TECH SPOTLIGHT

Phone-watch not practical yet, but it is Dick Tracy neat

Special to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette - 12/06/2013 - The Samsung Galaxy Gear (left) provides a phone for your wrist, as long as you're carrying the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 or other compatible smartphone in your pocket.
Special to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette - 12/06/2013 - The Samsung Galaxy Gear (left) provides a phone for your wrist, as long as you're carrying the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 or other compatible smartphone in your pocket.

It’s funny how life imitates art. More specifically, how today’s gadgets imitate yesterday’s art.

Any tech nerd remembers how the old flip cellphones bore a strong resemblance to the original Star Trek communicators. The digital billboards in Blade Runner can be seen along streets in several cities nowadays. Even those great little robots in The Jetsons have a strong resemblance to today’s floor-cleaning robots.

So why shouldn’t a phone be added to a watch, a la Dick Tracy? (For you young whippersnappers who don’t know who Dick Tracy is, shame onyou and Google it … just ignore that 1990 movie. Yeesh.)

Samsung has brought the phone watch to life with the Galaxy Gear. It works in conjunction with the Galaxy Note 3, Samsung’s latest “phablet,” or combination smartphone and tablet.

The Galaxy Gear is a watch with a camera built into the band, which comes in several colors. The screen measures 1.63 inches and is surrounded by brushed aluminum, so it’s fairly bulky. It’s a bright screen that displays the time, temperature and current weather conditions. It also can display text messages, compatible apps and even a pedometer.

Oh, and did I mention it’s a phone?

The watch works as a phone by using the signal of the Galaxy Note 3. It works as a speakerphone and actually has decent clarity, even for the person on the other end.

If you’re looking to use this as a videophone, forget it. The camera is on the other side of the watchband, and you’d have to turn the watch upside down to have it focus on your face.

The Gear takes a bit of practice to navigate properly. In general, swiping down goes back, swiping up opens menus or features in an app, and swiping sideways moves through the list of apps. That is, unless you’re on the main screen. Then swiping up pulls up the camera and swiping down activates the phone.

The key to the Gear lies in the Note 3. Without it, you have a nice watch with a black screen that doesn’t work. Its Internet and cellular access both come via a Bluetooth connection with the Note 3. Without that, the watch flat-out doesn’t work

The Note 3 is well worth owning. The 3GB memory and quad-core processor make it an incredibly speedy device. Unlike the Gear, the Note 3 is a breeze to navigate. While it has a decent battery life despite such a large screen, don’t be surprised if you have to charge it at least once in the evening, particularly if you do a lot of streaming.

The Note 3 has a lovely screen with crisp graphics. It complements the 13-megapixel camera nicely.

One of the fun things the Note 3 has is the Air Gestures and built-in stylus.

Pulling out the stylus from the Note 3’s bottom activates a menu that allows users to use the stylus to write on photos or capture parts of the screen. Users can activate things without even touching the screen, in part by using the little button on the stylus. Air Gestures is fun to use, but it’s not completely necessary. The Note 3 is incredibly easy to navigate even without the stylus or air features.

The Note 3 is a great smartphone, and its 5.7-inch screen makes it very easy to see and use. It’s definitely worth the price.

As for the Galaxy Gear,it’s cute, a conversation piece, and yes, it’s fun to talk to your watch like Dick Tracy. That said, the whole time I used it, the same thought kept cycling through my mind - what’s the point? If you have to have the Note 3 to use the watch, why use the watch? Why not just pull the Note out of your pocket and use it? The Gear is a neat item, but at $300, it’s a little too pricey for just “neat.”

The watch does hold some promise. It just needs more work before it graduates from “neat” to “practical.”

Still, it is kind of cool to talk to your wristwatch like all the old science-fiction stories. I wouldn’t advise doing it too much in public, unless you want to explain it to the police when they’re called to a report of a strange person talking to his wrist. Just hope the police officer knows who Dick Tracy is.

Melissa L. Jones can be reached via email at mljones72@me.com.

Where it’s @

The Samsung Galaxy Gear requires the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Note II, S3 or S4. The product retails for $299. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 retails for $725 or $299 with a 2-year contract from AT&T or other wireless providers. More information is available at Samsung.com.

Business, Pages 19 on 12/09/2013

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