IFA 2016 in Berlin is upon us and as usual, that means its time to see some new iterations of devices as we’ve become accustomed to over the years. One particular regular guest at IFA every year is Samsung’s Gear smartwatch.
This year, it will be the Gear S3 which will join another upcoming Samsung device, the Tab S3, as Samsung confirmed in an “official invitation” posted on its website as well as its social media accounts.
Stay tuned for a timely innovation. August 31. Berlin. pic.twitter.com/kUMG3l6BEs
— Samsung Mobile (@SamsungMobile) August 15, 2016
With the Galaxy Note 7 safely out of the way, the stage is set for Samsung to show the world what it has been working on behind the scenes since same time last year when it debuted the Gear S2.
The Gear S2 broke with tradition and became the first smartwatch to feature a rotating bezel which functioned the same way a crown does in ordinary watches. The Gear S3 is said to keep that rotating bezel while adding several new features of its own like measuring altitude, atmospheric pressure, speed and distance travelled. This will be thanks to the inclusion of new barometer, altimeter and integrated GPS sensors in the device.
Samsung fansite Sammobile reports that the company will be releasing three models of the Gear S3: Classic, Frontier and Explorer. Last year, the Gear S2 came in two models: Classic and Sport.
We’ve been hearing for a long time now that Samsung would be opening up its smartwatches so that they can be paired with Apple’s iPhones but so far that is yet to happen. The Gear S2 was the first Samsung smartwatch that could be paired with non-Samsung Android smartphones. Will the Gear S3 be the first to be compatible with iOS devices? We have two weeks to find out.
