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Fitbit Buys Vector, Romanian Startup's Existing Smartwatches Won't Receive Software Updates Anymore (engadget.com)
An anonymous reader shares an Engadget report: One of the more surprising smartwatches of 2015 was from Vector, a Romanian startup led by former Citizen executives. Its 30-day battery life, Pebble-esque UI and classic watch design made it a great device for someone seeking a less ostentatiously geeky wearable. Now, the company has revealed that Fitbit has purchased it and its employees will be joining the fitness wearables firm. Unfortunately for Vector owners, Fitbit will be integrating Vector's hardware and software know-how into its own organization. That means that Vector, as a brand, will die off, and while its watches will remain operational, you can kiss any hope for software updates and new hardware goodbye.
It was in general a bad article to link to in the first place, being lifted almost in its entirety for the summary. Vector's press release is a lot more detailed. Reading through the lines -- yes, conjecture -- it sounds like they needed cash to continue with their product, and Fitbit was the solution they were looking for.
More interestingly, they say:
Our aim is to make our integration in the Fitbit family as seamless as possible with no impact on you, our customers. Our smartwatches will maintain functionalities and features.
So it sounds like there will in fact be new hardware, but it will be Fitbit branded as this is their new parent company's name. But again, this is just conjecture. I don't actually have a horse in this race, I don't wear watches, but the original article and summary just seemed so slanted I felt compelled to comment. (But not compelled enough to log in to my account. :P)
It has for me. I love my Pebble and will wear it until it no longer functions anymore.