePlus Watch 2 owners can’t pair the device with a new phone without their existing OHealth app data being completely wiped. But an update provided to Android Central reveals that’s about to change:

“We will be introducing a data migration feature in a future OHealth app update that will allow users to locally migrate their health data by scanning a QR code. This way, users will have control over their data and can securely transfer it to their desired location. We are planning to have this feature on the OHealth app by the end of March.”

This doesn’t address the separate nuisance of having to reset the OnePlus Watch 2 before pairing it with a new device, but the company says it may release a watch transfer feature to address that in a future update.


An old Pixel Watch can learn new tricks.

On top of public transit directions (which are also available on any Wear OS 3 watch or later), as part of the March Pixel Feature Drop, the original Pixel Watch is getting the ability to auto track certain workouts, set goal paces within exercises, and heart rate zone training. It’s also getting the Relax app, which guides you through breathing exercises.

Most of these were already available on the Pixel Watch 2, but it's nice to see Google give the first-gen watch some love.


Seems like a MicroLED Apple Watch is probably at least delayed.

Apple supplier AMS-Osram said a key project was cancelled — aka a MicroLED Apple Watch Ultra. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says on X that means the whole project is cancelled, citing Osram as Apple’s sole MicroLED supplier. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also said on X that nah, AMS-Osram was but one of several suppliers Apple is working with.

Only Apple knows the truth, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a MicroLED Ultra is delayed.


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Xiaomi’s new Watch S3 has a bezel you can swap as easily as a strap.

The bezels attach and detach with a simple twist, and you also get a choice of over 180 watch faces to further customize the watch’s look. The watch’s features include the ability to track winter sports like skiing, snowboarding, ice-skating, and curling, and there are also some Apple Watch-style one-handed gesture controls for good measure. It’s joined by a new Wear OS smartwatch, the Xiaomi Watch 2. Prices start at €149 for the S3, and €199 for the Watch 2.


Man holds removed bezel next to S3 smartwatch.

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With a simple twist, the Watch S3’s bezel can be removed and replaced. Its strap also has a quick-release system.
Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge
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The Pixel Watch 2 might get a new way to tell time.

According to 9to5 Google, you’ll soon be able to tap the Pixel Watch 2 and it’ll tell you the time through vibrations. There are two modes — one that tells you the hour and minutes via varying vibration lengths, and another that rounds the current time to the nearest quarter hour.

I’m eager to try it whenever it officially rolls out. It could be helpful for folks with low-vision, and it’s always good to have discreet ways to tell time without being rude.


The Garmin Forerunner 165 could be a great budget running watch

It costs $200 less than the Forerunner 265, but you only give up EKGs and dual-frequency GPS.

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Google’s launching a Pixel Watch 2 mail-in replacement service.

If you’ve got a broken Pixel Watch 2, you can now skip the customer support process to get a discounted replacement. All you have to do scroll down the Google Store site and click Repairs. You should see a form. Fill out the information requested and select the mail-in option when it appears.

This is an improvement over Google’s previous Pixel Watch repair policy, but still has some holes. First-gen Pixel Watches aren’t eligible, and this service is only available in the US and EMEA.


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Tim Cook nixes the idea of licensing Masimo’s blood oxygen tech.

Despite mixed earnings, Tim Cook doesn’t seem to be sweatin’ the Apple Watch ban. Apple Insider spotted Cook telling CNBC on a live broadcast that it’s “focused on appeal” and that customers have “lots of reasons to buy the watch even without the blood oxygen sensor.”

Masimo CEO Joe Kiani has publicly said he hasn’t heard from Apple about potentially licensing the company’s blood oxygen tech. However, this is the first time we’ve seen Cook officially confirming it.


You might want to be extra careful with your pre-ban Apple Watch.

If you got a Series 9 or Ultra 2 before Apple had to remove the blood oxygen feature from new ones on January 17th, congrats!

But if you break your watch doing parkour and replace it with AppleCare, will you lose the feature? That’s a “definite maybe,” according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. He wrote today in the subscriber version of Power On that Apple has told AppleCare reps that replacements might not have it.


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Huzzah! The Pixel Watch 3 might come in two sizes.

One of the biggest complaints that reviewers — myself included — had with the Pixel Watch 2 was that it only came in one size: 41mm. That’s fine if you’re petite-wristed like me, but it’s not great if you’ve got a larger frame. Well, 9to5 Google cites an unnamed Google source as saying the company is working on two sizes for the next Pixel Watch. That’s about all we know but if true, it’s a step in the right direction. After all, Apple, Samsung, and Garmin all offer their flagships in multiple sizes.


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Apple's Watch workaround to avoid an import ban has reportedly been approved.

Word of this comes not from US Customs, but Masimo’s own lawyers in a letter published by 9to5Mac. It says the updated watches "do not contain pulse oximetry functionality," which is a step further than last month's report that Apple engineers were working on new algorithms.

It means Apple can continue importing the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 despite the patent infringement dispute — just without blood oxygen reading features enabled.


Garmin Connect finally gets a “simplified design.”

The company’s fitness watches are unmatched in longevity, value over time, and their ability to track all the performance minutia athletes want to track. But Garmin Connect — which ties everything together — well... sucks, which was made all the more obvious after Apple started playing on Garmin’s turf. The new Connect app and website is currently beta-only for select customers, but is coming to everyone “later this year.”

Can. Not. Wait.


Mockups of Garmin Connect app redesign
ZOMG!
Image: Garmin