Samsung Galaxy Gear

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BazzaR

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Thought I would start this thread as the Note 3 thread is getting a bit full and think the gear needs its own.

So I have owned the gear since last year, November, and love it. It has it flaws but in the end its a really useful and amazing piece of tech. I did own an original Sony smartwatch and the gear is light years ahead.

After reading alot on XDA forum, I have finally decided to root the gear and install a custom ROM.

So lets discuss it more here and see where it takes us.
Maybe show some screen shots, or watch faces, and lets talk about experiences and all that.
Trying to root now and will let everyone know how it goes.
 
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Velenoso

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I must say I'm enjoying it as well. Most convenient for me is the notifications on it while I'm driving. Having such quick access to a camera is also great. It not completely nasty and nerdy. I've worn it to a few meetings while wearing a suit and it didn't look out of place. And let's face it, it's just ultra cool to take a call on your wrist. :)

As I said in the other thread, would have been great if you could load running apps and use it as a standalone device while running / training. Earphone port would have been good for the same reason. Other than that I've been happy.
 
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Dom1n8tr1x

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I've had mine since the beginning of December and I love it. I like the fact that I can answer calls from the Gear without having to grab for my phone. The notifications are also nice, and I can keep my phone on silent.

The Evernote app has been very useful to me the past month, I can create a shopping list on my phone and then tick off the items on the Gear.

The camera is great and takes good quality pictures and it's also voice activated which is a nice plus. Sending a sms from the Gear is also easy with Svoice.

I will probably root mine as well sooner or later, but I'm going to hold off for a while and see if any significant firmware/Gear Manager updates are released.
 
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Talentloos

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BazzaR said:
Thought I would start this thread as the Note 3 thread is getting a bit full and think the gear needs its own.

So I have owned the gear since last year, November, and love it. It has it flaws but in the end its a really useful and amazing piece of tech. I did own an original Sony smartwatch and the gear is light years ahead.

After reading alot on XDA forum, I have finally decided to root the gear and install a custom ROM.

So lets discuss it more here and see where it takes us.
Maybe show some screen shots, or watch faces, and lets talk about experiences and all that.
Trying to root now and will let everyone know how it goes.
Click to expand...

So how much functionality does the root + custom roms add? I watched a lot of reviews last night about the gear and the Pebble. The one thing I noticed is the lack of readable notifications for 3rd part apps on the gear. For instance Gmail only showing you have a new email, but no preview text. Does the custom room add this functionality?
 
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Dom1n8tr1x

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Talentloos said:
So how much functionality does the root + custom roms add? I watched a lot of reviews last night about the gear and the Pebble. The one thing I noticed is the lack of readable notifications for 3rd part apps on the gear. For instance Gmail only showing you have a new email, but no preview text. Does the custom room add this functionality?
Click to expand...

More and more features are added with each update. After the latest firmware update Notifications have been updated to show the message. (this includes Gmail, it's truncated but you still get a good part of the message)

When rooting you do get full functionality, you'll be able to use the full Gmail app or any other apps that you sideload onto it.
 
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BazzaR

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Yeah that's right. Rooting the gear pretty much makes it a stand alone android device. You could load any app onto the Gear and use it like a android phone essentially, but still keep the ability to get notifications via the gear manager.
The only problem is that it does not contain any wireless radio's, so will still have to rely on the Phone to Bluetooth tether for internet connection, or GPS and so on.
I didnt have much time last night and didnt manage to root.
 
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BazzaR

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Dom1n8tr1x said:
I've had mine since the beginning of December and I love it. I like the fact that I can answer calls from the Gear without having to grab for my phone. The notifications are also nice, and I can keep my phone on silent.

The Evernote app has been very useful to me the past month, I can create a shopping list on my phone and then tick off the items on the Gear.

The camera is great and takes good quality pictures and it's also voice activated which is a nice plus. Sending a sms from the Gear is also easy with Svoice.

I will probably root mine as well sooner or later, but I'm going to hold off for a while and see if any significant firmware/Gear Manager updates are released.
Click to expand...

Im not that into answering the calls on the device, feel a little nerdy doing it, except in the car, its a great 'speaker phone'

Also using the evernote app alot now, since the gear. I stopped using evernote about a year ago and moved to gnote, purely because gnote is so much simpler. Anyway, since getting the gear i have started using evernote for business notes and works awesome with gear. Really love the camera too, takes decent pics and the auto upload to phone is great. I work on site in a refinery and use it alot to spot defects and safety hazards. Have also taken a few covert pics in the mall.........hahahahahahah

After reading your post and not having time to root last night, I am thinking that maybe i should wait to root. Also want to see what Sam does in the next few weeks with regards to updates.
 
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BazzaR

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On another note, I bought this to protect my gear.....http://www.amazon.com/Skinomi®-Tech...d=1389158507&sr=8-3&keywords=galaxy+gear+skin
Walk around site alot and needed something to protect the device. This 'skin' is really worth it. Most of the bits fit quite nicely but takes a few goes to get it al lined up properly. The speakerphone clasp doesnt really fit well and needs some trimmimg. But now I have a carbon wrapped gear, Looks awesome.
Only real, major problem is charging dock is really tight now, can hardly close it, but i can live with it
 
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Dom1n8tr1x

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I had a look at those, luckily I work in a office so there's little chance of my Gear getting damaged. The only thing I did was to slap a screen protector on it.

On another note, there seems to be a new firmware update for the Gear but I haven't received it yet.
 
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Dom1n8tr1x

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Here's a great thread for those looking for some nice good quality Watchstyler themes.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2483553

8tZPtsJ.jpeg
 
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BazzaR

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Dom1n8tr1x said:
I had a look at those, luckily I work in a office so there's little chance of my Gear getting damaged. The only thing I did was to slap a screen protector on it.

On another note, there seems to be a new firmware update for the Gear but I haven't received it yet.
Click to expand...

Yip I think I got it last week but didn't do much...... My firmware is currently at v700xxuamk7. Is this new? I think it's the latest mk7 update
 
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Dom1n8tr1x

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BazzaR said:
Yip I think I got it last week but didn't do much...... My firmware is currently at v700xxuamk7. Is this new? I think it's the latest mk7 update
Click to expand...

Yes you're right that's the latest firmware, read something somewhere about another version but that could just have been for a different country.

My Gear updated to mk7 as soon as I connected it to my phone.
 
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Dom1n8tr1x

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BazzaR said:
Yes it does as far as I know. Gear manager is now available on s3 s4, note2. But someone correct me if I'm wrong
Click to expand...

That's correct but I think you also need to be on the latest Samsung 4.3 for it to work.
 
fish_man

fish_man

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My Stock Note 2 Android version is 4.1.2 , I'm with vodacom and there are no software updates available
 
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