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.
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!
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