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Fitbit faces ill-timed lawsuits over haptic feedback
Fitbit is facing hard times between slowing fitness tracker sales and a reportedly floundering smartwatch project. Unfortunately, there's more bad news to add to the pile. Immersion is suing Fitbit in China and the US for allegedly violating multiple patents (three in each country) for haptic feedback. Supposedly, devices ranging from the original Flex to the Blaze all borrow Immersion's approach to vibrating a device in response to commands and for alerts. Fitbit rebuffed "numerous attempts" to strike a licensing deal, Immersion claims, so this is considered a last resort.
Fitbit's Charge 2 helps keep your heart in the zone
We like Fitbit's Charge 2 fitness tracker, but there's no question that it has room for improvement -- in particular, it could do with better guidance when you're in the middle of some activities. Thankfully, you're getting just that. A just-launched firmware update for the Charge 2 has added a slew of genuinely practical features highlighted by heart rate and breathing help. There's an upgraded heart rate zone display (shown at top) that makes it easier to tell whether or not your blood is pumping as quickly as it should. If you need to step up the intensity, you'll know with a quick glance. The breathing-oriented Relax mode, meanwhile, now has Apple Watch-style vibration cues so you don't have to stare at the screen while you calm down.
New in our buyer's guide: The iPhone 7 and Fitbit Charge 2
Well, well, well. After just a few months of phone releases and reviews, our smartphone buyer's guide section looks very different than it did recently. New to the guide, as you'd expect, are the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, both of which earned strong reviews from us. The HTC 10 and Galaxy S7 have held their spots there, with the OnePlus 3 rounding out the list at the lower end. (And yes, we are thanking our lucky stars that we didn't have time to add the highly rated Galaxy Note 7 into the guide before it was recalled and discontinued.) We've also made some changes to our wearables section, with the Apple Watch Series 1 and Series 2 both making the cut (the Series 2 is the best in absolute terms, but we recommend the Series 1 for more people). You'll also find the Fitbit Charge 2, our new favorite all-around fitness tracker. Find all that and more right here in our buyer's guide, and be sure to check back soon -- we plan to review some highly anticipated releases like Google's new Pixel phones as well as the PlayStation Pro.
Fitbit's new Charge 2 and Flex 2 wearables leak
Fitbit's Charge and Flex sports trackers are two and three years old, respectively, so a recent trademark listing stoked rumors that new models would come soon. We can now see what the Flex 2 and Charge 2 probably look like, thanks to a leak from TechnoBuffalo. The smartwatch-like Charge 2 has a bigger screen and interchangeable bands in blue, violet and black. It also comes with a PurePulse heart rate monitor, and as before, it supports smartphone notifications and multi-sport tracking, according to the listing below.
