News & Reviews:   SmartWatch

The Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch offers the most amount of features around but one of the main reasons it didn't really take off in Malaysia was it's RM999 price tag. Recently Samsung cut down the price of the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch in India down to $120 (RM397), with the original initial pricing set at an even higher $365 (RM1208). Samsung has not given any official announcement on a global cut-down in pricing for markets like Malaysia yet but since India got it, China, Malaysia and other Asian markets will probably follow soon after. The price cut is also indicative of what could be coming as well, as many are expecting the Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 smartwatch or S Band bracelet to be revealed in 2014. No specific Malaysia release dates just yet, but we're expecting it to come in or after the end of February 2014.

While Samsung's Unpacked invite all but announced the coming of the Samsung Galaxy S5, it still didn't offer much in terms of tech specs or features. Rumours have cropped up from Eldar Murtazin who says he knows the exact details. According to him, the Samsung Galaxy S5 will have a 5.24-inch display with 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution (2K display) which would give it a world's first record with 560ppi pixel density. Other features include a 3200 mAh battery, 32GB / 64GB storage, a 16MP rear camera, 3.2MP front camera and two versions with either a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 or Samsung Exynos 6 processor and chipset. The Samsung Galaxy S5 is expected to arrive with a companion S Band bracelet and not a Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 smartwatch. Last but not least, do take this rumour with a healthy dose of salt, as Eldar Murtazin has been wrong about the Galaxy S5 before.

Direct from the horses mouth, or in this case the mouth of Jonny Shih, ASUS chairman is the statement that we may soon see an ASUS smartwatch come our way. He said that such a wearable device could come by the second half of the year after June 2014 with the quote:

"There are actually many challenges in this area, and I don't think products that lack special features will be useful. We'll try to replace your watch by all means."

This isn't really new though as ASUS did say that the ASUS smartwatch would be on show at the Computex Taipei 2014 show in June this year, way back in November last year. That being said, the ASUS smartwatch is expected to offer many features although we hope that they manage to extend the battery life, make it standalone or ensure that it is compatible with every device more than special features it may have.

A Korean report recently quoted a Samsung spokesperson who hinted that we may soon see a pair of Samsung smartglasses, ahead of the consumer version of Google Glass, which has already come out for developers and first-time adopters. According to the report, we could see the still-unnamed Samsung smartglasses at the latest IFA which should be happening around September 2014. The report says that the Samsung Smartglasses will have the same functions as the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch, although we hope it won't have the same crippling battery life and compatibility limitations. Below is the exact quote from the report:

It will be interesting to see which companies get better stakes in the race for smart glasses. Players definitely want to enjoy a ‘first-mover’ advantage in this new and highly lucrative market [...]

Wearable devices can’t generate profits immediately. Steady releases of devices are showing our firm commitment as a leader in new markets …

A couple of months back we saw a Nike Fuelband inspired Apple iWatch concept from Thomas Bogner and in the recent CES 2014, the trend for smartwatches is leaning more towards the smart band or bracelet look than your traditional watch. This time around we get another, very polished and very beautiful Apple iWatch concept render, this time courtesy of designer Todd Hamilton, who not only did a similar band design but also added in iOS 7 functionality. Overall, the design here is a lot more realistic, as the icons look more readable (as it is oriented differently) than the previous one. However, there are major hurdles for this design, one of which would be flexible enough batteries for such a slim bangle but with LG's recent string batteries, we don't see why it can't be fit into a band form as well. Check out the concept render for yourself below:

While the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch probably offers the most in terms of functionality for any smartwatch currently on the market one of it's main limitations was that it only works with certain Samsung smartphones. This short compatibility list included the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Note 2, S4 and S3 with Android 4.3 firmware. However, this is no longer the case as Smart Watch Fans have come up with a guide showing how to make the Galaxy Gear smartwatch work with a Nexus 5 smartphone. It may require you to download some files, extract them and rename them, but there isn't any arduous programming or too-technical stuff to do to make it work. Do bear in mind that most of the apps work, except for S-Voice and Weather. Other smartwatch fans are saying that they have also made the Galaxy Gear work with the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, provided that it is the pure vanilla Google Edition version.

Jumping on the gold coloured smartphone bandwagon? Then Celcom's recent offer for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Rose Gold Edition should interest you as you can now get the phablet in Rose Gold White or Rose Gold Black at Celcom from RM1538. In addition to this, Celcom are even throwing in a free Moschino casing (worth RM189) along with a Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch at just RM288 (the standard retail price for the Gear is RM999). The initial Celcom Samsung Galaxy Note 3 deal is still the same with 12-month, 18-month and 24-month contracts for the Celcom First postpaid plans. Just for your information, the free Moschino case is only available from 28 January 2014 with the whole deal valid up until 28 February 2014. Check out the table and links in this article for more details.

Remember the multiple screen concept Nokia smartwatch prototype called Facet? Well, while it was certainly interesting, it definitely didn't look very cool (or comfortable) but this could change as Nokia will retain the wearables part of the business when it finally merges up with Microsoft. In line with this, Nokia is rumoured to be coming out with a better smartwatch by Q3 of 2014 that could use Morph technology. However, this seems highly unlikely since we've not seen anything capable of doing that just yet. For now, a more realistic concept render of a Nokia smartwatch has just come out from Phone Designer. The concept doesn't go into tech specs or features that much but it does reveal an interesting lock screen interface which could save on battery life and reduce the size of the smartwatch. Check it out below:

Samsung's Lee Young Hee, Executive VP of the Mobile Division certainly likes to drop plenty of teasers for Samsung products in his quotes with this one concerning the next Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch. Confirming that the still unnamed smartwatch which could turn be named the Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 would be unveiled with the Samsung Galaxy S5 by April, he said:

“When we release our S5 device, you can also expect a Gear successor with more advanced functions, and the bulky design will also be improved. Health-care related functions will be the most inherently tied functions to future wearables. We see a very big potential from there.”

While there have been a whole lot of smartwatches and smartbands, not many of them have actually been from existing popular watch makers, but Casio has changed that by announcing the G-Shock STB-1000 smartwatch. While the overall shape and design looks just like a Casio G-Shock watch, it is in fact Bluetooth 4.0 LE capable and can link up with several fitness apps. Unfortunately, it only works with iOS. Tech specs and features on the G-Shock STB-1000 include notifications of incoming calls, texts and emails along with music player control. It can also display data from the Abvio Runmeter GPS, Walkmeter GPS, Cyclemeter GPS and Wahoo Fitness apps with more to come soon. Other notable features include some degree of customization from the iOS app along with the ability to find your phone through the Phone Finder function. The main advantage the G-Shock STB-1000 has over every other smartwatch around is that the battery is rated at 2 years and it has 100-meter water resistance. While you definitely can't check emails, take pics or answer calls from this smartwatch, the other features should make it very attractive. So far, no Malaysia release dates or pricing were available but knowing Casio, the G-Shock STB-1000 is likely either already available or will be coming soon.