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Can I say that 1) I believe that the wearable computing market will be huge and 2) the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch announced tonight leaves me cold. But, to be fair, Google Glass leaves me cold too.
Samsung’s eagerly awaited Galaxy Gear will cost a hefty $299 and has to be used with a Samsung smartphone. Its features are pretty basic. Indeed as you have to have a Samsung smartphone with you anyway, why would you choose to do your emails on a 1.6 inch screen?
Although I think that wearable computing will be a companion to smartphones they must do different things and they should not rely on having your smartphone close by all the time. They should monitor blood pressure, heartbeats, maybe at some point measure your cholesterol. The Gear does have basic fitness apps like steps taken and calories used though.They should help you find out where you are (or where your kids are). They should help you navigate. All the kind of things that can best be done with something on your wrist – not things that you could do better on your smartphone anyway.
So, I think the Gear will prove something of a disappointment – particularly at that price. But that should not put you off the genre. Let’s wait until better products – including the Apple iWatch - becomes available before casting a verdict on the whole wearable computing sector.
Footnote - The Gear comes preloaded with 10 different clock options. Its battery life is one day. Currently I have a watch with one clock option and a battery life about 5 years! I think I'll stick with that for the moment.
