Samsung’s New Smartwatch Features Mobile Payment, GPS

“With the Gear S3, we continue to build on our wearables heritage of offering diverse choices to enhance consumers’ unique lifestyles,” said Lee Young-hee, executive vice president of global marketing at Samsung. (image: Samsung)

BERLIN, Sept. 1 (Korea Bizwire) – Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled two new smartwatches which feature a mobile payment function, longer battery life and built-in GPS capabilities for emergency calls or texts. 

The Gear S3 Frontier and S3 Classic were made public in Berlin on Wednesday ahead of this week’s IFA trade fair, one of the world’s largest annual exhibitions for consumer electronics. 

The Gear S3 looks like a normal watch. In a statement, Samsung said the new model “shows the time rather than automatically fading to black, embodying a sophisticated watch face that mimics the look and feel of luxury analog watch.” 

Besides its stylish design, the Gear S3 is equipped with IP68 standards for water resistance so consumers can get through their day, regardless of weather conditions.

The built-in GPS capability allows users to accurately monitor their daily fitness activities. 

In case of an emergency, Samsung said users can activate the “SOS” and location tracking capabilities to alert family, friends and emergency professionals about crisis situations. 

In certain countries, the Gear S3 users can use their smartwatch to make a purchase, Samsung said, noting almost anywhere they can swipe or tap a card with Samsung Pay for Gear S3. 

The Gear S3 boasts four days of battery life, compared with the two to three days of battery life in its predecessors, Samsung said. 

Samsung did not disclose the prices of the new smartwatches, which are expected to go on sale in South Korea and the United States in the third-quarter of this year. 

“With the Gear S3, we continue to build on our wearables heritage of offering diverse choices to enhance consumers’ unique lifestyles,” said Lee Young-hee, executive vice president of global marketing at Samsung. 

“Now with the new Gear S3, we expand our Gear collection and introduce not only a great smartwatch, but a great watch. With smart capabilities and sophisticated and elegant design, the Gear S3 marks a significant addition to our smartwatch portfolio,” Lee said in the statement.

(Yonhap)