As the tech lead at IPG Media Lab I have the fortunate pleasure of being able to hack around with the newest hardware from new startups that you haven’t heard of yet and big behemoths that buy 10 consecutive full-color pages in the New York Times (see my bit about that here) to scream about their product. Too bad my experience standards are very high and I’m often disappointed. All of Samsung’s new products are dubbed “the next big thing” and that leaves a lot to live up to. If they mean “the next big thing that is kind of wonky and does not deliver 100% on the promise” then they’re on point.
The original rumor out there which I don’t think Samsung’s done a good job messaging is that it works with multiple devices besides the Note 3. Every pop-up at every big expensive launch event shared that. Samsung has been quietly rolling out supported devices. What I’m not sure about is what defines a “supported device”. I’ve come to think it’s completely software based which sours me a bit because I think consumers don’t know. I didn’t.
So I picked up the watch, our stock S4 and started by researching some clear instructions and found none. The only advice is really in the booklet that comes with the phone. You have to start my scanning the NFC tag on the bottom of the charging dock.
My steps to success:
- Download MF9 update
- Download update for Samsung phone
- Download 4.3 Android
- Couldn’t figure out what to do next
- Scan NFC on back of charging cradle to be driven to a link that I couldnt find anywhere else
- Then prompted to download the latest version of the gear app
- Then it paired
In the end, the UX of the phone is not that impressive. It’s touch but it’s huge. If you have giant roid-pumped forearms it might look demure.