The wearables market is slowly growing, with the likes of the Galaxy Gear and other smartwatches and Google Glass kicking off an industry anticipated to grow in the coming years. Analyst firm Berg Insight has gone elbows-deep into this market, shaping up numbers on where it sees the industry heading in the coming years. According […]
Samsung’s Galaxy Gear is seeing return rates above 30-percent, leaked internal documentation suggests, with claims the South Korean company is surveying Best Buy Samsung Experience staff to try to figure out how the smartwatch is falling short. “The Galaxy Gear attachment rate within Best Buy is the highest among all channels” according to documents leaked […]
Samsung has officially confirmed that it has expanded compatibility for its new Galaxy Gear smartwatch. The extended compatibility for the smartwatch means that the device that works with more Samsung smartphone models. Samsung added compatibility with eight new smartphones to its smart watch. Originally, the Galaxy Gear smartwatch was only compatible with the Galaxy Note […]
Samsung’s new Android 4.3 update will bring Galaxy Gear compatibility to the S3, S4 and Note 2, instead of just the Note 3. Good news if you enjoy looking like Inspector Gadget.
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Samsung has first mover advantage in the smartwatch space, launching its Galaxy Gear wearable last month. However the mobile companion device only worked if you also picked up Samsung’s just released Galaxy Note 3 or Galaxy Note 10.1. Which means the vast majority of Samsung’s existing user-base are currently denied the chance to indulge their smartwatch-owning fantasies unless they also upgraded their main phone or bought a new tablet. But not for much longer.
Samsung has announced the Gear will become compatible with a swathe of its existing handsets via two updates: the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update, and a separate update due to start rolling out globally at the end of this month.
The list of devices that will add Gear compatibility is the Galaxy S4, Galaxy S3, and Galaxy Note 2 (via the 4.3 update). Samsung said it will also extend Galaxy Gear compatibility to “other Galaxy devices” – specifically saying this will include the Galaxy S4 Mini, S4 Active, Mega 5.8, Mega 6.3, and Galaxy S4 Zoom – via a separate update (which suggests those devices aren’t getting Android 4.3. Or not yet, anyway).
One caveat: Android updates are a notoriously fragmented affair, with carriers acting as gatekeepers to hold back the rollout progress of each update. So it may take a considerable time for the Gear update to be successfully pushed out to all carrier combinations across all markets. “Software update schedules for each device will vary by country and carrier,” is how Samsung couches that caveat in its press release.
As well as enabling S4, S3 and Note 2 owners to buy and hook up a Gear, the v4.3 update will add easier text input, updated graphics and multimedia on the Android side, plus Samsung’s Knox security offering, Smart Switch, HomeSync and Group Play 2.5.
Once these existing device owners have successfully updated, and if they then choose to shell out $299 for the Gear add-on, they can expect to be able to make and answer calls on the smartwatch, and view incoming messages and notifications.
The Gear also has a 1.9MP camera attached to the wristband for taking grainy spy shots without reaching for your main cameraphone. It also has a handful of its own apps, such as a pedometer app.
Reviews of the Galaxy Gear have not been too kind, however – so if you’re buying this smartwatch, you are effectively using your own money to volunteer to be a beta tester for an alpha product.
Smartwatch rumors seem to a dime-a-dozen these days, and now here’s another: Bloomberg is reporting that HTC has been working on an Android-based smartwatch,
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HTC will look to wearables and a new tablet in order to try to reclaim market share, the company has teased, promising “something nice and disruptive” for its new slate. The company has been slow to capitalize on recent attention in either segment, though according to CEO Peter Chou that’s because many such devices – […]
Earlier this morning, we brought you the possibility of Nokia introducing a smartwatch to the masses in the future, thanks to a patent application which was published by the Patent and Trademark Office, where it described a modular timepiece so that the end user is able to customize it in a variety of ways. Well, before the day is over, how about some bit of interesting news concerning the alleged Nokia smartwatch? This particular update hails from a certain Kent Lyons, who is also one of the minds behind this device. He mentioned that this particular concept has been given the codename “Facet” for obvious reasons, where there is also a video of the prototype in action as you can see above.
It reminds me of one episode in the G-Force cartoon back when I was a kid, and the team of heroes had to battle a particular behemoth from the sea that had four different facets to its head, with the head being able to rotate 360 degrees, each “face” featuring a different energy beam that is shot out from its eyes. What do you think of Nokia’s attempt in making a smartwatch? Will they be able to duke it out with the seemingly almighty Android?
Nokia Facet Is Their Alleged Smartwatch original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Google made $14.9bn in revenue in Q3 2013 despite Motorola Mobility sales continuing to shrink, with CEO Larry Page making one final earnings call to praise the Chromecast and namecheck smartwatches as one of the next big things in digital. Overall, revenues were up 12-percent versus the same quarter last year, with cash or cash-equivalents […]
It was rumored recently that perhaps Xiaomi was building a smartwatch of its own. Xiaomi, often referred to as the Apple of China, has never actually confirmed that it is working on such a product. As per the rumor, the company’s smartwatch would have been priced significantly lower than existing smartwatches, and that it was likely to run on the same MIUI interface that has been found on a number of Xiaomi devices in the past. The company has now officially denied claims that it is building a smartwatch.
The denial comes from Xiaomi co-founder Liwan Jiang, who says that at this point in time, the company is going to focus on its smartphone and TV business. He didn’t flat-out deny the possibility that a smartwatch might be developed somewhere down the line, but it appears that the company has no immediate plans of jumping on the smartwatch bandwagon. Only recently Xiaomi launched a new smartphone as well as a 3D smart TV, the company has seen considerable success in those markets. Its smartphones are some of the best selling devices in China, though the company is yet to make its mark on the international market. It has hired ex-Google executive Hugo Barra to lead its expansion in international markets, perhaps Xiaomi first wants to expand its global presence before diversifying its product portfolio.
Xiaomi Denies Smartwatch Claims original content from Ubergizmo. 
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