14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung’s Android Wear smartwatch, the Gear Live might have taken all the spotlight away from earlier models like the original Galaxy Gear, but this doesn't mean the device can’t get its mojo back.
Well, at least some people are trying to do that, and by the looks of it, developers haven’t abandoned the platform just yet.
The smartwatch was launched running a version with a modified version of Android, but not so long ago Samsung launched a software update which pushed the Galaxy Gear into Tizen land.
Samsung’s own operating system is powering the newest bunch of smartwatches, the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo, which the device maker released back at MWC 2014.
Anyway, it appears that the first custom Tizen ROM for the Galaxy Gear smartwatch has been made available on the xda-developers forum. Skin1980 posted the custom ROM on the site and you can pick it up from there. It is based on the last XXUCNF1 release, which is rooted.
At this point, you might be wondering what the new ROM will bring about in terms of changes. Well, if you decide to give this a go, you’ll be getting a new boot animation, new shutdown animation and battery optimization (via a script that becomes active once you pair the Galaxy Gear with a non-Samsung smartphone).
Last but not least is something a lot of you might enjoy – the custom ROM includes Android L fonts. If you are a Galaxy Gear owner, you should keep an eye on Skin1980 because we might end up seeing good things coming from this developer. For example, he promises themed customs ROMs for the device, which is pretty sweet.
In related news, if you’re activating in the Android Wear garden and you are the proud possessor of a Gear Live smartwatch, you should know a new update has been issued for your device in the form of KMV78Y (as seen on xda-developers).
Even though Samsung Gear Live owners haven’t reported any skin irritation problems similar to the LG G Watch, the same update has been pushed for the former, in an attempt to prevent such issues from materializing.
What the new build does is turn off the current of the charging pins when the smartwatch is not being charged. This way the skin corrosion problem will be avoided and no skin irritation will ensue causing users to feel uncomfortable.
A detailed changelog hasn't been provided just yet, so other enhancement and tweaks might be hidden with this new update.
