Samsung has apparently pushed back the launch of its new Gear A smartwatch to the second half of the year, according to an article by Sophie Curtis in The Telegraph. Citing the tech blog SamMobile, Curtis reports that the push back from a previously-anticipated spring or early summer launch date is meant to allow some of the buzz over the newly-released Apple Watch to die down.
Samsung has revealed that its forthcoming smartwatch will have a round face – unlike the Apple Watch – and rumor has it that it’s also going to have a rotating bezel ring, though it’s not yet clear what that particular feature is for. Curtis also reports that it’s most likely going to run on Samsung’s own Tizen OS, in which case any kind of external device compatibility would have to be with other Samsung products. And Samsung has indicated that it has partnered with Yelp, Baidu, and CNN, but it isn’t yet clear what those partnerships entail with respect to the Gear A.
So even as details leak out, there remain a number of unknowns with respect to the Gear A, and that could remain the case for a few more months, since the device probably won’t launch until September’s IFA show, where Samsung is expected to debut its new Galaxy Note 5 mobile device. One more thing we do know is that, unlike the Apple Watch, which requires pairing with an iPhone, the Gear A won’t require pairing, which could help it to attract the many consumers who get excited by Apple’s smartwatch hype machine but don’t want to purchase an iPhone, too. Samsung may just be waiting to see how hot the market gets, and to avoid as much as possible any direct competition against Apple’s device.
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