Monday, May 26, 2014

Report: Samsung hard at work on standalone smartwatch, ETA is July

According to Wall Street Journal’s well-connected inside sources, Samsung’s mythical first standalone smartwatch is indeed in the works, and company execs are eyeing a summer 2014 launch.




As wearable devices continue to struggle, mostly due to their exorbitant price tags or high dependence to always connected smartphones, the dream is obviously to be able to roll out a self-reliant, budget-conscious intelligent wristwatch at some point.

Well, that point may be closer than you imagine, with Samsung development reported as advanced on a Tizen-running “watch-phone”. Yeah, a watch-phone, though I don’t presume the term will catch on. Instead, the Gear Solo brand name has quite the ring to it, albeit WSJ hesitates to mention it, suggesting it’s not yet set in stone.

Whatever it’ll end up being titled, this SIM-packing independent smartwatch should be able to make and receive calls all alone, as well as snap photos, surf the web, check your heart rate and guide you through the world via GPS.



Will it take voice commands for initiating calls? No idea, but it’s certainly a possibility. As is a formal intro in June or July, believe it or not. This June or July. Guess Sammy isn’t that committed to Google’s Android Wear project after all.

If the timeline pans out, the Gear Solo might even precede Apple’s long overdue iWatch announcement, which would put Samsung in a very privileged position in the fledgling wearable market. Which they’ve already gained control over, although the niche’s real potential is far from being exploited at a maximum.

It remains to be seen if the tech world is ready to adopt smartwatches at a truly large scale and, most importantly, if Samsung can crack the whole battery life conundrum. Mind you, a tiny “watch-phone” can’t possibly pack a big enough juicer to handle hours and hours of 3G talk time. Or 2G, for that matter.

Source: Wall Street Journal

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