This week was one with full of new device announcement which were presented at IFA in Berlin. Earlier this week Samsung held their Pre-IFA mobile unpacked episode 2 event which saw the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Gear and the 2014 edition Galaxy Note 10.1. In this article here I will be talking about my thoughts on the event overall, there will also be another dedicated article where I will be talking all about the Note 3, you can check out that article here.The Samsung unpacked event this time around is as big as ever and as usual to events these days we already knew what was coming the only device which caught me and other netizens is the announcement of the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition. Previously the rumors suggest that Samsung would announce a 12” Galaxy Note tablet but that didn’t see much light during the event. I was a bit bummed out about the event which only lasted about 1 hour and is pretty short because the Galaxy Note II announcement last year lasted nearly 2 hours.
'3 new devices, the Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Gear & Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition'
The event kicked off a bit late as usual and in the starting a promo video about the design of the Note 3 was shown off for a few minutes. Then Jason Bradley took the stage and did a little intro to the event. J.K. Shin then took the stage and announced the new Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition. Towards the end of his short speech he showed off the Galaxy Gear which he had worn on his hand the whole time. Then came the demo for the three devices announced and that’s pretty much what the whole event was about nothing much more. You can check out the full length event stream in the video below courtesy of Samsung Mobile
Well on to my thoughts on the event, I actually was not so happy about the sheer length of the event but the rest of the event was pretty well planned out. One thing which came to me by surprise is that Samsung actually has a pink colored device at launch. The Note 3 demos were more centric towards the S Pen and I have to say when the dude on the stage said that the Note 3 came with leather on the back I was like saying, why would you do that ? Also at first I didn’t quite like the thought of the design but after they elaborated more in it then I started liking it. The design of the Note 3 to me is a winning run because it throws away the curved and round shape of the Note 2 and has a bit more professional look to it with more angular edges. Additionally prior to the event I was hoping that Samsung would not make the Note 3 just a bigger S4 then it would just be a smaller Galaxy Mega. But seemingly things went my way and the design of the Note 3 has its similarities to the S4’s design but overall the Note 3 has a radically different design in hand.
'the Note 3 takes design cures from the S4 but has its own style'
That’s all for my brief talk about the Note 3, for a more in depth look into what I think about the Note 3 click here. Next is the Galaxy Gear which is Samsung’s take on a smartwatch, the watch according to Samsung has technology from the next decade and I stand to agree on it. The Galaxy Gear has an AMOLED screen which means that the battery of the device can be conserved when showing the clock. At first I was pretty hyped up about the Galaxy Gear and then when I talked to my friends about the device, they pointed out a flaw in the Galaxy Gear. It is the overall device which is not water resistant by any means and whether it can survive the daily tear and wear is another thing. One thing which I was thinking is that why would they put the charging pin point on the downside of the watch’s display which will be the side facing your hand, so theoretically if you sweat then the contact points will be affected. Well you’ll just have to take this thought lightly because I have yet to see the device. Samsung took a bold new move by showing of vivid and bright colors on the Galaxy Gear and Galaxy Note 3. One thing I’m concerned about the color of the Galaxy Gear, the device comes in 6 different color and the straps all have ridges on them. The problem with ridges and bright colors is that over time it will collect dirt and dust due to the surface and your hands moving over the strap every now and then. According to Samsung the watch will last you 25+ hours so for you road warriors out there this is not something which you’ll be carrying out. The way you answer on the Galaxy Gear is something which I can say Samsung really thought of, you just basically raise the Gear to your ears and then automatically the call will be answered; but the first look videos which I saw the past few days noted that the speaker of the Galaxy Gear is not that loud so you would have to stay clear of the crowd to answer calls with the Galaxy Gear. Overall the durability of the device is the main problem with the Galaxy Gear and as usual the first gen devices are mostly more clunky due to the lack of knowledge towards the category. So, I’m hoping that Samsung would improve on the battery life and the overall durability of the Galaxy Gear next time around.
'Samsung is showing off their innovative mind with the Galaxy Gear'
The Galaxy Gear will be launching alongside the Galaxy Note 3 on September 25 and will be able to connect to the Galaxy S4, S3, Note II and Note 3; however non Galaxy devices can’t connect to it yet. Additionally Samsung is also highly advertising the Galaxy Note 3 and the Galaxy Gear which makes a perfect duo and both of the devices will work seamlessly together. Finally is the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 which is the second gen Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet. This time around Samsung did things right by putting a high res display on to their tablet. The design of the Note 10.1 2014 is similar to the Note 3. Overall the features of present in the new tablet is identical to the one on the Note 3 but just in a bigger scale. I also came to notice that Samsung has revamped their tablet UI and placed the app drawer icon on the bottom opposed to their usual step of putting it on the top right which is hard to reach. Well that’s about it for my thoughts on the event, stay tuned for next week where I will have another article about my thoughts on the Apple’s Sept 10 event.
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