Samsung is first to market with a smart watch, the Galaxy Gear, which it unveiled yesterday. The company is billing the watch as “a perfect companion device that further integrates the Samsung Galaxy experience into everyday life”.
“Samsung’s ongoing smart device innovation leadership reflects our commitment to listen to our consumers, who want their daily lives to be easier and more enjoyable,” says JK Shin, CEO and president of IT & Mobile Division, Samsung Electronics.
“Samsung Galaxy Gear benefits consumers by integrating smart device technology even deeper into their everyday lives, and bridges the gap between the mobile device and fashion worlds to create truly wearable technology.
“Samsung Galaxy Gear frees users from the need to constantly check their smart devices while maintaining connections. It provides what we call ‘smart freedom,’ by allowing users to choose how, why, when and where they are connected,” he adds.
Samsung Galaxy Gear notifies users of incoming messages, such as calls, texts, emails and alerts, delivers a preview of those messages and lets them accept or discreetly ignore those messages. When an incoming message requires more than a quick glance, users can simply pick up their Samsung Galaxy devices and the Smart Relay feature will reveal the full content on the screen.
The built-in speaker allows users to conduct hands-free calls directly from the Gear.
In addition, the Galaxy Gear’s Memographer feature, a 1,9 megapixel camera, lets record both photos and video, plus share them on their social networks. With Voice Memo they can capture thoughts or conversations from their wrists and save those voice recordings into texts on their Samsung Galaxy devices.
The new Galaxy Gear includes the Auto Lock that automatically secures the companion smartphone screen any time that Galaxy Gear is more than 1,5m away from the smartphone, and then unlocks the smartphone when the companion devices are near each other again. In addition, Find My Device helps users find the location of their smart devices by making them beep, illuminate and vibrate.
With Samsung Galaxy Gear, users can also control the music played on their Samsung Galaxy devices, letting users browse, play and pause songs even when their smart device is not within reach.
Another feature of the Galaxy Gear is that it works like a Pedometer to track physical activity via enhanced, built-in sensor technology.
In addition to these smart feature, the Galaxy Gear is also a watch and fashion accessory. It will come preloaded with 10 different clock options and more choices will be downloadable via Samsung Apps. In addition, users can choose from six colours that will be available at launch: Jet Black, Mocha Grey, Wild Orange, Oatmeal Beige, Rose Gold and Lime Green.
The Samsung Galaxy Gear will be launched with the Galaxy Note 3 in more than 140 countries around the world starting from 25 September.