Crazy price for Samsung Galaxy Gear in SA

Samsung South Africa revealed at an event in Cape Town on Thursday, 26 September 2013, that it would launch its Galaxy Gear smartwatch during October 2013 at a recommended price of R4,599.

The Korean electronics giant announced the device at the start of September, with its overseas launch kicking off from 25 September 2013.

Samsung said at the South African launch event that the Galaxy Gear is “wearable technology” and not a “smart watch”, however commentators on Twitter and at the event remarked at the device’s high price.

A spokesperson for Samsung South Africa said that the reason for the high price is that it is new technology, and that nothing else like it is available in the market.

The recommended retail price for the Samsung Galaxy Gear in the UK is £299 according to media reports, which at an exchange rate of R16/£1 is just under R4,784.

Some of the key specifications provided by Samsung for the Galaxy Gear were:

• 800 MHz processor
• 1.63-inch 320×320 Super AMOLED display
• 1.9MP camera
• 4GB internal storage
• 512MB RAM
• 36.8 x 56.6 x 11.1mm dimensions
• 73.8g
• 315mAh Li-ion battery

Thanks to MyBroadband’s freelance reviewer, Gerrit Vermeulen, for sending through the information from the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 event

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