As the countdown to IFA 2013 draws to an end, we're patiently waiting to see the Android-based Samsung Galaxy Gear smart watch, which is due to make its first public appearance at the Berlin trade show this week.
The Galaxy Gear will complement Samsung's range of smartphones and tablets, providing notifications when the devices themselves are out of reach or out of sight. This is nothing new necessarily, but the much-anticipated watch signifies the first in what many people are expecting will be a new generation of tech-enabled wristwear.
Samsung's smartwatch has been rumoured and leaked for months, and even confirmed by a Samsung exec, but a journalist at VentureBeat claims to have been hands-on with a prototype shown to them by a company insider. Samsung is a secretive company and will inevitably send out decoy prototypes that are similar, but not identical to the real thing -- but just ahead of the launch, we can be pretty sure that this isn't too far from the mark.
The prototype shown to VentureBeat has a three-inch OLED display and appears to be fairly bulky with a screen that's the same length as the width of the wearer's wrist. The wristband is described as "clunky and masculine" and has a built-in three-megapixel camera and speakers built into the clasp. The watch also incorporates Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and supposedly offers over 10 hours of battery life.
Battery life and design are likely to be the two biggest barriers standing in the way of widespread smartwatch adoption. The beauty of most watches is that you don't have to worry about frequently changing the batteries, so having to charge a smartwatch every day in the same way you do a phone is an unattractive prospect. The beauty of watches is also to some extent in the eye of the beholder, or wearer, and finding a design with almost universal appeal is going to be a huge challenge for manufacturers -- something which applies to all wearable tech.
The Galaxy Gear also reportedly has a strong focus on health and fitness, although whether people will be willing to bear with the extra bulk it appears to carry on top of sleeker gadgets such as the FitBit Flex, Nike Fuelband or Jawbone Up remains to be seen.
Samsung will beat Apple to releasing its own smart watch, a product that has been expected for a while now, particularly after Apple trademarked the name iWatch in several countries earlier this year (then again, it's also trying to trademark the term "startup", so it's anyone's guess what the company's up to).
Earlier this summer the Financial Times reported that Apple had been hiring "aggressively" to work on the project. One of the company's recent new starters is Jay Blahnik, who worked for Nike for 20 years and was one of the key players in developing the Fuelband.
Apple has also been hiring from the fashion world, taking on former Yves Saint Laurent CEO Paul Deneve and former Levis Strauss vice president Enrique Atienza. While Atienza was hired to fill a retail role left open after the departure of an Apple executive, the fact that Apple chose to fill the position with someone from the fashion sector suggests the company needed to someone with specific knowledge of the marketplace.
The Samsung Galaxy Gear already has a competitor in the shape of the Pebble Watch, a highly customisable watch with an E Ink display that was funded as part of the most successful Kickstarter project ever. Not only is it compatible with both Android and iPhone, but it boasts battery life of seven days plus. Sony too has a smartwatch, which works as an accessory to its phones.
Not one to be left out when there's a chance to integrate its expand its Android ecosystem, it emerges that Google has also been quietly working on a smartwatch with WIMM Labs, a company it acquired a couple of years. This shouldn't be entirely surprising given the work Google has done with Glass and with rumours of brain chip in development doing the rounds.
Those already in the wristwatch market are feeling territorial though it seems, with Kazuo Kashio, CEO of Casio telling the New York Times in an interview: "We've known for a long time it's prime real estate. We're prepared."
We might have to speculate for a while yet on just what Apple, Google and, er, Casio have quite literally up their sleeves, you can expect to see the Galaxy Gear at Samsung Unpacked on 4 September. Wired.co.uk will be out at IFA in force covering the launch of the Gear, the Galaxy Note 3 and all the other major product announcements from Samsung, Sony and more.
No comments:
Post a Comment