Samsung’s newest attempt to cling to the mobile industry was announced this week with the Galaxy Gear Smartwatch. Weighing 2.6 ounces with a 1.6 inch screen, this thing is exactly what it looks like: a smartphone crammed into a wrist watch. It comes with 60 apps on it from the start, things like pedometers and calculators: everything that is already on a smartphone.
Smartphones aren’t going anywhere. That much is clear. And with a price of $299 on release, it’s not likely that these little trinkets are going to re-invent the market. There is no demand for a smartwatch. I’m sure the software is well done and owning one of these would be convenient, not having to worry cracking the screen or fumbling through pockets to find the thing in a hurry, but those conveniences certainly aren’t worth 300 bucks.
The question seems to be if anything can challenge the smartphone. Apple and Samsung topping each other in a back-and-forth surely can’t go on forever, so Samsung is taking a leap into the unknown with this technology. If this turns out as a success, will we see Apple jumping on the idea and announcing the iWatch next year? Of course we will.
The Galaxy Gear Smartwatch will be released on September 25th, and we’ll see then how well received these are. If Samsung manages to pull off a lot of unique software exclusive to the Smartwatch and knock down the price a bit, these may just find a place in the future of portable technology.
