Samsung wasn’t the first to introduce a smart watch, but this is the smart watch with the most hype after the unveil on the 4th of September at Berlin. Smart watches are part of the new technologies that are wearable computing. Previous smart watches have little functionality and Samsung launched the Galaxy Gear with a key Selling Point of it being the best companion of the Galaxy Note 3 also unveiled at the same event.
The Galaxy Gear has the following specifications:
- 1.63 inch Super AMOLED (320 x 320)
- 800 MHz Processor
- 1.9 MP AF camera, HD 720p video playback and recording
- 2 microphones for voice cancellation
- Bluetooth 4.0
- Accelerometer, Gyroscope
- 4GB internal memory
- 512 MB RAM
- 36.8 x 56.6 x 11.1mm, 73.8 grams
- 315mAH Li-ion Battery capable of doing 24 hours
The Galaxy Gear also comes with pre-installed apps specifically developed for the Galaxy Gear, Samsung had given access to developers prior to launch to get these apps going. The apps are Atooma, Banjo, Evernote, Glympse, eBay app, Line, MyFitnessPal app, Path, Pocket, RunKeeper, TripIt and Vivino.
Samsung Specific apps include:-
Samsung Apps
ChatON
Smart Relay, S Voice, Memographer, Voice Memo
Autolock, Find My Device, Media Controller, Pedometer, Stopwatch, Timer.
Safety Assistance
The device which was launched with the proposition that it will integrate smart device technology even deeper into consumers’ every day lives. A thing it will achieve by removing the need for you to constantly check your smartphone for notifications, a task that might prove bothering particularly if you are at a meeting or some place where you’d rather not remove the smartphone from your pocket.
Samsung is known for creating a niche that was the Galaxy Note that signified the emergence of the phablets segment, a term that was coyingly coined by bloggers to mean a smartphone and tablet blend. Samsung also made the Galaxy Gear a Galaxy Note III companion. The Gear will also work with the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition and with the Galaxy s 4 after an update to be pushed in October. It’s hard to not want to hold the Galaxy Note III after the design work that Samsung put in the device, but there will obviously some situations you will want to have the phone stay back in the pocket.
The Galaxy Gear is able to give the user both notifications and previews from email, social media, text and call logs with the ability to even call back. With the Galaxy Gear you can accept calls by moving the phone next to the ear. Same way the Galaxy S 4 allows you call the person whos text you are reading by the same motion. You even get a dial keypad to make hands-free calls.
Remember the moments you wished your camera had that instant capture on the camera for the situation that just emerged? The Galaxy Gear will enable users take discreet shots by just a swipe of the screen with a top-bottom motion. This allows you to tap the screen to take an image from the 1.9MP camera. You can switch to video with a tap on the screen. The Galaxy Gear camera makes this action faster than any point and shoot camera while at the same time making the action the most discreet. Kinda makes you feel like James Bond.
Gear Manager app on the Galaxy Note III and Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition allows you to configure the device by allowing you to change the clock types, there’s upto 10 clock types currently with other options available on Samsung Apps. 
The watch face is also customizable to allow one change the look and feel, you can also make the screen bear the same colour as the smart-watch which comes in six colours, Jet Black, Mocha Gray, Wild Orange, Oatmeal Beige, Rose Gold, and Lime Green.
Safety Assistance, a feature that was made available in the Galaxy S 4 is also available in the Galaxy Gear. This can come in very handy when you are stranded and need rescue from friends, or even alert them of your location.
With the Galaxy S 4 you can activate Safety Assistance by pressing and holding both the volume up and down for three seconds which will then send pictures taken using both front and rear cameras and sending these messages with pictures and location to your preset emergency contacts. The Galalaxy gear requires you to press the power button 3 times continously and it will send your location to the set emergency contacts.
Whether the Galaxy Gear will shape up the next big mobile technology niche the way the Galaxy Note did will be a matter of wait and see to find out if there really is a need for these or if Samsung can convince consumers to want it. This is indeed a technology worth trying out as there are endless possibilities lying in the future and the Gear being able to accomplish all these on the first iterations goes to show that there is much to look forward to. What do you think, would you want to use the Galaxy Gear?
