Samsung Gear S Wearable Gets Ready To Invade U.S. Market Next Week
Just as video killed the radio star, smartphones played a big role in nearly eliminating the market for wrist watches. Ironically enough, smartphone makers are now trying to bring back the watch, albeit with smart functionality. One of the more active in this pursuit is Samsung, which is getting ready to launch its Gear S smartwatch in the U.S. next week, just as previously promised.
The Gear S will be available a week from today (November 7), though if you're unfamiliar with the device, don't expect to see any traces of Android. Samsung is rolling with its own Tizen operating system, an open source platform based on Linux and developed in part with Intel.
"Samsung continues to shape the wearable category with advanced technology and new experiences," said Gregory Lee, president and CEO of Samsung Telecommunications America and Samsung Electronics North America Headquarters. "A growing developer ecosystem will further expand the capabilities of the Gear S with fitness tracking services like Nike+ Running and on-wrist turn-by-turn navigation from HERE and more."
The Gear S sports a 2-inch Super AMOLED display with a 480x360 resolution, 1GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE 4.1, USB 2.0 connectivity, and a few other odds and ends. You don't need a smartphone to use the Gear S -- you can still check email, receive notifications, make calls, and more.
In a separate announcement, AT&T said the Gear S will be available in stores and online for $200 with a two-year service agreement. You an add the Gear S to a Mobile Share plan for $10 per month.
Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon will also carry the Gear S.
The Gear S will be available a week from today (November 7), though if you're unfamiliar with the device, don't expect to see any traces of Android. Samsung is rolling with its own Tizen operating system, an open source platform based on Linux and developed in part with Intel.
"Samsung continues to shape the wearable category with advanced technology and new experiences," said Gregory Lee, president and CEO of Samsung Telecommunications America and Samsung Electronics North America Headquarters. "A growing developer ecosystem will further expand the capabilities of the Gear S with fitness tracking services like Nike+ Running and on-wrist turn-by-turn navigation from HERE and more."
The Gear S sports a 2-inch Super AMOLED display with a 480x360 resolution, 1GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE 4.1, USB 2.0 connectivity, and a few other odds and ends. You don't need a smartphone to use the Gear S -- you can still check email, receive notifications, make calls, and more.
In a separate announcement, AT&T said the Gear S will be available in stores and online for $200 with a two-year service agreement. You an add the Gear S to a Mobile Share plan for $10 per month.
Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon will also carry the Gear S.
