Wearables Competition
This year’s Internationale Funkausstellung, or IFA 2014, is characterized by not just smartphones and home appliances but also wearable devices. Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Sony, and ASUS are exhibiting lighter and more advanced wearable devices there.
Samsung Electronics unveiled its second-generation smart watch, titled the Gear S, at the fair. The Gear S allows phone calls via a 3G network alone, without being tethered to any other device. The company had displayed four wearable gadgets at IFA 2013 – the Galaxy Gear, Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo, and Gear Fit.
Another of Samsung’s exhibits is named the Gear VR, a whole new type of wearable device supporting virtual reality. Having the most advanced sensor technology incorporated, the headset works with the Galaxy Note 4 smartphone to display three-dimensional virtual reality content on the handset’s Quad-HD Super AMOLED screen.
LG Electronics counters Samsung with its G Watch R. This product is distinguished with its perfectly circular plastic OLED panel, which is unprecedented for a smart watch. The plastic OLED panel is bendable and flexible, unlike glass-based panels, and is both more durable and less likely to break than they. It is also dust-proof and waterproof up to 1 meter.
Sony, in the meantime, came up with two very different wearable devices. One is the Smart Watch 3, a typical Android watch. It comes with transflective TFT LCD so that the screen can be displayed with clarity even in sunlight. The other is the SmartBand Talk for outdoor use. It has a curved display panel to sit well on the wrist and adopts electronic paper display technology to ensure visibility even in the sunlight. It can be used for three days once fully charged.
ASUS unveiled its first smart watch, the Zen Watch, as well. Formed of a metallic material, it has a curved display panel and a chamfered rectangular shape.
Apple is planning to unveil its iWatch along with the iPhone6 right after the closing of the show. It is said that the iWatch will support healthcare and smart home controls. Motorola presented its Moto 360 immediately ahead of the opening of IFA 2014. It was made public at the Google Conference in June to much attention.