Next week Samsung is scheduled to take the stage in Berlin for IFA and announce their brand new smartwatch, called the Samsung Galaxy Gear. September 4th we’ll be able to put all the rumors to rest, but this afternoon the first real pictures of the device have finally hit the web courtesy of VentureBeat. It sure isn’t what we expected, and is a bit clunky, but check it out with more details below.
Previous reports and rumors have hyped this device up quite a bit, so hopefully we aren’t disappointed once Samsung confirms everything come next Wednesday. All the rumors of a curved AMOLED display appear to be false, and instead we have a 2.6-inch squared, flat display, but the large bezels make it rectangle in shape and nearly 3 inches. Yes, that’s a big and clunky device for a wrist, if you ask us.
The color display looked good in the slides, and in person, according to the report, and most the previous leaked specs were accurate. Those being a 4 megapixel camera on the front side, tiny speakers built into the clasp of the strap, and a little button for power/wake on the right side.
The leak confirms Samsung S-Voice for easy voice commands, companion apps and sync with Galaxy S and Note devices, Samsung’s S-Health app for all those Nike FuelBand type features, and much more. Venture beat wasn’t able to snap pictures of the device, but a full video of slides was shown, and they snagged a few pictures that appear to show plenty of swipe gestures for navigating the 2.6 or 3-inch display.
Not only does it have Bluetooth and NFC, but there’s also WiFi connectivity. There’s plenty of built-in Android apps specifically for the Galaxy Gear watch. And earlier this week images leaked of their companion “Gear” Android app, which will probably hit the Play Store soon as well.
The rounded edges gives it a very similar smartphone look, only smaller of course, but it certainly is extremely large and clunky. Those expecting some next-gen wearable device won’t be too pleased, if we had to guess, but we’ll have to get our hands on it for a final judgement. We’ll have plenty of hands-on pictures and video come Wednesday from the event.
Thoughts?
