
The Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 is thinner, lighter, has better battery life, and is overall a good upgrade over the original Galaxy Gear. However, before you go out and buy one, you should know that it is not running Android like the original Galaxy Gear. It is running an OS called Tizen, another Linux-based OS. So was Tizen the right choice for the Galaxy Gear 2?
What is Tizen?
Like Android, Tizen is a Linux-based operating system but made by Samsung, Intel, and among others. The Gear 2 is the first official device to be sold and running Tizen. However, the rumor is that Samsung will soon be releasing a Tizen smartphone with an Intel processor in the near future. The move by Samsung to venture outside of Android isn’t surprising. They have made 2 Windows 8 Mobile phones in the past, the ATIV S and the ATIV Odyssey. With that said, are customers willing to pair a Tizen smartwatch to their Android? It may be a bit of a push.Why Did Samsung Choose Tizen?
It could be that Samsung’s direction to go with Tizen may not have been all for world domination and total control. The original Gear never lived up to it’s full potential for accessing things like notifications. Notifications come in many ways by different apps. At the moment, there is no way to communicate all the necessary notifications from the OS to a smartwatch, outside of apps that Samsung writes. For that kind of control, Samsung would need more control of the OS, which may be the reason why Tizen would offer big benefits if Samsung believes that a smartwatch is the next big thing.Regardless, the move is pretty bold for Samsung, even for Samsung’s standards. Even Blackberry 10, left Blackberry’s own Java-based operating system and essentially started from scratch with Android. Samsung is however doing the exact opposite.
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