Samsung has over 1,000 developers working on apps for the Gear S2, its latest wearable based on Tizen OS, and decided to show off some of the early app partners. The eight apps highlighted are all unique and offer something special for the Gear S2. Samsung claims that more will be added before the end of the year.
Nike+ Running lets you keep track of your regime, organize runs, and motivate you to hit goals. Twitter Trends shows the latest trends, conversations, and tweets from around the world. Line has added a range of cute characters on the Gear S2 to send to friends. Yelp lets you review restaurants, flights, and coffee shops on the go.
Volkswagen has created two apps, Car-Net in the U.S. and e-Remote in Europe. Both offer the ability to check if the doors are locked, start the air conditioning, and stop the car from charging if it is an electric vehicle.
Samsung’s subsidiary SmartThings have built an app for the Gear S2, letting you control your smart home devices from outside the house. UniKey has built a new app called Kevo, which lets you open doors with the smartwatch using an eKey. Voxer is a new messaging service that features “audio live,” a “walkie-talkie” style of audio messaging.
Samsung has also partnered with a transportation service in South Korea, which lets people on the subway or bus by scanning the Gear S2 on card readers. Transport for London offers similar contactless functionality on the London Underground.
The Gear S2 is already available in the United States and a few other countries. The 3G model is “coming soon” on Samsung’s site. It is getting a lot of attention thanks to its new rotating bezel that is the basis for most of the user interface, which apparently works better than Android Wear’s current system.