Samsung Electronics Co Ltd unveiled what it said was the first smartwatch capable of making and receiving calls without a mobile phone nearby, in the South Korean firm's latest effort to find a new growth driver.
The world's biggest smartphone maker has been pushing hard to develop the wearable devices market as it looks to counter slowing earnings in its mobile division, which led to weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings. The introduction of 3G connection on top of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support means that you don’t have to bring your smartphone around with you in order to get notifications on your wearable device.
Samsung’s Tizen-powered Gear S lets you receive notifications from social networks, calendars and apps even when away from your phone. It also lets you reply to incoming messages using the onscreen keyboard, or S Voice functionality to complete your tasks. You can also make and receive calls directly from your wrist, or get calls forwarded from your smartphone.
In terms of looks, the Gear S comes with a 2-inch curved Super AMOLED display at a 360×480 resolution, which users can read messages and notifications on, with features including conversation view and condensed font. It also boasts customizable screen options and changeable straps so that users can tailor the watch to their tastes.
On the software side, the Gear S has HERE navigation provided by Nokia, as well as Spritz speed-reading. It also includes GPS sensors, an accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, UV detection, barometer and a heart rate monitor. IN terms of specs, it’s packing 4GB of internal storage and 512MB of RAM, plus a dual-core 1.0 GHz processor. It has IP67 dust and water resistance, and a relatively small 300mAh battery, which Samsung says will still manage to get it 2 days of usage under normal conditions.
The Gear S will be available starting in October, though pricing hasn’t been announced.
