We have already reported exclusively that the Gear S3 is going to be round like its predecessor and that it's going to be unveiled at IFA 2016 in September. We can now confirm some of the new functionality that the smartwatch is going to offer. It features an altimeter, a barometer, a speedometer as well as an integrated GPS.
The Gear S3's altimeter will constantly measure altitude and show it in meter/mile on the display. It's also going to display an altitude graph with hour and altitude being plotted on the X-axis and Y-axis respectively. Users will be able to calibrate the altimeter with a single tap provided that the Gear S3 is connected to the internet and they turn on location services.
The barometer will measure atmospheric pressure which comes in handy when forecasting weather and determining altitude, readings will be displayed on the Gear S3 with the correct “hPa” unit. It will feature a weather indicator as well enabling users to quickly check on upcoming weather conditions. Users will be able to manually calibrate the barometer by setting reference values for altitude, sea level pressure and distance. The sudden weather changes warning will be on by default and it will warn users if a pressure drop of 4 hPa or more occurs in a 3-hour period.
Next up is the speedometer and when launched it will do what the name suggests. It will measure current speed, calculate average speed, track distance as well as total time. The integrated GPS is crucial for the speedometer to do its job. If location services are not enabled on the paired device or on the smartwatch itself the speedometer will not work. A log list will keep records of previous measurements, logs will contain date, time and speed information.
The Gear S3 appears to be geared towards people who have an active lifestyle. These features will come in handy for people who like extreme activities like mountain climbing, skydiving, surfing, etc. The speedometer will be very useful for those who like running on taking part in competitive motor sports. No wonder the upcoming smartwatch is likely to be called the Gear S3 Frontier. Its support of the active lifestyle might just be its biggest selling point.
