The news comes from a few of our industry friends and the timing doesn’t seem to be good for Samsung, either. It is expected that Samsung flagship Galaxy 5 as well as Gear 2 watch, Gear 2 Neo and Gear fit launch within next couple of weeks if not sooner. Most countries got April 11th as the launch date and the launch date of all four of these gadgets will depend on the market, but it will be close to April 11 for most markets. We also hear that Galaxy Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit are selling significantly better than the first batch.
People in the know are confident that the second generation can do better despite a rather steep price. We can see a good chance for the Gear fit judging by the Fitbit success. People will be wanting to check out their text messages on their watches as it sounds like a cool thing to do.
The biggest obstacle for Galaxy Gear 2 is Android Wear, as smart watches like Moto 360 can put a lot of pressure on Samsung’s own platform or Qualcomm proof of concept known as the Toq watch. Having Google Now integration on a smart watch makes it a lot more functional, but we would have concerns over the battery life as well as the price. Don’t forget that Fossil watch group also committed to introducing an Android Wear based watch and since this manufacturer is quite well known brand in the mainstream watch market, maybe it can help speed up mass market adoption.
The redundancy and limited functionality of your average smart watch compared to your mobile phone is something we will all face, but it will be up to users to decide if they need more microprocessors on their body in form of wearable technology. We can tell you that it is cool to be able to read your email on a watch, at least for a little while until it gets old.
