Yesterday, Microsoft essentially destroyed my long term dreams of owning a Nokia Android phone by purchasing the mobile division of Nokia.
Today, Samsung announced their giant Galaxy Note 3 and Tab 10.1 devices. Hardware-wise, it is everything you can expect, faster processor, better display, and better camera but they include a leather-like back to the devices instead of the plastic. The Note 3 is just a bigger Galaxy S4 with the S-Pen and the speaker on the bottom instead of the front (better but still why not the front?!)
The software differentiates this generation of devices from its predecessors. They have included pop-out applications where the window hovers above the main screen. Multi-window now includes the ability to drag and drop (extremely useful). Then Samsung, of course, a whole bunch of their default applications which no one bothers using (whether because there are better solutions or its just not worth using); I have most of the Samsung's applications disabled on my S4.
Speaking of the S4, the Galaxy Gear Smartwatch was announced today. It's what anyone has been anticipating for months now and finally the first of many companies to introduce their own smartwatch was presented to the public. And it is was everything you would expect with less and more. First of all, it will only be compatible with the new Note 3 and Tab 10.1 at release; then, further adding support for the S4. This will be the reason adoption of the watch will be extremely low and I don't understand Samsung's reasoning for this. A closed environment like this has limited potential for growth even if the S4 is the best selling Android phone to date. But you can get the watch (and the other devices announced) in so many different colors!
The only positive surprise about the watch? It has a camera. But it stops there because the quality of the camera is lower than the front-facing camera on my phone. For $300, the watch lacks so much: Battery life is only a day (at best probably), lack of sensors (accelerometer and gyroscope only), and compatibility. I can confidently say that the Samsung Galaxy Gear Smartwatch isn't what we have been waiting for; the world will have to wait for Apple or Google...
I'm definitely not replacing my Basis watch for the Galaxy Gear.
While everyone is discussing Samsung's Galaxy Gear, Qualcomm is taking the quiet road into the smartwatch competition with the interesting low-powered Mirasol display. And it looks like it will work with any Android phone too. In my opinion, the Qualcomm Toq looks much more promising (especially with it's customizability). "Wireless" charging is a plus too.
P.S. While writing this post, I couldn't find my phone. Good thing I knew about this!