News & Reviews:   Samsung Galaxy Gear

ZTE was recently quoted that it would be launching a smartwatch as early as 2014 with a possible release date in Q1 of 2014. Unfortunately, there were no tech specs or other feature details but if it looks to make any sort of impact they will likely have to address most of the main limitations of current smartwatches in the market. These include cripplingly short battery life, compatibility, limited features and functionality, the now standard thick slab of touchscreen design and a rather high price tag. Most smartwatches are also aiming to be little more than notification centers for your smartphone that connect via bluetooth. We're hoping more for a standalone device and there are already quite a few of those in development or recently introduced. None have answered all of the main limitations of current smartwatches but we ZTE could be the one to finally break the deadlock. As it is, the ZTE smartwatch would probably surface at CES 2014, where Samsung is also rumoured to be coming out with a better Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 smartwatch as well.

When the Qualcomm Toq smartwatch came out we were wondering when it would be available and for how much as many of the features on it made it an interesting entry into the growing smartwatch market. Well, the good news is that Qualcomm have revealed the pricing at $349 (RM1111) from 2 December 2013. Unfortunately, this is also the bad news. If you need to see how the Toq measures up to the Samsung Galaxy Gear and Sony SmartWatch 2 check out our earlier comparison article. Suffice to say, we're a little down because for what it can do complete with the available tech specs and features, it does less than the Galaxy Gear but costs more (the Samsung Galaxy Gear costs RM999 in Malaysia). Again, we're put in mind that the Toq, like the Galaxy Gear before it, is actually a beta device and is more out there to test the waters, get user feedback and prep the market for a better smartwatch. Hopefully that is the case. It is also fully compatible with any Android smartphone from Android 4.0.3. If you're still interested, check out the Qualcomm Toq site. Check out the video in this article for a refresher of the Qualcomm Toq smartwatch.

One of the main limitations of the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch is the fact that you can't pick and choose what notifications to get and some apps just aren't listed as being able to send notifications either. Thankfully, Samsung have come out with an official update for the Galaxy Gear (build V700XXUAMK7) that lets you view notifications for nearly every app on your smartphone. This Gear Manager update also lets you customize what notifications you want to enable or disable so you don't have to live with a constantly vibrating smartwatch on a busy day. While the update doesn't do much else, it is clearly a good step in the right direction from Samsung. We're looking forward more such updates which could perhaps extend battery life and add more functionality for the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch.

Coming from the usual source of parts suppliers, Google has been rumoured to start mass production of their smartwatch device and soon. According to the Wall Street Journal this is because Google have solved the 2 main obstacles involved with smartwatches which is how useful the smartwatch can be and battery life. Supposedly, the Google smartwatch will include a battery saving feature that extends the battery life. There are no details if this better battery life will be past the current 1 week standard smartwatch battery life or past 25 hours which is the battery life of currently the most feature-filled smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Gear. The Google smartwatch will also use Google Now as the main interface, which could mean many more voice commands and the ability to always be listening, much like the Motorola Moto X.

So far, reports indicate that it would still have to rely on your smartphone as a stand-alone smartwatch would cost too much and be to big to be worn on the wrist (which doesn't seem to be the case for some other smartwatch makers). We're still hoping that Google will offer a stand-alone smartwatch but we should find out soon enough. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Google Watch could come within a matter of months which could mean either the end of 2013 in December or early 2014. No specifics on pricing or Malaysia release dates but we'll keep you posted.

While compatibility with just the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Note 10.1 2014 Edition is one of the main constraints of the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch, this may no longer be the case as Samsung have announced that quite a few Galaxy devices are going to get compatible soon. This includes the Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy S III and Samsung Galaxy Note II as soon as they receive their Android 4.3 updates, which are currently being rolled out in phases. Following these are the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, S4 Active, Mega 5.8, Mega 6.3 and S4 Zoom. While the software update will again be released in phases, these devices will begin getting the update by the end of October. Bear in mind though that certain functions and features available for use on the Samsung Galaxy Gear will depend on the tech specs available to each device.

The race for the world's best smartwatch is currently on and while the market is still fairly new, the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch is probably the most feature filled of the bunch. Packing in a 1.9MP camera, a 1.6mm Super AMOLED screen and Bluetooth 4.0 LE connectivity this is one of the few smartwatches that you can use to take calls from, provided you have your smartphone connected. It is also locally available here in Malaysia for RM999. Does it live up to the hype? Read on and find out in our Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch review.

While the previous Samsung Galaxy Note 3 video ad didn't really help sell the phablet with it's rather weird puppetry, Samsung have come out with another promotional video that shows off the features of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 along with some mention of the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch, this time through a stop-motion pop-up book. We think that it is quite creative and helps highlight features like Air Command, the new S Pen, and all of the Air Command functions such as Scrapbook and S Finder. Check out the video for yourself in the article.

While it is currently the most feature-filled smartwatch from a big company on the market, the Samsung Galaxy Gearis still far from being the smartwatch that everyone wants. However, it turns out that this could be partly due to the limitations that Samsung have put on it, as the guys from Ars Technica have hacked the smartwatch to run Android 4.2.2 and even play a game of Candy Crush. Utilizing a technique called side-loading through ADB and USB debugging enabled, they not only loaded some full apps, they even watched some videos on the tiny 1.6-inch screen. However, since the tech specs of the Galaxy Gear just consist of an 800MHz processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB storage and no WiFi, what you can do or install on the smartwatch is still very limited.

While Google Glass remains the originator in the smart glasses wearable computer market, it may not be the innovator all the time as Samsung has also reportedly stepped up development on smart glasses as well. According to certain sources (namely Russian blogger Eldar Murtazin) Samsung will likely release a pair of smartglasses under the brand name of Samsung Galaxy Gear Glass in April or May 2014. Unfortunately, there weren't any other details on tech specs, features, pricing or Malaysia release dates but like all rumours, remember to take this with a pinch of salt. Eldar Murtazin has been known to be wrong before as he was the one who initially said that Samsung's Tizen OS had apparently died before it was even released (which did not come true). 

The Samsung Galaxy Gear is probably the most feature filled smartwatch from a branded company currently in the market. While it does have a number of shortcomings, such as poor battery life and compatibility with smartphones other than the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 a number of rather cool promo ads for the smartwatch have come out. For those who haven't always wanted a smartwatch, the ads show where some of the first smartwatches in media came from including Dick Tracy, The Jetsons, Star Trek, Inspector Gadget, Knight Rider and Power Rangers. It is an interesting look at smartwatches and captures some of the essence that makes a smartwatch, at least according to popular media. Check the videos out for yourself and see where it all began for smartwatches.