Samsung Gear Fit Thoughts

It seems that Samsung had an ace in the hole along with their revised version of the Galaxy Gear that I wrote about yesterday. I don't know much about the Samsung Gear Fit, but it does look like a nice device. According to the linked article the Fit is only a fitness device.

The Fit doesn't have the camera, microphone, or speaker of the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo, but it still can receive all of your smartphone's notifications and alerts, making it one of the smartest fitness trackers we've seen yet. The focus is clearly on fitness, however, as the Fit includes a real-time fitness coach to encourage you to speed up or slow down via alerts, the ability to measure your heart rate in real time, and syncing with Samsung's S Health apps on Galaxy smartphones.

It is odd to me that they would release two watches. It reminds me of the same comparison that Gruber made when Microsoft released two different versions of the Surface. I assume that Apple will release a wearable device sometime this year, and I expect that they will make the decisions necessary to bring a worth while wearable device that has yet to be seen.

Samsung still doesn't get it

In the weeks after launching the original Samsung Gear there were multiple tech sites reporting that executives of the company were admitting that the watch had shortcomings.

Another executive likened the Samsung Gear to an unripened tomato.


The original Gear was released on September 4, 2013. Whether or not you believe it; Samsung jumped as they believed that the rumored iWatch was going to be released a week later with the iPhone 5S. As history will tell us Apple did not unveil such a product.

I would have thought that Samsung wouldn't release another watch without at least seeing what Apple was going to do with their product rumored for that market. I was surprised to find out that I was wrong with that assumption. Most of my surprise at first was that their second attempt seems to be as dismal at their first attempt, but upon further reflection I am not so surprised. Until Apple does come out with their wearable computing device Samsung will continue to flop since they have nothing to run through their copiers.

The fact that their executives knew that the first Gear was a flop, and are back with a new watch that appears to not have many more features than the first watch 6 months later shows you how much value that they put into their customers; and if you didn't catch that I meant none at all.

Pirating movies a threat to homeland security


This is a very disturbing ordeal that this man went through. I don't quite get why the Department of Homeland Security is tasked with movie bootlegging.

The way that he was treated during his 3.5 hour interrogation doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

If Apple is boring then why are you writing about them?

The title of Henry Blodget's article just kills me.

I find his claims that Apple needs to make an iPhone with a better battery, laughable. I have an iPhone 5 and out of the 3, 3G, and 4 it has the best battery life I have seen in an iPhone. Apple is the leader in developing better technology when it comes to batteries.


Samsung's New Strategy: Copy the Future instead of the Past

I love the title of the above linked article posted on "Samsung Gets a Head Start on Apple With SmartTVs." You mean they are finally going to make a smart tv? Actually no this isn't their first attempt to make a "smart tv". They have been making what has been considered a smart tv for years.

Samsung has been making smartTVs for six years, but the company may have felt under pressure to release its new line early in the year because of speculation that Apple will roll out its own TV in the fall.

So in other words, because Apple is doing it (rumored to be anyhow), than Samsung has to step up and make one? The article goes on to state that it doesn't care what other companies are doing, but they are focusing their efforts on what they are creating.

The iPhone has been out since 2007, which revolutionized the phone industry, and brought about true smart phones. Samsung Followed. The iPad came out in 2010, and revolutionized what people perceived as tablets. Samsung followed.The AppleTV set top box has been out since 2007, and rumors have been present about Apple evolving the set top box into a TV of it's own since. It has been exactly six years, the same amount of time Samsung has been making smartTV's according to the quoted article, that the AppleTV has been on the market. Samsung rode the coat tails of the first two markets, and with the help of investing so much cash in trash advertising*, they have succeeded in growing their presence in at least the phone market. You would think that a company who has had six years of experience making smart televisions, and more experience in television design in general, would have been able to best Apple on this market. 

It seems to me that Samsung's latest strategy is to get ahead of Apple by taking rumored products that may be released in the future and come out with them first, or at least alert the media and let them know that they will be coming out with such products. They are coming out with a TV that will be able to run apps, do all of the tasks you can do on your phone assumably, and they are also coming out with a watch like device (of course this is a rumor), but where have I heard of that one before?

It is well known that Apple takes a long time to develop their products so they get it right. (The iPad has been in existence since as early as 2002) Even if Apple doesn't come out with a full fledged television, I am almost certain they will expand their TV brand. If Samsung does beat Apple to the market with a television equivalent to their phones, they might want to look into copying Apple in the innovation department or they are doomed to lose that market as well. 

*The Samsung Trash Ads comment: I say this because I cannot stand when a company directly attacks another company in it's advertising. Apple was never named in the commercials, but it is completely obvious that they, and their user for that matter are the direct target. I don't believe Apple's commercials have been so bold at all. If I am wrong and someone is willing to show me where than I will be happy to say that I am wrong.