The time has come for owners of the original Galaxy Gear to say goodbye to Android and welcome Tizen onto their smartwatch. Samsung has begun rolling out an update to the Galaxy Gear that will bring over Tizen, the company’s in-house OS, to the smartwatch. The update carries software version 2.2.0, and while the entire OS will be replaced, most users won’t notice any visual differences. However, quite a few improvements and new features are to be had – improved performance and battery life, features such as an standalone music player (you can store music on the watch itself), customizable shortcuts for tap input, voice commands in the camera, among others.
Basically, you get most of the features that debuted on the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo, except for those that are dependent on hardware like the heart rate sensor. We offered an exclusive look at an early version of the Tizen update on the Galaxy Gear, so be sure to check it out to see what all has changed. As for the update itself, you will need to either update via Kies, or grab the firmware file manually from our firmware section (search for SM-V700) and upgrade manually. We’re unsure if this update will roll out over the air, but if it does, you will be able to grab it from the Gear Manager app on your phone or tablet.
UPDATE: So we upgraded a Galaxy Gear using Kies, and found that the update will wipe all your data from the watch. You will get a warning screen before the update begins and get a chance to backup your data, and you’ll also have to pair it with your phone or tablet again. Furthermore, some third-party apps will not work after the update as those will be incompatible at the moment, unless developers move their apps to Tizen.
Firmware Details:
- • Model: SM-V700
- • Model name: GALAXY Gear
- • Version: Tizen 2.2.0
- • Changelist: N/A
- • PDA: V700XXUCNE9
- • CSC: V700OXACNE9
- • MODEM: V700XXUCNE9