Google is said to have bought hybrid smartwatch technology

Google 's $ 40 million Fossil deal early in 2019 apparently bought technology and developers around a hybrid smartwatch . The question is whether Google will actually use the technology for their own clock - so far it makes less appearances.

At Google's deal with Fossil from January 2019 there are new details: for the 40 million US dollars, which paid Google to the watchmaker, the company is to receive technology around a hybrid SmartWatch and 20 developers took over. This reports the website Wearable.com , citing persons who are familiar with the matter and want to remain anonymous.

The internal name of the technology is Diana, which is a Portmanteau word of "digital" and "analog". It should be a clock drive that combines analog and digital elements. Some of the designs are said to have had displays, always in combination with pointers.

According to the anonymous sources, Fossil has also sold its Diana development department for cost reasons: The developers are partly the result of the earlier acquisition of Misfit and should - compared to other fossil managers - have been paid quite high. Accordingly, Fossil was able to push through the sale follow-up costs.

In terms of innovation, not everyone at Fossil seems enthusiastic about the deal. Wearable.com quoted a fossil manager as saying, "It was a terrible deal." According to the manager, the technology and the knowledge of the employees should have been significantly more valuable. The sale prevented, however, that for cost reasons 50 to 80 other employees had to be dismissed.

What Google is doing with the Diana technology, is still unknown. Shortly after the deal in January 2019, it was suspected that Google would use the purchased knowledge for its own smartwatch; So far, the company has not yet presented such a device.