Samsung Galaxy Band said to be health-centric Gear follow-up
Samsung is said to have another wearable device up its sleeve, and this one will be more focussed on health and fitness.
Samsung's Galaxy Gear (pictured) wasn't quite the breakthrough piece of wearable tech we were hoping for. But it looks like Samsung could have another wearable device up its sleeve, and this one is taking a slightly different tack.
Korean site Digital Daily (via Ubergizmo) claims Samsung's next wearable gadget will be called the Galaxy Band, and will focus more on health and fitness than the Gear did. That's right, Samsung could be readying a rival to the Nike FuelBand and the FitBit.
Samsung will unveil the Galaxy Band at Mobile World Congress in February, with the device going on sale sometime before the end of March. These are just rumours at the moment, so take it all with a pinch of salt. But it's certainly intriguing.
A Samsung spokesperson told me that the company doesn't comment on rumour or speculation.
The Galaxy Band will be worn on the upper arm, rather than being a traditional smart watch, according to Digital Daily. Fitness tracking tools like a pedometer are said to be on board. Like the Galaxy Gear, the Band should connect to your mobile device over Bluetooth. Though let's hope Samsung makes it more compatible than the Gear. At launch, the Gear only worked with the Galaxy Note 3, which rather limited its appeal. Samsung subsequently made the Gear play nice with more devices, thanks to a software update.
Luc Julia, a former Apple software engineer, is rumoured to be involved with the Galaxy Band. Julia formerly worked on Siri, Apple's robot butler that lives in your iPhone.
The Galaxy Gear was a bit of a letdown, though that didn't stop Samsung selling 800,000 of them. Which is pretty impressive, for an accessory that costs £300. Nevertheless, Samsung admitted the device lacks something special, and promised a sequel was in the wings.
Whether the Galaxy Band is that sequel, or if it'll be an offshoot, we'll have to wait and see. I wouldn't put it past Samsung, launching loads of different models. It offers tablets in pretty much every size under the sun, after all, so why not wearables?
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