Samsung has officially announced a new curved-screen smartwatch, the Samsung Gear S, ahead of its IFA 2014 unveiling.
Perhaps mindful of the recent announcement of a stylish new smartwatch from its main local rival, the LG G Watch R, Samsung has revealed some information on its own fashion-focused effort ahead of its big pre-IFA Unpacked event in a week’s time.
While the aforementioned LG watch sports a round plastic OLED display, the Samsung Gear S goes with a 2-inch curved square Super AMOLED display.
The other noteworthy feature is 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, which means that the Gear S can act as a stand-alone smart device. No need for a smartphone here – you can receive notifications and even make calls direct from the watch.
Naturally, the Gear S can still be hooked up to your smartphone thanks to Bluetooth, and Samsung insists that switching between these connections is seamless.
As this suggests, the Samsung Gear S is not powered by Google’s Android Wear platform, but rather Samsung’s own Tizen. It also has a turn-by-turn navigation service powered by HERE, and a 24-hour news service from the Financial Times.
Naturally, the Gear S comes with a wealth of health-related features, including a “enhanced multi-sensors, built-in GPS, and robust S Health features.”
It runs on a 1GHz dual-core processor, and features 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage. These components are powered by a 300mAh battery, and Samsung quotes battery life as two days of “typical usage.”
The Samsung Gear S will hit shops in October, though there are no details yet on pricing or precise availability.
Read More: IFA 2014 – What to expect
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
