Just when we’ve begun to contemplate the need to possibly power down our dependence on our smartphones, Samsung jumps into the compact tech game and now introduces us to the Galaxy Gear Smartwatch. Yes, this is essentially a helper gadget for your already existing gadget.
We are entering into a realm where pulling our gadgets out and using them is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Not only have we toyed with ways to make them smaller — just to find out that sometimes with regard to smartphones and tablets — it may be more useful to make them bigger, sturdier, and able to hold more information. We are now circling back to the original idea. Big smartphones can be unwieldy, hard to manage when we’re on the go, and possibly too cumbersome when you want to do maybe one or two things in place of the ten to fifteen plus things our smartphones can do.
So the Smartwatch. A pared down version of our smartphones and newest entry into what we’re now calling wearable tech; a term that conjures images of James Bond with the ability to command technology (and/or cruise missiles) by just pressing a button on our wrists.
The Smartwatch isn’t a new concept. Others have attempted and heretofore failed to make a dent in the watch/tech arena. Samsung’s offering seems of late to be the most promising. Apple is planning something called the iWatch (of course), but because it’s Apple, that thing will probably be horrible.
Here’s what CNet had to say about the Samsung Smartwatch after its unveiling in Berlin yesterday:
“Smartwatches are designed to cut through the noise of your phone, with its apps and games and notifications and social networks and alerts and alarms and little red numbers shouting for your attention — and the Gear manages that with a playful elegance.”
That’s interesting, because don’t we basically have the smartphone to cut down the noise of our desktops, laptops, or tablets even? The whole point of upgrading the original mobile phone with the capability of a computer was to essentially make computing while commuting easier and more manageable for the user. How exactly does carrying a cell phone, syncing it to another gadget, and then wearing that gadget make traversing through our life jungles easier? It would appear that reaching into our pockets or purses or into our hip-sling is now too much, and what we require is the ability to just shout into our wrist bones to make all of our apps whir and our smartphones shimmy in our pants.
That’s not to say that it isn’t cool.
Sure. The thought of having information strapped to our bodies can certainly be cool. And this thing can do a lot. “It’s powered by an 800MHz processor and 512MB of RAM, the touch interface is sleekly responsive, and the 1.63-inch, 320×320-pixel super AMOLED screen enormously bright and clear,” Cnet reports. Aside from the ability to make and receive calls, there’s a 1.9-megapixel camera, it holds at present 70 apps, you can record voice memos, there’s a music player, a pedometer, the ability to see your phone contacts, it can show calendar appointments, it displays the temperature and time, gives you the weather forecast for a few days, and is able to receive voice commands. A veritable small army of tech at your disposal.
But as Cnet notes, “Sure, you don’t need it need it, but it’s also a lot of fun.”
So therein lies the main question. For those of us who depend heavily, and by heavily we mean, needing to check our smartphones every few minutes vs. every hour or so, this may be the thing that can really cut through some of the smartphone options. And by doing so maybe make it a bit easier to multitask if you’re not stopping to pull out your phone every few minutes. But if you’re more of a “live in the moment” kind of person, perhaps you don’t need a second option flashing and notifying you minute-to-minute located on your person. It makes it kind of hard to ignore or disconnect for a time and well, enjoy your run, or your dinner out.
Don’t buy it for your dad. He’ll just wear it with his actual watch while standing with his Bluetooth receiver latched on and then you’ll have to explain that to all your friends.
Image Source: Flickr
