When many people hard about Samsung's bold new venture into wearable technology, they believed the Galaxy Gear smartwatch was a bit of technology right out of science fiction or some other film or television series. This feeling was not lost on the company, which recently came out with commercials that wink at the smartwatch's existence in fiction for so many years.
Knight Rider, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and George Jetson all had smartwatches that they regularly used. The new advertisements point to these iconic characters and many more. The commercials coyly tap into viewer's nostalgia for smartwatch tech from other films and television series before the watch was a real thing. The ads are meant to get people excited that the future in technology is finally here. The company seems keen on generating buzz around a future that includes a smartwatch being as common on people's wrists as smartphones are to people's pockets.
The device is priced at $300 and works with Samsung's Galaxy lineup of smartphones. In fact, it was unveiled along with its Galaxy Note 3 launch and Galaxy Tab 10.1 launch last month. It will soon work with the Galaxy S4 after a small but free software update. The device can check e-mail, take phone calls, dictate text messages and works with several different apps. The idea behind the device is to reduce the number of times the user has to actually reach into his and her pocket to check a Galaxy smartphone.
The device has been criticized by many for being clunky and difficult to use. Rather than focus on specifications but rather leans heavily on pre-established success stories like "Star Trek." You can check out both new TV commercials below. The device goes on sale sometime this month.
Tell us what you think of the new smartwatch. Is it for you or is it not quite there yet? Comment and share your thoughts below.
