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Galaxy Gear hits Best Buy as Samsung exec says watch ‘lacks something special’

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Samsung Galaxy Gear
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Check out our review of the Samsung Galaxy Gear smart watch.

Samsung’s Galaxy Gear smartwatch arrives on US shores next week, with Best Buy starting pre-orders for the wearable tech today.

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Although the new gadget is already available for pre-order from AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, Best Buy is the only store offering it in all six available colors – Jet Black, Mocha Gray, Wild Orange, Oatmeal Beige, Rose Gold, and Lime Green.

The $300 wrist-based tech can be ordered from any Samsung Experience Shop inside Best Buy or Best Buy Mobile stores, with the device shipping direct to customers some time next week.

The Korean company’s new smartwatch – comprising a 1.63-inch AMOLED touchscreen, 800MHz processor, 4GB of storage, 512MB of RAM, 1.9-megapixel camera, two microphones with noise cancelation and a speaker – can alert the wearer to incoming messages, place calls, take photos and videos, and operate apps. However, it only pairs with two devices at the current time – the new Note 3 phablet and Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 edition) – though wider compatibility is expected soon.

Lacking?

While early reviews have been mixed, a seemingly frank admission by an unnamed Samsung executive this week saying the Korean tech company has “acknowledged that our Gear lacks something special” has come as something of a surprise. The executive added that Samsung will be investing more in “user interface and user experience” for the next iteration of its watch, as well as other upcoming devices.

Rumors have been floating around recently suggesting Samsung is already hard at work on a sequel to the Galaxy Gear that could be unveiled as soon as CES in January, though speaking to the Korean Times this week, Lee Young-hee, Samsung’s executive vice president for marketing, denied it would launch an updated version so soon.

Find out what DT made of the Galaxy Gear by checking out Jeffrey Van Camp’s review here.

[Source: PC Mag, Cnet]

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Trevor Mogg
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