Software : Updated: It's goodbye to Android as Tizen arrives on the Samsung Galaxy Gear |
| Updated: It's goodbye to Android as Tizen arrives on the Samsung Galaxy Gear Posted:  July 21 Update: The Tizen software switcheroo wasn't exactly on time in the US, but it is available to Gear owners there starting today. The update is completely optional, Samsung noted in a press announcement, but it does "bring a number of advantages and new features" to the original Galaxy Gear. Among those is access to more apps (about 140 worldwide), better battery life and more robust music enhancements like song storage and Bluetooth headphone support. There's also an improved interface, more font, wallpaper and homescreen customization options, and improved fitness and health tracking capabilities. Downloading Tizen - available through Kies 3.0 software - essentially brings feature parity between the first Galaxy Gear and the newer Gear 2. Just be warned that once your Galaxy Gear makes the jump to Tizen, there's no going back to Android. Original article... Samsung has followed through on its pledge to rid the original Galaxy Gear smartwatch of the Android operating system by updating the device with the home cooked Tizen software. The update, which as already started to roll out, will bring those early swartwatch adopters up to speed with the current crop of Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit devices, which arrived on Tizen out of the box. This will mean original Galaxy Gear owners will have access to many of the features present on the second-generation models. It will earn a sleep mode, which measures your sleeping patterns, and an exercise mode that tracks your movement thanks to the pedometer (no heart-rate tracker though). Back up firstTizen 2.2.0 also brings a stand music app, a privacy lock, new font sizes and styles, new clock faces and wallpapers and easier access to key settings. SamMobile, which got an early preview of the update, has warned that installing Tizen will wipe all data from the wearable and will prevent some of the third-party apps from working. Users will have the opportunity to back up before installing the update via Samsung's Kies platform. The Galaxy Gear was somewhat of a commercial and critical failure, but for the limited number of people who jumped on board with the wearables era early, at least your smartwatch gets a new lease of life with this update. |
| 3D Touch-equipped Windows Phone handset reportedly axed Posted:  Goldfinger may not have been the kiss of death for James Bond, but a Windows Phone prototype originally bearing the same name appears to have met its maker by Microsoft's own hands. WPCentral reported Friday that Microsoft has apparently laid to rest any plans for a new high-end Windows Phone handset known as "McLaren," an internal codename previously referred to as "Goldfinger." Apparently lacking the Midas touch, McLaren was rumored to be Microsoft's flagship device for this fall, which would have reportedly introduced new technology alongside the launch of Windows Phone 8.1 Update 2. McLaren's main claim to fame was an enticing new feature known as 3D Touch, a sensor-based system first outed last November, which allows users to interact with the device using touchless hand gestures. Feature or gimmick?Although that sounds more than a little like Amazon's new Kindle Phone, Microsoft apparently found a way to perform such tasks as swipes and side taps without the use of camera sensors. 3D Touch worked hand-in-hand with other APIs including MixView, a feature which allows a single tile to break apart into smaller pieces, each of which could be independently selected using a finger hovering over the display. The report paints the impression that Microsoft's development team found 3D gestures to be little more than a gimmick at the moment, although development on the technology behind 3D Touch is said to be ongoing even as McLaren's carcass turns cold. While the natural assumption might be that McLaren was axed as part of last Thursday's extensive layoffs in Redmond, unnamed sources claim the project actually met an untimely end sometime "within the last few weeks," leaving Microsoft with a potentially big hole in their holiday lineup this year.
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from TechRadar: All latest Applications news feeds To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment