A Spec on Your Wrist
Samsung has finally unveiled the Galaxy Gear smartwatch at a livestream from Berlin. The device is pretty minimal on the specifications and size front, so that it remains practical as a wearable device. It comes with a 320x320 square Super AMOLED touchscreen that's just 1.6 inches.
A camera is mounted on the strap, facing out with a 1.9 megapixel lens, capable of taking 10-second 720p video clips with audio captured by two microphones, the Memographer app feature is in charge of capturing these events. Inside is a gyro and accelerometer, all powered by an 800MHz processor with 4GB of storage and 512MB of system memory.
It will starting shipping on 25 September (in October for the U.S. at $299) in what looks like a wide range of colors, with orange, grey and beige among them to over 140 countries, and works with the upcoming Galaxy Note 3 and 2014 Note 10.1 (more on them soon), also shown at the event and somewhat limiting its audience, although Galaxy S4 support should be along soon.
Power is a Problem
The Gear, as predicted, can only last a day on a single charge of its 315 mAh battery. Forget to do so and it'll be useless until you are next at your charger, assuming you only have one. That means you could be without it until you get home, unless you want yet another charger to shove in a bag. Hopefully, it'll just charge off a mini USB lead, which might make things less of a problem.
Learning Opportunities
Webinar
Jul
6
Exceptional Omnichannel Customer Experience: What it Looks Like, How to Achieve & Measure it
Today’s omnichannel customer experience world is proving challenging. Nearly 20% of brands saw a decrease in CX quality.
Webinar
Jul
13
How to Hyper-Personalize Your Customer Communications Across Channels
Are you leveraging deep customer insights to hyper-personalize your communications? Or are you still just talking to a segment?
Webinar
Jul
26
Unlocking the Power of AI in the Contact Center
Learn how some of the world's most beloved brands are setting the bar for employee engagement.
Webinar
Jul
28
Beat the Great Resignation with Process Improvement
Learn why employees are still resigning in 2022
Conference
Aug
3
Digital Workplace Experience - Q3 2022
Resilience & Agility in Disruptive Times
Conference
Aug
17
Digital Experience Summit - Q3 2022
How Great Organizations Empower Customer Experience Teams
Webinar
Jul
6
Exceptional Omnichannel Customer Experience: What it Looks Like, How to Achieve & Measure it
Today’s omnichannel customer experience world is proving challenging. Nearly 20% of brands saw a decrease in CX quality.
Webinar
Jul
13
How to Hyper-Personalize Your Customer Communications Across Channels
Are you leveraging deep customer insights to hyper-personalize your communications? Or are you still just talking to a segment?
On the plus side there are some 70 dedicated apps from a range of partners ready to light up the Gear, with lifestyle and health apps up front to give it some purpose, but also handy apps like an eBay one to alert you to upcoming deals or auction endings you might easily miss.
Taking the Shot
Taking photos with the Gear could be its saving grace. No longer will we need to fumble around trying to get the phone out of a pocket or bag, line it up and shoot. Point and swipe on the Gear's screen and that's your photo taken, ideal for those candid and fleeting moments.
That's a neat idea and the touchscreen is also augmented by S Voice, so you can talk to the device to get it perform a range of commands. Clearly this is a device that will need a lot of testing and we'll hope to see one in action before the end of the month.
Based on the launch, The Galaxy Gear is what you'd expect from a smartwatch, but it is in no way inspiring, fun, exciting or magical. Perhaps the tech doesn't exist to make it so, in which case fair enough. However, this does leave the wizards at Apple with a chance to do something out of the ordinary and look more superior than they really are.
