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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.

galaxygear.jpg
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.

The Verge went hands-on with the Galaxy Gear, criticizing the battery life and finding it to be "bulkier than the Pebble" with a "tangible lag."
There are a couple of significant downsides that temper my enthusiasm for the new Gear. First and foremost is the speed and intuitiveness of the user interface -- or rather, the lack thereof. There's a tangible lag to anything you do with the Gear, while the swipe gestures are hard to figure out and do different things depending on where you are in the menus.

Samsung promises "about a day" of endurance from the Gear, but by the end of our briefing with the company, the cameras on most of its demo units were refusing to turn on due to the watches running low on power.
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.

Article Link: Samsung Unveils $299 Galaxy Gear Smart Watch With One-Day Battery Life
 

Ryth

macrumors 68000
Apr 21, 2011
1,591
157
Epic Fail.

This is exactly what everyone would say Samsung would come out with...basically an iPod Nano with limited features. And these features are pretty bad and horrible battery life and interface. Relying on 3rd party apps is also bad. Not shocking at all, this is what I expect from an 'engineering/tech spec' focused company and not a design/usability company like Apple.

They did this so they could beat Apple to market so they cannot be caught up in another lawsuit with Apple.

Whatever Apple comes out with will not be a smartphone on your wrist like this thing is.

It will be a new device that combines multiple things into something you won't want to leave home without. From NFC, health monitoring, connectivity and other features along with a design that doesn't look like a watch (I mean seriously, it was SOOOO obvious what Samsungs watch was going to look like).

In fact, Apple will probably not even use the term Watch. They will use something that relates to a wrist band/bracelet/or device always with you.

I also find it funny that people defending Samsung are saying things like "You don't know what Apple will come out with..they could have come out with something just like this" and I think the majority of us know that Apple would never come out with something like this epic fail of technology.

I was going to post the Joker meme "And here we gooooo..." to signal the start of the smart watch wars....but I mean seriously this thing is just so awful I think this is more appropriate of a look from the Joker.

Page0405Embeds_02_1553362a.jpg
 
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NT1440

macrumors G5
May 18, 2008
14,466
20,398
It's got an 800mhz processor but multiple hands on demos are already describing lag ruining the experience....what gives?
 

dlewis23

macrumors 65816
Oct 23, 2007
1,149
1,827
Gonna love seeing the amazing quality pictures of everyones waist.
 

kre62

macrumors 68020
Jul 12, 2010
2,373
1,248
Joke of the highest order. Camera hump on wristband looks idiotic. Samsung blows it again. This plus the new leather backed Note 3 = huge fails.
 

palmharbor

macrumors 6502
Jul 31, 2007
408
0
Watch

P A S S I can think of many other things to do with $300!
 
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chrmjenkins

macrumors 603
Oct 29, 2007
5,325
158
MD
I think Samsung has the wrong angle. It just replicates and/or extends the functions of a phone. I expect Apple will feature a lot of fitness/biometric features that the iphone doesn't do directly, at least not without companion apps and not in a smart or automated way. I wouldn't be surprised if they have some sort of kinetic charging either-- something normal wrist watchers already do to avoid the need for winding.
 

neuropsychguy

macrumors 68020
Sep 29, 2008
2,354
5,533
That looks pretty good but it sounds like it won't be much competition for Apple's watch (at least in this first iteration). This is what you get when you rush a product out just to try and be first.
 

satchow

macrumors 6502
Jul 11, 2011
467
186
This will go down the same path as Android smartphones have gone. The terrible battery life will force them to have to use bigger batteries which they will cover up by increasing screen size. I can't wait for next year's Galaxy Gear S Note II with 4" screen.
 

Risco

macrumors 68000
Jul 22, 2010
1,946
262
United Kingdom
1 day battery life, are they freaking serious? This is not a smart phone; it is a watch, and I don't want to be plugging it in every 24 hrs!

Massive fail, as usual wait for the real McCoy from Apple. This is a prime example of why Samsung copy, their original ideas suck!
 

Lord Hamsa

macrumors 6502a
Jul 16, 2013
698
675
1-day battery life... so I gotta buy a new one every day? :D

Seriously, though, is it just me or does anyone else think those things are butt-ugly? Also, it looks like Samsung (as usual) has jumped on the "features" bandwagon without addressing usability.
 

nostaws

macrumors 6502a
Jan 14, 2006
519
472
red herring

I wouldn't be surprised if apple leaked to the world that they were working on a watch (even had some people working on it) just to get other companies to make one, and apple won't ever release it. lol
 

cmChimera

macrumors 601
Feb 12, 2010
4,271
3,753
Wow. This is actually worse than I expected. Can you innovate failing? Samsung seems to be doing just that.
 

Anuba

macrumors 68040
Feb 9, 2005
3,790
393
They look like $9 watches you can buy at gas stations.
Not a Samsung hater... just... they look dirt cheap is all.
 

Klae17

macrumors 65816
Jul 15, 2011
1,226
1,576
Remember when we complained about the ipad mini's $329 price point? This is a rip.
 

keysofanxiety

macrumors G3
Nov 23, 2011
9,539
25,302
Well, ultimately the reviews aren't that great for this. It's bulky and laggy.

It seems Samsung just tried to come in early to this game, because they know Apple are working on such a thing and are trying to eat away at the market share early. The problem is that they don't really know what Apple are going to do with a wristwatch, and I don't think Apple will release something as sub-par as this.

Very interested to see what Apple do.
 

Ryth

macrumors 68000
Apr 21, 2011
1,591
157
1-day battery life... so I gotta buy a new one every day? :D

Seriously, though, is it just me or does anyone else think those things are butt-ugly? Also, it looks like Samsung (as usual) has jumped on the "features" bandwagon without addressing usability.

Are you shocked? They are run by tech/engineering/tech spec types. That's all these people care about.

Sony's President about 3 years ago (I wish I saved the article) said that the reason Sony was struggling so bad with consumers was that their products were being designed by engineers and for what engineers thought was cool.

He then said that what engineering types think is cool and is usable, is NOT what consumers think is cool or usable and that they needed to hire more designer/tech types and just have the engineers build what they design.
 

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,666
5,879
1-day battery life... so I gotta buy a new one every day? :D

Seriously, though, is it just me or does anyone else think those things are butt-ugly? Also, it looks like Samsung (as usual) has jumped on the "features" bandwagon without addressing usability.

and do we really want to charge our watches now too =/

watches are more of a fashion statement today
 

Stuipdboy1000

macrumors 65816
Jun 30, 2007
1,286
739
Glasgow, Scotland, UK
The biggest let down for it is the fact that it needs to be used in conjunction with another Samsung device, namely one that was introduced today. I think Samsung has missed a trick, as they would probably sell many more to people who don't want/have one of their smartphones yet want a piece of the smartwatch action. As long as Apple makes the device usable whether you own an iDevice or not, I don't think Samsung are going to be rustling any feathers in Cupertino.
 
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