Samsung Unveils New Smart Watches Gear 2 Powered by 'Tizen' Rather than Android OS

Samsung's Gear 2 Neo (left) and Gear 2 (right) smart watches

After the release last year of its Galaxy Gear smart watches Samsung this weekend unveiled the second generation of its Gear smart watches. Samsung announced two variants of the second-generation Gear.

The flag Gear 2, like its predecessor features a 1.63-inch touchscreen, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, a camera that moved from the the wristband to the front of the watch, mobile speakers, and also contains an IR LED sensor that will help control other electronic devices. While the cheaper Gear 2 Neo is lighter, and does not feature a camera.

Gear 2 Neo

Gear 2

Both Gear 2 watches are running Samsung new Tizen mobile platform, rather than android, which powered the first generation Gear. Tizen was developed in collaboration with Intel as well as multiple communications companies. That aims to break the iOS and Android duopoly in the mobile market. Samsung says that users can expect an "enriched application ecosystem" as well as compatibility with over a dozen Samsung Galaxy smartphones at launch. Samsung’s NX300M smart camera was the first device to run on Tizen, and the Gear 2 paves the way for what Samsung calls the “Tizen based wearable platform.”

The Gear 2 is said to include a 300 mAh battery that provides anywhere from 2-3 days of typical usage, a faster 1GHZ dual-core processor, and a standalone music player with a Bluetooth headset, as well as a heart rate sensor and pedometer for fitness tracking.

The Apple anticipated wearable device iWatch expected to includ many features, the ability to monitor health-related metrics will reportedly be one of the main features. Throughout the pas year Apple has hired a number of health experts in fields related to health metrics, and also is said to be developing a "Healthbook" app for iOS 8, wich may be able to manage and track weight loss and monitor and store fitness statistics like steps taken, calories burned, and miles walked.

Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo will come in various colors, including Charcoal Black, Gold Brown and Wild Orange for the Gear 2 and Charcoal Black, Mocha Grey and Wild Orange for Gear 2 Neo. Samsung indicated that the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo will be available starting in April, though pricing has not yet been revealed. The company is also expected to release a new flagship Phone, the Galaxy S5, along with a new Galaxy Gear 2, later this month.

Source: via MacRumors