Smartwatches are just about everywhere nowadays. In the past month and best part of the last year, all of the big manufacturers have committed to releasing a smartwatch of their own. Even Huawei who were considered to be arriving quite late to the smartwatch market (compared to other manufacturers), unveiled their option as the Huawei Watch at this year’s MWC event. It had also been largely expected at MWC, Samsung would unveil the latest in their smartwatch lineup. They have in the past been quite active in the market and already considered to be the most varied manufacturer, in terms of choice of wearables. However, once MWC arrived and in spite of the speculation, the latest smartwatch offering was a no-show.
Part of the reasoning Samsung gave for not unveiling their latest offering (which currently goes by the codename ‘Orbis’), was they wanted to make sure this one arrived, ready. In short, they were striving for the “perfect product“. Whether this will be the case when Orbis is unveiled is yet to be seen. However, in the meantime, more Orbis details are emerging today. Firstly, and probably most importantly, is that the latest details state that Orbis will be known as the ‘Samsung Gear A’, presumably following on the tradition from the Samsung Gear S.
In addition, the details also suggest that there will be two variants of the smartwatch. Which is a rumor which had been reported on previously. In terms of the latest news on the two versions, the first will be a ‘standard’ version offering Bluetooth connectivity while the second version will be more of a standalone version (like the Gear S) offering 3G and voice support. Both versions are reported to likely also have WiFi support. Following on from the confirmation of a more formal name, the report also details the main model numbers for the two versions will be SM-R720 and SM-R730. With the latter being the 3G variant. SamMobile (source link below) are also confirming the model numbers of the carrier specific versions (of the 3G variant) which are expected to land. These consist of the SM-R730A for AT&T, SM-R730P for Sprint, SM-R730V for Verizon and the SM-R730T for T-Mobile. Although there are still no firm details on pricing, it is likely the Gear A will come in towards the higher end of the market. This seems logical when considering Samsung’s self admitted search for a “perfect product”, their recent emphasis on premium products and the recently launched twin Galaxy S6 devices.