Samsung's new Galaxy Gear — the latest entrant to the nascent smartwatch wars — is a big win.
Not for Samsung — but for its chief rival, Apple.
That's because the Gear, debuting at $299 with a variety of color options, is just good enough to pique consumer interest in the new product category. But it's not good enough to justify a purchase at the current price. It just opens the door to a red-carpet rollout for Apple's expected Next Big Thing, the iWatch.
The Gear I tested is from AT&T, where it recently launched. It becomes available through Verizon today. To be sure, the Gear is a handsome piece of hardware. Understandably larger than conventional watches but hardly an eyesore, the Gear has a touchscreen interface and a single button on one side.
It pairs easily via Bluetooth with the Galaxy Note 3, currently its only compatible smartphone. This makes some sense due to the size of the Note, a smartphone/tablet hybrid that is too big to carry on a run. The third iteration Note is an excellent device unto itself, especially for business travelers.
Users can answer, screen or make calls with the Gear. The sound quality is surprisingly good. And a tiny camera will make you feel like James Bond. Though more apps will come, the Samsung store has only 13 mobile apps for the Gear. One standout is our hometown's own Runkeeper, which logs your distance and workouts using the Gear's built-in pedometer. The only social networking app for Gear is a little-known but excellent service called Path. So while the watch will alert you to a pending notification from services like Facebook and Twitter, you have to take out the phone to see the content. Voice recognition is a bit shoddy.
At about half the price, many may prefer the Pebble Watch, the Kickstarter-funded smartwatch that is compatible with both Apple and Android. But I wouldn't shell out the dough for either unless you're a hardcore gadget geek.
The world of smartwatches has much in store for consumers, especially those in the market for fitness-tracking wearable technology. The ability to read and dictate email, post to social networks and otherwise serve as a tiny, on-the-go smartphone are likely all part of that future.
But the Gear is clearly a first-generation device, and if Apple plays its cards right, it could end up pretty similar to the tablets that came before the iPad.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Gear needs to watch out for the competition
Dengan url
http://warnakelabuabu.blogspot.com/2013/10/gear-needs-to-watch-out-for-competition.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Gear needs to watch out for the competition
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Gear needs to watch out for the competition
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar