Samsung has introduced its new Gear S smartwatch, which will be amongst the first generation of smartwatches that have direct access to the internet. News confirming the Gear S's existence first broke out at Samsung's official site on Thursday, Aug. 28.
"Samsung is leading this exciting and rapidly developing wearable category through progressive innovation," said JK Shin, CEO and head of IT & mobile communication at Samsung Electronics. "The Samsung Gear S redefines the idea of the smart wearable and the culture of mobile communication. It will let consumers live a truly connected life anywhere, anytime."
Current model smartwatches do not have built-in Wi-Fi hardware, and needed to be paired with smartphones in order to connect with the 3G network. Many consumers found this caveat to be inconvenient, which contributed partially to the poor smartwatch sales last year. Provided that it lives up to expectations, the Samsung Gear S may address this complaint.
Inevitably, tech commentators have begun matching the Gear S's specs with other mobile devices. Comparisons reveal that the new smartwatch's capability is roughly three years behind most advanced smartphones.
"Samsung Gear S has internals similar to iPhone 4S," wireless consultant Neil Shah tweeted recently. Shaw pointed that the Gear S only has 512 MB RAM and a dual-core processor rated at 1 GHz. The smartwatch also has 802.11n Wi-Fi and A-GPS connectivity. While the iPhone 4S has a minimum storage capacity of 8 GB, the Gear S can only store 4 GB of data.
Even though it is capable of connecting independently to the internet, the Samsung Gear S can still be paired with smartphones. To facilitate comfort, the smartwatch is curved toward the shape of the direction of the user's wrist. Regarding specs, the device has a 2-inch AMOLED display, commonly found on a number of Samsung devices. Unlike previous Samsung smartwatches that use Android Wear, the Gear S uses the Tizen OS. For customization, users can change the straps.
According to Samsung, the Gear S is scheduled for release sometime in October of this year. The tech giant's recent announcement comes just days before the upcoming IFA 2014 trade show, which will be held this September in Berlin.
