Samsung Smartwatch won't be clunky and ugly


Over the weekend, some images of what was thought to be the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch hit the Internet. In these images you can see what appears to be a clunky, ovular screen mounted upon a standard wristwatch band. It's not exactly the cool, next-gen tech that we've been hoping for from Samsung's smartwatch.

Do not despair, fair technophiles, for all is not yet lost. This weekend's images were not of the Samsung Galaxy Gear debuting later this week. What the images depicted was just a developer prototype. While its internal specs were most likely up to snuff, the casing of such prototypes are hardly ever identical to the consumer version.
There are number of reasons for the design differences, but chief among them is the prevention of a leak like the one Venture Beat reported over the weekend. So if you're wondering whether the Galaxy Gear is already dead before arrival, rest assured: you ain't seen nothin' yet. Moreover, the reports that the impending smartwatch is a "heath tracker with a camera" are baseless.
The hardware built into the Galaxy Gear prototype is testament to a wide array of possible functions. Here's what we know: the Galaxy Gear will feature NFC and Bluetooth 4.0 LE. It will run Android 4.3 and be powered by a dual core processor. As well as a camera, the smartwatch will boast an accelerometer, a microphone and speakers. There will also be a watch-focused app store from which the Galaxy Gear can download (via Samsung smartphone) functionality-broadening apps. As for what else it will be able to do, we'll all have to wait for Samsung's announcement later this week.