While the star of Samsung‘s Unpacked event at MWC 2014 is inevitably going to be its new flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S5, there are rumours that several other Samsung devices are going to be sharing the stage come February 24th in Barcelona. One of these devices is the follow-up device to its maiden smartwatch, expected to be called the Galaxy Gear 2. We’ve heard our fair share of rumours regarding the new smartwatch, including the fact that it will be a completely different in design to its predecessor. But USA Today has come out with a story today that poses a tantilizing question: is the Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 going to be running Tizen instead of Android?
The report quotes an anonymous source who says that Samsung is abandoning Android for its new smartwatch, instead electing to use the HTML 5-based Tizen OS. The source also corroborates the rumour that the new Galaxy Gear 2 smartwatch will be announced at MWC 2014 in just under a week.
This is definitely an interesting move by Samsung who’s first attempt at a smartwatch had its fair share of critics. While Samsung’s attempts to launch Tizen-based smartphones have been hampered over the years, a move to Tizen-based smartwatches might be an opportunity for Samsung to develop a monopoly over the wearables software scene. After all, we know that Tizen can run on devices with as low as 256MB RAM, which would be far more useful for the tiny devices. Though, we have to say this might be for naught if Samsung keeps its device exclusivity like it did for the first Galaxy Gear, possibly that device’s greatest criticism.
What do you think about this rumour: do you think Samsung would really make the Galaxy Gear 2 with the Tizen OS? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Source: USA Today via Phone Arena
