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The Morning After: Google bought Fitbit

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What can Fitbit do to help Wear OS?Google buys Fitbit for $2.1 billion

The search and advertising giant will swallow up the wearable device company — pending approval by shareholders and regulators — making Fitbit a part of its hardware team. According to FitBit CEO James Park, “Fitbit will be able to accelerate innovation in the wearables category, scale faster and make health even more accessible.”

Google VP Sameer Samat called the deal “exciting opportunity for Wear OS,” suggesting that we’ll see Fitbit-style hardware running Google’s software in the future. What could that bring to the table for the platform formerly known as Android Wear? We have a few ideas.

It’s ‘fine.’Apple TV+ review

Apple’s first star-laden TV shows have made their debut on streaming, and Devindra Hardawar can excitedly report that they are… “fine.” The Apple TV app works smoothly, everything looks great, but despite being perfectly watchable, the first batch of original content fails to have a true standout in the bunch. Still, at $5 per month and free for a year to anyone who has recently purchased new Apple hardware, it doesn’t have to be perfect — at least not yet.

Bad Password.How did Google get Pixel 4 face unlock this wrong?

With the Pixel 4, Google went all-in on facial recognition. However, it hasn’t yet added a trigger that requires the user to have their eyes open before it unlocks the phone. Having a device that will unlock while you’re asleep or uncooperative is a more significant security risk than you might think, and as Violet Blue explains, that’s just one of the problems worth considering.

Plus an ‘apology.’Blizzcon 2019: ‘Overwatch 2,’ ‘WoW: Shadowlands’ and ‘Diablo IV’

Blizzard’s big event is taking place this weekend, and it opened the show with an attempt at an apology by president J. Allen Brack. Otherwise, new trailers confirmed sequels on the way for Overwatch and Diablo, with all-new modes and characters for players to check out. And for World of Warcraft players, its Shadowlands expansion will bring a revamp for the game’s leveling system.

And AirPods Pro support.iOS 13.2 arrives with Deep Fusion photography

The latest update to iOS 13 is here, and it adds the “computational photography” feature, Deep Fusion, which is Apple’s answer to Google and Night Sight. It takes advantage of machine learning and image stacking to render each pixel of a photo optimally. You’ll likely see the benefits of Apple’s new approach most in less-than-ideal lighting conditions, but it should help to improve all your photos. The update also adds 70-or-so new emoji, and if you have a HomePod, it’s ready to recognize voices for multiple people in the home and handle audio Handoffs with iPhones.

But wait, there’s more…

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Here’s how Fitbit can help fix Wear OS

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Earlier this week, we speculated on some of the ways in which Google’s purchase of Fitbit would be bad for wearables. However, there are a lot of things Google could learn from Fitbit to make Wear OS a compelling platform. The important thing here is that Google doesn’t do what it has seemingly done in every other situation like this, which is to change its mind after only a short while.

Make fitness fun and easy

fitbit

It’s fair to say that Wear OS is already a competent smartwatch platform. What it lacks is a strong fitness component. There’s a lot Google could learn from Fitbit here. To start, the most important lesson is to make the experience fun. For a lot of people, working out is a chore. What Fitbit has always done well is add a sense of whimsy to something as mundane as walking 10,000 steps a day. Anytime you finish your step goal or walk after a long period of sitting, Fitbit makes it a cause for celebration with splashy graphics and words of encouragement.

Robust heart rate tracking is a must

If the first new wearable Google releases doesn’t feature Fitbit’s PurePulse heart rate tracking technology, then the acquisition will have been a missed opportunity. More so than any other hardware feature, PurePulse is the reason to buy a Fitbit wearable. After some initial foibles, the feature feels both consistent and accurate. Moreover, one of the smartest things Fitbit has done in the last few years is make the tech more affordable. What used to be a feature limited to the company’s more expensive trackers is now something you can get on the $100 Inspire HR. Reliable heart rate tracking should be a standard feature on Wear OS devices, not a nice add-on.

There’s a lot of ways in which Fitbit’s PurePulse heart rate tracking could make Wear OS a more compelling platform. One example is Fitbit’s Cardio Fitness Score feature, which leverages the company’s heart rate tracking to provide you with an easy to understand way to improve your fitness level. Heart rate tracking should be at the center of any attempt Google makes to try and create a compelling fitness platform because it would allow the company to most directly match the Apple Watch’s more advanced fitness features.

Fitbit is more than just Fitbit

Fitbit Inspire and Inspire HR

In 2016, Fitbit purchased smartwatch startup Pebble’s talent and intellectual property. It’s hard to say what came out of that purchase other than the Fitbit App Gallery, which was created with help from some of the talent Fitbit acquired in the deal. The fact Fitbit seemingly never did more with Pebble’s tech seemed a missed opportunity. Pebble had a lot of interesting ideas about how smartwatches could complement a smartphone, particularly as it relates to notifications and user interface.

In addition to Pebble, through Fitbit, Google has also acquired talent and technology from Vector, Coin, Fitstar and Twine Health. Between Friday’s acquisition and its Fossil purchase earlier this year, the company now has a wealth of talent in the field. It should leverage that talent in a way that allows the company to improve the ecosystem with better software, hardware and features.

Battery life and Bluetooth performance need to go hand-in-hand

Fitbit Versa Lite review

One area where Fitbit trackers have always excelled is battery life. Even taking advantage of features like heart rate and sleep tracking, you can still get close to a week of battery life on most Fitbits. And battery life is an obvious area where Wear OS can improve.

But Google shouldn’t only focus on the battery life of its smartwatches. If you’ve used a Fitbit in conjunction with an Android phone — particularly one of Google’s Pixel smartphones — you’ll know that they absolutely destroy your phone’s battery. The same is not true with iOS devices. If wearables are going to be a major aspect of Google’s Android strategy moving forward, then Bluetooth performance needs to be as good or better than it is on iOS. Likewise, Bluetooth performance and battery life can’t be an afterthought on Pixel smartphones. Part of the problem with a lot of wearables is that they’re a burden on the most important device in people’s lives, that’s something Fitbit has, for the most part, been able to avoid.

Make it social

Fitbit Versa Lite review

One of the underestimated strengths of Fitbit’s platform is its social hooks. If you’ve ever bought one of the company’s trackers for a family member, then you’ll know how much your parent or sibling seeing your daily stats can motivate them to reach their own goals. Fitbit wisely built a lot of functionality that encourages people to engage in healthy competition.

For example, one of the things you can do in the Fitbit app is take part in something called Adventure Races. These essentially see you doing the digital equivalent of a tough mountain hike. Along the way, you can see how you’re doing against your friends and family members. They can be easy to overlook, but more so than any feature Fitbit offers on its trackers, it’s the social ones that keep people hooked. Studies have found that fitness trackers can help people with their physical health, but the main issue is that most people stop using their devices a couple of months after buying them. By making the experience social, Fitbit has been able to turn some users into dedicated fans. That’s something Google shouldn’t underestimate.

More than anything, what Google needs to learn from Fitbit is that Wear OS doesn’t need to be everything to everyone. The reason so many people love their Fitbits is that they do one thing and they do it exceptionally well. Apple eventually came to the same realization with watchOS. It was only after the company stopped trying to create the “next big thing” and focused on how the platform could help people with their health and fitness goals that the Apple Watch became more compelling. A similar focus is essential for Wear OS if it’s to have any chance at denting Apple’s hold on the wearables market.

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Russia’s ‘sovereign internet’ law takes effect

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The government’s official reason for signing the bill into law is that it will prevent cyberattacks and will allow Russia to keep its internet functioning in case the West cuts the country off from the world wide web. However, the deep packet inspection equipment that internet providers will be required to install under the law can both track and reroute traffic, as well as filter content.

According to Human Rights Watch, that equipment will allow Roskomnadzor, Russia’s telecommunications watchdog, to block access to content that the government deems a threat anytime it wants. Further, it gives the government a legal basis for mass surveillance.

HRW deputy Europe and Central Asia director Rachel Denber said in a statement:

“Now the government can directly censor content or even turn Russia’s internet into a closed system without telling the public what they are doing or why. This jeopardizes the right of people in Russia to free speech and freedom of information online.”

NPR notes, though, that experts believe the law will be technically difficult to enforce, no matter what the government’s true intentions are. David Belson, senior director of Internet Research & Analysis at Internet Society, told the publication that there are “hundreds of networks coming together [in Russia] to exchange traffic” and that “it’s challenging — if not impossible, [he thinks] — to completely isolate the Russian Internet.”

He also believes it won’t be easy getting all internet service providers to install and deploy tracking software, as well as to make sure they’re all filtering the same content. Due to those difficulties, he says it’s unclear how the law will change the way Russians use the internet. It could lead to the “extrajudicial blocking of speech and information without transparency,” as Human Rights Watch warns, or it could cause no change at all.

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‘WoW’ Shadowlands expansion will revamp the leveling system

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From a gameplay standpoint, players will explore five new zones, and the game is getting a new leveling experience. The progress from levels 1 – 10 will be completely revamped, before players can explore any of the previous expansions while they progress from 10 to 50. Once a character reaches level 50, then they can enter the Shadowlands and potentially reach level 60, which compresses the old system where players were leveling up to 130.

For heavy players who’ve already experienced the process, or just those who are trying to reach high levels to play the new content, it should make for a smoother and more enjoyable experience with less grinding plus more options on what to play. At level 60, players can join a Covenant, which ties into the expansion’s afterlife theme and grants characters with new powers from the group they join.

Character customization has also been revamped, with different tattoos, hairstyles and options that go far beyond simply adjusting one’s skin tone, and now Death Knights will be available for any of the game’s races. As usual, there are 8 new dungeons, and its first raid is set up for 10 players. Still, one of the biggest new features is Torghast, Tower of the Damned, a new randomized dungeon experience that’s apparently inspired by the roguelike genre.

For even more information, Blizzard has a “Deep Dive panel” scheduled for Saturday, at 2:15 PM ET / 11:15 AM PT.

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Motorola’s foldable RAZR may have been spotted in the wild

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Yesterday a flurry of leaked photos showed Motorola’s upcoming RAZR posed for press pics, but now a picture has surfaced on China’s Weibo network claiming to show one in the wild. Sunniton posted this picture saying it was the real thing, showing the device fully unfolded, in someone’s hands. The chunky bottom chin is on full display, and what appears to be a notch at the top.

At this point we’ve heard all about its purported $1,500 price, midrange-ish specs and of course, the flexible screen inside that might bring back the classic feeling of snapping a phone closed to end a call. Yesterday’s pictures also showed that the device could be used by touch with it folded closed thanks to controls and a small screen on the outside that’s also useful for taking selfies. With less than two weeks to go before Motorola’s planned press event on November 13th, we can only wait and see what else leaks out before the device is officially revealed.

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TikTok’s parent company reportedly faces a national security review

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Recently TikTok’s popularity has exploded worldwide, and so has scrutiny over the app’s parent company ByteDance and its relationship to the Chinese government. Now Reuters reports that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has opened a national security review of the company, because it had not sought approval to make its $1 billion acquisition of Musical.ly in 2017.

US lawmakers have expressed concern’s over the app’s ability to collect data, while the company responded saying “TikTok is committed to being a trusted and responsible corporate citizen in the US, which includes working with Congress and all relevant regulatory agencies.” The report notes that Musical.ly founder and now-head-of-TikTok Alex Zhu recently began to report directly to ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming, which could help separate it from the company’s other holdings. Meanwhile, ByteDance just announced plans for its first smartphone.

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Blizzard’s 2019 event opened with an apology for its response to protests

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Along with announcements of new games and expansions, the opening remarks from Blizzcon 2019 included a reference to how the company handled a Hearthstone pro who voiced support for Hong Kong protesters in a post-match interview. Blizzard banned the player, “Blitzchung,” for a year, stripped him of his winnings and cut ties with the casters who were interviewing him, initiating protests from others who saw the company’s moves as violations of free speech, and favoring the Chinese government.

On the event stage, president J. Allen Brack said “Blizzard had an opportunity to bring the world together..We moved too quickly in our decision, and then, to make matters worse, we were too slow to talk with all of you. When I think about what I’m most unhappy about, it’s really two things: We didn’t live up to the high standards we set for ourselves. And second, we failed in our purpose.”

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Microsoft launches a Q&A site to replace MSDN and TechNet

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Microsoft Q&A GIF

The company describes the website as a way to get “relevant and timely answers to your technical problems from a community of experts and Microsoft engineers.” To be clear, this isn’t the place you’ll go to if you need technical support as a consumer — Microsoft has other, long-standing resources for that. Instead, it’s where IT managers can find help with their Azure Cloud deployments, for example.

What’s here will be familiar territory if you’ve used a Q&A site anytime in the past decade. When you start typing a query into the search bar, it’ll attempt to find posts where someone may have answered your question already. Additionally, you can follow specific posts, tags and people to get updates. You can also earn points for answering reputation points for answering questions.

At the moment, the majority of available topics relate to the company’s Azure Cloud platform. You can also find questions related to the Partner Center API and Universal Windows Platform. Microsoft plans to add more topics over the next few months.

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Blizzard unveils ‘Overwatch 2’ at BlizzCon

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The Overwatch team is introducing character leveling this time around. There’ll be unlockable abilities (or “talents”) for the hero missions and possibly story missions, but you won’t be able to customize hero abilities in player-vs.-player modes. You can expect to see several heroes join the ranks, including the long-rumored Sojourn. The current heroes will have new character models, and Blizzard is refreshing the user interface too.

Overwatch 2 will have an additional core mode called Push, which debuts on a map set in Toronto. It sees teams battling for control of a robot that pushes an objective to their opponents’ side of a symmetrical map. You can expect more maps, including ones set in Rio de Janeiro, Gothenburg and Monte Carlo.

Overwatch now has more than 50 million players and Blizzard doesn’t plan to leave fans of the original game in the lurch. All your progression (including achievements and unlocked cosmetics and emotes) will carry over into Overwatch 2 and you’ll get access to maps and heroes from the sequel. What’s more, players across both Overwatch and Overwatch 2 can team up with each other or duke it out in the series’ core 6 vs. 6 competitive mode.

Overwatch 2 doesn’t have a release date as yet, but Blizzard confirmed it’s coming to PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. It’s still planning to release updates for Overwatch in the meantime, but because its bigger focus is on Overwatch 2, there won’t be a new Archives mission during the anniversary event in May.

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Apple TV+ is fine | Engadget

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After spending several hours with it, the best I can say is that Apple TV+ is… fine? New series like The Morning Show, which stars Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carrell, are a clear sign that the company is investing heavily in talent. And the revamped TV app, which launched in May, makes it easy to find new bingeworthy content and keep track of everything you’re watching. The handful of shows launching with Apple TV+, including Oprah’s Book Club, the apocalyptic drama See and For All Mankind, an alternate history space race series by Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica), are all perfectly watchable.

Nothing truly stands out, though. The Morning Show tries its hardest to look like Important Dramatic TV in the vein of Aaron Sorkin, but aside from the litany of stars, the first episode struggles for an identity of its own. It’s also very strange that one of its villainous news anchors, played by Billy Crudup, goes into an extended rant about how broadcast TV will be swallowed by tech giants, and viewers prefer less complicated and personalized content via social media. At the end, I half expected him to stare directly into the camera like a character from The Office.

Apple TV+ lacks the innovative spark of Netflix’s early streaming service — we all know that it’s possible to make good TV away from the confines of cable and broadcast networks. But, as we noted in September, it doesn’t matter if there’s anything truly new with Apple TV+, it’ll still be a huge success through Apple’s marketing might alone. Pricing it at $5 makes it a no-brainer subscription for most consumers, and the company is also bundling a year of service with new device purchases.

Apple TV+

Even though Apple TV+’s selection of content is pretty slim at the moment, we know there’s plenty more on the horizon. M. Night Shyamalan’s mystery thriller Servant arrives November 28th, and there’s more media in the works for next year, like Spielberg’s Amazing Stories reboot. And the company has a major footprint advantage, as well. Apple TV+ launches in 100 countries today, whereas Disney+ will only be available in the US, Canada and the Netherlands when it hits November 12th.

Another bid in its favor: Apple customers simply have to open up the TV app on their iOS, Mac or Apple TV devices to subscribe to TV+. Signing up is simple, too, I just had to hit the huge Apple TV+ banner in the app, and it automatically recognized that I had a year of service ready and waiting because I bought an iPhone 11 Pro. After subscribing, you can simply start watching any TV+ show through the app.

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