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posted by martyb on Friday January 18 2019, @09:29PM   Printer-friendly
from the time-for-a-change dept.

Google just spent $40 million for Fossil's secret smartwatch tech

Google and watchmaker Fossil Group today announced an agreement for the search giant to acquire some of Fossil's smartwatch technology and members of the research and development division responsible for creating it. The deal is worth roughly $40 million, and under the current terms Fossil will transfer a "portion" of its R&D team, the portion directly responsible for the intellectual property being sold, over to Google. As a result, Google will now have a dedicated team with hardware experience working internally on its WearOS software platform and potentially on new smartwatch designs as well.

[...] According to Wareable, the technology is a "new product innovation that's not yet hit the market," Greg McKelvey, Fossil's executive vice president of chief strategy and digital officer, told the publication. It's unclear what exactly that innovation is, or why exactly Google is so eager to buy it, although $40 million is a drop in the bucket for Google when it comes to acquisition costs.

Hologram watch.

See also: Fossil shares jump after Google agrees to buy smartwatch tech for $40 million

Also at AnandTech.


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  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday January 18 2019, @09:59PM (1 child)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Friday January 18 2019, @09:59PM (#788428)

    My guess: 10 employees + enough patents to do whatever it is that they want, but Fossil might make problems for them in patent court.

    An infringement lawsuit can cost $40M real quick, if there's a high volume product involved.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 19 2019, @04:42PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 19 2019, @04:42PM (#788679)

    Not spending billions? Have we hit peak bubble?