Friday 18 July 2014

Report: Samsung and Google Butt Heads Over Smartwatches

Report: Samsung and Google Butt Heads Over Smartwatches
Are Google and Samsung fighting over Tizen's role in wearables? According to a new report, the answer is yes.
According to The Information, Google CEO Larry Page met with Samsung Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee at the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley. The purpose of the meeting? To discuss Samsung's plans for wearables.
Evidently, the meeting wasn't a success. The report reveals Page was unhappy to hear that Samsung still plans to focus most of its wearable efforts on its own Tizen operating system rather than giving more support to Android Wear.
Although Samsung has made a smartwatch that runs Android Wear — the Gear Live — the bulk of its smartwatch efforts are focused on Tizen.
Google and Samsung have a decidedly complicated relationship. Samsung is the most successful Android OEM by a large margin. As a result, Samsung wants to be able to differentiate and customize its experience. Sometimes, however, things go too far. In January, Samsung agreed to tone down the extent to which it customizes Android's user interface. Still, that hasn't stopped Samsung from creating its own app store and doing its part to maintain the Galaxy branding.
With wearables, the situation becomes even more complex, because Samsung is essentially selling two competing devices. The Gear 2 smartwatch runs Samsung's own software and works only with Galaxy smartphones. The Gear Live, on the other hand, has to follow Google's rules and will work with any Android 4.3 or higher device — even if it's made by someone other than Samsung.
The wearable market — especially the smartwatch part of it — is still new enough to allow Samsung to support both platforms. Assuming the smartwatch truly does go mainstream, however, Samsung may have to choose a platform and commit to it. For Google, the question then becomes, what does it need to do to keep its most important partner committed, without ceding control of its platform.
Posted by : Gizmeon

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