Fitbit's next-gen smartwatch will launch with its own app platform

Fitbit desperately needs its upcoming smartwatch to be a success, so the company is planning to prop it up with a brand-new app platform at launch. 

James Park, Fitbit's CEO, confirmed that a new app ecosystem is in the works for the unnamed smartwatch's long-awaited debut in a conversation with The Verge. The app platform has been rumored since January, even before Park first teased the device after the company was forced to lay off 6 percent of its workforce. 

Park told the publication that the app platform will launch alongside the smartwatch, complete with a number of programs specially created by partners for the device. There will also be a new SDK, which will be open to developers shortly after the release, and users will be able to purchase and download the new apps they create via some kind of "app gallery" to be included in the larger Fitbit app. Read more...