It’s the end of the year and, as usual, we are already in full rumours mode regarding what the new year has in store for us. Given that Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S series devices usually get to see the light of day very early in the year, they are front and centre of all the rumours making the rounds.
As we continue being excited and disappointed by what they may and may not bring based off what’s coming from the grapevine, here’s something tangible from official sources, in this case the Samsung Members application: Samsung’s newer smartphones won’t support several older wearables.
The wearables in question, the Samsung Galaxy Gear, the very first smartwatch from the Korean device maker powered by Android (though a later software update replaced Android with Tizen), the Gear 2 and follow-ups like the Gear 2 Neo, the Gear S, and the Gear Fit, will not be supported by an upcoming version of the Galaxy Wearable application that is necessary for pairing between Samsung’s wearables and smartphones (those from Samsung as well as those from other brands).
While this news will be heartbreaking to some, it is not surprising and we can only marvel that Samsung has supported these wearable devices for so long – some, like the Galaxy Gear, are 7 years old!
Samsung’s current wearable efforts are led by the Galaxy Watch3 which is available for purchase in Kenya for about Kshs 40,000 and past generation wearables like the Galaxy Watch Active2.
The local wearables market has been shaken up in the last few months with the entry of the Oppo Watch and Huawei’s Watch Fit and Watch GT 2 Pro.
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