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All the Galaxy Gear but no idea?
Mon, 9th Sep 2013
FYI, this story is more than a year old

"Samsung is pursuing a spaghetti-on-the-wall product strategy: Launch a smart watch, and maybe it will stick."

That's the damning view of Sarah Rotman Epps, a Forrester Senior Analyst speaking following the company's Galaxy Gear smart watch launch last week.

"Maybe Samsung will tap into unmet demand with this product, disproving naysayers as it did with the Galaxy Note.

"But my bet is that smartwatches are sci-fi inventions that are already anachronisms in this modernworld."

Epps goes on to note that she’s skeptical of Samsung’s smartwatch, as there are very few functions that can be performed better on a watch than on a phone.

"It’s nothing against Samsung," she says.

"Send a message without taking out your phone? Ok, we buy that—but voice recognition on any device I’ve tested (Google Glass, Android phones, iOS, Mac OS, Windows Phone) is flawed enough that the inconvenience of trying to correct mistakes outweighs the benefits.

"Take a picture? I give this one to Glass (if only the camera were higher resolution).

"Payments, maybe, would be easier on a watch—but mobile payment growth has been sluggish and it’s doubtful that NFC-enabled watches would change that."

Also launched at the Samsung event in Berlin was the Galaxy Note III.

"What's happening is that device makers are still figuring out consumer need and use models for the spectrum of devices from smartphone to tablet," argues Principal Analyst Charles Golvin regarding the new device.

"A specific device like the Note III is not a mainstream device like the Galaxy S4 but may very well suit a segment of users who see the benefit of a larger screen, pen input, and simultaneous multitasking across applications.

"We'll continue to see manufacturers experiment and innovate with form factors and further segment the market."

Will the Galaxy Gear be popular among consumers? Tell us your thoughts below