Galaxy Gear 2 Smartwatch Release Date Set for Spring, Will Ditch Android and Run Samsung's Tizen
Samsung revealed the new Galaxy Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo Smartwatches earlier this week and confirmed that both of them would run Tizen OS.
The company ditched Android OS in favor of Tizen and promises that the switch will offer many improvements to the user. Tizen is less power intensive which will help conserve battery life. It will also offer an "enriched application ecosystem," according to the company.
Both of these new Galaxy Gear models will feature a 1.63-inch touchscreen, 4GB of internal storage, a 1GHz dual-core processor, a 300mAh battery and 512MB RAM. The main difference between the devices is that the Gear Neo will not come with a camera.
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Samsung has kept the exterior design pretty close to the original Gear. The camera was moved to the front of the watch next to the IR blaster. It used to be on the wrist strap with the 1st model. This cluttered the design and made picture taking inconvenient. The mic is now located on the body of the device. The changes will allow users to switch the wristband of the Gear with third-party bands. However, it is unclear if the Gear 2 will use the common 22mm strap used on similar devices such as the Pebble.
The company did not release any information concerning pricing, but did state that the Smartwatch will be available starting in April. The Gear 2 will come in Charcoal Black, Gold Brown and Wild Orange. The Neo will be available in Mocha Grey, Charcoal Black, and Wild Orange. Samsung also promises that the watches will be compatible with "more than dozens" of Galaxy devices when released.
