In-the-shadow-of-what's-to-come

Sometimes, coincidence is a striking thing. Not moments after rumours that Apple will be bringing a wearable to the iPhone 6 launch, do Samsung and LG launch new smartwatches in time for IFA next week.

It all seems to have kicked off, when John Paczkowski of Re/code mentioned that at the Apple event in September (predicted on this site in January) will also feature Apple’s entry in to the wearables market. We all know that Apple will be bringing something to the masses when it comes to wearables and to be honest, given the fact that there have been no leaks of hardware at all, I’m lead to believe that this device will look nothing like any of mockups that have flooded the internet for almost 3 years. That’s why this site hasn’t popularised leaks and mockups, as I think for the most part they are all, mostly, wrong and that what ever Apple release will be like the first iPhone; Completely different from what we’re expecting.

With all that in mind, the announcement of new (read: more) smartwatches from market leaders Samsung and LG, may ring a little too much like reactions, rather than planed launches. That’s a shame as the IFA technology show in Berlin is next week and the vast majority of Android manufactures have been announcing new phones for the last few weeks to drum up press interest, as the devices won’t hit the stores till the end of September (bad news for them, as this is the ‘post new iPhone’ window).

Samsung and LG though have launched some truly interesting devices

Firstly, LG’s new G Watch R features a completely rounded face (Unlike the Moto 360 which has a small lip on the bottom) and runs on Android Wear. There’s a bank of sensors and it’s IP67 protection rated for dust and water to make it usable every day.

Samsung’s Gear S has a rectangle display, but this one is curved! Like the LG it has many sensors and is IP67 rated. The Gear S though, runs Samsung’s own Tizen operating system, rather than Android. It also has a 3G chip in it, giving the Gear S the ability to make calls. Yep, proper Dick Tracy style. (Thought for the future: People won’t be using phones mounted on their wrist for calls.)

There’s one big thing that struck me as very similar in these two very different devices. There’s something that these and other manufactures have a habit of doing, which is talking about specifications, rather than how it can make your life better. My case in point: Both LG and Samsung tell you the processors used, the RAM in the devices (512mb FFS!) and the size of the battery but they don’t talk about how long the battery will last. Samsung mention ‘typical usage 2 days’. What’s typical usage in something that has more components than the first iPhone and the first Android devices combined!

This is where the vast majority of wearables manufactures are failing. They tell you everything about it, not how it makes your life better. Pebble, for instance, talk about how you can use it all day, everyday in a multitude of ways. You can be damn sure that when Apple enter this market, the last thing they will be talking about will be how much RAM is in it!