9 replies to this topic

[Methodician]

I knew it was coming soon but got a little shocked when I walked into Best Buy the other day and realized we were already in the second, perhaps 3rd generation of full-blown smart watches! Samsung has my eye at the moment.

 

Their Gear and Gear 2 have a camera, speaker, microphone, and high-resolution touch screen. It acts primarily as a companion to various Samsung branded smartphones (must be within bluetooth range for most functionality) but the Gear 2 has some stand alone functionality not to be dismissed.

 

Personally, I try to ride the wave of technology like a surfer (a flawed analogy perhaps because I've never surfed). I've been an early adopter of various technologies, even a late adopter of a few. I find it's usually best to wait until a new technology and its market is fast approaching maturity before jumping in; I ride just in front of the cusp of the wave. Crazy thing is that just about a year into the market it looks like we're there. If I hadn't just been laid off I may have ordered a gear/gear2 that same day. Some of these devices (the gear 2 in particular) are pretty mind blowing and Samsung, along with several other big players in the tech market, are racing to release better, more varied, and more powerful options.

 

Has anyone here experimented with smart watches yet? What's your take? Do these already have the potential to significantly improve quality of life (or at least technological convenience) or are they still in an infantile stage best suited for fanatical early adopters?

 

What's your take on the current market for smart watches?

[Phoenicis]

Apparently Samsung is releasing a smart watch with a heartrate monitor. What are good ones for collecting health data?

[blood]

The reviews for the Samsung so called smart watch have been scathing.

For health conscious people, i think a sensor band (like the fitbit flex) is a better investment.

I'm hoping Apple will enter the market with a simple looking sensor band that tracks movement, steps, heart rate, maybe even blood glucose. I'd prefer it if the device didn't have its own display (for many reasons, but in particular bcause there's no such thing as a non-ugly smart watch).

Edited by blood, 24 May 2014 - 09:52 PM.

[Methodician]

The samsung Gear Fit is perhaps the best general purpose smartwatch-as-a-phone-companion out to date. The Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo also both boast all the same fitness tracking abilities along with some other powerful functions but are not as sexy and comfortable.

 

http://www.cnet.com/...msung-gear-fit/

 

And they're already released. Why pay $100 for a blah fitbit (I'm wearing one now) when you could pay $200 and get something as nice as the gear fit?

[blood]

Why pay $100 for a blah fitbit (I'm wearing one now) when you could pay $200 and get something as nice as the gear fit?

Depends on your goals, I guess? E.g., do you want to improve your health, or do you want a new toy to play with?

If your goal is improving health, then:

- The fitbit is light, & visually unobtrusive.
- It's visually acceptable to females and males.
- It's simple to use.

- The gear is big/heavy & it is (arguably) ugly.
- the gear is complex (in a bad way).
- the gear might appeal to a subset of male geeks (the kind of guy who makes Android a religion), but I can't see women in general, non-geeks, or people who value a clean & simple aesthetic wanting to wear it.
- the gear is made by Samsung, with an operating system produced by Google. These are two highly ethically compromised companies, and they shouldn't be supported.

Edited by blood, 29 May 2014 - 12:34 AM.

[Methodician]

- the gear is made by Samsung, with an operating system produced by Google. These are two highly ethically compromised companies, and they shouldn't be supported.

I kind of feel 'ya with Samsung but what about Google? I've never seen a corporation with that level of power behave so ethically. Then again, arguably I've never seen a corporation with that level of power. I think if anyone is going to have it though, Google isn't a bad choice. I'd rather have Google running things than the US Govt. and that says a lot.

 

Like it or not, the world powers of the future will be large corporations. They will trump and/or operate governments. Who is your vote going to? Apple? Microsoft? GE?!?

[Methodician]

 

Why pay $100 for a blah fitbit (I'm wearing one now) when you could pay $200 and get something as nice as the gear fit?

Depends on your goals, I guess? E.g., do you want to improve your health, or do you want a new toy to play with?

If your goal is improving health, then:

- The fitbit is light, & visually unobtrusive.
- It's visually acceptable to females and males.
- It's simple to use.

- The gear is big/heavy & it is (arguably) ugly.
- the gear is complex (in a bad way).
- the gear might appeal to a subset of male geeks (the kind of guy who makes Android a religion), but I can't see women in general, non-geeks, or people who value a clean & simple aesthetic wanting to wear it.
- the gear is made by Samsung, with an operating system produced by Google. These are two highly ethically compromised companies, and they shouldn't be supported.

 

 

These aren't bad arguments. I think the Gear Fit is pretty nice looking for wearable computing though and the look-and-feel of these devices will improve dramatically with successive generations (read: the next 8-10 months)

 

 

[jroseland]

I think one of the most exciting applications for Smart Watches is reading on them with Spritz... Example:

[blood]

NEW - Microsoft Band, with 24-hour HR monitoring, built-in GPS and - get this - a UV monitor/sensor:

http://www.microsoft...soft-band/en-us

 

This blows the new fitbit models out of the water. Poor fitbit.

 

Think I prefer this to the Apple watch. I don't want to wear a watch.

Edited by blood, 30 October 2014 - 07:18 AM.

[Dallasboy]

NEW - Microsoft Band, with 24-hour HR monitoring, built-in GPS and - get this - a UV monitor/sensor:
http://www.microsoft...soft-band/en-us

This blows the new fitbit models out of the water. Poor fitbit.

Think I prefer this to the Apple watch. I don't want to wear a watch.

Nice!! I've been waiting for something like this. I have read Fitbit will be coming out with one similar later this year. If this news ms band can sync with popular apps such as myfitnesspal then I am in!!