Google, Nokia smart watches rumored, as Samsung ponders Gear refresh

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Nokia and Google are rumored to be working on their own smart watch devices for release in the near future, while a representative from Samsung has reportedly admitted that his company's latest offering in that field could use some improvement.


Leaked photos supposedly showing part of a Nokia smart watch. Image via CTech.


Google is widely believed to be working on its own smart watch, a belief bolstered by the recent revelation that the search giant bought a smart watch maker last year. Now Android Police's Artem Russakovskii has noted on his Google+ page reports that Google's smart watch will see release this year.

Russakovskii believes that the device will be part of Google's line of Nexus devices, which run a pure version of Android without the user interface "skins" that other manufacturers typically put over Google's mobile platform. While noting that the rumor is unverifiable, Russakovskii says that the device is codenamed "Gem," and that it will debut later this month alongside the newest Nexus devices and the latest version of Android, KitKat.



As Google is thought to be prepping its own offering for an increasingly crowded smart watch segment, images have emerged showing what is said to be the main body component for a Nokia smart watch. The images showed up in September on CTech a Chinese blog site known for leaking pre-release hardware. They show portions of a watch face with Nokia branding and little else. The component shown has irregular spacing in the holes where a watch band would connect, meaning that it could be either a prototype or a fake.

The component appears to be composed of the same polycarbonate material Nokia uses in its Lumia line of Windows Phone devices. It also seems to have a curved underbody of the sort expected for a device meant to be worn on the wrist.

Nokia is in the midst of a long turnaround following several years of declining sales and revenues. Caught unprepared for the rise of Samsung and Apple, Nokia eventually joined with Microsoft on the Windows Phone platform, but the firm has still struggled to carve out a significant market share. Microsoft eventually bought Nokia in early September, and the software giant was already believed to be working on its own smart watch device, so the future of the alleged Nokia device ? if it is indeed real ? is uncertain.

Offerings from Google and Nokia would enter an arena already populated by Sony, Pebble, and others. The largest player in the growing smart watch segment would be Samsung, which recently released its Galaxy Gear device to largely negative reviews. Samsung is already rumored to be working on a follow-up to the device, one that would address the widespread criticisms that plagued the first version.



The South Korean tech giant is believed to have rushed production of Gear this year, following rumors that Apple was preparing to release its own "iWatch" in the near future. Samsung's device had reportedly already been in development since 2011, but the rushed process this year may have led to many of the flaws that caused so many poor reviews.

Speaking with The Korea Times, an unnamed Samsung official admitted that Gear was a subpar offering, saying that the company could do better.

?We?ve acknowledged that our Gear lacks something special. With more investment for user interface and user experience, Samsung devices will be better in terms of customer satisfaction,? the official said.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 39

    deleted

  • Reply 2 of 39

    I am going laugh my ass off if iWatch ends up being the TV. :)

  • Reply 3 of 39
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    If Google has a watch coming out this month why hasn't there been a single leaked image? Google "doubling-down on secrecy"? Doesn't seem likely IMHO. With that said Google patents applicable to a smartwatch go back a couple of years so I wouldn't be surprised to see one sometime in the future. Or not.
  • Reply 4 of 39
    quinneyquinney Posts: 2,528member

    ?We?ve acknowledged that our Gear lacks something special. With more investment for user interface and user experience, Samsung devices will be better in terms of customer satisfaction,? the official said.

    It seems they may have learned something from interviewing people standing in line at Apple stores.
  • Reply 5 of 39

    Wonder if the Nokia smart watch will have Windows8? That's the path, right? Windows everywhere ... even on your wrist. Hopefully I'll be able to view Word docs and Excel spreadsheets on it so I can be productive.

  • Reply 6 of 39

     

    "This watch. This watch was on your daddy’s wrist when he was shot down over Hanoi. He was captured, put in a Vietnamese prison camp. He knew if the gooks ever saw the watch it’d be confiscated, taken away. The way your dad looked at it, that watch was your birthright. He’d be damned if any slopes were gonna put their greasy yellow hands on his boy’s birthright. So he hid it in the one place he knew he could hide something. His ass. Five long years, he wore this watch up his ass. Then he died of dysentery, he gave me the watch. I hid this uncomfortable hunk of metal up my ass two years. Then, after seven years, I was sent home to my family. And now, little man, I give the watch to you."

  • Reply 7 of 39
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member

    This is how it goes when Samsung doesn't have anybody to steal and copy from. 

  • Reply 8 of 39
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Phone-UI-Guy View Post

     

    I am going laugh my ass off if iWatch ends up being the TV. :)


    I am sure in Samsung board room they contemplated hedging their bets and creating a full sized TV wrist watch. Most likely they abandoned this option thinking it might cannibalize their phablet sales.

  • Reply 9 of 39
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member

    I find it hilarious Samescum rushed out this crappy watch to be the first one to do it and now admits they could have done better. It just shows you this company seriously lacks innovation. Apple releases a gold iPhone, then Samescum follows suit. Of course Samescum has to somehow prove they weren't copying Apple and they had been releasing phones gold phones for a while. Funny thing is the gold phones Samescum showed were phones they copied from Motorola and Nokia. I would love to see the offices of Samescums design team. They are probably filled with products from other companies they use to copy from. 

  • Reply 10 of 39
    msimpson wrote: »
    <img alt="" class="lightbox-enabled" data-id="32831" data-type="61" src="http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/32831/width/350/height/700/flags/LL" style="; width: 350px; height: 169px">


    "This watch. This watch was on your daddy’s wrist when he was shot down over Hanoi. He was captured, put in a Vietnamese prison camp. He knew if the gooks ever saw the watch it’d be confiscated, taken away. The way your dad looked at it, that watch was your birthright. He’d be damned if any slopes were gonna put their greasy yellow hands on his boy’s birthright. So he hid it in the one place he knew he could hide something. His ass. Five long years, he wore this watch up his ass. Then he died of dysentery, he gave me the watch. I hid this uncomfortable hunk of metal up my ass two years. Then, after seven years, I was sent home to my family. And now, little man, I give the watch to you."

    +1 Tarantino is the Shakespeare of our time.

    Also, no mass produced Korean smartwatch will ever be worth stuffing up one's ass. For one thing; it would obsolete within 2 months. You wouldn't have time to die of dysentery before Samsung stopped supporting it.
  • Reply 11 of 39
    allenbfallenbf Posts: 993member
    +1 Tarantino is the Shakespeare of our time.

    Also, no mass produced Korean smartwatch will ever be worth stuffing up one's ass. For one thing; it would obsolete within 2 months. You wouldn't have time to die of dysentery before Samsung stopped supporting it.

    Not to mention, fragmentation would be a b*tch.
  • Reply 12 of 39
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 3,949member
    It will be interesting to see just what kind of market exists for these devices. With such a large customer base to build on, Samsung is the first to provide a fair trial. For now, I think the class will be a niche product. For Apple it could offer an avenue for the further evolution if the iPod.
  • Reply 13 of 39
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Phone-UI-Guy View Post

     

    I am going laugh my ass off if iWatch ends up being the TV. :)


     

    That's honestly what I think it is.

  • Reply 14 of 39
    jd_in_sbjd_in_sb Posts: 1,600member
    Next month Samsung will probably refresh all their watches in the color gold - to ride the coattails of the popular iPhone 5S color - and they still won't sell.
  • Reply 15 of 39

    Latest rumour is Apple is creating the iSpaceElevator. C'mon Samsung, just build one and beat Apple to the punch.

    Although, you'll never catch me riding it.

  • Reply 16 of 39
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TheUnfetteredMind View Post

     

    Wonder if the Nokia smart watch will have Windows8? That's the path, right? Windows everywhere ... even on your wrist. Hopefully I'll be able to view Word docs and Excel spreadsheets on it so I can be productive.


     

    That should be "So I Can Be Productive(tm)" :)

  • Reply 17 of 39
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    Speaking with The Korea Times, an unnamed Samsung official admitted that Gear was a subpar offering, saying that the company could do better.



    ?We?ve acknowledged that our Gear lacks something special. With more investment for user interface and user experience, Samsung devices will be better in terms of customer satisfaction,? the official said.



    "Could do better"?  Your product was garbage the moment it went out for sale.  You knew it would be.  Your only reason to put out such sheer crap was to prove to the world that you could out-innovate Apple.  All you showed us is that without Apple being your R&D department, falling face-first on concrete is something you do very well.



    Honestly... do these clowns honestly go to work every day thinking they are making great products that people can use and improve their lives?  Really.. is Samsung drinking some kind of Koolaid, giving the drinkers the perception that Samsung has their act together??  Really?

  • Reply 18 of 39
    macinthe408macinthe408 Posts: 1,050member
    "as Samsung ponders Gear refresh"

    Or: Samsung waits for Apple's watch announcement.
  • Reply 19 of 39
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TheUnfetteredMind View Post

     

    Wonder if the Nokia smart watch will have Windows8? That's the path, right? Windows everywhere ... even on your wrist. Hopefully I'll be able to view Word docs and Excel spreadsheets on it so I can be productive.


     

    Yeah, but if it can't run two apps side-by-side it's totally worthless. I need to Skype and edit Excel sheets at the same time on my Zune watch.

  • Reply 20 of 39
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by MikeJones View Post

     

     

    Yeah, but if it can't run two apps side-by-side it's totally worthless. I need to Skype and edit Excel sheets at the same time on my Zune watch.


     

    I wonder if the display will flip up with a multi-position kickstand as well? Somebody needs to mock this up ...

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