Samsung’s new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S5, has a surprising hidden feature that tech bloggers have just discovered: the phone can double as a baby monitor—provided you’ve got it paired to a Galaxy Gear smartwatch. And y’know, you don’t mind leaving your baby and your phone behind while you’re in another room.
https://gizmodo.com/samsung-galaxy-s5-hands-on-a-tiny-dimpled-step-into-th-1529955527
Yes, this week, tech bloggers discovered “baby crying detector” hidden in the S5’s accessibility menu. Apparently, the feature uses the smartphone’s microphones to detect your baby’s cry, sending a vibrating alert to your paired Galaxy Gear smartwatch. The menu says the feature works best when the phone is placed one meter from said baby, ideally in a room with no background noise. Because what baby wants to sleep next to a jackhammer, but also errant sounds could screw up your smartphone-turned-baby-monitor’s cry recognition!
http://gizmodo.com/galaxy-gear-smartwatch-review-potential-miles-from-re-1431208144/all
Aside from this feature’s reliance on a frustrating, half-baked smartwatch, it seems to miss the whole point of baby monitors: You use them when you want to go in the other room and play with your smartphone! Also, I sure hope you don’t get any texts or phone calls while your Galaxy S5 is serving as babysitter. Naptime will be so over. [SoyaCincau via UberGizmo]
Image of crying baby: Shutterstock / tommaso lizzul
