Samsung's Newest Smartwatch Goes Full Circle At IFA 2015, Samsung Unveiled their latest wearable. The Samsung Gear S2, the watch that was teased at Samsung's event a few weeks ago, was finally unveiled. With the Gear S2, Samsung completely changed what they normally did with their past smartwatches. The Gear S2 features a thinner and sleeker looking design, that looks more like a traditional watch. The past Samsung wearables didn't look bad, they just seemed too big and clunky. But with the New Gear S2 watches-yes there are two-they look as though you are wearing a standard watch. Both the standard model S2 and the S2 Classic feature similar designs, but they do each have their own unique aspects. The standard S2 features a sleek sporty design with a plastic band, while the S2 Classic looks like an old timepiece; with its textured bezel and leather band. Both S2 watches feature a completely circular display-no "flat tire" like the Moto 360. They also run the same operating system, Samsung's Tizen UX. To navigate the watch they both feature a Home and Back button, as well as the rotating bezel that had been rumored some time ago. In terms of functionality; both watches will allow you easy access to notifications, as well as send text messages. Samsung will also be releasing a 3G model of the S2 that will add an e-sim with voice capabilities.
Samsung has stated that they are openly collaborating with developers, to offer a wide assortment of watch faces and bands by launch, as well as multiple apps made specifically for the Gear S2 and its 1.2-inch circular screen. In terms of what's inside of the watches, both watches are almost completely identical. The only difference being the dimensions and weight of both watches. Specs-
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I must tell you, what I am writing here is purely my opinion. This is not a rant, or me trying to belittle someone else's work. This is simply me sharing my thoughts.
Earlier today, I read an article written by Damon Beres at the Huffington Post. You can find a link to said article HERE. In this article, Damon Beres talks about how the Apple Watch (along with other smartwatches), is essentially, just another new "thing" for people to want without really knowing why. This is a very interesting-and, if I might add, well written- article. I do agree with most of the article. For example, I agree that many of the tech gadgets on the market today are mostly gimmicks used to get our attention, with features that don't affect our lives in any way (good or bad). A lot of the things we want, we definitely don't need. We don't need a watch that connects to our phone, in order to give us notifications on our wrist instead of our pocket. We don't need it, but we do want it. This part of the article is what I don't agree with. It seems like a lot of the features that wearables have to offer are unwanted or completely irrelevant. In the article Mr. Beres talks about how after some time using the Moto 360, he took it off and didn't miss any of the convenient features it had to offer. He also said "...though I admit I enjoyed being able to say 'OK Google, set a timer for 20 minutes' before settling in for a short nap. This saved my probably 30 seconds versus typing an alarm into my phone." This. This is why companies are making wearables, and this is why people want them. People want convenience, in any way and every way they can. Just like people wanted the iPhone 5s over the 5. They wanted it because Touch ID saves them 5 seconds over typing in a passcode. They wanted it because the 5s could open and load apps 10 seconds faster. Companies know that people want this sense of efficiency, this sense that all of their 'tools' are running as smooth and as fast as possible. This is something that Steve Jobs took great pride in; making things as easy for the user as possible. Take a look at this excerpt from Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography: 'One day Jobs came into the cubicle of Larry Kenyon, an engineer who was working on the Macintosh operating system, and complained that it was taking too long to boot up. Kenyon started to explain, but Jobs cut him off. “If it could save a person’s life, would you find a way to shave ten seconds off the boot time?” he asked. Kenyon allowed that he probably could. Jobs went to a whiteboard and showed that if there were five million people using the Mac, and it took ten seconds extra to turn it on every day, that added up to three hundred million or so hours per year that people would save, which was the equivalent of at least one hundred lifetimes saved per year. “Larry was suitably impressed, and a few weeks later he came back and it booted up twenty-eight seconds faster,” Atkinson recalled. “Steve had a way of motivating by looking at the bigger picture.”' Now trust me, I definitely don't think that something like the Apple Watch would be a product that Steve Jobs would put in his stores. This approach is what Apple, along with every other company making wearables, is taking. This is the reason people want a smartwatch. Convenience. So, you combine the promise of convenience, with a device that "looks cool" or "pretty" or even "cute", and you're gonna have people lining up to get the "latest thing". I truly believe it is that simple. You offer people a fashion statement that adds "convenience and efficiency" and you have a best-selling piece of technology on your hands. This is also the reason that Apple is one of the top companies in the world; they offer convenience and style. |
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