Samsung reveals why Galaxy Gear is only compatible with Note 3

Samsung’s smartwatch, the Galaxy Gear, will only work on the Note 3 at launch, and then eventually the Note 2, S4 and S3. Many say that this might be the smartwatch’s undoing. But, Samsung doesn’t seem to be ignorant to the fact. Samsung’s Ryan Bidan has revealed to ReadWrite that the company is working on getting the smartwatch to work on other smartphones as well as Samsung’s.

Currently, the Galaxy Gear is only compatible with the Galaxy Note 3 because of the Bluetooth technology being used. The Note 3 uses Bluetooth 4.0 LE (Low Energy) to connect to the Gear. Bluetooth LE hasn’t been usable on Android until recently with the release of Android 4.3.

Just works with the Note 3 at launch

“Right now the specific APIs and functionality are tied to the Galaxy Note 3. For obvious reasons we are looking for additional devices to support it,” Bidan said. “We will announce those when they come, but right now it is Galaxy Note 3 specific.”

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Unveiled during Samsung’s IFA 2013 press conference, the Galaxy Gear is capable of showing users notifications that could otherwise only be seen on the phone. These notifications include incoming messages, calls, texts, emails and alerts. It shows a preview of these notifications and lets users accept or dismiss them right from the Gear. It also has the Smart Relay feature, which opens the content of the notification on the smartphone as soon as it is pulled out of the pocket. The Gear is primarily used by either using the swipe-based interface or Samsung’s S Voice feature.

The Galaxy Gear will be available in six colours at launch-black, gray, orange, beige, gold and green. It will be hitting stores alongside the Galaxy Note 3 on September 25.