Samsung appears to be readying a new wearable after a device with the model number SM-R600 popped up on Bluetooth SIG.
While listed simply as a 'Smart Mobile Device' with very little details, the model name has been tied to the Samsung Gear Pop, a wearable that was rumoured to launch at the company's Tizen Developer conference in May this year but never turned up.
This follows the news last week that Samsung had sent out a survey recently as part of its SmartLab Plus program, in which we got a few very interesting details about a new wearable that's part Gear S3, part Gear Fit 2. It could even be the Samsung Gear Pop or the Gear Fit Pro, which has also been mentioned in the past.
Here's what we know - the new device will be a smartwatch but it will be smaller than the Gear S3 with thinner (interchangeable) watch straps. Plus Samsung says it is aiming for "maximum comfort" - not something those with smaller wrists will get from its current flagship. (We don't have any pics of the device yet).
Read this: Which Samsung Gear smartwatch should you buy?
The new Samsung smartwatch focuses on fitness tracking including: weight and calorie management, inactivity alerts (stay active on a plane, take a break from driving) and sports coaching. Plus it will be swim-proof.
Also of note: Samsung says it will have a "revised user interface" with better, more glanceable widgets for things like progress towards your fitness goals. This, to us, sounds like more of a focus on interactive watch faces and quick access, intuitive complications than full blown apps which can only be a good thing.
The email doesn't say what kind of screen tech the watch will use - or battery life - so when we say 'hybrid' that could mean anything from a fitness focused AMOLED screened smartwatch to something more like what we've seen from Withings (now Nokia), Fossil Group and others.
And hey, there's plenty of room for Samsung to own a series of smartwatches, each offering something genuinely different. The fact that it's continuing to tweak the smartwatch formula, looking to combine wearable design with useful features, is hella promising. Because the answer isn't always pile on more specs.
With IFA coming up in less than a month, there could then be a strong chance that the Gear Fit Pop or Pro will join the Samsung Gear S4. Exciting times.
Source: SamMobile and PhoneArena
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