Samsung's updated smartwatch to shun Android

As wearable technology begins to take off, Samsung hopes to avoid giving Google's Android operating system the same boost it got in the smartphone and tablet market

SAN FRANCISCO - The new version of Samsung's Gear smartwatch will run on Tizen, not Google's Android operating system, the latest attempt by the South Korean electronics giant to develop more of its own software and services, according to three people familiar with the situation.

Samsung will unveil the updated Gear watch, and a new HTML5 version of the Tizen operating system, at an event at the Mobile World Congress later this month in Barcelona, Spain, the people said. They did not want to be identified because Samsung's plans are not yet public.
A Samsung spokesman did not return an email seeking comment on Tuesday.
Tizen, which is being pushed heavily by Samsung, is an open-source project that is trying to develop a software platform for smartphones and other connected devices. Launched last year, the effort had a tough start, with some members dropping out. But on Feb. 12, the organization announced 15 new partners, including mobile and Internet giants Sprint, SoftBank and Baidu.
The first version of the Gear smartwatch, launched last year, ran on Android, the Google mobile operating system that has become dominant in the smartphone market. Replacing Android with Tizen for the new version of the Gear gadget suggests that Samsung is not giving up on Tizen despite recent setbacks.
Samsung is also trying to avoid giving Google too much power as the world's largest Internet search provider develops a version of Android for wearable devices. Some developers and hardware makers are concerned that this new wearable Android OS may be less open than the original mobile platform, although it is too early to tell how Google will approach this.
In the smartphone and tablet market, hardware manufacturers typically make devices that run on Android. This puts several Google services, such as search, maps and email, on many gadgets and generates billions of dollars in advertising revenue for the company. The hardware manufacturers are left with the less profitable task of churning out the actual devices and have struggled to develop their own lucrative software and services.
Samsung wants to avoid the same thing happening in the market for wearable technology. By having its own wearable operating system, the company may be able to generate more revenue from its own software and services.
The new Gear smartwatch operating system will be an HTML5 version of Tizen, the people said. HTML5 is the latest version of the language and broader technology that is used to develop websites and web-based applications.
This means Samsung may be able to attract more web developers to develop new apps for its smartwatch. But it is also a risk because, in the past, HTML5 apps have not performed as well as so-called native apps that run on more traditional mobile platforms like Android and Apple's iOS, one of the people said.