Heads up, Samsung Gear S3 owners, that little smartwatch is about to get a massive update.
Samsung has announced that it's rolling out a bunch of Gear S3 Frontier/Classic enhancements in an update it's calling "Value Pack."
Fitness
One of the biggest new additions is real-time continuous heart rate monitoring, which should make fitness buffs out there giddy.
Even more fitness stuff: there's also a new nutrition management feature that will help users keep track of what they eat, the calories they consume, and their food budget on a daily basis. Gear S3 owners can now also view exercise programs or their heart rate when the smartwatch is paired with a smartphone or TV.
Communications
Samsung has also improved communications, making them more centralized. Aside from searching contacts, users can now also create new ones directly within Tizen, and they're also now able to create events and add certain information such as time, date, reminder alerts, and location — all with simple taps and twists of the bezel.
What's more, Gear S3 now lets users edit their to-do lists and video or web reminders created on the smartphone.
User Interface
The new update also contains slight but important user interface and experience revamps.
Widgets, for starters, now fit the circular screen better, showing more information at a glance.
Twisting the bezel at certain speeds now also triggers certain functions. For example, by turning the bezel at a faster rate, they can flick through more watch face designs.
These little changes are a way for Samsung to create a smartwatch experience that's slightly less dependent on a smartphone. Although the Gear S3 can't entirely be free from the shackles of pairing with a flagship, it still works fine on its own.
The Gear S3 update also contains the following new features:
• Samsung Connect: Allows the Gear S3 to manage and control smart devices.
• Gear VR controller: Allows the Gear S3 to control Samsung Gear VR.
• PPT controller: Enables remote PowerPoint controls.
• Bixby reminder: Brings support for Bixby reminders on the smartwatch.
• Send SOS: The SOS feature now includes the user's altitude for more precise locating when they're in need of help.
The Samsung Gear S3 Tizen 3.0 update is now available for download via the Samsung Gear app. It's a hefty 257 MB download, though. To install, users must simply download the Gear app, if they haven't already, and check for the update.
Have you updated your Gear S3? Thoughts about the new features and user interface changes? As always, feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
