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  •   over 11 years ago

Gear Live

Could someone from moderators clarify it? Is it kind of important.
Personally I think it is not possible to support Gear Live. If I want to add new features then I need make for Tizen, rewrite current code for Android and make new features for Android. So much to do and not enough time. And what if I have 2 apps? Also it is not fair comparing to standalone entries.
Could you not wait a week for sending us e-mail while a week is quite meaningful amount of time...

Other thing is that, I can't buy Gear Live in Poland so I need to get from other country which takes time. Or are you planning to send us devices?

  • 9 comments

  •   •   over 11 years ago

    The upside of trying to support the Gear Live is that it would make your app more useful in the long run, with exposure to a much larger audience. I've had a quick look and the Android Wear emulators are working pretty well - you could start development on them which would give you plenty of time to get a physical device to test on later. But I would agree with you on getting clarification sooner rather than later :)

  •   •   over 11 years ago

    It's entirely possible that they are still having internal debate about this issue.

    It is listed as optional in any case.

    The clause about "latest Gear device" has been there as a placeholder long before they announced the Gear Live on a new platform. At the time, they may have thought about some Gear 2.1 device.

    So, yeah, clarification is good.

  •   •   over 11 years ago

    The Gear Solo is rumored to be launched on Sep 3, and likely to be another Tizen watch with a SIM card. I'm willing to bet that this will be the "latest Samsung Gear device" mentioned in the challenge...

  •   •   over 11 years ago

    Really? Wow. Well, not much chance of having that for development very long if only announced on Sep 3rd. Having a SIM card and not being paired with a smartphone is a pretty big difference too. Who knows how much of the SDK is changed? Or do the same apps even make sense?

    Samsung may want to think about how PLATFORM CONSISTENCY could attract more developers.

    Lets see:
    Gear 1 - Android
    Gear 2 - Tizen
    Gear Live - Android Wear
    Gear Solo? Tizen? Tizen with special extensions?

    All in a course of a year? And what will they do in 2015? Tizen? Android? Something else entirely?

    Sure, this contest thing gets developers excited temporarily (and some disgruntled permanently if they don't win).

    But better would be to have an environment where apps pay off for the developers in the long run. Harder to do when the app you write for Samsung today won't work on the device they release next month, let alone next year.

  •   •   over 11 years ago

    after last e-mail I think we are clear that this device will be Gear Solo. Any ideas how to get it? Or maybe more important how to get SDK, maybe it is but we need to hack URL

  • Manager   •   over 11 years ago

    Hi kurak38,

    Thanks for your question. Today's update to registrants (http://gearappfinal.challengepost.com/updates/2003) says: Information on device updates will be provided in early September! Please keep a look out for more updates along the way.

    All the best!
    Stefanie

  •   •   over 11 years ago

    They have effectively answered this question about the Gear Live by not mentioning it in the last email.

    Not only do they not care if we support Gear Live, they don't seem to know it exists.

    I suspect this contest is sponsored by a division of Samsung that doesn't make the Gear Live.

    I do see other good reasons to develop for the Gear Live, but no reason to do so for the contest.

  •   •   over 11 years ago

    The contest is for Samsung Tizen OS, it's all about promote the OS and the device, so it will never goes to a competitor OS such as Android Wear. Even if it might better than tizen

  •   •   over 11 years ago

    I agree the focus is on Tizen and getting apps in the Samsung Apps store, but don't believe also developing for the Gear Live would negatively impact judging. One has to assume that a popular app on Tizen will eventually be ported to Android Wear as well, so exclusivity should not be a factor in judging the app - the contest is for Samsung Gear, the brand, of which the Gear Live is an important part. I think Samsung is competing more at a hardware level than OS for their watches. This is illustrated by the excellent Gear S device - incorporating a sim card was genius, and is something that could not be done with Android Wear. Samsung has the unique opportunity to differentiate their devices based on hardware, because they are the only manufacturer with an alternative watch OS. They now have the only wearable device for people that want something to make emergency calls with while jogging, etc., but don't want to lug a phone around. I'm just glad that supporting Gear Live is not a requirement, it would take a huge amount of work at this point in the contest, time which could probably better be spent on upgrading the original app.

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