[Samsung Galaxy Gear] BarryH_GEG:
Wall'O text warning ;)

What people are looking for in a wearable and what device they use to host it determines what the best choice (Android Wear, Samsung Tizen, Apple Watch iOS) is. Independent wearables (EG: Pebble) are pretty much dead. With Google, Samsung, and now Apple trying to own "the wrist," and their combined resources and market share in the smartphone space, there's little chance for independents to compete; they just don't have the money and resources. Sony's SmartWatch 3 being Android Wear vs. their previous OS is confirmation

That said, there are two wearable models that have emerged. Google's which is centered on intuitive notification and advisement and Apple/Samsung's centered around apps and functions. Google allows app access to a degree just as Apple/Samsung support notifications. It's the weighting that's different.

Here's an article that sort of sums that point up...

I’m looking at this watch [Gear 2 Neo] after my experiences with the LG G Watch and the Android Wear operating system. Samsung has developed the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo to use a variant of their Tizen operating system, and that means all the decisions in terms of UI, operation, and presentation belong to Samsung.

While Android Wear may provide a much richer graphical experience, of the two smartwatch operating systems Tizen’s smartwatch variant makes more sense to me and is more mature than the first round effort of Android Wear. While both systems are built around the notifications on your Android smartphone, the Gear 2 Neo is much less invasive. Where Android Wear pushes the notification to the front of the watch screen demanding action, the Gear 2 Neo’s Tizen powered software is more subtle, putting the notification under a ‘notifications’ shortcut icon that is a swipe away from the main clock screen.

This puts notifications in their place and while you do get a vibration on your wrist for incoming notifications with a full screen display, this will only stay on-screen until you dismiss it or the Gear 2 Neo display switches off. The next time the watch screen switches on you’ll find yourself at the main time display.

The notifications shown on the Gear 2 Neo screen will show you the same information that you get on your Android notification screen, and an on-screen option will allow you to open the notification on your smartphone. Alternatively a swipe down from the top of the bezel and into the screen will at as the ‘back’ button.

For me, the important differentiator between the Tizen powered Gear 2 Neo and the Android Wear powered Gear Live is that Samsung’s solution preserves a history of your notifications, organised by application. You can see the read and unread notifications on your watch, and be able to come back to any of them at a later date. This gives more options to manage notifications, allowing them to be checked and actioned at the point of arrival, or leave them for later, knowing they will still be available on the watch. I feel more in control with the Gear 2 Neo (and the Gear 2) compared to the Android Wear styled notifications.

Samsung’s smartwatch vision feels more like the app based Android experience than the Google Now powered cards approach of Android Wear. You have a main ‘homescreen’ which lets you choose from various watch faces; sliding this view to either side with your finger and you have screens which are populated with shortcuts to your choice of apps on the smartwatch; and an apps icon which opens up to reveal all the apps in the smartwatch. This app view, in a slightly confusing move, looks similar to the shortcuts screen. Maybe a slight change in colour for the stylised ‘line drawn’ icons would help differentiate the app screen from the shortcut screens?

These apps differentiate Samsung’s own smartwatch offerings from other choices, especially Android Wear.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspe...s-the-mainstream-smartwatch-for-the-summer/2/​

To extract maximum value and usability from Android Wear you have to be "all in" with Google's eco-system. As an extension of Google Now it's dependent on Google's Apps (Gmail, Hangouts, etc.) as its data source for all those notifications and advisements that appear on your wrist. I don't even have Google Now enabled, don't use Gmail, and have most Google apps disabled in settings. Some here (on XDA) are Google fans and think anything they make and "purity" is gospel and everything else is blasphemy. Those people won't agree with the following.

Google's mission isn't to make end-user's lives better. It's to gather as much behavioral data as it can to develop predictive analysis to sell to marketers with higher accuracy commanding more marketing spend. I'm in marketing and spend tens of millions of dollars in Google marketing each year and have been pitched the value of the information they collect on end-users. As a marketer, I'm thrilled. As an end-user, I'm horrified. My relationship with Samsung is pretty cut-and-dried. I buy their devices and use them as I see fit. With Google's services I'm constantly being monitized with my potential marketing value being sold to the highest bidder. I'll pass. If people here think differently and are OK with it and buy in to Google's approach that's totally cool. I'm betting not all do though. For that group Android Wear is pretty much useless.

Here's an article that touches on Google's invasiveness...

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2601364/how-to-ditch-google-for-more-privacy-and-fewer-ads.html

As for Samsung using Tizen vs. Android for the non-Live Gear I could care less. I care about the end result, not how it's achieved. I'm a productivity user so using Null with microscopic icons makes no sense. If I'm stationary, like at home or in the office, I set my Gear to the four-apps-per-window home screen setting. If I'm traveling or in motion I set it to one app per window. Running through an airport I can barely hit the latter. Speaking of which, this is pretty insane from a company known for their UI/UX prowess. It's all but useless unless your totally stationary and have exceptional aim.

Samsung's got a track record of abandoning legacy devices when they launch new ones; probably to try and force people to buy a new device to get the latest and greatest. For some unknown reason they had mercy on the Gear 1 and moved it to the same level as the Neo and Gear 2. Initially the Gear 1 had access to about 1/10 of the apps available to newer Tizen devices. Something happened a couple of weeks ago and the flood gates opened so we have app parity with those devices. We can even download WatchOn which requires IR that we don't have. With Samsung's new found generosity every app I had on Android is now available to me on Tizen. The only one MIA is Path which I used only to upload to Twitter and Facebook directly from my Gear. I used TripIt on Android but they stopped supporting it so it's not really a countable loss. I use FlightTrack Pro via the Gear's generic notifications to receive flight status changes and the Banjo Tizen app uploads directly to Twitter and FB. So in the end I've lost nothing in Samsung's move to Tizen. What have I gained?

Advanced Flashlight

-- Makes the Gear's display 100% white so you can navigate around dark rooms.

Alarm

- Set multiple alarms on your Gear without the need to be tethered to a host.

Banjo

- A super cool geo news and event app that I wouldn't have even known about if I wasn't looking for a way to directly upload to Twitter and FB from my Gear.

Calender 101

- A simple stand-alone month view calender.

Converter+

- Convert any measurement "from" and "to."

Direct

- An amazing app that allows you to use your Gear to find nearby restaurants, cafes, stores, and airports. Once you select something it gives you the option to call, display the location's web page, or send it to Google Maps on your phone.

Expedia

- See your trips (only those booked on Expedia) with notifications of itinerary changes or flight status changes sent to your Gear.

Fleksy

- Using a keyboard on your wrist vs. S Voice on your Gear or Messaging on your phone is kind of dumb. But there are situations (EG: meetings) where Fleksy is a God send.

Instant Settings

- Control your phone (EG: Wi-Fi, Mute) from your Gear.

Gear Guide

- Another too cool app. It geo-locates you on your Gear and displays your current location as a map and address.

Glympse

- Fantastic as a stand-alone and even better controlled from your Gear.

LIFT iQ

- Fantastic app if you lift weights.

Media Controller

- When I'm using CoPilot on my device I can control whatever I'm playing via BT (EG: Milk, Music Player) from my Gear without having to take CoPilot out of focus on my device and reaching across a car traveling 70MPH.

MiniCalc

- A simple wrist-based stand alone calculator.

Music Player

- Great when you're working out or mowing the lawn and don't want to have to schlep your phone around to listen to tunes.

PayPal

- Great for seeing your balance and what transactions have cleared. Fun to use where it's accepted (EG: Home Depot). It'll be more fun now that Apple's focusing on mobile payments and merchants will start to fall all over themselves to accept them.

Runtastic

- Self explanatory

Vivino

- Take pictures of a wine label using your Gear and get instant ratings for it. Fun parlor trick in Costco's humongous wine department.

Mail and Messages being made discreet apps

- It's fantastic to be able to clear notifications while still retaining specific e-mail and MMS you want to be able to reference later.

I've had my Gear since the day it went on sale which is almost a year. I can do ten times the things better now than when I first bought it. I thought the camera was stupid at first. I can't tell you how much I've come to love the candids and quick shots you can get with it that you'd

never

get with another mobile device. I'd love to get a Gear S but I'm not willing to give up the camera to get it.

A pinata occupying a seat on a regional jet for example... ;)

So there you have it. With the way I use my Gear Tizen's been an incredible gift. With my disdain for Google's behavior I'd never be able to use (or want to) Android Wear. Obviously this a YMMV and people should buy what makes them happy but, at least for me, I'm quite happy with where I am and I highly doubt with their current investment that Samsung's going to abandon Tizen. If anything it'll continue to grow stronger and not just on wearables.

P.S. - I'm killing time on a seven hour flight hence this hella long post. ;)