FitBit has acquired Vector, a smartwatch startup which was founded in 2015 by former Citizen watches executives and engineering talent from Romania.
The startup has been acquired by FitBit for an undisclosed sum, with the Vector watch team set to be integrated with FitBit on completion of the deal.
However, Vector’s hardware product portfolio is excluded from the deal.
Vector said in a statement: “We believe this is an important milestone as a moment when we will start building other new and amazing products, features and experiences, incorporating our unique technology and knowhow with Fitbit’s experience and global community.”
The company also stated that from now on, Vector smartwatch users will not be able to get any software and hardware updates.
On the other hand, customer support, all warranty and other hardware specific queries will be answered by the support team.
Vector’s smartwatches come with an LCD screen and offers a 30 day battery life. It also has a smartphone app which could connect to iOS, Android and Windows phones.
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The startup has also created its own smartwatch operating system and released the API to developers. The developers worked on the API to create custom faces and apps for the watch.
In November last year, FitBit acquired Pebble, another smartwatch-maker for a reported $40m.
Recently, at the CES 2017 held in Las Vegas, FitBit CEO James Park commented that the company is planning to bring out a wearable app store this year.
According to industry watchers, the company will be hit the big league if it can have its own apps, through which it can harness developers while increasing its user-base.
It can also help the company in gaining a foot-hold against big players such as Google, Apple and Samsung, who have dedicated smartwatch app stores that host device and platform-specific apps.
