14 DAY TRIAL // Good news for those who wish to purchase the Galaxy Gear smartwatch but are worried that it will not work with their Galaxy smartphone other than Note 3, as Samsung has just confirmed that it will add more handsets to the list of supported devices.
First of all, the South Korean company has announced that Samsung Galaxy Gear will be available for use with Galaxy S4, S III and Note II via an Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update, which will be pushed OTA (over the air) soon.
In fact, the update was released last week in Germany and is now slowly rolling out to Samsung Galaxy S4 devices in additional countries.
According to Samsung, the company will add Galaxy Gear compatibility to other Galaxy smartphones, including Galaxy S4 mini, S4 Active, Mega 5.8, Mega 6.3 and S4 zoom.
These devices will receive support for Galaxy Gear through a separate software update, which will be rolled out starting at the end of October. As expected, software update schedules for each phone will vary by country and carrier.
“Extending Galaxy Gear compatibility to more Galaxy devices reflects our deep commitment to continuing to deliver enriched mobile experiences to our consumers.
“Through a significant effort to enhance and enrich the Galaxy experience, Samsung continues to empower our users in their mobile lives and enable smart freedom with Galaxy Gear,” said JK Shin, CEO and president of IT and mobile division, Samsung Electronics.
Once support for Galaxy Gear is added, Galaxy S4, S III and Note II users will be able to make and answer calls and view incoming messages and notifications on the smartwatch.
In case something more important arises, users can simply pick up their smartphone and the Smart Relay feature will quickly reveal the full content of a message.
Samsung Galaxy Gear also provides access to major social applications via Samsung Apps, including Twitter and Facebook. Stay tuned for more info on this one.