Skip to main content

Galaxy Watch 6 Astro Edition takes to the stars with new astrolabe-inspired design

Samsung has unveiled a limited Astro Edition of the 47mm Galaxy Watch 6 Classic sporting a redesign inspired by an astrolabe.

Astrolabes, if you don’t know, are instruments people from ancient times used to figure out the position of stars at night. It was used back then for traveling and to figure out the time of day. 

Obviously, the Galaxy Watch 6 can already do things (it comes with Google Maps). Instead, the astrolabe inspiration shines through in the rotating Black Astro Bezel. It now features etchings of constellations and celestial bodies around the display. The new watch face appears to be a looping video of space, presumably the Milky Way. If you look closely at the sample videos, you will see objects moving across the screen. The second hand has a crescent moon at the tip. 

Altogether, the Astro Edition is a series of nice little flourishes.

Galaxy Watch 6 Classic Astro Edition

(Image credit: Samsung)

There is more to the Astro Edition besides its redesign as Samsung did add two star-related features. On the left side of the new watch face are trackers to help amateur astronomers follow the phases of the sun and the moon. On the right side is a simple compass complication. They're not the most vital features for many users, but they’re nice inclusions nonetheless.

Limited availability

As nice as this smartwatch looks, you’re going to have a tough time getting your hands on one because it’s currently only available in the MENA (Middle East/North Africa) region. This includes countries like Egypt,  Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The reason why Samsung is choosing that specific area for the initial launch is because that part of the world contributed a lot to science – “particularly [towards] astronomy and mathematics.” Think of it as a thematic gift.

The announcement doesn’t reveal the price of this version of the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. However, checking out Samsung’s Levant (a subregion in the Middle East) website, we see the Astro Edition goes for 350 Jordanian Dirham, which is about $500 USD. Buying one gives users an extra Fabric Band, “Astro Edition collectibles” plus access to the company’s VIP promotion store.

Hopefully, this smartwatch does launch elsewhere, and we think Samsung actually has plans to do so. After all, this information comes from the tech giant’s global website; we reached out to Samsung asking if it plans on releasing the Astro Edition to other countries like the United States. This story will be updated if we hear back.

We should mention the original post states the Astro Edition is the “first of several limited-edition collections of watches”. In other words, more redesigns are on their way.

While we have you, be sure to check out TechRadar’s list of the best smartwatches for 2023.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The latest Apple TV 4K test lets you watch four sports streams at once

Apple is trying something new with the latest beta version of tvOS 16.5: the option to watch up to four simultaneous streams at once. Right now it's limited to live sports streamed through the Apple TV app on the Apple TV 4K , specifically MLB Friday Night Baseball and the MLS Season Pass. A multi-view option was spotted in the tvOS software last month, but the code was hidden and not enabled. MacRumors reported that the feature would be enabled this weekend, and beta testers have since been able to use it. As yet multi-view hasn't been officially announced by Apple, but it's expected that tvOS 16.5 is going to be pushed out in its final form within the next month or so. WWDC 2023 is around the corner as well, when we should be hearing about the next major updates for Apple's various operating systems – including tvOS 17. How it works Over at 9to5Mac there's a hands-on demonstrating how the multi-view feature works, and it's pretty much as you would expe...
Post a Comment
Read more

Quantum computers are fast becoming cheaper and smaller — and they could be coming to a data center near you very soon

IonQ claims we’re closer to widespread enterprise quantum computing deployment as it lifted the lid on two rack-mounted models that can be deployed on-premises.   The startup has built the fourth-generation #AQ35 IonQ Forte Enterprise and fifth-generation #AQ64 IonQ Tempo, both of which are designed to be deployed in enterprise and government data centers. It’s also said it is deploying two quantum computers to the US Air Force.  While revealing these two models, IonQ co-founder and CTO Jungsang Kim said quantum computers are already in use by enterprises to churn through machine learning workloads. This, he added, suggests we’re much closer to readily available and affordable machines. Priming enterprises for a quantum future “We believe in the enterprise-grade quantum computing, which is where it can be something of value for enterprises, can happen in the next few years as we build powerful enough quantum computers that can actually do things that classical computers w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nvidia RTX 4080 GPU could get cheaper with a new version – but don’t get your hopes up

Nvidia’s RTX 4080 is purportedly getting a new spin on the GPU which could reduce the cost, but any price reduction will likely be very minor, sadly, if it happens at all. Tom’s Hardware flagged up this rumor – and treat it with caution, as with anything from the ever-spinning mill – that originated from HKEPC (a tech site in Hong Kong), claiming that while the current RTX 4080 graphics card is built on the AD103-300 chip, Nvidia is going to use a slightly different GPU in the future, namely AD103-301. There’s now more evidence this is actually happening, Tom’s points out, courtesy of a graphics card maker, Galax, which under its RTX 4080 product details lists the GPU as ‘AD103-300/301’. Furthermore, VideoCardz , which also picked up on this, informs us that Gainward, another card maker, has also listed the updated GPU variant AD103-301 in its product specs. With two separate third-party graphics card makers mentioning this new spin on the GPU in their specs, it seems pret...
Post a Comment
Read more