Items tagged with Galaxy Gear
A new patent filing today shows that Apple has been granted a wide-ranging patent for a future smartwatch device (dubbed the iTime). Apple's patent refers to a device which is removable (it continues to function when detached from its wristband) and can be upgraded or swapped with other products. Apple's patent diagrams show a device that snaps into the band -- but the band itself is specifically stated as being capable of accepting other products. According to Apple's patent documentation for the figure below, "The central portion (302) can also include one or more electrical components... Alternatively or additionally, the central portion (302) can include an accelerometer and/or a battery...
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You could see this one coming a mile a way. Though Samsung is clearly Google's golden child when it comes to moving Android-powered smartphones, there's a distinct divide developing between the two when it comes to the latest "wearables" technology trend and even a hint of one in smartphones as well. Further, according to recent reports, apparently Google CEO Larry Page's patience is wearing thin and in a rather "tense" meeting with Samsung Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee, Page made it crystal clear that he is not happy with Samsung's lack of effort in developing Android Wear devices. Instead, Samsung only currently offers Tizen-based wearable products like the Samsung Gear 2 smartwatch....
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Entirely new product categories generally take time to take off. Even the smartphone took years before penetration rose above 50% in advanced markets such as the United States. But it certainly feels as if there's something different at play when it comes to wearables. While there's plenty of buzz about every new watch, fitness tracker, and head-worn device, the retention rate is low. Used (and cheap) Galaxy Gear smartwatches are strewn across secondhand sites such as eBay, and research from Endeavour Partners has found that "one-third of American consumers who have owned a wearable product stopped using it within six months. What's more, while one in 10 American adults own some form of activity...
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Call me a curmudgeon if you want, but I don't think there's a lot of traction to be found in the smartwatch market. To me, it's a category that doesn't make a ton of sense now that smartphones are so ubiquitous. I don't doubt there's a niche, but on a mass scale, I just don't see it. I could be wrong, and an initial look at Samsung's Galaxy Gear sales would even suggest it. According to Reuters, Samsung is claiming it sold 800,000 Galaxy Gear devices since it launched to retail two months ago. That's an impressive figure for a supplementary device, especially since it's an expensive one -- the Galaxy Gear retails for $299 and there's no subsidiary option. Samsung said that sales have exceeded...
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We've been skeptical of the whole smartwatch movement since it began, and though it's still early in the game, there might already be evidence that these devices just aren't going to be as popular as manufacturers hoped they would be. Case in point is the unusually high return rate Samsung is seeing for its recently released Galaxy Gear device. The folks over at Geek.com claim to have received a leaked document revealing that over 30 percent of all Galaxy Gear smartwatches purchased at Best Buy locations are being returned. There's no doubt that Samsung employees are pushing these devices at their Experience Shops in Best Buy, but even so, having nearly a third of these items get returned is...
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It could be said (and has been said) that today's science fiction is tomorrow's reality. If you stop to think about it, it's amazing how many commonplace technologies on the market these days were the product of someone's wild imagination not very long ago. Video teleconferencing is a reality now but George Jetson rocked a picture telephone way back in the 1960s. Captain Kirk slung what was essentially the first flip phone, requesting "Scotty, beam me up," well before pocketable smartphones were even a twinkle in the eye of Martin Cooper, the man who is largely credited for inventing cellular communications. Ol' Martin's device was about the size of Don Adam's Get Smart shoe...
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AT&T dropped us a note today to let us know it's planning to carry Samsung's Galaxy Note 3 phablet and Galaxy Gear smartwatch online and in stores beginning October 4. The Galaxy Note 3 will be available for $299.99 with a two-year service agreement, or $35 per month if you opt for AT&T Next. As for the Galaxy Gear, that will be available for 99 cents less for $299 even with no subsidized option. The Galaxy Gear is Samsung's first wearable smartwatch and is meant to be paired with the Galaxy Note 3. The Gear allows users to make hands-free calls and text messages using its built-in speaker. It also offers real-time notifications of phone calls, meetings you've marked on your calendar,...
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In this latest episode of HotHardware's Two and Half Geeks Webcast, Iyaz, Dave and Marco discuss our External Storage Round-Up, Intel's new Core i7-4960X Ivy Bridge-E flagship processor, Samsung's Unpacked event with the Galaxy Gear Smartwatch, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Note 10.1, Intel SSD Overclocking and yep, you guessed it -- more! 1:02 -- External Storage Round-Up 4:45 -- Intel Core i7-4960X Ivy Bridge Processor Review 8:13 -- Intel Not Supporting Ivy Bridge-E For Intel X79 Motherboards? What?? 11:40 -- Samsung Unpacked: Galaxy Gear Smartwatch, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy 10.1 (2014) 17:35 -- ASUS Unloads At IFA 2013: 3-in-1 Tablet/PC, Transformers, Zenbooks, Tablets 22:10 -- Intel Demonstrates Overclocking...
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Last week, Samsung and Qualcomm both launched their own smartwatch products -- Samsung with its Galaxy Gear, and Qualcomm with the Toq. Early coverage on the hardware has been mixed, but that hasn't stopped an explosion of hyperbole, including the laughable idea that smart watches are going to replace smartphones. At first glance, there seems to be some historical parallel here: Desktops have been largely replaced by laptops, laptops have been chewed into by tablets, and smartphones ate the PDA business of yesteryear. There are people working hard to build smartphones that effectively turn into laptops. What can stop the smartwatch? The simplest reason? Ergonomics. Consider the humble wristwatch....
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Make no mistake: the smartwatch is the next major avenue for technology companies to truly innovate and re-capture a base that has become uninterested with the saturation of me-too, high-end, spec-crazy smartphones and tablets that are flooding the market. Sure, the smartphone revolution that kicked off in 2007 has had an incredible ride, but there's just less interest now as we've reached something of a technological peak in many ways. The next phase is wearables, and the resurgence of the watch is going to hit the masses in a big way. Unlike Google Glass, which costs Explorers some $1500, watches will be priced far more sensibly. Samsung, not one to sit around and wait for everyone else to...
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So called smart watches might be the next frontier in mobile. Sony is already there, we've heard Apple is working on an iWatch design, and not to be forgotten, Samsung is planning to join the fray as well. The South Korean electronics company is reportedly gearing up to show off its first smart watch design in Berlin, Germany next week, just ahead of IFA. Lee Young-hee, executive vice president of Samsung's mobile business, told The Korea Times in an interview that its smart watch design will be called Galaxy Gear and that it won't use a flexible display. "We will be introducing a new wearable concept device called Galaxy Gear at our own event in Berlin on September 4," Lee said. "The Gear won't...
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