Samsung is set to reveal its Galaxy Gear smartwatch next Wednesday, Sept. 4, in Berlin. But this weekend, we got a first look at the watch.
I love watches (I have several watches for different occasions and clothing styles), but this thing looks ridiculous. A three inch contraption shaped like a Galaxy phone strapped to my tiny wrist?
What?
to do know is to wait for Apple to release one and the copy the desing, they have done it before.
lol!
And then of course chronically litigious Samsung will sue them over it. /sarc
Uhhhh..why? Is there some huge demand for big funky watches that require a smartphone which does all the funky huge watch does and more?
I don’t know if things are different in the EU but more and more folks here in the states aren’t even wearing watches, they just use their smartphones. Heck they have the things in their hands all the time, checking messages and email, getting directions or looking something up so why not just use it, right?
Ironic that they are trying to make watches all high tech when the idea of watches seems to be going the way of the 8-track. Maybe things are different there but when i asked customers about smart watches and whether they’d spend the $$$ required to get one? They all thought I was trying to pull their legs, they found the whole idea just absurd.
Yeah, and they’re completely unaware of everyone and everything around them. I guess I’m weird by state standards, I don’t even want to use my smartphone in public unless I absolutely have to. I don’t mind using it when I’m stationary (on a train, by myself at a restaurant, etc) but I can’t stand the idiots that have those damn things in their hands constantly then bitch and complain when they get run over by a car that they would have been perfectly aware of had they taken their eyes off that screen for a millisecond. Oh yeah, and I wear a watch too. Nothing fancy, just tells me the time so as not to need to pull out my phone to see something that simple.
Well you’d probably hate my guts then but at least I do have the common courtesy not to be walking down the street using it, instead I stop under an awning to check mine.
But you’ve seen it too, right? This is what I don’t get about pushing the whole “smartwatch” idea, as people are moving AWAY from watches and from what has been reported these things are gonna be in the $300 and up range which frankly most folks? Not gonna pay that for a watch, not when they can get a nice new smartphone that does everything the watch does and more and WITHOUT having to be tethered to anything for cheaper.
BTW I don’t know when this change occurred but I have noticed it seems to cross age and income boundaries, I have seen everything from teens to gals in their 50s using their smartphone for a watch and everything from guys that work the backhoe to bankers that likewise use their smartphone instead. Heck it even happened to me and my family, don’t know why, just one day I quit wearing the watch and never thought about it again, and both my boys have likewise stopped wearing watches. Even my 72 year old mom has stopped wearing a watch but in her case she says her Android is easier to read and see so at least she has a legitimate reason, I don’t know why I did but I can’t see myself paying $$$ just to have on my wrist what I already have in my pocket at all times.
…who do I need to write too to tell them I don’t want a bloody smart watch. Who are these people these companies keep asking for market research? Are they asking 4chan or something: “Hey guys would you buy an Android watch?” “Hahaha, oh yeah man, totally.”
Here’s a crazy idea.
Ready?
—>Don’t buy it!<—
I think it could be a fun product, but only if it’s priced right.
You and I might not want it, but some people do. Some people say they don’t, but they will eventually buy one.
Personally, I find smart watches interesting because designers will have to deal with a constrained user experience and IO. Let’s see what comes out of it.
I think there is a market for smart watches but not for small smartphones on your wrist. Here is what I think it should do:
– Normal battery that runs for 3 years
– No larger than a tricked out sports watch
– Sub 200 dollar
– Waterproof of course
– Synchronize clock
How they could do it: e-ink display, blue-tooth low power
What it could do: weather, small messages, programmable beeps for specialized alerts
It should just connect to your smartphone and get its information from it.
Edited 2013-09-01 20:57 UTC
Yes, I see what you mean. Things like Google Now make a lot of sense on a smart watch, besides the ability to be notified about *things*, like incoming calls, SMS, E-mail or even changing the music track you’re listening. Like I said, I find it interesting.
Don’t get me wrong, we’ll also be flooded with very crappy stuff.
I think this fits the bill:
http://getpebble.com/
Almost
Maybe when they can charge wireless… But I still just want a normal watch with bluetooth and simple extras. Even Pebble is a little bit too fancy.
I was just thinking to myself that a smartwatch with a low-power e-Paper display would be a step in the right direction, then I noticed your link. That Pebble-thing might actually be useful since you don’t have to be recharging it all the time. There’s two niggles with it that bother me, though: it looks like an ass and it apparently has no audio capabilities, only vibration. Perhaps the next version will be better
Sounds perfect to me, that way you people don’t get to disturb the rest of us with your annoying beeps and sounds. The smartphones are bad enough, not to mention the damn fools who get their iPods out and blast music none of us want to here. If everyone’s watch starts making noise too, I’m going dark for a while or else I’ll probably go insane and do some neck shaking of my own.
“HOW IT WORKS.
Pebble connects by Bluetooth to your iPhone or Android device.”
If you already have a phone why would you want something else to lug around?
Agreed. I’ve been happy with Timex watches that just do date, time, day of the week, stopwatch, alarm, and indiglo since some time in the mists of my childhood.
My third and most recent one (the first broke its watchband mounts and I wore out one of the buttons on the second) added a countdown timer and I get TONS of use out of that.
I don’t own a smartphone but, if you substitute “Linux PC” to cover my desktop and my OpenPandora, my ideal smart watch would be something similar but with the following features over and above the ones you listed:
– Ditch the three alarms and let me have more than one countdown timer preset instead. (I currently just leave mine on 15 minutes and “flip the hourglass” however many times I need in order to time something)
– Some method to sync with an atomic clock via my PC so I don’t have to think about things like daylight savings time, leap years, leap seconds, and clock drift. (Without sacrificing the ^A±15 seconds per month accuracy of my current watch on the assumption that it’ll always have a smartphone nearby.)
– Some Thunderbird+Lightning-compatible way for my watch to keep a second alarm which automatically syncs with the “remind me when…” time for whatever the most recent alarmed TODO is in my daily planner.
Edited 2013-09-02 08:35 UTC
I just noticed that I accidentally edited away some of the sense in my response.
“Ditch the three alarms and let me have more than one countdown timer preset” was referring to my current Timex non-smart watch.
“- Some method to sync with an atomic clock via my PC so I don’t have to think about things like daylight savings time, leap years, leap seconds, and clock drift. (Without sacrificing the ^A±15 seconds per month accuracy of my current watch on the assumption that it’ll always have a smartphone nearby.)
“
They actually have watches that sync by atomic clock with no need for the PC. They are a bit hard to find in stores though. No reason they could not just implement that in these smart watches.
Who? Who are these people? I wish to meet them, and shake them by the neck.
I don’t see what your problem is. No one is forcing you to buy a smart watch. No one. You will still be able to buy other watches.
Regarding other people, I personally don’t know anyone who actually wants one, but they’re out there. For example, when Apple releases its own smart watch, don’t you think they will be a new craze? Don’t you think a lot of people will buy them? I’m not even mentioning quality, it’s probably going to be good, but either way it’s a guaranteed success. Even if the only reason is the logo.
Just to reiterate, I am *not* an Apple fan and I am *not* a smart watch fan. I don’t even wear a regular watch.
Edited 2013-09-01 22:34 UTC
No see, you’re assuming they’re out there because otherwise companies wouldn’t be wasting their time developing these boondoggles. You admit yourself you’re not aware of anyone who’s ever expressed an interest in buying one.
Apple doesn’t count: they could release anything and Apple fanboys would buy it. A cranial implant that requires 13/14 staples to attach it to the skull would fly off the shelves.
I (and many others that I have seen) have a Pebble …
So you’re admitting that there is a market, even if it’s for the wrong reasons. We’re on the same page, then.
http://www.shophex.com/shop/watch-bands
Samsung doesn’t count: they could release anything and Samsung fanboys would buy it. A cranial implant that requires 13/14 staples to attach it to the skull would fly off the shelves.
There fixed it for you.
seriously, there are just s many (if not more) fandroids out there than fanboi’s. To them the great god Samsung can do no wrong. If Samsung had retail stores, I’m sure they would become the same places of homage and worship as the Apple ones.
I wouldn’t so sure about that. At least, fanboi are more loyal then samsung fans club. They can jump ship. Like, to Nexus, or Sony. And where ifanboi can jump to?
Apple kinda already had a smartwatch, in previous-gen iPod nano (the ~square one) which could be equipped with an armband.
I’d buy one, just not from Samsung and not with Android.
I’d love to be able to see information from my phone on my watch and I’m pretty sure once you get used to it taking out your phone will feel cumbersome. It’s a great way to handle non-important information. A quick glance and you’re done. No taking out the phone out of your pocket.
If Apple doesn’t come with a watch I’d go for the Pebble.
Not sure about the neck shaking.
I think a better approach is to tell your phone to stop beeping at you about non-important information, esp the social media crap. Not only will you save yourself $200+, but you also won’t have to wear this ridiculous fucking thing on your wrist, and have to charge it every day.
If you feel like you need a smartwatch because the amount of times you pull your phone out of your pocket every day becomes cumbersome, I’d say you’re way too distracted by your phone.
As I mentioned I won’t be buying the “ridiculous fucking thing”. I’m waiting to see if Apple comes up with anything or go for a Pebble.
My smart phone isn’t smart enough to determine what is and what isn’t interesting for me. This could also change depending on the situation I’m in, like being in a meeting or at the movies.
Isn’t that the real problem we should be trying to solve, instead of inventing yet more devices that let you view information you really don’t care that much about?
That would be great, but I don’t see how.
When my phone enters DND it will still make sound if it’s my wife, but often it’s not important, but one day it could be.
And some stuff might interest you, but not today.
It’s hard for software to determine what is important to you and what can wait. It’s also fuel for court cases of people who missed important info that your system didn’t view as such.
The question is, why do you have your wife bypassing DND mode? Doesn’t DND on the iPhone have a feature where if someone calls back in 3 minutes, that it will ring through? So just tell her to call twice if it’s really important.
At any rate, phones could be made to be much more flexible in this regard. For example, you walk into a meeting, you put the phone in ‘meeting mode’, so it has different rules than if you were at home watching TV, or sleeping. So if your wife messages you, it sends her a message back, letting her know you’re in a meeting, and if it’s really important, do ‘xyz’ to bypass DND mode. At any rate, I’d bet at any given time, there’s probably only a few people you would have to make special exceptions for.
Even better, phones should have a way so that you could set a priority when sending someone a message to denote how important it is, which would eliminate a lot of the guess work. Of course, there will always be those pricks who would abuse this feature, so that’s why a blocking option would be paramount
But Samsung and other companies say, ‘No! Instead, let’s just build a watch where you’re constantly distracted by Twitter feeds and other bullshit you care nothing about most of the time’
After all, if they built devices that actually gave you this level of control, they couldn’t sell you other gadgets like smart watches.
Edited 2013-09-02 17:47 UTC
The solution is simple: don’t add such bullshit accounts on it! Keep them on the phone and POOF! The problem is gone.
Well, she’s my wife so she will ignore any DND system anyway.
She will bypass DND because she’s in my favorite calls list. Those lucky few bypass DND. Other people can also if the call again in 2 or 3 minutes as you mentioned.
Some director at work came in today complaining he often misses calls because his iPhone didn’t ring. Today he learned about the DND option too. Of course he denied setting it, but he had it on for 4 weeks(!).
You know what’s sad? We had that. Anyone remember the profiles feature in Symbian S60, and the customizations you could do there not to mention the profiling apps that could take it further? You could have any number of profiles and, with a short press of the power button you got a list to switch between them. Simple. Damn, I miss that platform. It wasn’t all that feature packed nor all that useful for a lot of things, but god damn it was good at being a smart phone, with the emphasis on phone. I still don’t see a real profiles feature on iPhone nor Android, nor do I see some other advanced smart phone functions. The phone has become secondary to the PDA rather than the other way around (not unlike Windows Mobile) which, given the way communication is going, does make a kind of sense. Still, sometimes you just need a phone and would like it to be good at being a phone, and no current smartphone platform offers that now.
There is nothing more disturbing to a real-time (business, technical, social) discussion than hearing a buzzing and seeing a participant getting their smart phone out and checking their displays.
Unfortunately, the expectation of an immediate response has more or less become the norm in the corporate and social worlds.
I could see this kind of gadget being useful as being a discreet way for one fulfilling such expectation.
Since this is a watch, there could be a one-touch reply button sending a message like “Currently in a meeting (or busy) for another mm minutes” for the non-important stuff. The mm data could directly come from the calendar data.
For the really important annunciation, tapping the display (or touching another button) would initiate the reply allowing the user to be relaxed in stepping aside and getting the phone/tablet in hands.
One downside is that this would not help those seeking to elevate their sense of self-worth and status in front of others by being constantly connected…..
Just my opinion here, but it seems to me that smartwatches are one step to far into proxying the information.
Not saying that people shouldn’t buy them (if they are your thing, great) but for me the whole point of buying a smartphone is being able to carry around a connected computer with a convenient form factor. I’ll still be using my computer for more complex tasks, but the smartphone suffices for lots of uses and I can use it on the go.
I’m taking my smartphone around, not both my smartphone and my computer.
A smartwatch on the other hand doesn’t replace my phone with a more convenient and portable form factor since I still have to carry my smartphone around anyway.
I guess the next iteration in gadgetry could be smartglasses (google glass style) that connect to the smartwatch that’s connected to your smartphone, and then looking at your wrist will feel cumbersome.
Later on we could have smart contact lenses connected to the smartglasses that are connected to the smartwatch that is connected to our smartphone, so we can see important notifications straight away without even bothering to look slightly upwards to the smartglasses display.
My reason is part geekness and part luxury.
But I’m also hoping the Apple iWatch, if it arrives, will monitor stuff like your heart rate and your movement. I have a number of healthy apps on my iPhone and I’d love to see some info fed automatically.
It would be great to go for a run without having to launch an app and press virtual buttons. Just make sure you’re wearing your watch and go.
And it can add some convenience. Like getting an alert if your phone moves away from you (theft). Or being able to see who’s calling/texting when you’re in a swimming pool or taking a shower. Just a quick glance at your watch is much easier and quicker performed than grabbing your phone.
I can see a lot of handy features being possible and I must admit they are pure luxuries so the world won’t end if you don’t have a smart watch.
It will most definitely not do that. It’s impractical to do constant heart rate monitoring on your wrist.
I used a Sony SmartWatch for a while (I believe you and I discussed it via email a while back) and while it seemed like a good idea, the execution fell short. It did allow me to glance surreptitiously at my wrist whenever my phone vibrated, instead of pulling the beast out to check the screen, but between the terrible battery life and the overall bulkiness of the large watch on my large wrist, it ended up being a waste of time.
I’m really glad I didn’t pay for it (“healthy living” insurance reward in the form of an Amazon gift card), and right now it’s on semi-permanent loan to a friend who was curious about the concept of a smart watch. I don’t miss it, but if someone out there could get the concept down to a manageable size, with a month-long battery, for $100 or less, I’d be interested enough to give it another go.
Battery life is indeed a bummer concerning a number of devices.
It’s a good thing battery life of laptops has increased over the last few years. I hope they’ll put in the same effort for mobile phones and smart watches.
If laptops and tablets have the long running feature it will become something people will expect. I’d happily have a less slim phone that runs much longer on a single charge.
People use battery cases now that make phones bulkier then when they would have had a larger internal battery.
A watch that doesn’t even last a day? That is ridiculous.
Agreed. If the battery life claims are true, then this would be quite useless. It needs to last for at least two days imo. Ideally a week or more.
“A phone without a keyboard? That is ridiculous.” – said about the iPhone.
I’m not convinced that charging a device is an issue in an era where all we do is charge devices.
True, but I think there is a reasonable limit to everything. A watch is something that I put on in the morning when I get out of bed and I put off in the night. A watch that ceases to work in the middle of the day can’t be called a watch.
It would still be a watch, albeit a ridiculous one.
Yeah it is totally normal to wake up. Unplug your phone. Unplug your watch. Go to work. Plugin your phone. Plugin your watch. Go to lunch. Unplug your phone. Unplug your watch. Go home. Plugin your phone. Plugin your watch.
Edited 2013-09-02 06:39 UTC
To play the devil’s advocate, the question here is not whether it’s normal or reasonable to do so, but whether the consumer sheep will buy it anyway if it looks cool enough in other areas. And judging by the sales of smartphones that require you to carry around a power cord because they can’t even last a week-end of use, that does sound like a fair bet.
At some point in the direction we’re heading, manufacturers could as well give up on cellular connections and save money by doing network connections using PLC through the power cord !
Edited 2013-09-02 07:00 UTC
surely Thom you don’t buy that’s their true offering??
If it is, it’s ridiculous! I mean the Note or Mega phablets arguably have their place.
But IF (as some sort of SmartPhone–AR_Glasses intermediate) we’re to be inflicted with SmartWatches then surely but surely they ought to look at least as O.K. as the Pebble or better
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_(watch)
I can JUST about except something like this 2009 sammy concept:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2403215/Samsung-unve…
before we eventually end up with something more like..
http://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/news/ttp-brings-clear-vision-to-a…
Then again, if SmartWatches in five or ten years time come to possess all the power and connectivity of today’s SmartPhones along with a reasonable svelte well designed form then perhaps *they* can become the semi-permanent phone replacements with AR_glasses (or scary ‘brain interfaces’) becoming the more occasional hi-res-visuals-&more interlopers
This product is per usual not for me, but i do not even own a smartphone nd probably never will.
That said:
I could also not care less for the branding of the category “smart” (everything from TV’s, phones and all the way to ice makers and fridges) as all those products lacks reasoning and predictive capabilities and thus not smart at all but rather “app” devices or sometimes just programmable.
I don’t think I’ll be buying a “smart” watch any time soon, but if that’s actually Samsung’s watch then sure as hell I’m not buying that one.
The huge borders around the screen remind me of those vtech laptops for kids.
It isn’t a watch. It is a compact ruggedised smartphone designed for active people. As such it is potentially extremely useful.
I can see the smartwatch as one of the first uses for flexible displays.
I would probably design it with a long, narrow display that wraps halfway around around the wrist. When idle (i.e. in “watch” mode), only a little part of the screen needs to be active. But when in use, it would show more information and be easier to navigate.
Of course, I would probably give it minimal computing power to conserve battery life, and make it mainly an accessory to the phone.
Well, seems a bit large, and doesn’t hold it’s charge long enough to be useful, but I still might be interested in it. One thing though, I’d never wear it in public, since it just looks awful, horrible, ugly. My hand would just fall off in protest. Watches are more than a tool, they should also look nice. That said, we’ve always seen watches that are ugly and people still buy them, so there will definitely be people, who’ll buy this thing as well.
If you can’t make it nicer or smaller, make it to look like a traditional pocket watch, with chains and everything, nice silver housing
I still wouldn’t wear that, but at least it wouldn’t look exceptionally horrendous.
I prefers the design of this smartwatch: https://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/08/27/neptune-pine-smartwatch-ava… .
That’s more of a smartphone replacement, correct? I could get by with one of those paired to a Bluetooth earpiece for the occasional call. However, it would need to be rugged, water resistant, and able to be placed on a custom wristband (I’m a tall guy with large wrists) before I’d even consider replacing my smartphone with it.
Still, it’s an interesting concept, and I like the design of it.
It seems to be wrongheaded thinking for the tech giants to focus on smart watches. Most people I know don’t even bother with watches anymore because they have their cell phone glued to their hand 24/7. Furthermore, if the leaked photos are to be believed, the Samsung watch is too big and its ability to run Android apps seems redundant in light of the ubiquity of Android powered smart phones which now outnumber iOS phones. Why anyone would want or need what amounts to a mini telephone strapped to their wrist while also carrying a full fledged smart phone in his or her pocket is beyond me. I can only envision very niche uses for such a device.
Cue Dick Tracy, emphasis on Dick, which is what I’ll call the first person I see talking to his watch.
Why buy a 300$ tablet or 600$ phone when you can have a completely useless 800$ watch… first world problems FTW.
Edited 2013-09-02 16:30 UTC
I don’t get it, do these ‘Smart-Watches’ have 3D holographic displays or something equally cool…no, oh dear.
My two cents, surely these kinds of devices should be generating electricity from Kinetics or is it a case that in order to create enough energy you must act like a member of the ministry of silly walks?
Edited 2013-09-02 21:56 UTC
I don’t know why this is even much of a discussion, so called ‘smart’ watches have been out for a while.
I recall quite a few years ago, a Linux watch being made and it even ran X11.
Personally, I don’t really want a ‘smart’ watch, I just want one where I can make calls on, because talking to your wrist like you’re a spy would be awesome.
A smartshoe would make a far better ergonomic fit for the mic and speaker locations.
I remember that too, along with a Palm based PDA watch by Fossil. I’d love to have both in my gadget collection.
Behold:
http://www.amazon.com/Water-Proof-Stainless-Unlocked-Mobile/dp/B005…
With that size it might as well be a bloody phone!