SPO2 sensor on Ionic

[JAH67]

Part of the sales pitch for the Ionic watch was that it has multiple additional features that would come online after launch, including the ability to check blood oxygen levels. I've yet to find anything to do with it anywhere. Has anyone got any information when this stuff is going live or was it just marketing? 

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity and word choice.

[Kkjb]

Oxford Street in London is one of Europe's biggest shopping centres so yes there are multiple stores selling fitbits. The evidence for their misinformation is the consistency of the message I recorded from the sales staff who were all clearly well briefed on the sp02.

As I said-if they could get it to work they would because it's the USP. I work with pulse oximeters every day and they are very position dependent. Just about work with the finger tips or the capillaries of the earlobes. The wrist would be very difficult. A 5% difference in 02 saturation is very significant and often indicates serious pathology. Fitbit would need to get their sensor working to a 1-2% accuracy for it to have any use even as a fitness device. I'm afraid that I doubt they have been able to get it to work. Google wrist based pulse oximeters if you like-you'll see that they use finger tip probes. 

This is all factual. If you feel that it is a personal attack perhaps you have a personal affiliation.

I'm sure Fitbit will love to delete this thread.

People want to know when sp02 is out and are asking on a daily basis because they have a device that isn't working.

[SunsetRunner]

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@Kkjbwrote:

Oxford Street in London is one of Europe's biggest shopping centres so yes there are multiple stores selling fitbits. The evidence for their misinformation is the consistency of the message I recorded from the sales staff who were all clearly well briefed on the sp02.

As I said-if they could get it to work they would because it's the USP. I work with pulse oximeters every day and they are very position dependent. Just about work with the finger tips or the capillaries of the earlobes. The wrist would be very difficult. A 5% difference in 02 saturation is very significant and often indicates serious pathology. Fitbit would need to get their sensor working to a 1-2% accuracy for it to have any use even as a fitness device. I'm afraid that I doubt they have been able to get it to work. Google wrist based pulse oximeters if you like-you'll see that they use finger tip probes. 

This is all factual. If you feel that it is a personal attack perhaps you have a personal affiliation.

I'm sure Fitbit will love to delete this thread.

People want to know when sp02 is out and are asking on a daily basis because they have a device that isn't working.

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Keep saying phrases "personal attack" people might believe you, none of this is personal. This is all about facts and the quest to get you to back up your alligations. You still haven't provided sources, perhaps the only way you can feel that you can back yourself up is to label people "shameless apologists" etc and say "all this is factual". Genius.

Now you say you compared prices down "Oxford Street" (for your patients) as though people do this rather than go online. Funny how you didn't mention Oxford Street before when asked twice (If I was talking about Oxford Street I would hardly fail to mention it).

AND you somehow think by mentioning a store in Oxford Street you would somehow "tarnish their reputation", so you can't.. pull the other one.

And it just so happened that Fitbit reps (must  come all the way from Dublin) were crawling around and you spoke to a "senior manager". Seriously who says they are a "senior manager"?  Regardless it's clear this is all made up.

There are many statements that lost your credibility the top one so far is:

"They cant get the software for the sensor to work". There is absolutely no way you could possibly know this.

[SunsetRunner]

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@hutchbwrote:

Bunch of butt hurt Fitbit libtards..  Been since September when I seen Fitbit advertise a SPO2 sensor.  Still doesn't work.  FITBIT is garbage.  Hell investors even think so.

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"Fitbit libtards".

Another genius.

[Kkjb]

Fitalex this is a post called 'sp02 sensor'. It is for people who genuinely want to find out when it's available. Many of these people bought the watch in good faith and are disappointed. For Fitbit to ignore this issue is a mistake. We are here for information. You don't have this information and seemingly don't want to know when sp02 will be available. So why are you on here?

600 pointless posts. Don't you have something better to do? I hope they send you a free strap or something.

[SunsetRunner]

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@Kkjbwrote:

Fitalex this is a post called 'sp02 sensor'. It is for people who genuinely want to find out when it's available. Many of these people bought the watch in good faith and are disappointed. For Fitbit to ignore this issue is a mistake. We are here for information. You don't have this information and seemingly don't want to know when sp02 will be available. So why are you on here?

600 pointless posts. Don't you have something better to do? I hope they send you a free strap or something.

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So you made stuff up, when you got called out you could not provide sources. Now you are trying to reduce my creditability. Boring and predictable.

Firstly "you" are not "we", nobody asked you to be the trade union representative, people speak for themselves.

 I am still waiting for you show the sources of your multiple accusations against Fitbit. You've made a number of vague statements and when queired you've simply tried to dodge the bullets.

Sorry you are not the thread moderator who gets to decide what people should post, it is not going to help you distract from all of this.

[Nettuno]

I had to turn off the Heartbeat check because unreliable, so daily caloric consumption is a useless calculation for Ionic.
Now I use a competitive Cardio Band for my sport and a Polar for counting steps and GPS ...
So I will keep my beautiful Fitbit for the SPO2 control and I will combine a cardio belt 

[SunsetRunner]

I would like to say there has been a lot of disinformation about that sensor, mainly from people posting here. It's either going to come out or it isn't .. who knows.. one would assume so but nobody knows when. People have posted over and over again and this is the official answer, it's extremely unlikely this stance will chance until something actually happens.

Secondly even though this is the current situation, Fitbit never promised customers the sensor, they may have perceived it but it never was listed in the specs or the marketing material.

There are only two places where it was mentioned.

1) Via an investor press release as a future. This press release had a disclaimer which allows Fitbit an opt out of they did deliver.

2) Some vague statement about a Fitbit guy in India. I agree it is misleading, however it appears paraphrased and I would not be surprised if it was misreported. But I do not know.

Many people (mostly one individual) has made a lot up saying there were other press materials. There is absolutely nothing to back this up, it all point back to the press release. Another accusation is that Fitbit changed the spec's. Well I bought the Ionic on the first day of sale, before I did anything I checked the specs on the website and found out no O2 sensor was listed. So I can categorically state that this is a lie. Another accusation is that they are unable to develop the software. As nobody has access to this information from Fitbit this is clearly a lie as well.

If anybody any more information FROM FITBIT about the O2 sensor please post here. I maintain an open mind. Please make sure the information is not hearsay, via some third party website and make sure it is substantial.

My personal opinion is that I am disappointed that the O2 sensor has not arrived yet, however I simply don't like people spreading disinformation on the internet, even if I may side with their opinions. Opinions should always be based on facts, sadly since the age of Trump it appears these values are going out of the Window.

Finally those shouting it's not fit for purpose for some reason should return it, if they have not returned it within a reasonable time that is their problem. If they believe they were promised a working O2 sensor however frankly there is nothing to back that up.

[Kkjb]

So Fitalex what exactly is the official line because it sounds like you don't know either. If you don't know then why are you posting on this board? How are you qualified to comment on this anyway? You apparently dont work for Fitbit. You know nothing about pulse oximetry. 

You're on Oxford Street. I'm guessing you work in retail or admin. What qualifies you to be the Fitbit spokesperson on here?

[SunsetRunner]

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@Kkjbwrote:

So Fitalex what exactly is the official line because it sounds like you don't know either. If you don't know then why are you posting on this board? How are you qualified to comment on this anyway? You apparently dont work for Fitbit. You know nothing about pulse oximetry. 

You're on Oxford Street. I'm guessing you work in retail or admin. What qualifies you to be the Fitbit spokesperson on here?

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No I don't work in retail or admin. I have nothing to do with Fitbit other than I own an Ionic.

You've seen my previous posts. There is only the investor press release and the Indian guy as sources. The rest is the fictional stuff you made up. Nobody has anything to add unless they want to make up BS.

I'm still looking though for "Fitbit reps" and "senior sales managers" in Oxford Stret, sorry not luck at the moment. At John Lewis right now.

Keep trying to throw mud to distract from what you said lol! I am still waiting for sources to back up your clearly fictional comments.

[SunsetRunner]

@Kkjbwrote:

So Fitalex what exactly is the official line because it sounds like you don't know either. 

@MariamV wrote:

Hi everyone! 

This feature is not currently available. In the future, this sensor could give consumers the opportunity to identify potential health issues like sleep apnea. Fitbit is still exploring how this could manifest in the consumer experience and, such technology would use this sensor. 

Thanks for your understanding.

I suggest you learn to read threads. This has been stated several times now.

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[SantiR]

Hello everyone! Thanks for your participation on this thread regarding the SPO2 sensor.

Just wanted to jump in here to get this thread back on topic; this is the current information we have:

"As of the moment, this feature is not yet available. In the future, this sensor could give consumers the opportunity to identify potential health issues like sleep apnea. Fitbit is still exploring how this could manifest in the consumer experience and, such technology would use this sensor. "

I do want to assure you that as more information becomes available, I will be sure to keep you all updated. 

Thanks for your patience! See you around! 

[Tinkerstoy]

And soon we will travel to Mars. Time is relative. The issue is I bought
this watch because of the advertised feature. Please give us an estimated
time frame. This summer? Year? Next?

[SunsetRunner]

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@Tinkerstoywrote:
And soon we will travel to Mars. Time is relative. The issue is I bought
this watch because of the advertised feature. Please give us an estimated
time frame. This summer? Year? Next?

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Did you read the previous post?

The word "could" came up quite a bit. They aren't even promising to deliver (nor have they ever, further info in this thread which has been discussed to death), so good luck in your thinking they might supply you timescales.

[FlyByPC]

Thanks. Do you know if Fitbit plans to release an API capable of reading this data? I understand not wanting to legally claim medical benefits, but I'd love to develop a face watch that could show this data in real time, just for fun.

[Kkjb]

Textbook example of how to alienate your customers. 

Shame because I was happy to back the underdog against Apple and android.

It's all started to fall apart.

[SunsetRunner]

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@FlyByPCwrote:

Thanks. Do you know if Fitbit plans to release an API capable of reading this data? I understand not wanting to legally claim medical benefits, but I'd love to develop a face watch that could show this data in real time, just for fun.

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If there is to be an API (unlikely IMHO, but I don't know).. one thing is for sure, they would release the customer functionality/front end first. As we don't know if they are doing that your question is a bit cart before horse.

[SunsetRunner]

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@Kkjbwrote:

Textbook example of how to alienate your customers. 

Shame because I was happy to back the underdog against Apple and android.

It's all started to fall apart.

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Naaa.

What has gone on is..

a) Fitbit has said to investors SPO2 functionality may be on the way with all the usual opt outs with one single press release.

b) Fitbit never mentioned to customers in the spec's that there was SPO2 functionality.

c) People like you have been trying to muddle this, some journo's report this may have muddled this but they were mainly investor journos and not gadget mags, either way all sources point to the press release in (a).

Like it or not Fitbit has given a clear statement that they may (or may not) introduce the functionality. Fitbit never promised you or any customer about SPO2.

To be fair somebody who works for Fitbit in India may have said something misleading, it would be nice to have the full details rather than a third party website report it.

These are the facts...

Now below is the fake news you have spread with no basis in fact, nothing to back it up, all direct quotes, I'll let other people decide whether you have an agenda or not:

"It's all started to fall apart"

" Fitbit have"zero tolerance"for dissent on their board"

"Textbook example of how to alienate your customers."

" For Fitbit to ignore this issue is a mistake."

"The evidence for their misinformation is the consistency of the message I recorded from the sales staff who were all clearly well briefed on the sp02."

"This is all very embarrassing for Fitbit."

"Sales staff were taking about the sp02. Clearly the reps were told to push this."

"If they could get it to work I'm sure they would have released it by now. Its the USP. "

"Actually I was sold the sensor by a senior retail staff member who had just come out of a meeting with one of the fitbit reps. The information was from a Fitbit rep who had promised a higher level of accuracy than the equivalent Nokia device."

"Lets face it: they cant get the software for the sensor to work"

"They are taking down the specs"

[Kkjb]

There is no distinction between an investor press release and a press release in that information is put out into the public domain.

First page from Google:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41082953

https://sleeptrackers.io/fitbit-ionic/

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/20/fitbit-is-going-after-sleep-apnea-to-expand-beyond-fitness-tracking....

https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/30/16227040/fitbit-sleep-apnea-tracking-ionic-smartwatch-sensors

https://www.wired.com/story/when-your-activity-tracker-becomes-a-personal-medical-device/

Some big news sites amongst that lot! So we all just got the wrong end of the stick?

[waynepoynton]

Fitbit plans to submit sleep apnea, Afib detection tools for FDA clearance,yes at last.

[WavyDavey]

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@Kkjbwrote:

There is no distinction between an investor press release and a press release in that information is put out into the public domain.

First page from Google:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41082953

https://sleeptrackers.io/fitbit-ionic/

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/20/fitbit-is-going-after-sleep-apnea-to-expand-beyond-fitness-tracking....

https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/30/16227040/fitbit-sleep-apnea-tracking-ionic-smartwatch-sensors

https://www.wired.com/story/when-your-activity-tracker-becomes-a-personal-medical-device/

Some big news sites amongst that lot! So we all just got the wrong end of the stick?

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I didn't read all of them, but the articles seem clear that we're talking about potential technology. Was there one among them that promised something more?