A lot of hype has been building for the new products that were set to be revealed by Samsung today at the IFA 2014 electronics show in Berlin. During a synced event between Berlin and New York City, Samsung showed off the Galaxy Note 3, the Galaxy Gear smartwatch and the Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 version). As usual the event was also full of marketing hypes and music.
None of these unveilings were surprising, as speculation had already named all three as potential products to be showcased. But we finally have the specs and details we have been waiting for, especially on the much talked about wearable device.
Galaxy Note 3
At first Samsung announced Galaxy Note 3. The flagship series has been incredibly popular, and they seem to have made some well received adjustments to their smartphone. The new device has even more than you can expect. A 5.7-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display will surely get your attention since it’s bigger than the previous model(Galaxy Note 2) with 0.2 inches. Inside, the specs are crazy, but we all know that this is the trend right now, so it’s not a surprise to find under the hood a 2.3 GHz Quad-Core Processor and 3 GB of RAM. The good thing is that Samsung learned from their mistakes and they put inside the latest version of Android Jellybean 4.3.
The phone looks good, it will probably work just as well as the other Galaxy models have, and it has good resources such as the decent sized storage and the Android OS. There is also the S Pen, which has made the interface more intuitive and using it easier and more efficient. Write notes, draw sketches, check off lists, scrapbook…it is a helpful stylus.
All in all, I wouldn’t say the Galaxy Note 3 does much more than any other in the series has. It certainly isn’t anything innovative, but instead seems to be a good companion to the Galaxy Gear.
Galaxy Gear SmartWatch
Samsung’s ongoing smart device innovation leadership reflects our commitment to listen to our consumers, who want their daily lives to be easier and more enjoyable, the company said as they showed the smartwatch to the crowd. Samsung GALAXY Gear frees users from the need to constantly check their smart devices while maintaining connections. It provides what we call ‘smart freedom,’ by allowing users to choose how, why, when and where they are connected.
That is the claim, but does it deliver?
This smartwatch comes with a 1.63 Super AMOLED display and even a 1.9 megapixel camera, which in my opinion is somehow useless, knowing that in the pocket you have a Galaxy Note 3 or other smartphone. Inside there’s an 800 Mhz processor, 4GB internal memory and 512 MB of RAM. 
It features accelerometer, gyroscope so it should be easily used as pedometer and it’s highly mobile app compatible.
The major selling point is the ability to remain connected at all times. The watch alerts the user with a discreet notification of calls, texts, social media messages and calendar dates. If they happen to want to take the call or message in that moment, they can get their Galaxy device and answer it as they normally would.
Kind of like, I don’t know, a mobile phone. I can’t be the only person who sees that this is simply adding an intermediary device between themselves and a normal feature they would already have access to. Only without as much internal storage or memory, and a tiny screen you can barely see anything on.
By the way, I love that they threw a pedometer on there. What an odd feature choice.
Galaxy Note 10.1
A more interesting release than the one above, the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet was the third and final product unveiled at the event this afternoon. It is scheduled for release in 2014. As it was expected it packs a .3GHz Quad-core CPU and 3GB of RAM. The display is also a bit different than the Galaxy Note 10.1 released in 2012. It’s a WQXGA (2560 X 1600) Super clear LCD high-res display which is more than enough for regular users.
The tablet, like the Note 3, also has S Pen and S Note compatibility. The UX is magazine style, offering a simple to navigate and organized view of all content. Mostly, they are pushing the screen clarity and high definition for viewing content. Plus the design that makes it as sleek and lightweight as the Note 3, and completes the set. Just like Galaxy Note 3, the new Note tablet also comes with Android JellyBean 4.3.
Obviously, you are meant to see all three devices as a complete set of life altering products. You have the Galaxy Note 3 for your usual mobile tasks like calls. Then there is the Galaxy Note 10.1 for media viewing, gaming and professional tablet use that is better on a larger screen. Finally, they are rounded out by the Galaxy Gear, which is there for simplifying your life and making it more hands free.
While the first two are pretty average when compared to other brands, the Gear seems completely useless. You are paying for an electronic with less memory, less storage, less features and less use than a mobile phone, based entirely on the selling point that it is wearable. But why does it need to be?
Samsung claims they are listening to consumers and delivering what they have been asking for. But I don’t know a single person who has been asking for a smartwatch. The only people I hear talking about how great they will be are the companies developing them, and that is purely out of a desire to be the first one to do it.
I predict the Galaxy Gear will prove to be as useless as Google Glass. But, hey, it has a pedometer, right?
All devices will be on display during IFA 2013 between September 6 – 11 at Berlin.
Source: Samsung Mobile Press
