Apple Better Watch Out. Samsung Wastes Little Time in Wheeling Out More Smartwatches

Just six months after Samsung Electronics released its first smartwatch, the company will start selling three more.

Following up on the Android-based Galaxy Gear that came out in September, Samsung unveiled a trio of new watches this week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The South Korean electronics giant seems to be flooding the zone in the hopes of running out the clock on Apple before it can release the much-anticipatediWatch.

Samsung’s Gear 2, which has a built-in camera, and Gear 2 Neo, which doesn’t, can wirelessly connect with smartphones and run apps designed for a relatively new operating system championed by Samsung called Tizen A third watch, the Gear Fit, has a curved screen, runs basic software and is positioned more as a health device to rival the Fitbit — though it does tell the time.

The smartwatch wave isn’t isolated to Samsung. Motorola Mobility, which Google is selling to China’s Lenovo Group, said in Barcelona that it plans to release a smartwatch this year, and CNETreports that LG Electronics is working on one, too.

Seriously, they might as well call it Mobile Watch Congress. HTC, the Taiwanese smartphone company that’s currently in the red, is expected to be demonstrating the first of three wearable devices behind closed doors in Barcelona, my colleague Tim Culpan reported. On the show floor, Sony is showing the SmartBand, and Huawei Technologies has the TalkBand.

“We think that wearables in the future can be a large market,” Colin Giles, an executive vice president at Shenzhen, China-based Huawei, told Bloomberg News in an interview this week at Mobile World Congress.

Not everyone is convinced. Despite a marketing blitz, Samsung’s original Galaxy Gear was met with a lukewarm reception. Research firm IHS estimates the market for wearable devices, which includes smartwatches, to be worth less than $20 billion a year until at least 2015. Apple alone sold more than that in iPhones last quarter.

Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes wrote in a note last week that a smartwatch isn’t going to move the needle for Apple’s business. A spokeswoman for Apple declined to comment.

Timing is everything. Apple isn’t always the first, but it’s shown a knack for putting together the right list of features in a well-designed package along with marketing that shows people why they need to have one. There were plenty of music players on the market before the iPod.

Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty estimates that an Apple watch could generate as much as $17.5 billion in its first year on the market. That would be just under what the iPad did in its first full year available.

Of course, the tech industry is very different from the days of the iPod. For one, Samsung is relentless. First impressions of the Gear Fit coming from Barcelona have been glowing. If Samsung keeps releasing a handful of new watches every six months, it might just find a winner.

Unannounced PS4 games set for a pre-launch unveiling November 14

Sony believes that its PS4 launch lineup is made up of the strongest day-one games in PlayStation history, but it’s not stopping there.

The company plans to unveil even more previously unannounced next-generation games on November 14, the eve of the PS4 launch in the US, according to Spike TV Host Geoff Keighley.

“Get ready for an epic night of PlayStation world premieres and announcements,” tweeted the video game journalist.

A follower asked if this included “New PS4 games?” to which Keighley succinctly responded “Definitely.” That certainly met the 140-character limit as well as gamers’ hype requirements.

Live from New York City

The mysterious new PS4 games are scheduled to be announced during a Spike TV PS4 All Access event taking place in New York City at 11 p.m. ET/4 a.m. GMT/6 p.m. AEST November 15.

The event will be shown on Spike TV and, according to Keighley, will be live streamed and viewable on a mobile device or computer. PS3 owners will also be able to tune into the action, he added.

The showtime is one hour before the first wave of PS4 midnight launches are set to take place on the US’ East Coast.

Everyone in Europe and Australia, meanwhile, has to wait a little bit longer between the Spike TV broadcast and the PS4 release date. It’s a painful two weeks later, November 29.

Speculation about one of the unconfirmed new games favors something from Sony-owned developer Naughty Dog.

The Santa Monica, Calif.-based studio has yet to announce a next-generation title, and the highly anticipated but officially unannounced Uncharted 4 would top most gamer’s lists. But that speculation may be more fans’ well-wishing than ring-of-truth.

Lg Nexus 5 Launch Delayed

Google’s launch of the Nexus 5smartphone and Android 4.4 KitKat mobile operating system has been delayed by a month.

It is expected that Google will now make the announcement in November, instead of October 28 as planned earlier, according to a report by Phones Review website.

Earlier, there had been media reports and also hints from KitKat’s Twitter account that both the products would be launched on October 28.

Google had recently ‘leaked’ the pricing details of the Nexus 5 on its Play Store which had also strengthened the rumours of an October release.

It is being speculated the delay could have been caused due to LG’s curved smartphone G Flex, which reportedly runs on the latest Android OS. The delay in the G Flex’s release could have affected the new Android’s release timings as well. However, there is no official word from Google or LG on the issue.

The LG made Nexus 5 smartphone, codenamed Hammerhead, would reportedly have a 2.3GHz Quad-core processor complemented by an Adreno 330 graphics processor. Its 5-inch display will have 1920x1080p resolution, with on-screen resolution being 1794x1080p. It is expected to have a 13 MP rear camera and 2GB RAM.

Reports about the Android KitKat have said it would have a totally new design and user interface. Apart from having its own printing options, the new OS would also have a new wireless NFC payment system within its Settings. It would also have the option to save images as PDF files on the device.

Some reports have stated that Google Now will have the ‘always-on’ functionality of Moto X in Android 4.4 and could accept commands in several languages, not just English. Android 4.4 might also introduce SMS function to Google Hangouts app. Android 4.4 KitKat will come with pre-loaded apps like Google Drive and Google Keep.

There is also speculation that Google will also unveil Nexus 10 tablet alongside the Nexus 5 and Android KitKat. This tablet is rumoured to be manufactured by Asus this year, instead of Samsung which had made last year’s model, and could have a full HD screen.