Samsung may finally do away with Tizen-powered smartwatches and opt for Wear OS on its upcoming watches. According to some reliable reports from China, the company have already teamed up with Google for the development of a Wear OS-enabled smartwatch. The watch is question could be none other than the upcoming Samsung Gear S4, which, from what we know, is currently being tested in the US. Samsung also recently trademarked the moniker “Galaxy Watch” and word is that the S4 will hit the market as Galaxy Watch and not Gear.
Samsung Wear OS Watch
According to a rumor passed on Chinese social platform Weibo by an industry insider, Samsung’s next smartwatch will be powered by Wear OS. The current crop of Samsung smartwatches are all Tizen-powered and have the word “Gear” in their title. However, the recent trademark by the company suggested that it will be ditching the Gear name in its upcoming smartwatches, and will replace it with Galaxy Watch. But until now, it wasn’t clear if the company has plans to ditch the Tizen OS in favor of Wear OS as well.
If the company does opt for Wear OS in its next watch, it’s not necessary that it’ll be abandoning Tizen altogether. Samsung has already committed significant resources to keep Tizen updated on a regular basis. So it doesn’t make sense if the company abandons it all of a sudden. But it would want to play on the same fields as rivals, and Tizen isn’t yet up to the mark for that. That’s what probably make Samsung to go for Wear OS. There also have been reports that the Gear S4 might launch in two sizes. So it’s also possible that Samsung releases the watch with two OS options, Tizen and Gear OS.
Google, meanwhile, is also making its own flagship Wear OS watch, dubbed as Pixel Watch. And as per a Weibo leakster Ice Universe, Samsung’s Wear OS device and Google’s Pixel Watch are same. Samsung is reportedly the OEM behind Pixel Watch. Now that would be an interesting aspect to watch out for. Stay tuned!
