On the smartphone battle front, it’s safe to say that Samsung has gone toe-to-toe with Apple as the Galaxy phone continues to grow in popularity, providing a more than legit alternative to the iPhone. After Samsung’s presentation today in Berlin however, at the IFA consumer electronics trade show, the Korean electronics company has thrust itself firmly in pole position as the race to win your wrists begins.
Samsung CEO J.K. Shin officially unveiled the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch, a sexy and sleek wrist-worn device that comes complete with a 1.6 inch and can sustain 25 hours of battery life with a single charge. With the Galaxy Gear, you can not only check emails, but you can also run android apps and answer calls with the wave of your wrist after syncing the watch with your smartphone.
“We had smartwatch-type products before, but they were mainly for making phone calls. What’s different with the Gear is it’s got far more useful functions. It’s usability has increased significantly and design is not bulky,” Shin said.
The design comes in six colors, has 4GB of internal memory and can also snap pictures and video along with the promising potential to make you the most interesting person in the room, all of which Samsung’s CEO made clear as he made no mistake in stating his bold intentions for the Galaxy Gear.
“I believe it will become a new fashion icon in the world,” Shin said.
The watch will go on sale for $299 starting later this month as it readies itself to go head-to-head with Sony who unveiled their own smartwatch model earlier this year and recently announced that it too would be releasing a smartwatch in stores later this month.
And while some may see the emergence of these devices as excessive, CNET UK editor Jason Jenkins says these smartwatches will offer much more than flash to consumers.
‘The Galaxy Gear is a solution to a very modern problem: smart phones have become too large and too easy to steal,” Jenkins told the Daily Mail. With screens over five inches becoming more common, it’s a bit of a faff to get them out of a pocket or bag every time you want to check something simple, like where your next appointment is.
That’s where the Galaxy Gear comes in.
