Samsung announced on Monday it will bring Galaxy Gear connectivity to more smartphones in the weeks ahead. The move will expand the smartwatch's reach beyond just the Note 3, making it available for a wider audience.
The company said it will be rolling out a Premium Suite update that will make a variety of its devices compatible with the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, including the Samsung Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S III.
See also: Samsung Galaxy Gear Is Not Ready for Primetime
Samsung’s Premium Suite update will bring Android 4.3 and additional features to smartphones, but the timing and features will differ based on carrier and product, the company said. The Galaxy S4 mini and Galaxy Mega will also receive an update for Galaxy Gear compatibility, but users will have to wait a bit longer. Samsung said it will become available on those devices in the months ahead.
Image: Mashable, Christina Ascani
The Samsung Galaxy Gear smart watch is big -- but it will also fit on small wrists.
The default watch face displays time, date and weather. You can customize the face to include other digital faces, analog faces or to show shortcuts to different apps.
Speaking of apps, the Galaxy Gear comes with a bunch of pre-installed apps, including access to your contacts, the phone dialer and controls for the built-in camera.
Evernote and Line are two third-party apps available for the Galaxy Gear.
Other apps include Snapchat, Path and RunKeeper.
The camera is on the wrist strap, perfect for taking photos of your food.
The camera's location means that you can't replace the strap. It also means you don't want to get the strap wet.
You can adjust the Galaxy Gear to make it surprisingly snug on even the smallest of wrists.
The Galaxy Gear is designed to work with other Galaxy devices, including the brand new Galaxy Note 3.
The Galaxy Gear installs a Gear Companion app on compatible smartphones. This is what controls app installation and configuration settings.
You can customize the clock face in the Gear Companion app.
Lots of third party apps can be downloaded from Samsung's Hub via the Gear Companion app. To the right, this is what a photo I took via the Path app on the Gear looks like.