How to Be a Superhero With Your Galaxy Gear S

If you grew up on superheroes, you know they're a pretty mixed bunch. They might be aliens, mutants, survivors of scientific accidents, or even ordinary people empowered by unusually advanced technology. Most of those options aren't readily available to the rest of us, but technology's the exception. The technology found in a Galaxy Gear S can provide you with a pretty impressive set of superpowers to call your own.

1. The Nick of Time

Being in exactly the right place at the right time, usually just when the villain has delivered his gloating speech, is a fundamental superhero ability. The Gear S can help you do that. Its built-in Navigator app uses GPS technology to get you where you're going, or you can opt for the HERE Maps. You won't need your phone to use either of them, because the Gear S connects to your mobile network. You can even have the Gear S deliver your turn-by-turn prompts through a silent vibration on your wrist, for those moments when you're sneaking up on the bad guys. You'll need to supply your own villain.

2. See Through Walls

Even among superheroes, the ability to see through walls is rare and enviable. It's a superpower your Gear S can give you, with the downloadable Babysitting app. Created for Samsung's Gear App Challenge, it turns your phone into an audio-video monitor and your Gear S into a viewscreen. Just set up your phone with its camera aimed at the spot you need to monitor, and connect it wirelessly with your Gear. You can switch easily between full video or simple audio monitoring, and set an alert to let you know if the phone detects sounds in the room. Although the name of the app points it squarely at new parents with an infant to watch, it'll work just as well for other purposes.

3. Faster, Stronger

Unusual speed and strength are hallmarks of a superhero. It comes naturally to aliens and mutants, but other heroes are simply ordinary humans who committed to a rigorous training regimen. Your own fitness goals might not be that extreme, but the Gear S can help you reach them. Samsung's own S Health suite of apps comes built in. They'll help you monitor your activity, calculate the calories you've burned, monitor your heart rate or track how far and fast you've run.

4. Advanced Communication

Superheroes often have the ability to communicate without language, sharing ideas and concepts telepathically with others. A Galaxy Gear S won't quite do that, but the downloadable Travel Translator app is the next best thing. Just touch the screen to choose your own language, and the one for which you need translations. Tap the flag button representing your own language to start the voice-recognition function, and speak to the Gear S. When you're done, touch "Translate" and a translation will appear on the Gear's large, bright screen. Follow the same steps, but with the languages reversed, to translate the response.

5. Light and Tight

Superheroes tend to travel light, because those skin-tight costumes don't leave a lot of room for accessories. Your own wardrobe probably isn't quite that restrictive, but there will be times you'd rather not tote along your main phone. With a Galaxy Gear S, you're not tied to your phone by the relatively short range of Bluetooth wireless. Not only is it a standalone device, with its own incoming number, it can connect to your main phone via the mobile network. Forward calls, texts and emails to the Gear from miles away. It's not quite like leaping buildings or lifting buses, but it's still a pretty cool superpower.