I ordered my Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic yesterday. A big 46 mm case, and LTE built in for phone functions, it is surprisingly affordable, at $399. It won't add to my monthly bill, since it is replacing my original Galaxy Watch, which has earned a nice retirement in my watch case. But, the marvelous thing is that, in addition to being 20% faster than previous iterations, and graphics that are 10 times speedier, this little wrist computer is a medical office on my wrist. Within 15 seconds, I can monitor the following medical information: Blood pressure, ECG, Blood oxygen level (SpO2), VO2 Max, Irregular heartbeats, Body composition, Sleep tracking, Skeletal muscle, Basal metabolic rate, Body water percentage, and Body fat percentage. You can set alerts and reminders, and we are truly entering an age in which a computer can keep an eye on us all day and all night long, making us far better able to keep track of our condition. I never tire of asking skeptics the question: "What's on your wrist?" The Watch 4 is designed to work with Samsung phones, which is perfect for me, because I have owned and used every Galaxy phone since the first ones.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4. In a few days, the evolution of the Smartwatch will be complete. No tiny little rectangle tied to a locked down OS. No more bulky, thick, case with a passing resemblance to a classic high end wristwatch. The Galaxy Watch 4 (I will be getting the Classic version) is a premium regular watch look alike that is a like a computer on the wrist. It will be faster, sleeker, and have more functions than some notebook computers. It will have bio-metric sensors that rival a well equipped medical lab, and, alas, will, among other things, measure the body fat index. I hate that index. In the near future, it will likely measure blood sugar, and the watches already measure heartrate, do a competent ECG, measure blood pressure, and other things. All this in addition to regular text, email, web browsing, telephone calls, and much more. Want to know the population of Katmandu? Just ask. This all comes in a package that costs under $500, and, if you want the phone features, another $10 to $15 a month. I predicted that these wrist computers would go mainstream in the future. The future is now. In a final nod to uniformity, Samsung has merged Tizen and Wear OS into the OneUI Watch OS, which combines the best features of both. The countdown begins.
Wear OS And Tizen Unite Into One Platform To Take On Apple. I am heartened by the latest reporting that Samsung and Google are doing a complete merger of Tizen OS and Wear OS for future Smartwatches. If the Tizen front end is combined with a faster, smoother, more unified experience, the coming Smartwatches could become mainstream. Longer battery life and much more choice in apps may be the mark of a future filled with great devices. The ugly, boxy, little Apple smartwatches will become an afterthought in the history of wrist computing.
Galaxy Watch 4 May End Up As The Most Impressive Smartwatch. I was disappointed to learn that Samsung is abandoning Tizen as the OS for the next Galaxy SmartWatch. I have used both Tizen and Wear enabled watches, and Tizen is far superior in ease of use, and speed. Of course, Wear might be improved by the collaboration with Samsung; I remain open to being convinced. TizenWear OS may take the best of both worlds, and turn Wear into a great OS for watches. The new watches will be slimmer and lighter, and use Titanium alloy. It will be a long summer waiting for the introduction of the next wave of Smartwatches.
One of these watches costs $7,500. It tells the time. It tells the date. The other watch costs $499. It tells the time. It tells the date. It receives and sends email. It receives and makes phone calls. It receives and sends text messages. It monitors health functions like heartbeats per minute, EKG single lead medical grade heart readings, blood pressure and blood oxygen level readings, acts as a stopwatch, contains a GPS device, connects to the Internet by voice to search the knowledge of the world, navigates the roads of the U.S., measures each step taken during a day, monitors sleep patterns at night, keeps track of an appointments calendar, measures stress, plays thousands of songs and other music stored within it and on the Internet, takes Altimeter and Barometer readings, keeps a constant update on weather, temperature, chance of rain and other weather information, locally and globally, monitors swimming, cycling, running and other exercise activity, is water resistant to 10 meters, makes and saves voice recordings for later playback and use, acts as a remote control for various brands of Televisions, automatically syncs with information entered on a compatible smartphone, connects to Amazon Alexa, serves as a cooking timer, acts with remote terminals to conduct no touch payment at thousands of merchants, changes its watch face at the touch of a finger into one of hundreds of different alternatives, controls Microsoft Power Point presentations, and more. Any questions?
Bose's New Ear Buds Don't Actually Go In Your Ears. When Bose invented speakers that were so directional they could be hidden in the frames of a pair of glasses, I jumped on board. The Bose glasses have a bluetooth speaker system that brings awesome sound while the glasses are being worn, and nothing goes in the ear. I always hated the feeling of plugged up ears, and not being able to deal with the external environment while wearing the earbuds or earphones. Now, for those of you who don't want to wear glasses, Bose has incorporated the technology into ear buds that clip on top of the ears, and you still have nothing inside the ears. I love the retro Wayfarer style Bose glasses, and am updating to the Metro version next week. But, if you don't want an Apple style white stick in your ears, or a large around the ear plug, these new Bose buds are for you.
Galaxy Watch 3. If you have been waiting for a bargain on the best SmartWatch in the world, it is on Amazon right now. Just in time for Xmas, the Galaxy Watch 3 is on sale at Amazon for between $289 and around $300, depending on the size. I have this watch, and wear it every day. It measures blood oxygen levels, does a competent single lead EKG, measures my heart rate, does the normal text, email and other functions, and much more. My other Smartwatches are gathering dust on my desk and in my watch case. We are in over the counter Timex territory now. What are you waiting for?
As the husband of someone who never parts with her Smartphone, I feel that I am qualified to discuss this topic. Of course, I can put my Smartphone away for a time, primarily because I have a SmartWatch on my wrist. And, Smartglasses on my face. But, I can stop whenever I want. I just don't want to right now.
Galaxy Watch 3. I have often felt like a voice crying in the wilderness these past 7 or 8 years. While I shouted about the future of wearable computers that looked like wristwatches, my colleagues kept spending thousands of dollars for wrist machines that said only one thing. I have enough money to throw away on a wrist watch that only tells the time. In the hundreds of years since their invention, wristwatches have only managed to be differentiated by the development of better timing technology, and outward embellishments and designer labels that only increased their cost. But, I knew from the beginning that wrist computers could be so much more. When I did a medical grade ECG on my self this morning just by touching my index finger to the button on the side of my Galaxy Watch 3, and saw a message that I had a normal sinus rhythm, I realized that there is no limit to the future of these magical devices. I can monitor my blood oxygen, heart rate, heart rhythm, and much more on a continuous basis. This is just the tip of the iceberg. One day, wearable computers will be a standard accessory for every human being. If I have an arrythmia, I will be the first to know, and hopefully can call 911 before my next heart attack. These things, in addition to being productive in law practice and business, and fun when we want it, and weather and news monitors, and communication devices, can be life saving devices. This technology is available for less than $500 right now. What's on your wrist?
