It looks like Samsung is making its move to Tizen, at least on all of their Gear smartwatches as they begin rolling out an update to the original Galaxy Gear (SM-V700), making the entire Galaxy Gear, Gear, Gear 2, and Gear 2 Neo, now running Samsung’s in-house Tizen OS as they move away from the Android OS. The upgrade carries software version 2.2.0, and while you will not notice any drastic visual differences, you will benefit from some added features not found in the Android version of the Galaxy Gear.
With your original Galaxy Gear, you will now enjoy the extra features found on the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo, except those features that were dependent on the Heart Rate Sensor found on those devices. You should see an improvement in battery life – one of the biggest complaints from wearable users – customizable shortcuts for tap input and the ability to use voice commands within the camera, among other improvements. One of the biggest changes is the ability to have the Galaxy Gear be a standalone music player – in other words, you can store music on the watch itself – without the necessity of your smartphone.
We are not sure whether this update will be offered OTA – if it is then you will see pop-up on the Gear Manager App on your phone or tablet. To get the update now you will have to either update via Kies or go to Sam Mobile’s firmware section and search for SM-V700 and upgrade manually. Just BE AWARE – when updating either of the ways it will wipe out all of your data. It will give you a warning to back up your data before you begin the update process. After the update you will also have to go through the pairing process with your phone or tablet. Also, some third party apps will not work with the Tizen OS – the developers will have to update the applications on their end.
The firmware details – Model: SM-V700, Model Name: Galaxy Gear, Version: Tizen 2.2.0, PDA: V700XXUCNE9, CSC: V700OXACNE9, Modem: V700XXUCNE9.
The video below will take you on a run through the different screens and options. Please hook up with us on our Google+ Page and let us know if you are looking forward to your Tizen update, or if you have already upgraded, do you notice much difference…as always, we love to hear from you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9zplGtH-wA