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Samsung Unveils Gear S2, Gear S2 Classic Smartwatches Running Tizen

Posted by Soulskill on from the still-won't-run-crysis dept.

MojoKid writes: Samsung announced their latest smartwatches the other day, the Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic. At a hands-on press event in New York this week, Samsung had the Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic up and running. Both of these smartwatches feature 11.4mm-thick casings and 1.2-inch, 360x360 displays that are completely circular, unlike the "flat tire" displays used on the Moto360. At the heart of the Gear S2 is an undisclosed Samsung-sourced 1GHz dual-core processor paired with 512MB of RAM. NFC technology is incorporated into the watches as well, which will support Samsung Pay in the near future. The Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic are IP68 certified for dust and water resistance and there will be versions with and without integrated 3G connectivity. Both watches feature a rotating ring around the display, in addition to two buttons at the side, intelligently located at 2 and 4 o'clock to minimize accidental actuation, for navigating the various menus and apps. Samsung allows user customization of some watch-faces to show personalized info, and offers dynamic watch-faces with notifications presented on-screen at all times, along with the time.

53 comments

  1. So... by binarylarry · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Are these running Android Wear or Samsung's shitty tizen os?

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    Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
    1. Re: So... by binarylarry · · Score: 1

      Watched the video, looks like tizen :(

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      Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
    2. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Other sources do say Tizen.

    3. Re:So... by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

      They are the best because they can take calls and have a much larger screen.

      My coworker who has one simply laughs at the Android ones because of the silly circular screen and the fact you still need a phone to take a call. With Tizen you can drive and everything and do conference calls

      --
      http://saveie6.com/
    4. Re:So... by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      As does the title of this Slashdot submission.

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      #DeleteChrome
    5. Re: So... by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Isn't Tizen, I've never used it - obviously, considered to be pretty much the absolute worst programming target/language in common use and has zero redeeming qualities? I seem to recall that they had lousy help documents, a crappy SDK, and required esoteric knowledge for zero gain. I was reading about this a few months ago as I recall. I seem to recall some of the rants led me to the daily WTF site. I don't recall a single person defending it.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    6. Re:So... by davester666 · · Score: 2

      Right in the fucking title: "Samsung Unveils Gear S2, Gear S2 Classic Smartwatches Running Tizen"

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      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    7. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Obligatory DailyWTF regarding Samsung's Tizen: https://what.thedailywtf.com/t...

      Shiver me timbers.

    8. Re: So... by tlhIngan · · Score: 3, Informative

      Isn't Tizen, I've never used it - obviously, considered to be pretty much the absolute worst programming target/language in common use and has zero redeeming qualities? I seem to recall that they had lousy help documents, a crappy SDK, and required esoteric knowledge for zero gain. I was reading about this a few months ago as I recall. I seem to recall some of the rants led me to the daily WTF site. I don't recall a single person defending it.

      Well, you remember E? That is, Enlightenment? One of the hit popular window managers way back when?

      That's the foundation of Tizen. Well, Tizen isn't E, but both use the same libraries - the Enlightenment Foundation Libraries, or EFL. And EFL... well...

      FYI - Samsung is a major sponsor of E. As for defenders, I suspect they already work for Samsung and were the ones that convinced management to use EFL for their new smartphone OS.

    9. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Right in the fucking title: "Samsung Unveils Gear S2, Gear S2 Classic Smartwatches Running Tizen"

      Yep, and Slashdot 'editors', especially Soulskill, never ever fuck up.

      I'm so glad we have you here. Do you happen to run a newsletter I can subscribe to?

    10. Re:So... by davester666 · · Score: 1

      Well, the OP certainly didn't phrase it as a "is this a mistake?". It's pretty clearly phrased as "what OS are these running?", which is just as clearly answered in the title. I suppose the editor could have fixed up the title after he posted the question, but it's more likely he just didn't read much of anything before posting.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    11. Re: So... by Zoxed · · Score: 2

      My RSS feed (over NewsBlur) shows the title first without then with the OS reference, so you look correct.

    12. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AFAIK the UI is fully redesigned for the round screen. You can notice this in their presentations from like 2 weeks ago.
      And Tizen is a great OS. Fast, and supports web applications.

      Surely FirefoxOS would be so great because of this, but Tizen is somehow bad? Hypocrites.
      Who paid you for this comment?

    13. Re: So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm :) because it is Tizen.

      I can't understand why a stupid hater like you gets modded up.

    14. Re: So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What you (hardly) remember is Enlightenment library. It is fast, so it matters for Samsung, but otherwise is quite a crap and has crappy SDK.
      But this is all inside Tizen.
      You don't use it to write applications.
      For these you have the web applications environment in Tizen, with very fast Webkit engine, and really nice Tizen SDK.

    15. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not directly about Tizen, but about EFL library.
      It is part of Tizen, yes, but you do not use it as an application developer.
      So give precise information or don't post at all.

    16. Re:So... by Hognoxious · · Score: 2

      Yeah, it does, but it's from MojoKid. If he told me the sky was blue I'd look up to check.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    17. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Holy fuck that's scary. Does Samsung have any competent programmers at all??? what a heaping pile of shit.

    18. Re: So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks, +1 Informative. That explains why Tizen is such a piece of crap, complete incompetence on the part of the Enlightenment+Samsung programmers.

    19. Re:So... by Krojack · · Score: 1

      But if you want apps for it then you will need a Samsung account on their app store. Also if you want to use Samsung Pay via the watch then you will need a Samsung device that supports their pay.

    20. Re:So... by binarylarry · · Score: 1

      That was added after I posted.

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    21. Re:So... by davester666 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't notice that the title changed.

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      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  2. Battery life by LazyBoot · · Score: 2

    And battery life should fall somewhere in the 1 – 2 day range, depending on how heavily the watches are used.

    I think I'll pass...

    1. Re:Battery life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Better than pathetic 18h for Apple's Watch

    2. Re: Battery life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I took my apple watch off the charger 19 hours ago, it's at 58%.

    3. Re: Battery life by johnlcallaway · · Score: 0

      At the end of the day, my Samsgung watch is at 85%. I easily get 3 days of use before having to recharge. 4 if I turn it off overnight.

      Suck it Apple .. you weren't even clever enough to figure out how to make your throwback watch waterproof or figure out how to include a camera.

      What an overpriced, last generation POS the Apple watch is. But all the Apple users are like 'Ooooohhh ... look at the pretty button'.

      Meh .. if you have an Apple phone, then I guess you are already used to Apple's lackluster choice of options. And lack of innovation. They can only 'innovate' if someone else does it first.

      --
      I rarely read replies, it's my opinion and if you thought about your opinion a little more, I'm OK with that.
    4. Re:Battery life by jon3k · · Score: 1

      This always confused me. Do you take your watch off at night? I do, so I could just put in on my charger. Just like my phone, I don't sleep with it, so I just sit it on the dock at night, which charges it.

      Genuinely curious, why do you need more than 1-2 days? You have to take it off anyway, why not just charge it?

  3. Great, more toys for rich Republicans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why not instead make products for the rest of us?

    1. Re: Great, more toys for rich Republicans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You sound like a jealous, bitter, fuckwad.

    2. Re:Great, more toys for rich Republicans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why not instead make products for the rest of us?

      Because making a useful product is hard. Damn hard.
      A smartwatch is useless, we already have it : it's called a smartphone. But you can always sell smart watches to hipsters (after all one more useless gadget is no problem for these people). One thing this world itsn't lacking is idiots to sell these things to.

    3. Re:Great, more toys for rich Republicans by johnlcallaway · · Score: 1

      And the Apple watch is a toy for even richer liberals. Must be, because it has fewer functions and costs more. (The low end Apple watch doesn't have the same type of screen glass as the one that is priced just higher than the Samsung watch.)

      Did you actually have a point???

      --
      I rarely read replies, it's my opinion and if you thought about your opinion a little more, I'm OK with that.
    4. Re: Great, more toys for rich Republicans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You sound like a fucktarded, racist cracker. Go die in a fire with the rest of your fucking race fucktard.

  4. Get a real watch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I have a Casio calculator watch, chicks dig it.

  5. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  6. Why not the Firefox OS? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I think that these kind of wearable devices would really benefits from the Firefox OS. First, the Firefox OS is from Mozilla, and Mozilla is known for making the best softwares. Second, the Firefox OS embrace open web technologies like JavaScript, HTML5 and CSS3, which are the best there are. Third, the Firefox OS is open because it's from Mozilla and because it uses open web technologies. Fourth, the Firefox OS uses Linux kernel. Fifth, the Firefox OS can be used for the embedded softwares and hardwares. Sixth, the Firefox OS is big show in India, the country of softwares. Seventh, the Firefox OS is use important w3c standards. Seven points make me thinking that the Firefox OS is good choice! It is be best choice even!

    1. Re:Why not the Firefox OS? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I think that these kind of wearable devices would really benefits from the Firefox OS. First, the Firefox OS is from Mozilla, and Mozilla is known for making the best softwares. Second, the Firefox OS embrace open web technologies like JavaScript, HTML5 and CSS3, which are the best there are. Third, the Firefox OS is open because it's from Mozilla and because it uses open web technologies. Fourth, the Firefox OS uses Linux kernel. Fifth, the Firefox OS can be used for the embedded softwares and hardwares. Sixth, the Firefox OS is big show in India, the country of softwares. Seventh, the Firefox OS is use important w3c standards. Seven points make me thinking that the Firefox OS is good choice! It is be best choice even!

      Why isn't this post modded up?? This is the most hilarious post I've seen on Slashdot all year. And that includes Bennetts drivel.

    2. Re:Why not the Firefox OS? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Firefox OS is a total crap compared to Tizen. Not even comparable in terms of readiness and quality.

  7. these look great... by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 0

    for me to poop on!

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:these look great... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      for me to poop on!

      You are trying to use Triumph in this day and age? What are you? 80 and dickless?

  8. Beautiful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They look beautiful and by far the best of the current crop of smartwatches *but* the battery life is still the issue. Most of the Android wear watches get a day (well at least 16 hours), but thats useless, you need to drop it on the charger every night without fail.

    So Samsung can get 2 days, and make a beautiful watch... great but I want 1 years+ with a watch display thats always on!

    The gap between what I want and what you offer is so huge.

    1. Re:Beautiful by lord_mike · · Score: 2

      A year is a little extreme. The pebble watched get a week, and if you turn it off at night, you can go longer than that. I seem charge mine so infrequently, I'm not sure how long I go between charges, but it's more than 7 days that's for sure (I turn it off at night to save power).

      The new models have color and a microphone if you are interested, and I believe it has at least partial android wear software compatibility.

      The black and white screen models are dirt cheap now if you want to give it a try...

    2. Re:Beautiful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Keep in mind I have a phone (Samsung Wave) that last 20 days between charges + watch that lasts 5 years always on, always showing the time. So I'm not asking a lot here, I'm asking the watch to manage only 20% of my current watches battery life.

      Apart from the wow factor (at least when its screen is on), I would only be saving myself pulling out a phone from my pocket to check if I had a call or message.

      [And of course since this only supports Android, I would have to switch from a Wave lasting 20 days to an Android phone lasting 1-2 days. ]

      I'm really scratching my head to see why it needs 512MB ram and a 2 core processor to drive a CGA resolution screen! Even 7 day batter life on the Pebble seems very very short to me. If I go away for my usual two week holiday, I have to take a charger just for the watch!

    3. Re:Beautiful by johnlcallaway · · Score: 1

      Bull shit on the battery life. I get 3 days on my Samsung watch, 4 if I turn mine off at night. I've had it for over a year and haven't noticed any change in battery life either. I'm sure there are some people that get only 2 days, I did when I first got it and was looking at it every 5 minutes.

      They need to add a wireless charge option though, my Samsung phone has that. No reason the watch can't.

      --
      I rarely read replies, it's my opinion and if you thought about your opinion a little more, I'm OK with that.
  9. Re:Minus 4,/ Tkroll) by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 2

    Every time I see posts like this I wonder if somebody has an AI they're trying to raise on the internet.

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    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  10. A day is fine by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    As long as the watches last a solid day (16+ hours) charging every night is not really much of a burden. It's mid-day charging that's much harder.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  11. No a day is not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "charging every night is not really much of a burden..."

    It means you need to always be near a charger every night. You live to charge your watch!! That's nuts.

    Her: "want to come back to my place?"
    Him: "Ern, do you have a wireless charger for my watch?"

    1. Re:No a day is not by junkhead70 · · Score: 1

      If it needs charging more than once a year it's not worth having it as a watch. I'm sure most smartphones come with a clock. Our bedside tables are filling up tech on the charge.

    2. Re:No a day is not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You do realize that not all of us live for one night stands?

  12. So long as it keeps the time by aNonnyMouseCowered · · Score: 1

    I'm ok with smart watches that run for mere days so long as they keep the time even when the smart functions go zombie, sort of like the way an unplugged desktop PC can still keep within tolerable limits of the correct time when you do a cold boot after a couple of days or weeks.

    Obviously I don't own a smartch so this is partly a question. Do these things have an auxiliary power pack similar to the BIOS battery of a PC?

  13. smartwatches suck by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I just wonder how many more smartwatch flops we have to see before this is declared a passing fad that no amount of push from the likes of Apple and Samsung can make popular.