Samsung is sending mixed messages on its choice...

Samsung is sending mixed messages on its choice of operating systems for wearables, DisplaySearch analyst Paul Gray said in a blog post Thursday. “The announcement that Samsung’s latest generation of wearables will use Android Wear raises interesting questions about its software strategy,” Gray said. This after Samsung, with its Gear 2 smart watch, had “made the switch to the Tizen platform, which appeared to be Samsung’s strategic direction,” Gray said. Gray speculated Samsung will make the “return” to Android Wear to “maximize interoperability with other smartphones,” or because it realized that development efforts are vested in the software, not the hardware. Of that realization, Gray said, Samsung “has demonstrated its ability to develop products faster than its competition. However this has largely been in hardware. If the real R&D effort lies in software, then it questions whether Samsung still has the aces in its hand.” Samsung has shown it’s determined to “evolve rapidly to find a winning formula” in wearables, Gray said. “However the switch to Android Wear suggests that interoperability and off-the-shelf software are more valuable than uniqueness. This will in turn feed through into a vibrant app environment for consumers.” Samsung representatives didn’t immediately comment.