Samsung Announces GAIA Security For Tizen Smart TVs

Smart TVs, just like smartphones, are web connected and run some kind of OS. LG’s TVs have WebOS and Samsung’s TVs have Tizen. Just like a smartphone, they can be compromised and give up your personal information. Whether it’s something as simple as your Netflix password or as dreadful as the IP and MAC addresses of every computer in your house, or even your credit card information, you can bet there are hackers out there willing to try their hand at getting your info and profiting from it, normally at your expense. With Smart TVs just beginning to come into their own as a part of the Internet of Things ecosystem, security has thus far been largely an afterthought, which is a great way to invite disaster.


Samsung is stepping in to prevent this new wave of smart entertainment from becoming a new wave of security crises with the announcement of a new security standard, called GAIA, for their line of Tizen-based smart TVs. The new service is set to provide layered protection for the hardware, software and relevant services for Samsung’s entire lineup from 2016 onward.  Hyun Suk Kim, president of Samsung Electronics’ Visual Display Business chimed in about the importance of security. “Protecting consumers’ personal information is of the utmost importance to Samsung, both in terms of the company’s values and what’s needed for the continued growth and success of the IoT ecosystem…”, he said of the new security system.


The new system consists of three parts. First, on the hardware front, the OS and drive contents are divided into a main space and a secure space. A hardware-based key file is used for the security space, meaning that would-be hackers will have to obtain and clone that key to access files in the secure area. To make that just a bit harder, GAIA also encrypts all data transmitted via the Smart TV and packs a built-in malware protector that can automatically detect malicious or unauthorized code and stop it dead in its tracks. This means no joy for those who may want to mess around with their Smart TV on a system level, but Samsung obviously feels the security boost is worth it. The third line of defense is a virtual barrier of sorts that requires a number code to get through. Behind this barrier would be the secure zone mentioned above, where sensitive data is stored. Samsung has users covered on their Tizen-based Smart TVs for now, but it’s only a matter of time before vulnerabilities appear. Hopefully, white-hat hackers are the first and only ones to find them.

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WhatsApp Download Available and Install On Tizen OS Phones

The new Tizen operating system has become quite popular on the Indian Market. This is the new operating system by Intel, Samsung and Linux. This new operating system is based on the Linux Kernel and GNU C library and it runs on many devices such from Samsung TVs to washing machines or smartphones.

In addition, the new operating system has an open source, which means that its growth and app support is assured in the long run. There are more and more applications that are supporting this new operating system and recently, Samsung has released some new devices on this platform.

It seems that the new operating system has “captured” the lower market segment quite aggressively. You will also notice that this new operating system already supports most common applications on the market, such as weather or messaging applications.

We remind you that applications are very important, as anyone who intends to buy a smartphone is interested in using the social media applications, games and other types of applications that we are using every day.

Tizen OS also supports WhatsApp, which is currently one of the most popular mobile messaging applications, with over 900 million monthly active users. This is the easiest and the most efficient way to communicate via text messages or voice calls with your friends who live all over the world.

Installing WhatsApp On Your Smartphone That Runs On Tizen OS

First of all, you will need to enable data on your smartphone and open the Tizen Store. This store can be accessed by dragging upwards to access apps screen and selecting “Tizen Store”. You will need to create a Samsung account and sign it with it and, after that, search for WhatsApp and install it by selecting the “Get” button.

When the download is complete, you will need to search for “ACL for Tizen”. ACL stands for application compatibility layer and it allows you to run Android applications on your Tizen OS phone. You will need to download it once and it will run on demand, but it will be always enabled.

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New Tizen 2.4 (Z130HDDU0COL5) Beta Firmware Released for Samsung Z1

Samsung Z1 just received a new official OTA update in form of the second Tizen 2.4 beta firmware. The software is currently OTA (over the air) available so a notification should be displayed on your device during the following days. However, you can receive this notification only in certain conditions, aspects which will be detailed during the following lines.

Weighing in at 258.2 MB this new Tizen 2.4 beta update is the second release for the Samsung Z1. The new software comes to resolve some problems and also add a few new features in order to ensure a better software experience. Thus, with the new OS (version number of Z130HDDU0COL5) you can get improved messaging features, a new Smart Manager, Voice Recorder and Image Editor app with improvements being made to the Music, Video, Memo, Contacts and Settings app.

Along with all these there were also added several bugs fixes and stability improvements which makes the Tizen 2.4 second beta firmware a stable OS that can smoothly run on the Samsung Z1.
Now, if you want to receive the OTA, your device should already run on firmware Z130HDDU0BOK2 or later – if you have updated your phone to Tizen 2.4 beta firmwareZ130HDDU0COI5 you won’t be able to receive this new update. In that case, you will first have to downgrade back to Tizen 2.3.1 a process which can be completed through Samsung KIES. Also, if you want to be sure that you can receive the notification you should also register your smartphone at Samsung’s Tizen community forum.

That’s all for now. So, a new beta Tizen 2.4 update has been OTA released for your Samsung Z1. The firmware should be anytime now spotted on your device, or you can manually force it down by accessing “menu – settings – about phone – software update – check for updates”. Do tell us how things worked for you and if you already received the update, share your experience with the other users by using the comments field from down below.

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Tizen OS Is A Drag On Samsung Smartwatch Offering

Samsung led the shift in the wearables market to be a smartwatch-focused one.
Through the years, Samsung slowly lost its market share until it was finally out of the top five vendors in Q3 2015.
Trying to push a new OS while remaining ecosystem agnostic did not benefit Samsung. The company will need to need to adopt an all-Android strategy to regain its leadership position.

Two years ago, Samsung Electronics (OTC:SSNLF) introduced its first wearable device, the Samsung Galaxy Gear that was a huge leap of innovation at the time and branded as an extension of the Galaxy smartphones and tablets product line. When Samsung launched its first smartwatch in 2013, Fitbit Inc (NYSE:FIT), Garmin (NASDAQ:GRMN), and Jawbone dominated the wearables market with their fitness trackers, and several technology companies were in the final stages of designing their smartwatch device or bringing it to the market. Back then, Samsung was leading the new wave of smartwatch developers, trying to shift the wearables market from being fitness tracker-focused to smartwatch-focused.

As shown in the chart below, for a long period Samsung was among the top five wearables vendors, maintaining an average 5% market share. When Xiaomi, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE) and others launched their smartwatches, Samsung’s market share slowly eroded until Q3 2015, when the company was no longer among the top five worldwide smartwatch vendors.

Samsung’s first smartwatch generation was Android-based and competed with other smartwatches to gain market share from Android users. Samsung wanted to differentiate itself and develop its own, unique ecosystem independent from Android, so it launched its later smartwatch generations based on its proprietary Tizen OS, targeted to compete with Android, iOS, and Windows. Later, Samsung also launched the smart camera and smartphones with plans to release future tablets and PCs running on Tizen. The biggest problem with Tizen is that it enters a saturated market with three very strong OS ecosystems: Android, iOS and Windows. When one of the most prominent competitor, BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY), chose to use Android on its latest smartphone, it demonstrated how intense the competition in this area is and how hard it is to develop a successful ecosystem.

Samsung’s decision to launch its smartwatch product line with a dedicated OS is reasonable, and others do that, as well; however, trying to develop a new ecosystem with smartwatches as its anchor is a terrible mistake. Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS started as smartphone operating systems, and the smartphone is still the anchor of both of these ecosystems. When a new smart TV, smartwatch, smart camera, smart glasses, etc., is launched, it’s using either the Android or iOS ecosystems to expand its capabilities and unlock its full potential by pairing it to a smartphone in the same ecosystem. Tizen devices, however, try to develop a new ecosystem while remaining ecosystem agnostic. This strategy might work with Pebble, Fitbit, or other pure-play wearable vendors, but the South Korean giant cannot use the same strategy. When a customer is buying a smartwatch, this customer wants to receive the highest added value and value-for-money he or she could receive from the purchase. Samsung optimized its smartwatches for either Galaxy devices or Tizen-based smartphones; however, when Samsung smartphones and tablets are Android-based, it would be simpler to use an Android-based watch that could optimally sync and work within the Android ecosystem.

If Samsung wants to drive its own OS, that’s a valid business decision that might have negative consequences in the short-term, but it could lead to a positive outcome in the long term when competing with Android, iOS and Windows. However, in the current situation where Samsung chose a ecosystem agnostic smartwatch solution, it brings no added value to its customers, and that is forcing the customers to choose either other leading ecosystem agnostic solutions or specific Android/iOS solutions. As long as the anchor device for Tizen is a secondary device like a smartwatch and not a primary device like a smartphone, Tizen OS will not rise. As long as Tizen smartphones are not globally available, Tizen OS cannot rise. If Samsung wants to take the wearables market seriously, it needs to drop the Tizen devices until it's ready to compete with the big three ecosystems. When this doesn’t happen, sticking with all Android devices could only benefit Samsung. In the long term, it's in Samsung’s shareholders' best interests that the company will lead every consumer electronic segment, and by sticking only with Android, it could do so without a doubt.

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Samsung Introducing Tizen In Galaxy S7

The latest buzz has ignited the discussion regarding Galaxy S7 and Samsung. Although, it was on the cards for Samsung to have a new OS from Android, still, the unexpected announcement of featuring Tizen in galaxy S7 has sparked the phenomenon even more. so much expectations were already attached with Samsung galaxy S7 and with Tizen OS featuring, Galaxy S7 can turn out to be the best smartphone in the history of Samsung.

As far as the release is concerned, Samsung authorities have confirmed that the awe-inspiring phone would be released in spring 2016 and thus fans are already waiting desperately for this phone to come. Samsung Galaxy S7 being the trend-setter to feature Tizen.

Most of the critics are viewing at this phenomenon not from a broader point of view and saying that it would be difficult for Tizen to recognize itself among Android, iOS and others. However, if it is featuring in a giant mobile phone such as Samsung Galaxy S7, we can expect that this can be the best phenomenon we were looking for. Furthermore, the inclusion of Snapdragon 820 processor would also make things pretty amazing for the phone. One thing is for sure that Samsung Galaxy S7 would be something fans would love to have with them.

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Say Hola To Tizen – Samsung Saying Adios To Android With The Launch Of Galaxy S7

The worldwide anticipation about Samsung Galaxy S7 is reached to new extremes and that is why we are receiving updates about this enchanting flagship smartphone every now and then. Although, there were rumors that the South Korean Electronics giant is soon to announce the release-date of this phone, but, until these words reach to you comprehension, we are absolutely not been informed about this expected happening.

Witnessing the insane craze attached with this smartphone, we can say that Samsung’s Galaxy S7 is going to be the best ever smartphone released in this flagship. It was announce by the company earlier that the phone would be released somewhere around spring 2016, however, there are also rumors about its early release.

Something that is truly shocking and interesting for the fans and experts alike is that the company is stepping into Tizen phenomenon and hopefully the flagship with technology would come up soon. For the moment, it is expected that Galaxy S7 might first one in this regard to be based on Tizen technology and Samsung is planning to say pip pip to Android with Samsung Galaxy S7. Although, it would be extremely difficult for Tizen to recognize itself in the already saturated market, still, with Samsung Galaxy S7 on its back, everything can be expected.  Another buzz about Samsung S7 is that Galaxy S7 would be having a Snapdragon 820 processor that is most probably going to make this phone an awe-inspiring one. Let’s see how Samsung Galaxy S7 turn out to be the marvelous offering like its predecessors.

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Google rumored to be working with Samsung on TouchWiz UI optimization

One of the biggest problems facing Google and Android for a long time now has been fragmentation with smartphone makers working on their own UI skins and customization to differentiate their products from others. These UI elements, however, also lead to slow OS upgrades, which is visible from Google’s Android version statistics that are released every month. In a bid to change that, Google could be working with Samsung to help with its TouchWiz UI, unconfirmed reports suggest.

Samsung, which is the world’s largest smartphone maker, is feeling the impact from commoditization of Android smartphones as Chinese rivals are adding to their market share by offering lower priced smartphones. Samsung has been trying for years to unshackle itself from Google but has not met with much success. Its Tizen OS failed to take off as a worthy Android alternative in the high-end space and has only recently met some success in the low-end segment.

The Korean smartphone maker’s intentions haven’t gone unnoticed in Mountain View and discussions seem to have been happening from as long as January 2014 when Samsung showed off its Magazine UI at CES, much to the displeasure of Google’s management. Samsung and Google then reached an agreement where Samsung backed off a little when it came to coming up with its own apps that rivaled Google’s core services.

Things looked good for a while, when Samsung announced a flatter, less bloated version of TouchWiz UI later that year with the Galaxy S5. The smartphone maker, however, also partnered with Microsoft to have its Office suite and cloud services pre-installed and prominently displayed on the home screen, which again undermined Google.

Google helping Samsung optimize TouchWiz UI could possibly be a win-win situation for both the companies. Samsung would get some much-needed UI help that would make the user experience more in sync with the latest Android UI and could also lead to faster roll out of OS updates. For Google, it would ensure that its largest partner sticks to Android and more importantly, to its vision of Android.

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'Samsung Galaxy Gear S2' Review, Specs, Features: Runs Tizen OS, With 4 GB Memory, e SIM, Water Resistant

We have been introduced to a bunch of smartwatches this year, and almost all of these wearables are just the same. There may be a couple of differences when it comes to the looks, but basically they all possess the same features, and not all are 3G enabled. Luckily, there are a few wearables that has features more premium than the others. One name that comes to mind is the "Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 3G".

"Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 3G" Specs

This wearable which was released October, has a measurement of 2.04 x 1.73 x .53 inches. It weighs 51 grams and is made of stainless steel. It comes with an E sim and is Samsung Pay enabled. Also the "Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 3G" is IP68 certified to be dust and water resistant (1.5 meters and 30 minutes). This wearable has a 1.2 inch super AMOLED screen with 360 x 360 pixel resolution or 302 pixels per inch density. Clearly, the display is high quality and the resolution is better than many smartphones in the market. Furthermore, the "Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 3G" is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3.

Executive Vice President, Enterprise Business and mCommerce Samsung, Injong Rhee unveils the Galaxy S6 edge+ , Galaxy Note5 and Samsung Pay at Samsung Unpacked 2015 on August 13, 2015 in New York City. (Photo : Donald Bowers/Getty Images for Samsung)

However, when it comes to the platform, the "Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 3G" is not running Android Wear. Instead, it runs a Tizen based operating system and it is powered by Qualcomm MSM8x26 chipset with dual core1.6 GHz processor. For the watch's internal memory department, the "Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 3G" has 4 GB internal storage with 512 MB RAM. The watch has no microSD slot.

For the device's connections, it has Wi Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and NFC. Furthermore, the "Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 3G" is wireless charging capable and it has the S voice natural language commands and dictation feature.

It comes with a Li Ion 300 mAh battery that can last up to 48 hours of mixed usage. The watch comes in the colors of Dark Gray and Silver and it costs around 450 Euros.

As a conclusion, it looks like the "Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 3G" is a very premium smartwatch. It is unlike many wearables that compromised many features and simply act as a notification device. The "Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 3G" can do many things. But of course, it is also pricier than its rivals. Also, its non Android OS may take you back a bit. But overall, we can say that if you want a smartwatch of higher quality, the "Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 3G" can be one of your options.

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Samsung Tizen Z3 proves surprisingly popular

As you are probably aware, Samsung has been slowly improving its home-grown Tizen operating system over the past year or two, releasing a couple of affordable smartphones targeted at emerging markets like India and Bangladesh. The company’s latest device, the Z3, recently made it into GSMArena’s Top 10 Trending Phones of Week 46 rankings at number four, proving that there’s certainly a market for the Tizen-based device – at that customers are open to trying something other than Android and iOS.

Tizen powered Z3 breaks into the top 10

The Z3 (running Tizen 2.3) was launched in India in late October and managed to enter the top ten rankings less than a month later. The first version of the Z-series smartphones, the Z1, made the top 10 rankings a little over 6 weeks after launch, with Samsung going on to sell more than a million devices in India alone. No doubt the attractive price helped – the Z3 cost the equivalent of $130 at launch: a very competitive price but by no means the cheapest smartphone in India.

In much of the western world however it’s a different story for Tizen, which has mainly seen adoption on Samsung’s smart television sets (like the JU6500 4K TV). But strong sales of the Z3 helped Tizen reach fourth place in the global OS popularity stakes, beating BlackBerry OS to the punch in Q3 this year. Samsung will be hoping to capitalise on the success of Tizen in countries like India, Russia and perhaps even Europe in future.

Unfortunately for many people, the main reason not to buy a Tizen-powered device may be the current lack of apps on the platform – something that Samsung no doubt hopes to rectify given time. For those people who aren’t too concerned with having the widest choice of apps (or who are happy with the web versions), Tizen will no doubt suffice just fine.

So what of the Z3 itself? Here’s a brief overview of the Samsung’s latest Tizen phone…

In terms of the design, Samsung has revamped its entire lineup (especially its high-end Galaxy models) with more premium materials and a fresh new design in the wake of past criticism. Even more budget models like the Z3 have had a welcome revamp giving a rather premium feel while remaining good value for money.

Display

The Z3’s display is fairly comparable to older screens found on phones like the Galaxy S3 in the past. The resolution is just 720p (the same as an iPhone 6s), which is perhaps low for a 5-inch phone, but with a 300 pixels-per-inch rating it should be fairly crisp and clear, while helping to extend battery life. Samsung has also thankfully endowed the Z3 with a Super AMOLED display.

Camera

The Z3’s camera isn’t much to write home about – an 8 megapixel model with fairly standard features such as autofocus and an LED flash, but it does provide 1080p video recording. The front camera is a 5 megapixel model, which is more than sufficient for selfies.

Z3 performance

While most high-end Android phones pack multi-core CPUs with several GB of RAM, the Z3 isn’t far behind with a quad-core 1.3 GHz processor and 1 GB of system memory. If Samsung’s engineering teams are anything like Apple’s, they will have heavily optimised Tizen to be as efficient as possible and tailored for the specific hardware it runs on. For $130, buyers of the Z3 probably aren’t expecting to play the latest processor-intesive 3D games, but it’s likely to be more than capable for the majority of tasks and apps on the Tizen store.

We’re looking forward to more Tizen-based phones from Samsung, and its great to see the company forging ahead with new models and improvements to the operating system.

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Samsung Gear S2 Update: New Firmware Rolls Out for Tizen Smartwatch

A firmware update for the Samsung Gear S2 has been released. New features and improvements are now available for the smartwatch.

As per Android Headlines, the Samsung Gear S2 is the South-Korean tech giant's latest smartwatch. Instead of Android Wear, the gear is running on Tizen.
The Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 update comes with a lengthy changelog. Posted on Phandroid, the new firmware brings in an "Add Widgets" label to the smartwatch. The new label is placed under the plus symbol allowing users to easily understand the function.
The latest update now allows the smartwatch to vibrate once it gets disconnected to the smartphone. Furthermore, there are new screen timeout options available, including 15 seconds, 30 seconds, one minute and five minutes.

Another feature to find in the update is the Auto Open Apps. This new option allows the Samsung smartwatch to automatically open apps once the users stop rotating the bezel on an icon.
The latest update also brings in several new applications such as World clock, a Flipboard News Briefing app and a Starbucks app. Meanwhile, in South Korea, the firmware update for the Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 offers a new navigation app.
Gear S2 users will also find a small orange circle upon updating the smartwatch. According to Phandroid, it is a notification indicator which appears when "notifications aren't set to wake up the screen," the post read.
The new update also makes it easier for Gear S2 owners to read the notifications. The post further noted that the notification text grows bigger when users double tap it. For the complete changelog, head over to the Phandroid's post that is linked above.
Watch below for the review of the Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 from Android Authority, posted on their Youtube channel.

Released on Oct. 2015, the smartwatch is currently available in Korea and the United States. Since the device is not yet available in several markets, followers anticipate that this latest firmware update will already be pre-installed in the Samsung Gear S2 once the product launches in other regions.
The Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 is compatible with Android devices running on, at least, Android 4.4 KitKat. The smartwatch offers several apps and a unique rotating bezel, as main control for the elements showing onscreen.
Visit Latin Post regularly for news about Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 and other smartwatches currently available in the market.

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Samsung To Unveil High-End Tizen OS Smartphone In 2016

The South Korean technology company is gearing up to release a new high-end smartphone in the market, this time powered by its home-grown mobile operating system, Tizen. This is according to a report in Gadgets 360. The rumored high-end smartphone, said to be launched in 2016, was mentioned in a Samsung Vietnam website and reported through Sammobile, according to the report. That same website also mentioned that Samsung may be planning to start a new series or expand its Z phone series.

Samsung has long been expanding its line of products powered by its own Tizen OS. The Tizen OS is said to have surpassed the BlackBerry mobile OS in terms of number of devices running on it during the third quarter of 2015, according to the Gadgets 360 report. It became the fourth largest OS for smartphone, surpassing BlackBerry, which dropped down to the fifth largest OS platform.

Samsung has already launched several Tizen-based smartphones starting with the Samsung Z1 and then the Samsung Z3. Both phones were launched in India and according to Samsung, the phones were selling well in the country. Tizen phones are also said to have the second-largest market share in India in terms of budget smartphones, next to those running Android OS.

Both the Z1 and the Z3 are considered to be budget devices, thus the technical specifications are not as high. However, a Tech Times report noted that despite this fact, Tizen OS phones seemed to have become more popular than BlackBerry OS phones.

If the report is true, Samsung may be trying its hand in creating its own niche within the high-end market. Its Android-based high-end devices are already doing well, so it is logical for the company to expand its Tizen line of phones to the high-end market as well.

Samsung, however, has yet to confirm the report.

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Is there a chance for Tizen on the Galaxy S7?

Samsung’s next big launch is the Galaxy S7, and the release date for it is rumored for around February 2016. Speculations about properties of the upcoming flagship are running rampant, but one rumor we just couldn’t shake was that the Galaxy S7 would be launched with Tizen instead of Android on board. Appalling and a bad idea, I’m sure many of you would agree. But is there even a possibility of Samsung launching a Tizen-powered flagship smartphone so early in the OS’ history?

Today, Tizen came  into the spotlight after SamMobile published a report about Samsung’s mobile operating system getting featured on a “high-profile smartphone”. Although the Galaxy S7 should be the flagship the South Korean company is going to launch next, there will most likely be a couple of other releases in the meantime that the report could be referring to. The Galaxy A and Galaxy E line-ups are due for refreshed models, and they can be considered high-profile smartphones. The Galaxy Z3, launched last month, is a pretty successful release, too. So all signs are pointing towards a flagship device with Tizen on board, but would Samsung risk putting it on the Galaxy S7?

I think they would, but they won’t cut out Android. Since Samsung is already in the habit of launching multiple different variants of their flagships, it’s entirely possible that the Galaxy S7 release date will introduce quite a few new smartphones. There are already reports talking about how the Galaxy S7 processor will be both an in-house and a Snapdragon 820 variant, depending on market or model. So we’re pretty much convinced that the Galaxy S7 will be available with an Exynos 8890 CPU and a Snapdragon 820 one. Why wouldn’t the company raise awareness for Tizen in the same way? It worked with Exynos, which is now rapidly going after Qualcomm’s market.

With the current situation in the Android community involving a lot of bug reports, update delays, bloatware and security threats, maybe it’s time for a new OS. But will Tizen be any better than TouchWiz? Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there are people who like the OS and UX, but they seem unpolished and a bit limited. However, Tizen has been getting better and has been gathering a lot of support in the form of developers and third-party apps. Facebook has a dedicated app just for Tizen and the user experience at the end of the day is pretty similar to Android, if you don’t count Google services that is.

Android is a platform for Google services, if you think about it, and many many many Samsung users are fond of that ecosystem. Times are changing, however, and we should always try to be open to new things, even in technology. In my opinion, the Galaxy S7 has a distinct chance of running on Tizen, at least in one variant. I’ve no doubt that Samsung and Android still have a long collaborative future ahead of them, but there seems to be space for Tizen as well. The OS is popular in developing regions for its optimizations in battery and data saving, and Samsung is well-respected for its good quality hardware all around the world. It seems like a good combo.

How much people will actually like a Galaxy S7 running on Tizen is a bit of a gamble, though. The OS is a fledgling compared to Android, but the company has proven its mettle with the latest 2.4 version of the OS. With a good deal of customization available, it’s not that bad. I do think the majority of people coming from Android will miss Google services as much as I do, but Tizen has potential. You can even use third-party apps to actually get Android apps working on the OS, so if you’re a bit tech-savvy, you might end up being entirely comfortable with Tizen.

It’s an interesting idea, Tizen on the Galaxy S7, and it might even be possible if Samsung is working on improving the OS (they are). Hardware and software need to end up being compatible somehow, so Tizen will have to work with high-end hardware. The Galaxy Z3 is more of an entry-level smartphone than anything, so the in-house OS will have to do good on something much more powerful.

Galaxy S7 specs include two of the latest processors, the Snapdragon 820 and Exynos 8890, 3 GB RAM, 20 MP cameras on the rear and who knows what else. The company has already apparently released prototypes of the handset to AT&T for testing, so we should find out more soon enough. Until now, we could assume that the South Korean giant is planning a Tizen-running Galaxy S7 variant and maybe even a Galaxy S7 Edge variant with the same OS. With rumors that the two will be cheaper at launch than their predecessors and judging by the slightly short time that passed since those were released, it seems like a possibility.

The release date for the Galaxy S7 is pegged for February 21, after reports of the handset going into production early in December have emerged. The tight release window and seemingly rushed process are definitely interpretable, but can they point towards a new strategy? Apple is doing kind of a similar thing with the iPhone 6S. The phone is not that much better than its predecessor, but it improves in key areas. Maybe Samsung is running out of ideas and Tizen came-a-running, who knows. We’ll just have to wait until the company spills the beans, until then as always, take these rumors with a grain of salt.

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Even Samsung's tiny Tizen OS is now bigger than BlackBerry

In a mobile market dominated by Apple's iPhone and Google's stable of Android devices, there's very little room for any more competitors. Microsoft can only muster a couple of percentage points as the distant third-place contender, and everyone else's share is measured in mere fractions. As bad as that was, at least BlackBerry could count itself fourth and see its name on Gartner and IDC's smartphone market share reports.

According to Strategy Analytics today, however, BlackBerry has lost even the fourth spot on the market, having been superseded by Samsung's Tizen smartphones. Tizen OS is Samsung's initiative to construct an operating system of its own, and it's being used on this year's range of Samsung smart TVs, the Gear S2 smarwatch, and a couple of entry-level smartphone models. Those Tizen phones, in all their Android-imitating glory, have apparently proven sufficiently alluring to generate greater sales than BlackBerry is achieving with all of its devices.

The report from Strategy Analytics indicates what we all might have guessed: Microsoft, BlackBerry, and Firefox have all "drifted down" in their market share, while demand for new iPhones has driven Apple up. There's little question, in light of BlackBerry's continuing decline, that the Canadian company had to switch to Android if it was to stand any chance of remaining a player in the mobile market. The Priv smartphone marks that switch, and much rides on its success. Though even if BlackBerry survives as a mobile manufacturer over the long term, its operating system is probably already done. There'll be extended support for all those enterprise clients BlackBerry already has, but the future for this company looks like it's going to be Android or bust.

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Samsung Galaxy Z3 – Rise of the Tizen Power

Tizen operating system, which is backed heavily by Samsung, occupies very less of the market share when compared with the likes of Android and iOS.

However, this operating system was very well received on the Samsung Galaxy Z1. It has given Samsung the confidence to go into a successor for this device. The company goes straight to the Samsung Galaxy Z3 (by skipping the Z2) in order to firmly position this operating system’s place in the industry.

Design

The lengthy criticism faced following the failure of recent phones like the Galaxy S5 prompted Samsung into a major rethinking in terms of design. The company appears to be benefiting from the rethink, as phones like the Samsung Galaxy Z3 are extremely good and offer a reasonable premium feel.

Display

Most of the specifications seen on this device have already appeared on the Galaxy S3 a few years ago. This is especially true in the case of the resolution, which is 720p on a 5 inch screen. The screen size is a little bit bigger than the display on the Galaxy S3, but it does not make any compromises with regard to pixel density. It is just under 300 PPI and should be more than sufficient for buyers in this price range. As with every other Samsung smartphone, the Galaxy Z3 has the Super AMOLED technology up its sleeve.

Camera

An eight megapixel camera without much fanfare offers basic features like autofocus and LED flash. More details about the camera features will be available once the phone is released officially by the company. It should support features like 1080p video recording, which have become common in this price range. A strong selling point would be the five megapixel front camera, which more than matches with what even bigger phones will struggle to offer.

Performance

This phone might have struggled with a demanding operating system like the Android 6.0 OS. This is due to the relatively moderate specifications like the quad core 1.3 GHz processor which is paired with 1 GB of RAM. However, these specifications should be just in line for the Tizen OS. A number of power saving features have been incorporated into this operating system so as to bring out the maximum from the 2600 mAh battery. Compared with the Galaxy S3, which had similar specifications including a minor advantage in terms of reduced screen size, the Galaxy Z3 should fare better. It should be priced comparatively similar to its predecessor.

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Samsung Z3 With 5-Inch Display, Tizen 2.4 OS Launched at Rs. 8,490

Samsung on Wednesday launched its third Tizen-based smartphone, the Samsung Z3, following the halted launch of the Samsung Z in 2014, and the limited region launch of the Samsung Z1 in February this year. Priced at Rs. 8,490, the smartphone will go on sale next week via offline retail channels and Snapdeal in Gold, Black, and Silver colour variants.

The dual-SIM Samsung Z3 runs on Tizen 2.4, and features a 5-inch HD Super Amoled display. The second Tizen-based smartphone to be launched in India, it is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core Spreadtrum SC7730S SoC coupled with 1GB of RAM, the smartphone features 8GB of built-in storage that's expandable via microSD card (up to 128GB).

The Samsung Z3 bears an 8-megapixel rear camera with an f/2.2 aperture and LED flash, and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with the same f/2.2 aperture. Connectivity options include 3G, Bluetooth 4.0, Micro-USB, GPS with A-GPS, and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n.

Sporting a 2600mAh battery, the Samsung Z3 also features an Ultra Power Saving mode. Also touted was the Ultra Data Saving data compression feature. The smartphone weighs in at 137 grams, and measures 141.6x70x7.9mm.

The South Korean electronics giant has partnered with Gameloft and Rovio to preload games on the smartphone, as well as Vodafone for 1GB data plan free per month for two months. Lifetime MixRadio access is also bundled.

The company also unveiled the My Galaxy app, which will be available for Samsung devices via Google Play and the Tizen Store. The app provides offers, deals, discounts, and device care services in four segments - Home, Services, Care, My Page. Home shows offers and deals (with partners such as Pizza Hut, Paytm, Amazon, Bookmyshow, and Coupon Dunia); Services gives access to recharges, food, and travel; Care helps users locate Samsung stores and service centres, apart from accessing services like the Samsung Smart Tutor, and finally, My Page shows saved favourite deals offers, payback points which can be redeemed via Samsung Stores, and more.

Speaking at the launch, H.C Hong, President and CEO, Samsung India Electronics, said, "The launch of Samsung Z3 re-emphasizes India's significance as a key centre for innovation and development on the Tizen operating system, with India being the first country to globally launch the Z3. We were encouraged by the huge popularity of Samsung Z1, the first Tizen OS powered smartphone that sold over one million units within six months of its launch earlier this year."
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Samsung India Could Release Gear S2 Smartwatches Next Week

Next Wednesday, October 14 2015, Samsung is launching something into the Indian market. At this juncture, Samsung’s invite does not give much away as to the product or products that will be launched but we believe that the company will be introducing the Samsung Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic smartwatches. These two watches, which run Tizen rather than Android Wear or a derivative of Android, were originally announced in September 2015 ahead of the IFA show and are currently on sale for $299.99 for the Gear S2 and $349.99 for the Gear S2 Classic. Tizen is Samsung’s own in-house operating system that can trace its lineage through Bada, and is at the centre of Samsung’s push into IoT (Internet of Things) technology.

The devices are a little different to the current generation of Android Wear smartwatches although offer a similar hardware specification, being based around a 1.0 GHz dual core processor, having 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB of local storage. Both models come with the usual expected assortment of sensors and radios for a modern smartwatch, including Bluetooth, WiFi, NFC, a heart rate sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, ambient light and barometer (which is ideal for counting stairs the wear has climbed). However, where the Tizen-powered Gear S2 family differs to Android Wear is in the user interface, where Samsung have used a rotating bezel and two buttons for control, around a 1.2-inch, 360 by 360 pixel circular Samsung AMOLED panel. There are fewer applications available for Tizen although Samsung have already encouraged sufficient big name developers and applications onto the platform. Tizen is a lighter operating system compared with Android Wear and this is reflected in Samsung’s battery life claims are for two to three days from a 250 mAh rechargeable battery. The models are compatible with the majority of Android devices running at least Android 4.4 Kit Kat.

If Samsung is indeed launching the Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic, it will be interesting to see how the smartwatches are priced and distributed and in a few months, how well the models have sold and how much of a discount Samsung have applied. We have already seen how Chinese Android device manufacturers are already adopting Android Wear for new designs and several are likely to be launched in both China and India, which will bring increased competition to the market. We will keep you in the loop with an update after Wednesday’s announcement.

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Samsung's Upcoming Tizen-Powered Z3 Will Work With Likewise Tizen-Based Gear S2

Samsung is allegedly poised to release its Tizen-powered smartphone dubbed the Z3 and now rumors are rife that the handset will work in tandem with the Gear S2 smartwatch.

For the uninitiated, the Gear S2 is a Tizen-powered smartwatch from Samsung and sports a circular dial. The wearable is compatible with devices that run Android 4.4 or upwards.

Reports suggest that the Tizen-running Samsung Z3 smartphone will be compatible with the company's Tizen-based Gear S2 smartwatch.

(Photo : Tizencafe | Twitter)

According to a new report from TizenExperts, the impending Samsung Z3 smartphone, the third-gen iteration of the company's first-ever Tizen-based smartphone Z1, will have the ability to sync with the Gear S2 smartwatch.

For the Samsung Z3 to be compatible with the Gear S2, the company will need to adjust its Gear Manager app intended for the Samsung Z3. TizenExperts' sources let on that the team is working on the app and the software is "functioning quite well and stable." However, the publication's sources did not know when the Gear Manager app would be ready for release.

It is presumed, that with the Gear S2 smartwatch and the Samsung Z3 (supposedly) set to release in October, the Gear Manager could debut alongside the two. However, the app's release depends on final testing.

If this news is true, then Samsung is taking a step in a new direction as thus far, its Tizen-based smartwatches were unable to pair with its Tizen-based smartphones. Only the Galaxy Gear smartwatch from Samsung is based on the Android OS, whereas the rest of the watches operate on the Tizen platform.

The Samsung Z3 smartphones is anticipated to sport a 5-inch 720p screen. The smartphones will likely house a quad-core processor and 1.5GB of RAM. The Z3 is expected to be available with 8GB of on-board memory and pack-in a 5MP secondary camera for selfie lovers. The device will also have an 8MP primary camera and a 2600mAh battery.

With a majority of the smartwatch boasting the Android or iOS operating system, it will be interesting to see how the Tizen-based Gear S2 fares in the long-term - especially with compatibility with Tizen running smartphones being offered.

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Samsung Z3 Tizen news: Passes through FCC, indicating imminent release

Samsung's new Tizen powered smartphone, the Samsung Z3, has been spotted passing through the FCC (Federal Communication Commission), indicating that its launch could be just around the corner.

Samsung has already released a number of flagship devices this year, including the Galaxy S6 line of smartphones and the Galaxy Note 5 phablet. The South Korean company is now preparing to launch its new budget handset running on its own Tizen operating system.

The Samsung Z3 Tizen smartphone has passed through the FCC, indicating its imminent release (Reuters)

Samsung had earlier launched the Samsung Z1 smartphone running on Tizen that received a tremendous response in the emerging countries, such as India and Bangladesh. The company is skipping the Z2 model and directly launching its successor, the Samsung Z3, which will run on the latest version of its Tizen operating system.

Latest reports claim that the Samsung Z3 will feature better specifications than its predecessor. According to previous speculations, the Samsung Z3 will feature a 5-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display with HD (720p) resolution, as compared to a 4 inch screen in the Samsung Z1 handset.

The Samsung Z3 will be powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core Spreadtrum SC7730S processor, paired with 1.5GB of RAM. The Tizen powered handset will offer 8GB of on-board storage, which can be further expanded up to 32 GB via a microSD card. The Samsung Z3 will sport an improved 8 megapixel rear camera with autofocus, LED flash and video recording capabilities, along with a 5 megapixel front facing camera for selfies and video chats. The dual-SIM Samsung Z3 will pack a 2,600 mAh battery and ship with Tizen 3.0 operating system out of the box.

The Samsung Z3 has now been spotted on the FCC, confirming its previous rumored specifications. Samsung is expected to release its new Tizen powered Z3 smartphone in Bangladesh, India and Nepal, followed by the emerging markets in the European region.

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Samsung has shown it’s serious about Tizen, but is it yet ‘The OS of Everything’?

Samsung hasn’t had an easy start with its Android-replacement operating system Tizen, though by now many more tech consumers should have at least heard of its name — and may perhaps have even used it without realizing.

Tizen — which like Android is based on the Linux kernel — has been powering a few of Samsung’s devices for a while now, though far less so on the smartphone front than on the wearables front.

Above: Flickr / Kārlis Dambrāns

If you thought Android was in fact powering Samsung’s line of Gear smartwatches, you’d be mistaken. It’s been Tizen all along — well, pretty much. But efforts to get Tizen ready as a fully fledged replacement to Android on its smartphones have been much slower. (Samsung’s Z is still its only Tizen phone to date.)

Now, with the announcement of the Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch Monday, Tizen looks as though it’s starting to mature a little, and perhaps even become a more viable contender to Google’s Android Wear — at least for Samsung’s own lines of wearables.

But it still seems highly unlikely that any other smartwatch player with skin in the game would adopt Tizen in 2015. In fact, both Huawei (with its well-received Huawei Watch) and Motorola (with its new Moto 360 models) just took the wraps off their latest smartwatches, and — surprise, surprise — both are powered by Android Wear.

Above: Samsung’s Gear S2 smartwatch

In addition to its smartwatches and — perhaps increasingly — its smartphones, Samsung has been slapping Tizen on its TVs as well. It announced at CES in January that all of its new TVs will now be powered by the OS.

And interestingly, Tizen has recently overtaken Firefox as the fifth largest smartphone OS by volume in Q2. But whether its new Gear S2 smartwatch can steal any sizeable market share from the likes of Apple and the barrage of Android Wear competitors remains to be seen.

So: Tizen, the OS of everything (see the main picture up top)? No. Tizen, the slowly-maturing OS of one of wearables’ biggest players? Possibly.

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The Egg, a handheld Tizen webserver, emerges at IDF

Eggcyte is demoing its redesigned, handheld “The Egg” personal server device, which runs Tizen Linux on a quad-core Atom, and offers up to 256GB of storage.

On Oct. 29, 2014, Eggcyte cancelled its Kickstarter project for its somewhat ovoid shaped personal server device, dubbed The Egg. The project had only nipped at the edges of its half million dollar funding goal. When we contacted the company for our Dec. 31 checkup on the fate of crowdfunded gizmos in 2014, the company told us it was planning to re-launch a campaign in mid-January.

The Egg

Today at the Intel Developers Forum 2015, Eggcyte is finally unveiling the latest version of The Egg, which still features a 2.4-inch touchscreen, and is demonstrating a working, pre-production unit.

There’s a redesigned mainboard, which continues to use an Intel Atom processor, but it’s now a quad-core Bay Trail model, as explained in this July 23 Eggcyte blog post. The device still runs Tizen Linux, according to the spec sheet on the Eggcyte website, but the company no longer trumpets that fact.

The Egg’s redesigned PCB with quad-core Atom

Otherwise, the new private cloud server device looks to be almost identical to the original model, which had been intended to ship this July. That includes the price, which is the same as the original Kickstarter packages: $199 with 64GB of eMMC flash, $299 with 128GB, or $399 with 256GB. You can now apply a pre-order down payment of $10 to get $50 off these prices before shipment in October.

As before, The Egg is touted as a personal, self-configuring web server that lets you share password-protected personal videos, photos, music, and other files over the Internet without using social media or cloud based services. With this completely closed loop system, there’s no potential snooping or harvesting of personal information, says Eggcyte.

The Egg screen displays

The Egg includes a WiFi hotspot and a 10-12 hour battery for streaming content even when not connected to the Internet. You can configure the device to exchange encrypted media with a select set of friends and family. Android, iOS, and web apps are available to control it.

You can also use The Egg as a backup drive for mobile devices and cameras. The device automatically imports photos, videos and other content from any device hooked up to its micro-USB port including iPhones, Android phones, and SLR and GoPro cameras, says Eggcyte. Apps can be designed using HTML, Javascript, PHP, SQLite, and similar programs.

The Egg has a 2.4-inch, 320 x 240-pixel touchscreen, as well as a speaker, vibrating haptics, and sensors. Its curvy, ovoidal design predated the somewhat similar looking Firefox OS -based Runcible phone. The Egg is available in dark stone, egg shell, robin blue solid, and robin speckle coloring.
Specifications listed for The Egg include:

Processor — quad-core, Bay Trail Intel Atom
Memory /storage — 1GB RAM; 64/128/256GB eMMC flash
Wireless — WiFi a/b/g/n with hotspot; Bluetooth 4.0
Display — 2.4-inch, 320 x 240 multitouch capacitive; 262K colors
Other I/O — Micro-USB 2.0 type-AB with charging
Other features – Speaker; vibra motor (haptics + silent ringtones); accelerometer, compass, ambient light
Power — 4.35V; 910mAh Li-Ion battery (10 to 12 hours)
Operating system — Tizen Linux with Nginx web server, SQLite, Webkit, HTML5, Javascript, JQuery, PHP
“The Egg gives you control of your own content, and it fits right in the palm of your hand,” stated Barry Solomon, Vice President of Marketing and Sales. “We’re excited to be to part of Intel’s big show to help introduce The Egg to the world.”


Further information

Pre-order reservations for The Egg are available for $10, which gives you $50 off the retail prices that will kick in when the device ships in October: $199 with 64GB of eMMC flash, $299 with 128GB, or $399 with 256GB. (It’s unclear whether the $10 is refundable.) The Egg will be demonstrated at the Ultimate MakerSpace at IDF 2015 in San Francisco’s Moscone West Convention Center through Aug. 20. More information may be found at the Eggcyte website.

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Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 News: Round Form Factor and Minimalist Design Teased

Samsung is making another set of big announcements this coming month of September, and one of them will be its upcoming Gear 2 smartwatch. Even if the unveiling is a month away, photos of the new wearable device have already been released by Samsung.

In a Samsung Mobile Press Lookbook, photos of the new smartwatch were shown, with the watch being worn by several fashion models. The lookbook also featured photos of recently released phablets, the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus.

Samsung Galaxy Gear Fit held in comparison to the latest Samsung Galaxy Gear 2

In the lookbook, the watch was seen on two models. In both photos, it appears that Samsung has ditched the square form factor it earlier had on its smartwatch and has gone for the round form factor. The device also sported a minimalist design, as the report described, with a black face and a silver metal band. Size-wise, the watch also appeared to be just the right size and not too oversized.

The next-generation smartwatch will also be running on Samsung's Tizen operating system, rather than Android Wear. According to the report, the Gear 2 software and apps will be "far cleaner" and have a "more minimalist interface." It will be able to monitor the user's heart rate, show calendar and messages notifications and will of course host a variety of useful apps including Nike+.

The Gear 2 will also be Wi-Fi enabled and will have a SIM card slot. It is not yet known if the watch will also be able to support Samsung Pay.

It is said to retail for around $300. Hardware details, color and style variants are not yet known, but Samsung will be unveiling these details on Sept. 3 at the IFA event in Berlin.

This is considered to be the predecessor of Samsung's Galaxy Gear smartwatch that was first released in 2013. While the first set of smartwatches ran on Android Wear, Samsung eventually switched to Tizen.

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Samsung bets big time on Tizen OS

Tizen, the Samsung-backed open source operating system for everything from feature phones to smart wearables and televisions, will get a boost with over a thousand developers working on creating new uses for the platform. At the Tizen Developer Summit held in Bengaluru, a two-day conference aimed at educating, engaging and exciting existing and potential developers, the company announced that developers will be given a reference design smartphone for developing and testing their apps.

“TDS 2015 Bengaluru is significant as nearly half of the apps in the Tizen Store are created by developers from India.

This reflects the enormous opportunity in India where a large base of platform and app developers continues to show significant interest to develop Tizen OS and high-quality apps,” said Aloknath De, chief technology officer and VP-Samsung R&D Institute. Samsung calls Tizen the “OS of Everything”, meaning an OS that every Samsung devices will run in the future. The theme of the conference was how Samsung will empower various devices to connect with another using Tizen. Samsung executives even described how Tizen could be used to make smart cameras.

At Tizen Developer Summit, Samsung announced two new SDKs—version 2.3.1 and 2.4 Beta. With SDK 2.3.1 for wearables, developers will be able to write native apps apart from the existing web-apps. The new SDK will also bring support for smartwatches with circular display. The interesting announcement at TDS 2015 was not the support for circular display but how the circular bezel of the smartwatch will be used for navigation. This is very well related to the crown interface used in Apple Watch.

With SDK 2.4 Beta for wearables, smartphones and TVs, Samsung will bring graphics driven rich user interface and Cloudbox that will help users get content from various cloud based systems. Considering that none of the leading cloud services exist on Tizen, Cloudbox will make access to cloud services easier. This SDK also supports a new 3D engine named DALi (Dynamic Animation Library) that will help developers bring full 3D applications to the platform. Also there is support for contextual triggering that will customise Tizen functions according to user behaviour.

Samsung also announced that it has sold over one million units of Z1 since its launch. The consensus is that Samsung is trying to penetrate the feature phone segment with Tizen and it is totally unclear if and when Samsung will make a Tizen flagship. During his keynote De said, “27% of Tizen developers are from India while the global developer percentage is just 1% for India. He emphasised how 100% revenue to developers in the first-year makes the platform extremely lucrative for young Indian developers.” He added that “27 out of the top rank apps are games in the Tizen store and now Unity is bringing its 3D gaming engine to Tizen.”

The new SDKs will bring support for HTML, Javascript and Cascading Style Sheets which will enable development of intuitive UIs for the platform. Samsung also announced its plan to invest $100 million to create an open system for Internet of Things (IoT) based on Tizen platform. Samsung will bring a connected platform based on Tizen to all its household appliances and aims to get all Samsung consumer appliances connected by 2020.

While De didn’t share exact numbers on its app platform, he added that there has been 84% growth in the app development and developers can bring Android apps to Tizen using Android Compatibility library. With Samsung’s revenues dipping from flagships and growing conflict of interest with Google, Samsung seems to be slowly developing an alternative OS for the prime-time.

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Samsung Z1: Tizen, slowly chipping away at the Android market

Samsung Z1 Tizen is not a smartphone, everyone is familiar with. In fact Tizen isn’t an OS everyone is familiar with. You see in a market that is blanketed by Android and iOS users, it is difficult for any other operating system to make significant, ask Amazon, Blackberry and Windows. That is unless, they are backed by the world’s foremost handset maker. Here’s where one of the latest entrants into the OS game has a little bit of an edge.

Tizen is a Linux based operating system that has been appropriated and developed by Samsung. Samsung’s first foray into this operating system, which it hopes can chip away at the hegemony of Android, is the Samsung Z1. This particular handset released in early 2015 wasn’t supposed to turn the market on its head. It was however, supposed to be Samsung’s test marketing to prove to itself that an Android alternative, had a market.

Here’s proof that the market is pretty ripe for an Android alternative. Despite being a rather low range, entry level phone, the hyper competitive mobile market, seems to have taken rather well to the Tizen OS, with 1 million units of the Samsung Z1 having sold since its launch. Samsung can consider this proper validation of the presence of a market and a green signal to churn out newer, more powerful models featuring the OS.

Tizen: What’s all the fuss about?

The relative success of the Samsung Z1 has brought much needed attention on the heart of the machine, the Tizen OS. While the OS itself is still in its nascency, the company seemingly has big plans for it. Like all other major OS players, Android, Apple and Windows however, the acceptance of Tizen will depend on the developers willing to make applications for the Tizen OS and the eventual development of a robust marketplace for said apps. This in essence is the true test of the success of a mobile OS.

What better way to attract developers then, than a developers meet. With the Google I/O, Windows Developers Conference and the ‘Woodstock’ of the developer world, the Apple Developers Meet, well out of the way, Samsung has decided to hold a developer meet of its own. And one each in the world’s two largest smartphone markets in the world, China and India. The India chapter of the Samsung Tizen Developers Meet is scheduled for some time in August, at Bangalore. The Chinese city of Shenzhen will play host to the same event in September. Samsung seems to have big plans for the Tizen OS, as it has recently launched a new range of smart TVs with the OS at its heart as well.

Whether or not the Tizen Developers Meet proves to be a success, the fact of the matter is, that Samsung Z1 is one of the first (and we hope not the only) Android alternative out there. Here’s to more such attempts in the future.

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Samsung Gear Roundup: New Smartwatch to Run On Latest Tizen OS, Have Rotating Bezel

Samsung is reportedly planning to launch soon its next smartwatch with a round-dial, dubbed Gear A, according to details that are emerging ahead of its release.

The upcoming wearable will be Samsung's first attempt at industry lauded round-dial design and the latest report suggests the smartwatch to be powered by the latest Tizen OS and a rotating bezel.

Samsung Gear A Roundup: New Smartwatch To Run On Newest Tizen OS And Have A Rotating Beze lIBTimes India

During Samsung's Tizen Developer Summit hosted in Bangalore on 30 June, the Korean tech company revealed that its next smartwatch will be powered by Tizen 2.3.1 instead of Android Wear.

In addition, the company confirmed a rotating bezel ring UI for the Gear A smartwatch and a round 360x360 pixel touch screen display, Android Authority reported.

The unconfirmed Gear A smartwatch by Samsung has been in the news for several months now.

The news of Samsung's Gear A smartwatch, codenamed Orbis, featuring a rotating bezel, emerged in May. The report also hinted at a metal frame and a metal crown, which can help users to navigate through the smartwatch's menu.


So far, leaked specs of the Gear A smartwatch suggest an Exynos 3472 dual-core processor backed by 768MB RAM and 4GB internal storage. The smartwatch will include all major sensors found in high-end smartwatches launched till now.

The Samsung Gear A will pack barometer, heart rate sensors, gyro, GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The smartwatch will be powered by a 250mAh battery and compete with the likes of Moto 360 and LG G Watch R.

There have been conflicting reports about the smartwatch's release schedule, but Samsung is widely expected to launch the Gear A at its upcoming Unpacked event on 13 August. At the event, Samsung will also unveil its much-awaited Galaxy Note 5 alongside Galaxy S6 Edge Plus.

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Samsung getting ready to present Tizen in a new avatar in 2016

Tizen, a Samsung backed operating system that was first released three years ago, may come in a newer avatar in 2016. People associated in the development of the OS also hinted something "big" is going to happen the next year.

Samsung wants Tizen to be the 'OS of Everything' - mobiles, TVs, cameras, home appliances and wearables - so that all the devices are interconnected and can be managed from anywhere.

"Tizen OS is an operating system of everything (Tizen smartphones, Tizen wearables, Tizen TVs, refrigerators, cars etc) and it is getting fine-tuned to make an impact. It will take some time but will make an impact,"Aloknath De, chief technology officer and vice president, Samsung R&D Institute, told The Mobile Indian at the recently concluded Tizen Developer Summit in Bengaluru. However, he didn't reveal any timeline for the same.

What is Tizen?

Based on Linux, the Tizen has the backing of many organisations, especially Samsung and Intel, who want to create an alternate open operating system like the Android.

The initial build of Tizen was released in January 2012 but after that very few devices came with the OS.

In June 2014, Samsung introduced the first Tizen mobile platform based smartphone - Samsung Z in Russia. It has a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display and runs on Tizen 2.2.1 operating system. Earlier this year, Samsung had announced its second and India's first Tizen OS based smartphone, the Tizen Z1 for Rs 5,700. It has a 4 inch touchscreen with 480x800 pixels resolution, 1.2 GHz dual core processor,4 GB of internal memory, 768 MB RAM, and an expandable storage slot that can accommodate a micro SD card of up to 64 GB. The company claims it sold more than one million units of Z2 in India. Also, Samsung Gear wearables are based on Tizen platform.
What is Samsung upto?

Samsung calls Tizen the "OS of Everything". Clearly, it wants to bring all kinds of devices - mobiles, TVs, cameras, home appliances and wearables – on Tizen so that all the devices are interconnected and can be managed from anywhere.
At Tizen Developer Summit, Samsung announced two new SDKs (software development kit) - version 2.3.1 and 2.4 Beta. SDK is typically a set of software development tools that allows the creation of applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system, or similar development platform.

Tizen 2.3.1 SDK is for developing native apps for Wearables device, while Tizen 2.4 Beta is meant for Dynamic Animation Library (DALi) for creating 3D applications(this is the same technology that has been used in Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge), better optimization of hardware usage and power consumption, Couldbox Feature - inter- connectivity with multiple cloud platforms, and Contextual triggers similar to Google Now.

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Samsung Gear A release date, price and specs: 'Orbis' Tizen watch tipped to launch with Galaxy Note 5 in August

Wearables are now a solid part of the mobile technology category and Samsung was rumoured to launch a round smartwatch at MWC 2015 codenamed the Orbis which is liekely to arrive as the Samsung Gear A. Unfortunately, that device was a no-show at Samsung press event. It did, however, unveil the Samsung Galaxy S6, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and a new Samsung Gear VR headset. Here's what we know about the Samsung Gear A including rumoured UK release date, predicted price and specifications.

Update 17 July: It's been a little quiet on the Gear A for a while but we now have new information on the specs for the Gear A, or Orbis, and its possible release date. See below for the details.

Samsung has launched a number of smartwatches and activity trackers including one of the first Android Wear devices. This year, the Korean giant is rumoured to introduce a smartwatch with a round face to rival the likes of the Motorola Moto 360 and LG G Watch R called the Gear A, codenamed Orbis.

Samsung Gear A smartwatch: Release date and price
According to SamMobile, which had an exclusive on the Orbis, Samsung's circular smartwatch was supposed to be announced at MWC 2015 back at the beginning of March in Barcelona. We now know the Gear A was a no-show at MWC, but with the Apple Watch being officially unveiled on 9 March, we expect the Orbis to launch sometime this year.

The latest rumours suggest that the Orbis, or Gear A, will arrive at CTIA (cellular telephone industries association) in which takes place on September 9-11. Those are the same dates as IFA 2015 where Samsung normally announces new mobile products with the Galaxy Note 5 expected this year so we could also see the Gear A, too.
It looks like we're getting closer to a launch as Samsung has shown off a round smartwatch interface on its SamsungExynos Twitter account. "Using your Heart Rate, your Exynos-powered wearable can deliver accurate training information to help you improve." it says but we've not seen a wearable with an Exynos processor so this could be our first look, of sorts, at the Gear A.

Update: Via SamMobile, the Samsung Gear A will launch alongside the Galaxy Note 5 which is rumoured to arrive on 12 August (not at IFA in September). The Unpacked event will also reportedly bring with it the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus.

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