Samsung's new Galaxy Gear 2 might run Tizen instead of Android

Sure, the Tizen Association just welcomed new members, but the mobile platform is still having a tough start overall -- a Japanese carrier even canceled a Tizen smartphone release in January. So, Samsung (the platform's biggest backer) is reportedly taking matters into its own hands and loading Tizen on one of its upcoming devices: Galaxy Gear 2.0. According to USA Today's sources, the South Korean company is slated to launch an updated smartwatch running the HTML 5-based Tizen OS at the Mobile World Congress a few days from now.

Samsung is reportedly dropping Android in favor of the fledgling platform due to a number of reasons, including its hopes to gain greater control (and revenue) from associated software and services. Also, the company's apparently concerned that the Android flavor Google's developing for wearables may not be as open as the other versions. Whatever Samsung's reasons are, we just hope the new Gear has a longer list of compatible devices than its predecessor does.

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Samsung Galaxy Gear works with the Nexus 5, at least unofficially

The Samsung Galaxy Gear might have been met with a mixed reception at launch, but there’s no denying that underneath it’s initial issues, there’s plenty of potential. To Samsung’s credit, they are slowly but surely addressing some of the watch’s biggest problem areas by further refining the software, enhancing the watch’s notification system and improving the smartwatch app situation.

Unfortunately one issue that still holds the Galaxy Gear back is device compatibility. At launch the Galaxy Gear only worked with the Note 3, and while it now supports a few other popular Samsung devices, those without a Samsung handset are left out in the dark. The good news for Nexus 5 owners is that you can now join the exclusive “Galaxy Gear compatible” club, at least unofficially.

Thanks to the efforts of XDA member pcelli, a method for pairing the Nexus 5 with the Galaxy Gear has been detailed, and involves pulling certain files from the Gear Manager APK and manually installing them on your handset. Although the process is a bit involved, the good news is that it allows your Nexus device to work almost the same as an approved Samsung handset would. The only exception to this is that S Voice and Weather are TouchWiz-dependent features, and therefore don’t work.

The method has only been officially confirmed to work with the Nexus 5, though SamMobile was able to at least pair it with the Nexus 7. They were unable to fully test if it works with the tablet however, as it requires you to reset your Galaxy Gear to factory settings before it can fully connect to the Nexus 5 or Nexus 7. Outside the Nexus 5 and possibly Nexus 7, it’s also possible that this method may work on other smartphones and tablets, but there are no guarantees.

For more details on how to pair a Nexus handset or tablet with the Galaxy Gear you’ll want to head on over to the XDA developer’s forum. If the Galaxy Gear supported more non-Samsung handsets out-of-the-box (or even unofficially) would you consider buying the Gear or do you feel that the company’s first smartwatch attempt just doesn’t cut it for your needs?

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Fleksy brings a keyboard to the Galaxy Gear & Celluloco loves it!

Fleksy is putting a keyboard on the Samsung Galaxy Gear so you can take notes on the tiny screen instead of the gigantic Galaxy Note 3 it’s probably paired to.

The Fleksy keyboard is already available on the Omate TrueSmart smartwatch, which the developer says makes the Omate the first “smartwatch 2.0.” Perhaps that will make the Galaxy Gear the second smartwatch 2.0, as the company is showing off its keyboard on Samsung’s wearable at CES. And with the new Fleksy Wearable SDK, any manufacturer can bring a keyboard to their wearables.

A video demo of the keyboard running on the Galaxy Gear shows someone typing on the tiny screen of the smartwatch with one finger. Because of the Fleksy keyboard’s predictive text the keyboard looks relatively easy to use, and pretty accurate. At least the keyboard correctly guessed what words the user in the video wanted to type.

Aside from the actual typing of words, everything on the Fleksy keyboard on the Galaxy Gear is done through gestures. A swipe to the right selects a word to autocomplete, a swipe to the left deletes, and a swipe down changes punctuation marks. For those who are really confident in typing on the tiny screen, there’s an invisible keyboard mode that lets you see the entire tiny note on screen without the keyboard taking up half the display.

The Fleksy keyboard seems like an easy way to type on the Galaxy Gear, or any other smartwatch, but the question is: why would you want to? It’s maybe good for short notes, but there’s no way to send messages from the Galaxy Gear, which seems like the best use case scenario. For everything else, it seems easier to just take out your Galaxy Note 3 and take notes with the S Pen. That is why anyone buys such a gigantic phone, isn’t it?

Do you see yourself using the Fleksy keyboard on a smartwatch any time soon?

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Galaxy Gear app lets you control your BMW i3

At CES, Samsung announced a collaboration with BMW that lets owners of the BMW i3 electric car control some functions of their vehicle with the Galaxy Gear smartwatch.

With the new BMW i Remote app BMW 3 Galaxy Gear owners can view information about their car from their smartwatch, as long as the app is installed on their paired smartphone. The smartwatch app shows valuable information including remaining driving range and the status of windows and doors.

The app can even adjust the in-car temperature remotely and set a navigation destination before you even step into the car. It’s presumably a bit easier to use the full smartphone app to input a destination, but being able to do so from your watch sounds too futuristic to not use at least once. The temperature control would be particularly handy for the current cold weather in most of the U.S., or in the heat of summer.

The BMW i Remote app is available right now, but the Galaxy gear integration isn’t yet available. Samsung is showing off the feature at its booth at CES, but won’t say when BMW owners can use the feature for themselves.

While most people will never get to use the BMW app because the BMW i3 is just too expensive for them, this new app shows what’s possible for future cars and wearables. With Android coming to cars later this year, more communication between cars and smartphones and other devices only makes sense. This app is a great first step, but the future of connected cars is potentially much more exciting.

What sort of features do you want to see from an app for your car?

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