Fitbit

Fitbit LLC was founded as Healthy Metrics Research, Inc. in San Francisco, California, on March 26, 2007, by James Park (CEO) and Eric Friedman (CTO). In October 2007, it changed its name to Fitbit, Inc.

In January 2015, the company successfully defended against a trademark lawsuit from Fitbug. On March 5, 2015, Fitbit acquired Fitstar, a fitness coaching app developer, for $17.8 million. In June 2015, the company became a public company via an initial public offering, raising $732 million. In May 2016, Fitbit acquired a wearable payment platform from smart credit card company Coin. In October 2016, CEO James Park announced that the company was undergoing a major transformation from what he called a "consumer electronics company" to a "digital healthcare company". On December 6, 2016, Fitbit acquired assets from Pebble for $23 million.

On January 10, 2017, Fitbit acquired Romania-based smartwatch startup Vector Watch SRL.

On February 13, 2018, Fitbit acquired Twine Health. In February 2018, Fitbit announced a partnership with Adidas to release an Adidas-branded Fitbit Ionic; it was released on March 19, 2018. In August 2018, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBS) announced a partnership with Fitbit in which BCBS included Fitbit's wearables and fitness trackers in its Blue365 program.

Acquisition by Google

In January 2021, Fitbit was acquired by Google for $2.1 billion and incorporated into its hardware division. The acquisition was scrutinized by regulators concerned over Google's access to personal data in both the United States and Europe. James Park remained as vice president and general manager of Fitbit after the acquisition.

In August 2022, Google rebranded their Fitbit devices as "Fitbit by Google" on Fitbit's website and the Google Store. On March 18, 2024, Google changed the brand name to Google Fitbit, removing the arrow icon and using Google Sans as the wordmark.

In January 2024, it was reported that co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman were leaving the company following a reorganization of Google's hardware teams.

In August 2024, Google discontinued Fitbit smartwatches to focus on the Pixel Watch line. Sandeep Waraich, Google's director of product management for Pixel wearables, stated Pixel Watch is the "next iteration of smartwatch" for Fitbit. The Fitbit brand remained on trackers and apps.

The first product released was the Fitbit Tracker, launched in 2009.

In 2012, Fitbit began offering activity trackers, along with a website and a mobile app for iOS, Android and Windows 10 Mobile. This allowed the trackers to sync to devices such as mobile phones via Bluetooth, or to a Bluetooth-equipped computer running Windows or MacOS. Users had the ability to log their food, activities, and weight, to track over time and set daily and weekly goals for themselves for steps, calories burned and consumed, and distance walked. The app also offered a community page where users can challenge themselves and compete with others. The social element anticipated an increase in motivation, and found users take an average of 700 more steps per day when they have friends on the app. Users can also choose to share their progress pictures and achievement badges.

In 2017, the company released its Fitbit Ionic smartwatch, and in 2018, it released a redesigned, lower-priced version of the smartwatch called the Versa.

The Fitbit Charge 3, a wristband health and fitness tracker introduced in October 2018, was the first device to feature an oxygen saturation (SpO2) sensor. The Charge 3 came with two different-sized bands: small and large. The small band is around between 5.5–7.1 inches (14–18 cm) and the large band is 7.1–8.7 inches (18–22 cm). The screen is approximately 40% larger than the Charge 2's. Charge 3 comes in two color combos: a Rose-Gold case with a Blue Grey band and a "Graphite Aluminum" screen case with a Black band.

Fitbit's acquisition by Alphabet has resulted in concern that Fitbit user data could be combined with other Google services data or sold for purposes such as targeted advertising. There are also concerns that user data could be sold to health insurance companies. In response, Fitbit stated in 2019 that user data would not be used or sold for advertising by Google, citing that trustworthiness was "paramount" to the company, and that the sale would not change their historic commitment to user privacy and security.

Use in court cases

The company's devices have been used in criminal investigations.

On March 10, 2015, a woman fabricated a story that an intruder appeared in her employer's home in which she was staying and raped her. She told police that a man had assaulted her around midnight. Police found a Fitbit lying on the floor when they arrived at the scene. Prosecutors used the Fitbit as evidence and data to determine what had occurred. The Fitbit revealed that the woman was active throughout the night, and the Fitbit surveillance analysis demonstrated the woman had not gone to bed as she stated to the police, proving that the woman had lied to the police.

In 2017, a Fitbit device played a role in solving the murder of Connie Dabate by her husband, Richard Dabate. Initially, Richard lied to police and law enforcement officials, claiming that an intruder had broken into their home and fatally shot his wife. However, Connie's Fitbit tracker showed that she was at the gym at the time Richard told police his wife was shot. Using Connie's Fitbit and analyzing her movements, analysts created a timeline that disproved Richard's story.

In November 2017, during the disappearance of Tess Richey in Toronto, data information from the Fitbit account Richey shared with her mother was used to track her movements and solve her disappearance, ultimately assisting her mother in locating her remains.

In 2018, Fitbit data was used in the investigation of the homicide of Karen Navarra in San Jose, California. Police accused Navarra's 91-year-old stepfather, Anthony Aiello, of killing her after data from her Fitbit tracker showed a significant spike in her heart rate at about 3:20 p.m., followed by a rapid slowing and the cessation of heart-rate data at 3:28 p.m. Investigators stated that surveillance footage placed Aiello's vehicle at Navarra's home during the relevant period, and Aiello confirmed that he had visited her that afternoon. Aiello was arrested and charged with murder, and was held without bail in Santa Clara County Main Jail. He pleaded not guilty in April 2019 and died in custody in September 2019 while awaiting trial.