Samsung Unveils Line of Gear 2 Smart Watches Featuring 'Tizen' Mobile Operating System

[Matt8045]

Some very ill informed users in this thread. I fond it amazing the amount of posters saying Samsung have rushed out a smartwatch just because there are rumours of Apple releasing on.

Samsung released the first WatchPhone back in 1999 called the SPH-WP10

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Samsung also released a WatchPhone in France during 2009, called the S9110

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Bet lets not let facts get in the way eh?!

So their gear phone should be miles ahead of where it is now. That's just a testament to them not making progress till they get cues from other companies in the industry

 

[Dave.UK]

Samsung smartwatch? Zzzzzzzz.

When was the last time they made anything worthwhile..... who cares.



I hate to break it to you but the CURRENT version of Android is clunky; nothing has changed. It's still hideously ugly and works about as well as a 1970 Yugo.



lol? The difference is Apple releases something that WORKS and that people want while Samsung just releases garbage and then waits for Apple to release something so they can copy it.

I detect a little bit of the green eyed monster!

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So their gear phone should be miles ahead of where it is now. That's just a testament to them not making progress till they get cues from other companies in the industry

If you want to go along that line of thought, you could apply the same logic to the iPhone. After all these years it hasnt changed or altered much.

 

[NeverAssumeNorm]

Looks much nicer than the first one. The camera on the strap was horrible. I still doubt this thing will actually be any good.

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Like a 90's Casio. A feature that when it rarely worked was only good for school to annoy teachers until they confiscated the watch. Not exactly forward thinking.

You can control your TV with your watch. What's not to like about that

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As far as I'm concerned all these smart watches are solutions looking for a problem. I don't see the killer app or must have aspect of these devices. It's like someone decided the 'next big thing' in tech is wearable so everyone is now rushing some sort of wearable device to the market. And of course Apple is doomed for not joining the rush.

Apple is joining the rush and is making their own smart watch. It's another thing that shows that they've run out of ideas (for an obvious reason). For that reason, I've switched from AAPL to SPY. Also, look out for that down day for AAPL tomorrow.

 

[APlotdevice]

You know, I just realized that I haven't given any actual opinion on this new device...

Well, I think Samsung has made a definite step forward; Addressing some of the rough spots with the original Gear. However IMO it still has one major flaw... one which I fear the iWatch will share: the relatively battery-hungry OLED display. Pebble had the right idea when they gave their device an ePaper display. It may not be bright and vivid, but it's more immediately accessible (always on) and lets the device run considerably longer on a single charge.

 

[NeverAssumeNorm]

Like the people that bought an iPad 3 and then an iPad 4 comes out a short time later with the specs that the 3 should have had initially? But since it was Apple nobody was upset? This happens all the time in many industries, especially fast paced ones like electronics.

iPad (3rd generation) and iPad (4th generation), actually. 5 months for Samsung vs 10 months for Apple. That "short time" was much longer.

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no one claims samsung invented the heart rate sensor. as for the implementation, no can yet tell how good or badly it is implemented.

Who cares? It's useless, and now Apple's also probably making one.

 

[bsolar]

Keep on telling yourself that buddy and maybe even you will believe it.

According to data from december Android has more than 50% of smartphone subscribers's share. If you believe given this data that Android is not successful the one in need of a reality check is you. I don't even unterstand this childish hate for Android. Anyway Tizen is an interesting project and the more competition the better.

 

[NeverAssumeNorm]

Surprising not to see any "So this is how they treat their loyal early adopters - I should be given the chance to upgrade to the new one for 10¢" type thread. No one must have bought the original.

Those who bought it are probably quite brand-loyal and wouldn't complain.

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Hmm... did Samsung decide to just start flinging s*** at the wall to see what will stick?

That's what works, so I can't blame them. Blame the customers for actually believing that anything they buy will hold any value and get continued support.

 

[osofast240sx]

Looks much nicer than the first one. The camera on the strap was horrible. I still doubt this thing will actually be any good.

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You can control your TV with your watch. What's not to like about that

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Apple is joining the rush and is making their own smart watch. It's another thing that shows that they've run out of ideas (for an obvious reason). For that reason, I've switched from AAPL to SPY. Also, look out for that down day for AAPL tomorrow.

Who said Apple is making a smart watch?? It will be a wearable for sure!

 

[NeverAssumeNorm]

My issue is that they only target Samsung rumors. I have a Note 3 and have been following Android for years. This is just a fraction of the Android news. LG announced 2 phones last week and just yesterday Lenovo said that they will announce a tablet on Monday. During mobile congress this week we could see maybe 10 other smart watches from other Android OEM'S yet Macrumors only cherry pick Samsung.
And I rarely see any Windows Phones on Macrumors. I bet over 90% of you guys didn't even know that Nokia just released the Nokia Icon on Verizon. Most of you are only Apple lovers but I'm a gadget lover. Sucks to see news being targeted for click responses. Stick with Apple rumors or become a site like Engadget.

Showing articles about smart watches actually makes sense since Apple is planning to make one, according to rumors. As for the S3/S4/S5 articles, Samsung is Apple's biggest competitor, but I don't really care about those articles myself.

Also, what's with Samsung's phones having reversed iPhone names?

 

[brinary001]

I'm loving these MAC RUMORS, guys.

It actually corresponds well to Apple given all the speculation about a smart watch of their own. If it looked like they had absolutely NO plans for wearable tech anytime soon, then yes it would be a little out of place. But that's just it- they do. Geez you fanboys really can't get enough of Apple, huh?

 

[epic-retouching]

The interesting thing here is that it has a built-in heart rate sensor that doesn't require a separate belt around the chest.

well you know you don't have to measure heart rate by going to the chest haha. Most people go for the wrist pulse first

 

[Michael Goff]

Does anyone know the address of samsungrumors.com?

Half the site has nothing to do with Macs, so obviously they've changed.

 

[olowott]

still don't know what it looks like hmmmmm samsung, you still don't know

 

[Todd B.]

Way more people care about Samsung products than Apple products (is it 2 to 1 in smart phones and a millions to zero in TVs?) Does that answer your question?

Nope, Samsung is a mass-manufacturer of crappy products. Nobody would care one second if they went out of business, honestly.

 

[Dave.UK]

Nope, Samsung is a mass-manufacturer of crappy products. Nobody would care one second if they went out of business, honestly.

That has to be one of the craziest comments ive ever heard on MacRumours - And thats saying something!

 

[shandyman]

Samsung Unveils Line of Gear 2 Smart Watches Featuring 'Tizen' Mobile Operati...

The earliest "rumors" about "biosensors" in the iWatch I found are from March 2013. A discussion about implementing "activity and Sleep Track" features (which are definately "health related") in the Pebble smartwatch is dated April 2012.

Samsung have blatantly heard the talk of Apple looking into health stuff and implemented it into the gear 2 and rushed it out before apple get the chance to release theirs, so that the non geeks, who haven't read sites like these, would think Samsung did it first. Your link to the pebble forum is just a thread of Devs talking about implementing it. None of them were actual Pebble Devs, from what I've read. The Gear and the Gear 2 just both seemed rushed pieces of tat. I know 2 people that got the gear, they returned it after a week as they hated the fact it can barely last a day on battery. Personally I love my pebble, it lasts about 10 days between charge and does what I want.

Additionally, Apple haven't released theirs yet due to battery life, wanting to get a weeks charge out of it, according to the rumours. That alone is a good enough reason to delay. Better to release a stable and reliable product than rush one out just to be the equivalent of an Internet forum poster shouting 'First!'

 

[philips]

So their gear phone should be miles ahead of where it is now. That's just a testament to them not making progress till they get cues from other companies in the industry

LOL. Two years ago, the technology for the Gear watches wasn't even there: thin LCD/AMOLED panels, thin protective glass, smaller more efficient batteries, smaller more efficient CPUs and low-power wireless tech.

Yes, there were similar developments before and there were other companies trying to produce the e-watches - but they all were crippled one way or another (one day battery life and/or poor screen and/or only few supported apps).

No, there is no single bit of turn-point technology inside. It's just combination of all the developments in the different areas.

To me personally, all of the released e-watches (Gear included) fail because they are too thick. 8mm or thinner + at least one week of battery life and then we are talking. Not seeing it happen any time soon, though.

 

[Thehangmn]

It's always laughable that the "Samsung is so cool" trolls regularly attempt to haunt this site.
Samsung is cool because they offer larger screens? Phablets? Gimmicks are cool?

That watch is so ugly only the fashion challenged geekiest of the geek would wear it.

Samsung needs to invest in some folks who can design something innovative and then execute that design with clarity and functionality.

Samsung is a follower.

I agree that it is a very unattractive watch. I am really struggling to see the smartwatch market... I just don't think it's out there. Unless apple is going to really wow people with something revolutionary, I think this category will just fade away.

 

[APlotdevice]

well you know you don't have to measure heart rate by going to the chest haha. Most people go for the wrist pulse first

That's with a completely still wrist. It's a whole different ball game when the wrist is moving up and down. Until about a couple years ago sports watches had to rely on a chest sensor.

 

[AppleScruff1]

iPad (3rd generation) and iPad (4th generation), actually. 5 months for Samsung vs 10 months for Apple. That "short time" was much longer.

Actually more like 7 1/2 months for the iPad 3-4.

 

[patseguin]

I think Apple has something much better up their sleeves.

 

[Dave.UK]

I think Apple has something much better up their sleeves.

So do a lot of people it seems.

I cant help but think many people are going to be disappointed and/or let down.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Actually more like 7 1/2 months for the iPad 3-4.

And also, the Gear 2 isn't due until April which will will be a bit over 6 months after the first Gear. But no sense getting picky.

 

[philips]

Samsung have blatantly heard the talk of Apple looking into health stuff and implemented it into the gear 2 and rushed it out before apple get the chance to release theirs, so that the non geeks, who haven't read sites like these, would think Samsung did it first.

Ridiculous.

Lack of health functions was the first immediate feedback Samsung got from the users. There are lots of the fitness wristbands already released before and not integrating the function seemed quite strange.

Assuming that Apple here leads market in any fashion is just an uninformed opinion. Heck, considering amount of 3rd party fitness solutions for the iPod and iPhone, I have an impression that Apple doesn't really care about it. Because they could have already integrated it long long long before into the older products: there would be always more iPhones than iWatches out there.

 

[shandyman]

To me personally, all of the released e-watches (Gear included) fail because they are too thick. 8mm or thinner + at least one week of battery life and then we are talking. Not seeing it happen any time soon, though.

The pebble is just over 8mm thick and has over a weeks worth of battery. I get 10 days out of mine minimum.

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Ridiculous.



Lack of health functions was the first immediate feedback Samsung got from the users. There are lots of the fitness wristbands already released before and not integrating the function seemed quite strange.



Assuming that Apple here leads market in any fashion is just an uninformed opinion. Heck, considering amount of 3rd party fitness solutions for the iPod and iPhone, I have an impression that Apple doesn't really care about it. Because they could have already integrated it long long long before into the older products: there would be always more iPhones than iWatches out there.

Apple included some fitness stuff by working with Nike plus, but obviously felt that at the time, best leave it to 3rd party as what could they do with an iPod or iPhone without connecting things to people. The watch is the perfect chance, it's only with recent developments that a watch is now a viable option, thus why they started hiring all those people.