Comparing the six Samsung Gear smartwatches

Gizmag compares the features and specs of the Gear S (far left) to Samsung's previous five(!) smartwatches

When it comes to smartwatches, Samsung has had its foot on the gas pedal all through the last year. After launching the Galaxy Gear last September, the company pushed out three more watches in April and another in July. And this week, we're going to get our first look at the new Gear S. Confused? Let Gizmag lend a hand, as we compare all six Samsung Gear watches.

If you've lost track (understandably so), these are the six Samsung smartwatches that we're going to be looking at:

• Gear S
• Gear Live
• Gear Fit
• Gear 2
• Gear 2 Neo
• Galaxy Gear

For each category in this comparison, you'll see two rows of watches – ordered exactly as they are in the list above. If you lose track, just scroll back up here for a quick refresher.

Software

Apart from the Android Wear-running Gear Live and the Gear Fit (which runs a barebones real-time OS), all of our watches run Samsung's Tizen platform for wearables. Though it launched with a weak app selection, I've been impressed with its steady growth since then.

The Galaxy Gear is the rare mobile device that was updated with a completely different operating system. The watch launched running a custom version of Android, but it now runs Tizen as well.

Voice control

Android Wear has the better voice control, as it puts the speed and versatility of Google Now on your wrist. Samsung is teasing "enhanced S Voice" for the Gear S, though, so we're eager to find out what that means.

Notifications

Like just about every other smartwatch you can buy, all of these watches deliver smartphone alerts to your wrist. You can also choose which phone apps will send notifications to your watch.

Size

The dimensions above measure each watch's main body – including the bezel, but not including the band.

The Android Wear-running Gear Live is the thinnest, but, having spent quality time with the first five of these watches, I don't think the Live necessary feels much thinner.

Since the Gear Fit is more of a fitness tracker than full-fledged smartwatch, it's much narrower than the rest.

Weight

The Gear Fit is also the lightest, though I don't think any of the first five watches feel particularly heavy on the wrist.

Samsung didn't list the Gear S' weight in its initial press materials. Combine that with its larger screen, and I'd bet that it will easily be the heaviest in this bunch.

Swappable band

All but the original Galaxy Gear let you swap out their default bands for a different style.

In the case of the Gear 2, Neo and Live, you can use any standard 22 mm band. We aren't yet sure whether the Gear S supports standard bands.

Colors

All but the Gear Fit are sold in multiple colors.You can still customize it, though, by buying a different-colored replacement band.

Standalone wireless

The Gear S is a groundbreaking device, as you can pop in a SIM card and get 3G data without the help of your phone. If smartwatches are eventually going to replace our smartphones, then the Gear S is a step in that direction.

Non-Samsung Android compatibility

For the Galaxy Gear, Gear 2, Neo and Fit, you'll need to pair your watch with a recent Samsung Galaxy phone.

In addition to working independently, the Gear S can also pair with a phone. We aren't yet sure, though, whether that will need to be a Samsung phone. I'd bet that it will.

As the only Android Wear watch in this bunch, the Gear Live plays nicely with any Android phone running 4.3 or higher.

The Gear Fit isn't officially supported on non-Samsung phones, but if you install the Gear Fit Manager app on any Android phone (also running 4.3+), it will work. You'll just be missing a few features, like weather and fitness data syncing.

iPhone compatibility

If you're an iPhone owner, then none of these watches will work with your handset (though you could use the 3G-enabled Gear S alongside of it).

Always-on display

We don't yet know whether the Gear S will have an always-on display, but none of the previous Tizen-running Gears do. Only the Android Wear-running Gear Live leaves some kind of watch face showing at all times.

Curved display

In addition to its 3G capabilities, this is likely to be the Gear S' killer feature. I was a fan of the Gear Fit's curved screen, but it was hard to get too excited about such a limited device. The much bigger curved display on the Gear S could make it one of the most intriguing smartwatches yet.

Display (size)

The Gear S also gives you much more real estate than any of the other watches here.

That can have its advantages, but, when it comes to wearables, bigger isn't always going to be better. When we get some wrists-on time with the Gear S, we'll be curious to see if its screen looks gaudily oversized.

Display (resolution)

The Gear S may also look a bit sharper than the other watches.

Home button location

We've seen Samsung experiment with home buttons on the side of the watch, as well as under the screen. Android Wear uses an onscreen gesture for home, so there's only a power button on the side of the Gear Live.

Water resistance

Most of the watches offer IP67 water resistance, meaning they can sit in 1 m (3.3 ft) of water for 30 minutes, and come out as good as new. The Galaxy Gear is the lone holdout, with an IP55 rating (which is more like splash protection).

Built-in GPS

The Gear S is the only watch in this bunch to offer built-in GPS. Samsung is also partnering with Nokia to bring the company's Here navigation service to the Gear S.

Any time a device employs location services, though, you need to keep an eye on battery life. We'll have to wait and see how the Gear S holds up with navigation running.

Though the Gear Live doesn't have any GPS hardware onboard, it does display Google Maps navigation alerts from your phone. None of the other watches do that.

Camera

I wonder if Samsung is moving away from cameras in its watches, as the new flagship, the Gear S, doesn't have one. The Gear Live didn't have a camera either, but that was to be expected: Android Wear isn't currently designed for cameras.

The missing camera is also the primary difference between the Gear 2 Neo and the more expensive Gear 2.

Battery

All of these watches will at least get you through a full day. In my testing on the first five watches, I find the above estimates (courtesy of Samsung) to be fairly sound.

Fitness tracking

Any self-respecting smartwatch is going to let you track your steps, and all of these fit that bill. They can all serve as 24-hour pedometers, tracking your steps in the background, as well as logging individual workouts.

Heart rate monitor

All but the original Galaxy Gear add a little extra health awareness, with their built-in pulse monitors.

Infrared

The Gear 2 and Neo have built-in IR blasters, so you can use them as universal remotes for your TV, cable box or even air conditioner.

Samsung's WatchOn remote app, bundled with the Gear 2 and Neo, is a bit too barebones for our taste. But there's a great third-party replacement called Smart IR Remote that fills those gaps.

Keyboard

With its larger screen, Samsung is throwing in an onscreen keyboard for the Gear S.

Though the Gear 2, Neo and Galaxy Gear don't have virtual keyboards baked in by default, you can download the excellent Fleksy Messenger app to rap out text messages – with surprising accuracy.

Processor

The Gear Live is the only watch in this bunch that has a quad core processor. But I'd take that with a few grains of salt, as its Android Wear software demands a different degree of processing power. The other watches also have fast and smooth UIs, with only the Galaxy Gear clocking in a bit slower.

RAM

512 MB appears to be the order of the day for smartwatch RAM.

Storage

Likewise, apparently 4 GB is the target number for Samsung smartwatch storage. Since nearly every app you can download is only going to take up a few megabytes of memory (if that), this should be more than you'll ever need.

Release date

Here you can see just how aggressive Samsung has been in this budding smartwatch space. Six months after the Galaxy Gear landed, we saw three more watches. Three months after that, the Android Wear model dropped. And just over a month from now, we'll have yet another Samsung watch.

We can't blame Samsung for pushing this hard, but you'll also want to go into this knowing that, even if you buy the latest model, it might be dethroned just a few months later.

Price

We don't yet know what the Gear S will sell for, but we should find out this week. The Gear Live, Gear 2 and Neo all fall in the $200-300 range, while the Gear Fit and (currently on clearance) Galaxy Gear dip below that.

More

Still on the fence? Then you can check out our full reviews for the first five Gear watches:

• Gear Live review
• Gear Fit review
• Gear 2 review
• Gear 2 Neo review
• Galaxy Gear review

Stay tuned to Gizmag, as we're expecting some quality hands-on time with the Gear S later this week.

3D-printed castle heralds future of click-and-print architecture

Andrey Rudenko's 3D-printed castle

Though 3D printing technology is still relatively new, it may become an important tool for architects and the construction industry, as highlighted by projects like the recent 3D-printing of 10 homes in a day. The latest example of this progress comes via US-based Andrey Rudenko, who has created a small concrete "castle" structure in his backyard using a large 3D printer he built himself. Next up, he's making a house.

From small beginnings ...

The 3D-printed castle is 2 years in the making, and began with Rudenko first fabricating a small 3D printer which printed using plastic. It took some time before he scaled-up to a much larger unit that could print in concrete reliably, but once Rudenko had solved issues like clogging, he was good to go.

"In short, the printer is a 3D concrete-extruding machine which pushes/extrudes and layers concrete in very fine, high-quality layers of almost any size and configuration," explains Rudenko. "The machine is controlled by computer using the Arduino Mega 2560 micro-controller board; it prints directly from CAD files using a chain of software tools to control printing."


The castle took a total of 2 months to print from start to finish. The 3D printer pushed out strips of 10 x 30 mm (0.4 x 1.1 in) concrete, which were then layered atop each other. However, with a printing rate of 50 cm (19.6 in) per 8 hours, it could have been built much quicker had Rudenko not taken his time tweaking the printer's settings, testing its abilities, and ensuring that the quality was good.

Looking to the future

The main body of the castle, which measures 3 x 5 m (10 x 16 ft) and 3.5 m (12 ft) high, was printed as one unit, while the turrets were then printed separately.

Rudenko's next project is to create a 3D-printed two-story home, which he told us he plans on printing in one piece, including the fireplace, kitchen island, and foundation for the staircase, plus columns, interior walls, and more.

"The next project is a real full-scale house. The size of the house will be defined with architects, but the printer should be able to print 10 x 20 m (32 x 65 ft), or more if the rails are extended," explains Rudenko. "I presume that with the rails extended, I could print up to 50-100 m (164 - 328 ft) long, but I have to experiment to prove it. The first house is going to be an experimental house.

"Hopefully, architects will come up with the some unique design for the house. The printer gives high quality layers that enhance the look of any building, so I am sure people will like it. The main issue is to get a permit for non-traditional method of construction. Ideally, I’d like to team with architects who take care of the construction project’s essentials, general contractor and project’s sponsor. Then, my focus will be on delivering high quality 3D printing of the house’s walls.

"The more important advances of this technology lie in its architectural possibilities and energy-efficiency. Architects have waited many years for this technology, and now that it's here, this opens up a whole window of possibilities; soon, we will see new kinds of architecture used to construct new structures."

Midual's remarkable US$185,000 Type 1 takes its place among the world's most expensive motorcycles

New French company Midual joined the limited-edition hyper-priced motorcycle marketplace this month, with an ingenious redesign of the century-old boxer-twin motor, an aerospace-quality cast monocoque frame, a rethink on the cooling system, bespoke personalization, a we-come-to-you service model, a rare standard of detail and craftsmanship, and a EUR140,000 (US$185,400) price tag

“Everything that can be invented, has been invented”, or at least that’s how the popular misquote goes. It is unquestionably untrue, but for devices that have been around as long as the motorcycle, with thousands of fertile minds having applied themselves to building a better mousetrap over the last 125 years, you’d think that all the viable configurations for achieving man-machine harmony would have been tried before now. Apparently not! An ingenious retake on the horizontally-opposed motor and chassis architecture has spawned a technological revelation in the form of the new French superbike, the Midual.

Before we get started, please be warned that the Midual is not for the faint of wallet. Production of the technological masterpiece will be limited to just 35 units, each with a price tag of €140,000 (US$185,400). If the price-tag isn't enough indication of Midual's intended hyper-elite marketplace, showing the company's two working Type 1 prototypes at Pebble Beach 2014 left no doubt.

Other companies to unveil machinery on the Pebble Beach Concept Lawn included Bentley, Hennessy, Lamborghini, Maserati, McLaren, Porsche, Renovo, Rolls-Royce, Saleen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Infiniti, Toyota, Alfa Romeo, and Lincoln, a strong indication of the company this new French company hopes to keep.

The Midual's next public outing will be at the exclusive London Supercar show, Salon Prive.

As the sole motorcycle on display on the concept lawn at the world's most important upmarket automotive event, and one with a price tag equivalent to the median price of a home in the United States, Midual is the latest boutique manufacturer to address the needs of wealthy motorcycle enthusiasts seeking something more and different. These manufacturers produce limited edition two–wheelers and charge enough for each of them to create a viable business on small volumes.

At the pointy-end, this elite category now includes the likes of the US$300,000 Ecosse Titanium RR (clockwise from top right), the US$178,000 Icon Sheene, the US$175,000, 250 mph (402 km/h), 320 hp MTT Turbine Superbike and the latest Lauge Jensen Viking, which is designed by Henrik Fisker with a price tag anticipated between $50,000 and $55,000. That's a significant step down from the normal limited edition designer models from the Danish brand which usually run to US$100,000.

Lauge Jensen recently sold the gold-plated, diamond-encrusted "Goldfinger" (pictured) for US$850,0000, which is believed to be a record price for a new road-going motorcycle. Realistically, it's more a piece of art than a practical conveyance, but it is no less likely to see road usage than many of the other bikes listed in this article. This is the domain of exquisite, hand-crafted motorcycles that are extremely desirable and close to unobtainable unless you have the wherewithal to drop US$200 grand on a whim.

Then there's the entire range of NCR, an Italian company located close to the Ducati factory in the Borgo Panigale district of Bologna. NCR was Ducati's original, albeit external, racing department and has been re-engineering Ducati's finest models for a third of a century. It is best known for having built the small batch of 25 homologation machines for the Formula 1 class of the 1978 Formula TT World Championships.

Mike Hailwood rode one of this batch to his now-legendary comeback win at the Isle of Man in 1978, when he emerged from an 11-year self-imposed exile from mainstream motorcycle racing at the geriatric (at least in racing terms) age of 38 years. That small batch of machines enabled Ducati to take the first of its now 30 plus world titles and Hailwood his last. In early 2014, one of this batch (pictured below) was sold by the world's foremost rare motorcycle auctioneers (Bonhams) for US$175,500.

NCR still makes extraordinary bikes based on existing Ducati models, such as the US$110,000+ Leggera Extreme and the US$220,000 Macchia Nera – 134 kg (295 lb) of titanium, magnesium and carbon with 187 rear-wheel horsepower – but the US$200,000+ M16 is the closest example of what the Midual will be competing with in terms of cost and rarity.

The NCR M16 is a carbon showpiece with MotoGP-level forks, rear shock, electronics and wheels and it weighs 144 kg (318 lbs) – 16 kg (35 lb) lighter than a 2014 MotoGP bike but with lights, turn indicators and a number plate – with its highly modified Desmosedici motor producing 200 rear-wheel horsepower. The price is actually US$159,000 PLUS a Desmosedici motor, if you can find one, but with those specs, it's the closest thing you can get to a real MotoGP bike for the road.

Heritage Replicas from Brough Superior and Crocker

There's also a heritage sub-category in the hyper-elite motorcycle price range which involves authentic replicas of Brough Superior and Crocker motorcycles. With 24 bikes in the top 100 auction prices ever fetched for a motorcycle, Brough Superior is the most sought-after collectible motorcycle in the world. Vincent, with 17 bikes is next, with several marques fighting out third spot on the podium: Harley-Davidson (10 bikes), Crocker (seven bikes) and BMW (seven bikes).

Both the Brough Superior and Crocker brands have now been successfully reincarnated and both have healthy businesses creating replacement parts for, and entire recreations of, the most sought-after models of yesteryear.

Crockers are extremely rare. While roughly 3,000 Brough Superiors were produced and around 1,000 are still known to exist, only 72 Crockers are still in existence, and whenever they reach auction, they invariably sell for more than US$200,000. Given that many concours Crockers predominantly contain parts manufactured by original processes at the Los Angeles workshops of the reincarnated Crocker Motorcycle company, the US$150,000 price tag for a complete replica (above) is seen by enthusiasts as a bargain.

Brough Superior has also taken the gamble of building a modern day motorcycle with the same brand values and plenty of heritage styling cues, with the price of the first 2015 production models to be somewhere between €50,000 and £50,000 (US$65,000 - US$83,000). This is considerably less than an almost atom-perfect replica of Lawrence of Arabia's 1925 Brough Superior SS100, plus it goes faster, handles better, stops quicker but ... it's not exactly the same as the bike the famous warrior often rode 500 miles in a day just for fun.

Indeed, just as in days of yore, you can now have your bespoke Brough Superior made to your own period design and exact specifications, such as this 1283 cc, 1930’s Basel Brough, which was purchased by Ralph Lauren Paris for advertising purposes. There is no price list for such bespoke wares, but count on spending upwards of US$150,000 for the privilege. That's less, by the way, than you'd pay at auction for one made 80 years ago.

In terms of appreciating assets, the replicas being hand-crafted by Brough Superior and Crocker are almost certain to hold their value better than any contemporary two-wheeler you can purchase for road usage.

The evolution of the Midual

Hence there's definitely a marketplace for genuine exotica, and Midual's Type 1 already appears to be just the first of a series of technologically fascinating motorcycles the new marque has planned (a search of patents indicates a V-twin and an electric motorcycle are in development).

The Type 1 has been mooted for 15 years with the styling of the first Midual having been done by highly respected L.A.-based motorcycle designer Glynn Kerr. Kerr was commissioned by Midual principal Oliver Midy to develop a series of concept sketches for his horizontally-opposed twin in the late 1990s.

As can be seen from the sketches of the time, Midy had hoped to use the name Douglas (more on the famous British marque later in this article), but efforts to secure the rights to the name failed and some publicity was garnered in the name Midual and some in the name Douglas. The boxer-twin debuted as a 900 (though some earlier mock-ups show an 860 logo) at the 1999 "Mondial de l'Automobile" show in Paris. The new Midual Type 1 displaces 1036 cc.

Midual redefines the horizontally-opposed twin

Midual's choice of the boxer twin motor, and the ingenuity of its engineering require a look back in history to fully understand how cleverly it has sidestepped the engine layout's disadvantages, while retaining its strongest features.

The virtues of the horizontally-opposed motor (primarily excellent primary balance and a low center of gravity), have been evident to motorcycle, car and aeronautical engineers since Karl Benz first patented the design in 1896. In cars, they have become the signature engine of such landmark creations as the Volkswagen Beetle, Porsche 911 and the entire Subaru range. In aircraft, the opposing cylinders were ideal for air-cooling and the primary balance made for excellent reliability, a mandatory quality in an aero engine.

In the motorcycle arena, the boxer-twin has become synonymous with BMW motorcycles, but many other marques have used the configuration, and in the beginning, the horizontally-opposed motor was usually fitted lengthways in the frame.

BMW's now signature transverse boxer-twin engine configuration dates back to 1923, but it was by no means the first manufacturer to use the boxer twin – it was not even the first to use it in the across-the-frame orientation, with the British ABC motorcycle of 1916 preceding it by a full seven years.

There's a wonderful "fairy story here" about the origins of first horizontally-opposed motorcycle engine (the 1905 Fée nee Fairy motor cycle above), and how it led directly to the Douglas motorcycle range of the same configuration, the success of which spawned many other similar motorcycles.

The Douglas twins built a fine reputation and helped the company become one of the first mainstream motorcycle manufacturers, building 70,000 military motorcycles for the British war effort during WWI.

Immediately post-WWI, BMW's engine designer Max Friz was faced with designing a motorcycle engine as the German aircraft company was forbidden from producing aircraft engines due to the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles and the company quickly had to find new commercial endeavors. Luckily, BMW's foreman, Martin Stolle, had a 1914 Douglas 500cc flat twin motorcycle and Friz, according to legend, stripped the bike down and copied the horizontally-opposed twin.

As a result of this plagiarism, which to be fair was rampant in the industry at the time, the BMW M2 B15 500 cc side-valve engine was born and sold to numerous German motorcycle manufacturers of the day to power their motorcycles. Motorcycles that employed BMW's M2B15 included Bison, Corona, Victoria, SMW, SBD and the Helios. The Helios was built by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke, a company which was later merged into BMW AG, so it could be argued that it was indeed BMW's first motorcycle (using the same logic which accredits the pre-1926 racing exploits of DMG and Benz & Cie to the company they merged to become: Mercedes-Benz).

The 1920 Helios (pictured above) was one of many motorcycles made using BMW's M2B15 500 cc side-valve engine that had borrowed heavily from the Douglas flat twin.

When BMW finally decided to build entire motorcycles, Friz used all the know-how he'd accumulated in building aircraft engines, plus no doubt valuable feedback resulting from supplying the M2B 15 to other makers, to create an entirely new engine, turning it 90 degrees in the process.

In 1923, he took all those lessons and produced the R32, which became the first of an unbroken lineage of boxer twins that have been deeply loved by motorcyclists across the world for the nine decades since.

It's interesting that, despite such seemingly wonderful personality traits as a low center of gravity and great balance, the design has never lent itself particularly well to the motorcycle form factor, mainly due to the problem of fitting such an inconveniently-shaped motor into a motorcycle frame without compromising one of the key aspects of riding.

Mount it lengthways in the frame and it will provide a wheelbase that's simply too long, making the motorcycle a handful around town and compromising the sweetness of the motor. Those early horizontally-opposed motorcycles engines that had their cylinders mounted in-line with the frame often suffered from the rear cylinder overheating.

Mount the engine sideways and the protruding cylinders immediately compromise ground clearance and expose the vulnerable cylinder heads to damage in the case of mishap. There's also the torque reaction that comes when a motor's crankshaft is in line with the wheels, though I've done a lot of miles on Beemer twins, and once you're accustomed to it, it's never the problem that theory suggests it might be.

The above illustration shows two of the best known early horizontally-opposed twins which used a longitudinal mounting: a 1919 Harley-Davidson 584cc Model W Sport at top left and right, and a 1925 Douglas 2¾HP (350cc) Model CW. Click the image for access to the photo library and more detailed images of each of the machines.

Once BMW began developing its boxer-twins and began winning hearts and races, other transverse flat-twin motorcycles followed, such as Germany's Zundapp, China's Chang Jiang and the mass-produced Russian marques Ural and Dnepr.

The ingenuity behind Midual's new variation on the theme is that it has tilted the engine forward at a 25-degree angle, enabling the rear cylinder to clear the swinging arm pivot and enabling the wheelbase to be kept within compact dimensions, completely removing the torque reactions associated with the inline crankshaft of transverse boxers, and enabling the exceptionally-low center of gravity of the engine to be used to full benefit. Midual claims that the resultant handling "makes negotiating curves a delight" and it is confident enough of this new variation on the theme to have patented it.

According to Midual, the 1036 cc (63.2 cu in) flat-twin has been developed to produce strong torque at low engine speeds with a broad power spread, which the claimed figures of 106 hp @ 8,000 rpm and 100 Nm (74 lbf·ft) @ 5,300 rpm suggest has been achieved.

By comparison, the latest liquid-cooled 1170 cc BMW 1200GS performance figures come in at 123 hp @ 7,750 rpm and 125 Nm (92 lbf·ft) @ 6,500 rpm.

The Midual Frame

The Midual Type 1 frame is the result of "several thousand hours" of design and development according to Midual's press documentation. It uses a unique single-piece aluminum chassis cast in a French aerospace foundry and then hand-shaped after numerous intermediate operations. The external double wall serves as a fuel tank and this too has been patented.

Detail, Personalization and SERVICE

While the price tag might seem very high for a motorcycle, the Midual is aiming at an entirely different marktplace than currently exists, with a level of service designed partially to overcome the lack of a dealer network, and partially to deliver amenity levels previously unheard of. The 35 machines available for delivery in 2016 are destined solely for the European marketplace.

That price includes a four-year contract for maintenance and warranty support, including collection of the motorcycle directly from the customer’s (European) home for delivery to the manufacturer’s workshops and back again. According to Midual, "in this way, full guarantee of careful, thorough after-sales maintenance can be assured."

All metallic components of this motorcycle show a level of detail far beyond the norm. From the press blurb, "the machine’s instrument panel and analogue gauges, all the leather trim, the handlebar controls, side plates, kickstand ... each element is specific, noble and refined. The finishing reveals the highly expertise of the most skilled French workers."

"A Midual is designed to be personalised to the point where each machine’s personality can be modified to be completely in tune with its owner. Thus, he will be able to choose between many different types of body finishing, from brushing and cap design to a polished/patina look. More than 45 types of leather are offered standard and can be matched to 25 sand casting shades, which can be applied even to the engine parts. Each machine is marked with its creation date, number and owner’s name."

Let's hope there's a proletarian version planned.