Would You Pay A Subscription To Unlock Your Smartwatch?
© Future ZeroImagine you just got a shiny new smartwatch. It may not be as beautiful as the Apple Watch Ultra, but it is something with all the features you need: like the Apple Watch Series 8, Google Pixel Watch or Samsung Galaxy Watch 5. You are excited to see the different sets that come to explore. along with it. in the app, then your watch will ask for money. If you want to unlock everything your device can do, you need to save money.
Big? No. That's basically what Mobvoi, makers of the affordable Ticwatch line of smartwatches, are doing. On Twitter (as noted by The Verge), the company announced the release of its latest software update, which brings updated sleep tracking capabilities and accompanying pricing. Early risers can unlock the feature for $2.99 per month; Regular price is $4.99. If you are not signed in, you will not be able to receive SpO2 data, minimum and maximum heart rate and sleep trend data.
It's easy to assume corporate greed and bad faith, which some of the responses to Mobvoi's tweets clearly do, but it's much more complicated. The lines between wearables and medical devices are increasingly blurring, and medical devices are being regulated in ways that traditional technology products are not. Getting regulatory approval is expensive, and it can leave companies with a choice: charge a higher upfront fee for their devices, which could limit their sales, or look for other ways to generate revenue. Mobvoi seems to have chosen the latter.
The problem in this particular case lies with the optics. Mobvoi hasn't said anything about the Wear OS 3 updates that other manufacturers are rolling out to their devices: The TicWatch is one of more than 4,000 devices that Google says could get Wear OS 3 by the end of 2022, and many commentators have means that the features- New features are only available for subscriptions and treat existing subscribers like cash cows.
I'm skeptical of subscriptions – extreme examples, like BMW charging extra to unlock features your car already has, like heated seats, really seem like an obvious cash grab. But tech products like smartwatches add more features over time, and we can't expect manufacturers to add them out of their hearts. Not all wearable device makers are as deep-pocketed as Apple, Samsung or Google, and subscriptions can help small businesses stay ahead of the competition.
