Samsung May Use Wear OS Instead of Tizen on Upcoming Smartwatches
It hasn’t been as easy to sell smartwatches as anyone had hoped. Even the Apple Watch hasn’t been a runaway success. Samsung was one of the first large electronics firms to launch smartwatches running Google’s Android Wear (now Wear OS), but it pulled back to focus on its own Tizen-based wearables. Now, long-time leaker Evan Blass says Samsung is switching back to Wear OS on an upcoming Gear watch.
Samsung has gone through a number of smartwatch phases. It started before the launch of Android Wear when the company released the Galaxy Gear. It ran Android but not Google’s version of Android for a watch. Instead, this was a highly customized build (based on the open source code) just for Samsung’s watches. Later, it released the Gear Live as one of the first Android Wear devices. That’s the only involvement Samsung had with Wear, though. It moved on to a Tizen-based smartwatch platform with new Gear watches soon thereafter.
According to Evan Blass, Samsung employees are testing a new Gear watch right now that doesn’t run Tizen. It’s back to Google’s Wear OS, apparently. Some other recent rumors suggested this watch was the Gear S4, an updated version of Samsung’s last flagship Tizen smartwatch. If Samsung does intend to make the switch back to Wear, testing it out with employees at this point would make sense. The internals would be similar (an ARM chip with low RAM and storage), so the watch could switch back to Tizen somewhat late in development.
Seen on the wrists of Samsung employees: Gear watches running not Tizen, but Wear OS.
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) May 23, 2018
Tizen is basically Samsung’s backup in case it doesn’t want to use Android at some point in the future. It’s created a handful of phones and other devices running Tizen, but the watches are its most successful consumer Tizen project. While the Tizen wearable UI is a little cluttered, it has better battery life than Wear, and the notification management is fantastic. However, the app support on Tizen is virtually nonexistent. It also lacks an updated voice assistant — it still relies on S Voice, which Samsung retired on phones more than a year ago. Wear OS has vastly better app support, and it runs Google Assistant.
Even if Samsung launches a Wear OS device, it could theoretically continue making some Tizen wearables. Perhaps the “Fit” series with its smaller form factor and fitness focus could remain a Tizen product. The Gear S3 came out more than a year ago, so we’re due for a new Samsung wearable soon.
Continue reading
Intel’s Raja Koduri to Present at Samsung Foundry’s Upcoming Conference
Intel's Raja Koduri will speak at a Samsung foundry event this week — and that's not something that would happen if Intel didn't have something to say.
Samsung, Stanford Built a 10,000 PPI Display That Could Revolutionize VR, AR
Ask anyone who has spent more than a few minutes inside a VR headset, and they'll mention the screen door effect. This could eliminate it for good.
Report: Samsung May Kill Galaxy Note Series, Add Stylus to Galaxy Z Fold3
Samsung may be planning a major shift in its smartphone strategy in 2021. According to a recent analyst report, Samsung may drop the popular Galaxy Note family in favor of a foldable with a stylus. The problem, it seems, is that the Note series isn't as popular as it once was.
Samsung Starts Rolling Out Galaxy S20 Android 11 Update on Verizon
Not only does this include the Googley Android 11 enhancements, but it also has numerous Samsung-specific changes as part of the One UI 3.0 revamp.