Change of heart: Update switches Samsung's Galaxy Gear from Android to Tizen

Two weeks ago, we heard that Samsung is about to roll a substantial update to its first smartwatch, the Galaxy Gear. It was said that the update will change the very operating system of the wearable – after the update, the Galaxy Gear was to run on Samsung's homebrewed Tizen OS instead of Android.

Indeed, the update has just started rolling out and apart from the substitution of the OS, it also brings a number of brand new features to the Galaxy Gear, which brings the latter almost on par with the newer Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo. Some of the more notable new additions are Sleep mode, which keeps tabs on your sleep patterns, Exercise mode, which tracks your workouts, a standalone music player, and voice commands for the camera of the Galaxy Gear.

Additionally, the update enables users to change the wallpaper of the wearable, adjust the style of its font, and customize the double tap shortcut. What's more, it is said that both the battery life and the performance of the wearable get improved, too.

The update is rolling out over Samsung's Kies companion suite. At the moment, it's unclear if it will also arrive over-the-air, but if it does, you will be able to update your Galaxy Gear directly from your paired device thanks to the Gear Manager app.