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Samsung unveils Galaxy Gear smartwatch with built-in camera, 70 apps

engadget.com

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Re: Samsung unveils Galaxy Gear smartwatch with built-in camera, 70 apps

#81

Post by evilduck »

ddeck wrote: post #9

This really feels like a "because we can" product. Given the specs and features, it seems to be purely a companion device...and for $300? After reading the press release, I'm still trying to understand what legitimately useful functionality is provides beyond your phone. I'm amazed they didn't at least include some bio measurement capability (beyond accelerometer). I would have thought it would be a key potential app…

Seems like a landgrab to have any product on the market before Apple's rumored iWatch to avoid any controversy of who was in the market first, regardless of how limited and silly v1 is.

Re: Samsung unveils Galaxy Gear smartwatch with built-in camera, 70 apps

#82

Post by localhost »

krrrh wrote: post #65
taude wrote: post #55

Put an Ant+ sensor on it, and I could see the benefits of using it over my Garmin cycling computers, especially with a small mount for the bike.

This uses Bluetooth 4 LE (low energy) which offers the same advantages as Ant+. This protocol will probably completely supplant Ant+ in the next year or two because it's part of the Bluetooth spec and supported natively by most smartphones released in the last year. Ant+ is proprietary and has only a handful of phones with onboard chips.

The problem today is that if you already own devices that speak ANT+, you're not likely to be replacing them in the near future as they are generally quite expensive (eg PowerTap). The only bicycle power meter that speaks BT LE is the Stages power meter and that just started shipping. In this interim time period it would be awesome to support both as there is a pretty large installed base of ANT+ hardware in the exercise / fitness demo.

Re: Samsung unveils Galaxy Gear smartwatch with built-in camera, 70 apps

#83

Post by jitl »

hisham_hm wrote: post #80
mbreese wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a Pebble, and charging my watch isn't too bad. I usually charge it in the morning while I'm in the shower. I've been trying to sleep with it on for the vibrating alarm. Although, with the Pebble, I can get almost a work week of usage before it dies. I'm not sure how I'd like charging it daily.

How long does that weekly charge take?

There's no indication on the watch itself when it's fully charged, and the battery indicator only appears when the watch has like ~4 hours of battery remaining. Thus it's hard to get a read on just how long the watch needs to charge for -- I usually plug it in overnight once I see the low battery indicator, then wear it for another week or so before the low battery icon shows up again.

As for things to do with the Pebble during the shower: use it to control your music!

Re: Samsung unveils Galaxy Gear smartwatch with built-in camera, 70 apps

#84

Post by squidsoup »

lambersley wrote: post #53
blinkingled wrote: post #29

The Gear does not feel like a complete gimmick - not having to take out your (big screen) SmartPhone out for emails/texts/pics/shares etc. is kinda useful to the mainstream people. But the problems are Price, Performance(Battery life, responsivness) and Limitations that make it work only with Samsung phones. For those reasons I think the Gen 1 of the Gear will flop. And who knows what kind of apps Samsung is running…

> The Gear does not feel like a complete gimmick I like the design. I could see myself wearing one while actively engaged in various sports. I'm not so connected to my Note 2 while playing basketball, but I just might be with Gear.

Or perhaps you could just play basketball.

Re: Samsung unveils Galaxy Gear smartwatch with built-in camera, 70 apps

#85

Post by sukuriant »

My most obvious use case for something like this would be sports. If I can interface with my phone, it'd be much easier to mess around with something on my wrist, than something in my pocket, when snowboarding. I keep my phone in a waterproof pouch in my inner pocket when going down the mountain, and it's a pain to get out. This'd be much easier.

Re: Samsung unveils Galaxy Gear smartwatch with built-in camera, 70 apps

#86

Post by alok-g »

jitl wrote: post #79
green7ea wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget the Qualcomm Toq: http://toq.qualcomm.com/#toq-hello Qualcomm isn't big in the consumer space but mirasol displays seem promising.

I was pretty hyped when I saw the product here and instantly wondered, "why did I get a Pebble if this exists!?". But then there's not even a release date. This is a concept page, not a product.

It will be shipping in Q4 per [1], where I also see a video of the product. I do not see a firm shipping date still as you noted.

[1] http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/04/qualcomm-toq-smartwatch/

Re: Samsung unveils Galaxy Gear smartwatch with built-in camera, 70 apps

#88

Post by eco »

green7ea wrote: post #47
ChuckMcM wrote: post #3

And so the 'production' smartwatch era begins. Notionally kicked off by the InPulse and iPod Nano wrist straps, "proven" by the Pebble kickstarter, now in jumps Samsung and if rumors are to be believed Apple and possibly Google. It is a testament to the new sensibility that something like this can be worn in public and be "cool." I had a CASIO Data bank watch that was really cool but man the nerd-griefing I got if I…

Don't forget the Qualcomm Toq: http://toq.qualcomm.com/#toq-hello Qualcomm isn't big in the consumer space but mirasol displays seem promising.

That's nice to know Mirasol isn't dead like I thought it was. It's pretty cool display technology.

Re: Samsung unveils Galaxy Gear smartwatch with built-in camera, 70 apps

#89

Post by ChuckMcM »

green7ea wrote: post #47
ChuckMcM wrote: post #3

And so the 'production' smartwatch era begins. Notionally kicked off by the InPulse and iPod Nano wrist straps, "proven" by the Pebble kickstarter, now in jumps Samsung and if rumors are to be believed Apple and possibly Google. It is a testament to the new sensibility that something like this can be worn in public and be "cool." I had a CASIO Data bank watch that was really cool but man the nerd-griefing I got if I…

Don't forget the Qualcomm Toq: http://toq.qualcomm.com/#toq-hello Qualcomm isn't big in the consumer space but mirasol displays seem promising.

The funny thing is, when the Pebble guys were doing the inPulse watch, they never provided an SDK that worked on Win7/64 claiming that Qualcomm wouldn't release a 64 bit driver for their bluetooth chip. If I hadn't had such a crappy experience with the inPulse I might have bought a Pebble :-(.
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