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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Report: Samsung preparing to launch Tizen devices in Europe

Tizen has yet to become a household name, but Samsung is quite intent to change that. Some in the West may know of the Android-alternative’s existence as it’s running on all but one of the company’s Gear smartwatch line of devices. Consumers in India or Bangladesh would be more familiar given that Samsung has released the Z1 smartphone there which, despite initial reports of slow sales, has apparently performed well. Indeed the original Z (SM-Z910F) was announced and primed for release in Russia just over a year ago, offering much higher specs than the Z1, though it would never come to pass. Now it seems, Samsung is keen on bringing Tizen back to Europe, or -perhaps- introducing it for the first time, depending on how one looks at things.

Samsung has big plans for TIzen.

In an exclusive story, SamMobile is reporting that Korea’s largest OEM is currently testing Tizen in all major countries throughout Europe. While sources didn’t go into details about what this entailed, the site has speculated that it could mean the upcoming Tizen 3.0 software build might be the catalyst for getting things started. It is expected that Europe will see the release of one Tizen device in the next year, with speculation leaning towards either the already released Z1 or the leaked Z3 (SM-Z300H) which is said to include a 5-inch 720p SAMOLED display, 1.3GHz Quad-Core Spreadtrum SoC, 1.5GB of RAM, 8GB of on-board storage, and an 8-megapixel rear/5-megapixel front camera configuration. Said device would also have support for microSD and a 2,600mAh battery.

What and Why

Samsung is facing continued difficulties with respect to earnings from smartphone sales, a situation that was made all the more apparent earlier this week in a story published by The Wall Street Journal. The problem is largely in key battleground countries like India or China, where highly aggressive competition has seen Samsung’s once golden position erode. Pricing is a major factor here, with products made by Xiaomi or Huawei or even OnePlus offering hardware that is on-par with Samsung’s own devices (at times with superior build quality) at significantly lower price to consumers.

If Tizen takes off, then Samsung has a new way to earn income from not only devices, but from bundled services as well. While the Galaxy Apps Store is present on all Galaxy devices, consumers are far more likely to use the Play Store for their needs, which ultimately generates income for Google. With Tizen however, Samsung is in control of the game and stands to cash-in from any sales that occur from transactions therein. Likewise, the promulgation and adoption of Tizen would allow Samsung to get away from the Google-controlled Android OS and establish itself as a legitimate competitor.

Those interested in the OEM’s trials and tribulations are encouraged to check out the feature we published last month which looked at Samsung’s current situation and offered possibilities of what kind of future it might want to create.

How well do you think Tizen might perform in Europe? Could it possibly fill a niche need or do you think it might catch on in a larger fashion? What would make you purchase such a smartphone? Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

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Tizen coming to Europe, new report says

Samsung's alt-OS, Tizen, got a relatively warm reception in India and Bangladesh where it sold 100,000 units in a month. After proving itself there the not-Android-but-Android-compatible OS may be headed west with alleged plans for a European launch.

Samsung will likely way until version 3.0 before expanding availability. It's not clear if it will be just the Samsung Z1 or if the Z3 (which seems to be nearing official status) will join. With a 5" 720p Super AMOLED screen and either a Snapdragon 410 or a Spreadtrum SC7730S chipset the Samsung Z3 will add some sizzle to Z1's basic specs. Don't forget there's a Tizen-based smartwatch in the works too.

Tizen is Samsung's reminder to Google that it can strike out on its own if it doesn’t like the direction that Google is taking Android. It even found some success in markets where Android One sort of petered out. But Europe? True, Windows Phone found enough market share to become the third horse in the race, but only time will tell if there's room for a fourth horse.

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