Winners and losers: Fitbit levels up as Windows users get 0wn3d

CES 2020 may be behind us, but it has been yet another turbulent week in the world of tech.

Over the last seven days we’ve seen everything from swish new Apple Airpods rivals from the likes of B&O to fresh leaks about a new Nintendo Switch Pro hit the headlines. But in this sea of news, for us here at Trusted Reviews, there have been two very clear winners and losers in the world of tech this week.

Winner: Fitbit, for seriously leveling up its trackers

Fitbit users had a great week, with the company rolling out two key upgrades to its existing trackers.

The first, is the long awaited activation of the dormant SpO2 sensor in its Ionic, Charge 3 and Versa trackers. The sensor has always been included in the three, but prior to this week it was about as useful as a third nipple. Thanks to an over the air update it’s now working at full speed and will offer users a variety of useful features.

The biggest is the ability to estimate its wearer’s blood oxygenation levels. This may sound a little technical but it’s a pretty useful metric that lets you gauge key things like your general fitness, performance during a workout and overall stamina levels.

The second is a new beta feature that lets the tracker detect when you’re snoring. The aptly named Fitbit Labs Snore Detect Beta program is now open for Fitbit users who have a Versa 2. It lets the tracker more accurately judge how well you’re sleeping and give you a detailed breakdown how loud you are during the wee hours.

Related: Best fitness trackers

Loser: Windows users

Windows users were hit with a double whammy of bad news this week. First, Microsoft ended support for Windows 7. Though the OS may be fairly old, it still had a fairly diehard user base. This, plus the hefty cost to upgrade to Windows 10, left many 7 users between a rock and a hard place. Specifically, it gave them a choice of paying up for a Windows 10 license or, running the risk of using an unsupported operating system that won’t get any further security updates.

If that wasn’t enough of a problem, the dangers of running an OS without security patch support were highlighted mere hours later, when reports broke of a fresh ‘major’ security vulnerability in Windows surfaced.

The news broke via security investigator Brian Krebs, who uncovered evidence the NSA had alerted Microsoft to a scary vulnerability in Windows 10 that could be used by hackers to install malicious software on machines.

The vulnerability has since been patched, but it was serious enough for both the NSA and Microsoft to issue warnings urging Windows users to update their software ASAP.