Other than the Note 4 and the Galaxy Edge, Samsung also showcased the previously announced Samsung Gear S smartwatch during the keynote at IFA. The new Gear S features improved connectivity features and is designed to work on its own even without pairing it with a smartphone.

One of the features of the Gear S is the new 2.0-inch curved Super AMOLED display. Like it’s predecessors, the Gear S also has a built-in heart rate monitor that tracks your heart beats while you work out. Read more »

The latest fashion victim of the “Swarovski for Samsung” collection is the Samsung Gear S smartwatch.

The watch’s strap will be covered with Swarovski cut crystals that will complement the curved design of the Tizen-based smartwatch. Read more »

Samsung and Nokia have announced that HERE Maps are arriving in beta form on Android, free for Galaxy phones. HERE comes with voice-guided navigation capabilities and will work offline too, something which Google Maps doesn’t allow.

The Tizen-running Samsung Gear smartwatches are getting HERE maps too. The initial announcement was a little vague but now we have the full details. Read more »

Samsung has patented three new smartwatch designs, all of which have a rounded display instead of that on their well-known rectangular Gear smartwatches.

The patent number is US D709,873 S and covers the design of three smartwatches with slightly different displays and straps. All of them feature a camera on the strap, which may indicate the use of Tizen OS over Android Wear. Read more »

The original Samsung smartwatch, the Galaxy Gear that debuted last year alongside the Galaxy Note 3, is now in the process of receiving the update to Tizen in the US.

This update began rolling out at the end of May, but only starting today can US-based owners of the Android-powered Galaxy Gear actually install it. After doing that, the OS of the watch will change to Tizen, bringing it in line with the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo. Read more »

After quite a long waiting period, the official PayPal app for Samsung’s Tizen-based Gear 2 smartwatches is now up for grabs.

The app was first discussed back in February at MWC, so it’s definitely been a long time coming. Read more »

Samsung would have you believe you want, scratch that, you need, the Gear 2 smartwatch. You may as well see a point there if you happen to own one of the 17 smartphones and tablets with a Gear Manager app – all of which, needless to say – are made by Samsung.

We make it sound like a devious plot but, in truth, it makes sense to – at the very least – be able to quickly locate a misplaced smartphone. And that’s on top of taking calls and telling the time of course. Then come perks like playing nicely with the heart rate sensor and the S Health app on a Galaxy S5. Read more »

Samsung has issued a new major update to its Gear 2 that will bring it up to speed with the Gear Fit. The update brings improvements to S Health and various bug fixes but more importantly adds Blocking Mode (already present on the Fit).

Blocking Mode is Samsung’s Do Not Disturb feature which we’ve seen on Galaxy smartphones and blocks all incoming notifications from getting to your Gear 2. Blocking Mode can be set to either always on or during sleep only, which is very convenient. Read more »

Smartwatches seem to be all the rage at the moment – in hype if not in market value. But the latter is expanding and people seem to be considering them more and more as they progress in features and in style.

When Samsung got into the game with its Galaxy Gear to match and surpassed the Sony SmartWatch series and various fitness-oriented manufacturers like Nike and FitBit we all thought it was a nice but non-polished effort. Now that there are Pebbles and Gear 2 and Gear Fit are out there, the market seems ripe and ready. Motorola’s Moto 360 seems the tech junkie’s dream and all eyes are on Apple’s coming iWatch. But what do the numbers say? Read more »

Just as previous announced, Samsung has pushed an update to its original smartwach, the Galaxy Gear that converts it to Tizen and puts it on par with its successors. However, the new operating system (which is simply listed as firmware v2.2 on the Galaxy Gear) introduces little changes to the actual user interface, so you won’t need to get acquainted to it again.

What the update does bring is a standalone music player – so you no longer need your phone when you go out for a run. It will also improve the battery life as Tizen has been found to be easier on the hardware than Android. Read more »

Samsung has introduced three new Gear devices alongside the Galaxy S5 flagship smartphone. The Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo are Tizen-based smartwatches, while the Gear Fit is more of an enhanced smartband running a proprietary OS.

The three Gear wearables are compatible with a limited number of Galaxy devices, but given how many Galaxy smartphones Samsung ships each quarter we are sure many people are probably considering getting a Gear. But which one is for you? Read more »

With Samsung switching from Android to Tizen for its second generation smart wearables, customers and developers alike found themselves with quite a dilemma. With the market for smart watches still quite limited there’s just not enough potential for the two platforms to coexist without getting in each other’s way.

Now however, Samsung will make things a bit easier (if not necessarily better) by making the choice for you. The company has announced that it will be bringing Tizen to the original Galaxy Gear via an Update, granting the platform it codevelops with Intel another boost. Read more »

Turn-by-turn navigation is one of the best things to have when exploring a city, but constantly looking at your phone while walking is hardly ideal. Well, now that the guys from Symphony Teleca have brough the feature to your Gear 2-touting wrist, you no longer have to.

In March the same company brought its TurnByTurn app to the original Galaxy Gear and now it has managed to port it to its Tizen-powered successors. And despite the change of platform the app has retained the same core functionality. Read more »

Samsung is kicking its series of Smart App Challenges with a smartwatch-centric one called the Gear App Challenge.

As the name suggests, Samsung wants developers to create great apps for its Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo smartwatches. In return, the company is ready to give away $1.25 million in cash and goodies for the best ideas and developers. Read more »

How easy are watches to repair? Mechanical watches take years for a watchmaker to learn his skill, but digital smartwatches seem to be a whole lot easier if the Samsung Gear 2 is any indication.

iFixit took it apart quite quickly and gave it a high 8/10 repairability score. That’s very impressive for a IP67-certified watch. Read more »