Fossil’s Diana based hybrid E-ink Smartwatch with Google Pay leaks out

Has the long rumoured ‘advanced’ technology that Google acquired from Fossil for $40 million dollars finally broken cover? We started to hear rumours yesterday that Fossil had made new style of hybrid smart watched based on what they were calling their Diana platform, and today it looks as if that device has leaked.

Thanks to the detectives over at the Wear OS subreddit it seems we have gotten our first look at a new Fossil Hybrid device featuring both mechanical hands and an E-ink display. Digging through the various listings online we have found references to the device supporting both Google Fit for activity and Heart Rate tracking and more excitingly Google Pay for payments.

The Fossil Collider Hybrid Smartwatch HR features a 42mm design with 3 buttons including what looks to be a digital crown, traditional analogue hands and an E-ink display. From the devices shots we know that the Collider will support activity tracking, heart rate and notifications/ messaging. Oh, and they’re claiming over two weeks of battery life.

In the text of several of the online listings, we found via Reddit we were able to confirm both Google Pay and Google Fit as well as the E-ink display, step tracking, notifications, e-mail, messaging, alarms, GPS, sleep tracking and of course Bluetooth.

What we cannot confirm is that if this is a Wear OS-powered device. It certainly has a lot of Wear OS features and services, but the only app that is mentioned in any of the listings is the Fossil app itself. It could be Wear OS, or a light variant of it, it could be controlled via the Google app or it may just be a Fossil device?

There is no mention of the charging method and there are no signs of pogo pins so it’s possible that the Collider could charge wirelessly. However, we also note that there is no HR sensor on the back so perhaps the images are incomplete renders?

We have to admit we are intrigued by the idea of a hybrid smartwatch with Google Pay, Fit integration, HR monitoring, step tracking, notification support and messaging as a starting point. Media control would be a great added feature but for 2 weeks of battery life that is a compelling offering.

With there now being colour e-ink displays it would be nice to see a splash of colour but perhaps that may come in the future? One glaring omission for a modern “Google-powered” product is Google Assistant. With Google trying to drive the integration of Assistant is the lack of it simply down to compatibility or is this Fossil going it alone?

With the device leaking internationally as well as on Amazon before being quickly pulled down hopefully we will see more concrete details emerge soon.