Samsung Galaxy Gear smart watch

[wabbit]

Next week at a media event in Germany, Samsung has confirmed it will unveil a new wearable device dubbed the Galaxy Gear, representing the company's latest stab at a smart watch.

Ahead of the Sept. 4 event in Berlin, Samsung revealed to The Korea Times this week that its forthcoming Galaxy Gear will be a smart watch with a non-flexible display. Lee Young-hee, executive vice president of Samsung's mobile business, referred to the accessory as a "concept device," suggesting it may not be ready for the mass market."

"The new device will enhance and enrich the current smart mobile experience in many ways," Lee said. "It will lead a new trend in smart mobile communications. We are confident that the Gear will add meaningful momentum to the mobile industry."

I'm really interested to see how this'll pan out. Is the timing right? Is functionally enough to warrant "non tech heads" a look in? The Pebble watch and similar recent products have pushed ever so slightly towards more wearable gear but I'm thinking they haven't done enough. Yes a difficult ask because for all products are coming from 3rd parties.

[DexterPunk]

I'm guessing they are trying to beat apples watch with the launch of theirs


Sent from Han Solo using TK-421's phone.

[Big Kev]

Yeah Apple has been heavily rumoured to be working on a similar thing.

I think I'd need to see what it does first. I'm not a big watch wearer or smartphone user anyway (I have an iphone but I don't 'run my life' on it) so some of the proposed functions of these things seem a little tenuous. Yes it might show you that you have a new email or text but you probably still have to dig your phone out to read it anyway so those kind of notification suggestions seem a bit pointless to me. Could well turn out to be a bit of a passing fad. Watches tend to get battered a lot so people may be a bit more cautious about having something very expensive with a touch screen on it in a place where it can easily get damaged.

[DexterPunk]

I doubt I'd ever buy one. I love watches, but I love their analogue engineering. It's nice having something analogue and mechanical in a digital age. They are also classy, dressy, and a nice piece of jewelry really. I can't see a Samsung or Apple watch being any of these things.


Sent from Han Solo using TK-421's phone.

[richo]

If they don't look like a reject from Red Dwarf I'm keen as mustard. It must be the inner Bond or Kirk in me.

Sent from my GT-I9100T

[wabbit]

First mover approach is important or rather you can't wait to ship a product until its "perfect". Heh Apple could be a poster child here (e.g.: iPhone 1st gen, Apple TV 1st gen, iPad 1st gen... you get where I'm going here).

And I don't think Samsung is only worried about Apple (Apple has patents from 2005). We know Casio, Sony and Google are also working away on their own solutions.

I remember (got stupidly excited) sometime around the early 2000's, the notion of the next network would be the PAN (Personal Area Network). It was thought IrDA, Bluetooth and WiFi would connect these devices together (your PDA, Phone and say Watch) and also allow a gateway for Internet communications. Of course it died quickly because the technology wasn't available (Bluetooth v4 or say battery tech).

[And now my minds gone blank, bugger!]

[Big Kev]

Samsung today announced its Galaxy Gear Smartwatch, a wearable device that features a 1.63-inch 320 x 320 resolution AMOLED touchscreen, built-in speakers, and a 1.9-megapixel camera in the strap. It has an 800MHz processor, 4GB of storage, and 512MB of RAM.

Samsung’s watch will support voice control with S Voice and is able to make and receive calls and video memos. Designed as a companion for the newly introduced Galaxy Note 3 and new Note 10.1, the Galaxy Gear also notifies wearers of text messages and other updates. It does not function on its own, requiring a Bluetooth 4.0 connection to work.

The Galaxy Gear is not currently compatible with Samsung devices beyond the Note 3 and 10.1 as it runs Android 4.3, but it will support 70 third-party applications at launch, including popular offerings like Evernote and Path, along with many health oriented apps like RunKeeper and MyFitnessPal.

It includes a pedometer to measure fitness levels, an accelerometer, and a 315 mAh battery that provides up to one day of regular use, according to Samsung reps that spoke to Engadget.

Poor battery life is said to be one of the main factors that Apple is working to overcome with its own iWatch, which is currently in development. In March, a report suggested that Apple had yet to reach its target goal of four to five days of battery life for the device.

Samsung is offering the Galaxy Gear in six different colors, including Jet Black, Mocha Gray, Wild Orange, Oatmeal Beige, Rose Gold, and Lime Green. It will also come with 10 different clock options with more choices available for download.

"I believe it will become a new fashion icon around the world," said Samsung CEO JK Shin.

The Galaxy Gear will be launched alongside the Galaxy Note 3 in 140 countries beginning on September 25 and will be available worldwide in October. It will be priced at $299.

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[NeilPearson]

really? Only compatible with the new tabs?

No thanks

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4

[r8response]

Support for older devices like the S3, S4 and Note II will come some time in October.

[KNAPPO]

These smartwatches really seem like a solution to a first world problem in regards to notifications.
Im interested to see what Google brings out considering they purchased WIMM Labs last year.

[wabbit]

Can something be classified as smart if it must be tethered?

-- that's where my heads at. I don't know the answer.

[norbs]

Can something be classified as smart if it must be tethered?

-- that's where my heads at. I don't know the answer.

[richo]

These smartwatches really seem like a solution to a first world problem in regards to notifications.
Im interested to see what Google brings out considering they purchased WIMM Labs last year.

I have no need for one whatsoever yet i have this irresistible urge to get one or a Pebble ..

[wabbit]

norbs, come again? (thingy aint working... wait i got it now).

[Big Kev]

It certainly seems to have been met with a resounding.....meh

I also find it quite funny how some people go on about Apple making this closed system of hardware and software and yet here we have Samsung doing exactly the same thing.

From the video, the UI looks a little clunky but as it's a first generation I'd forgive that.
I really don't see the point of the camera as you're likely to have your phone on you anyway which will have a better one, and tied to that is, if I understand it right, it tells you that you have an email but you then have to fish out your phone to read it anyway. Not sure I really get the point of that.

It's not far off what the previous gen ipod nano was when you fitted it to a wrist strap.

[norbs]

norbs, come again? (thingy aint working... wait i got it now).

Understand now why I bailed on my stand up career?

[richo]

It certainly seems to have been met with a resounding.....meh

I also find it quite funny how some people go on about Apple making this closed system of hardware and software and yet here we have Samsung doing exactly the same thing.

From the video, the UI looks a little clunky but as it's a first generation I'd forgive that.
I really don't see the point of the camera as you're likely to have your phone on you anyway which will have a better one, and tied to that is, if I understand it right, it tells you that you have an email but you then have to fish out your phone to read it anyway. Not sure I really get the point of that.

It's not far off what the previous gen ipod nano was when you fitted it to a wrist strap.

The camera is quite creepy , could you imagine what Japanese businessmen and men of the cloth could do with that ?

[Big Kev]

From the dailymash

SAMSUNG’S new Galaxy Gear watch is aimed at people who want to look like they are playing a kids’ spy game.

A spokesman said: “You can speak into it, saying something like ‘Come in spy base number one.’

“‘I have located the enemy spies.’

“You can make and receive normal calls on it too, but it is mainly for pretending to be an 80s children’s TV spy.”

38-year-old Roy Hobbs said: “I want one so that when my wife calls me to ask about getting some potatoes from the shop I can act like I am getting a mission to destroy someone called ‘Doctor Moebius’.”

[w00dsy]

if you own one now you are a creepy stalker

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[DexterPunk]

Jesus.


Sent from Han Solo using TK-421's phone.