If a new report published by the International Data Corporation (IDC) is anything to go by, it would appear that Samsung has dramatically increased its presence in the smartwatch industry. This is represented in its total market share which weighed in at just 7% this time last year, but has now more than doubled to 16%. Declining sales of the Apple Watch led to Apple’s total market share dropping from 72% to 47%; leaving room for Samsung to close the gap and take the lead.
With regards to year-over-year growth, Samsung has seen a 51% increase, which is predominantly due to very high sales of the Gear S and Gear S2, while Apple has seen a 55% decrease. This may cause the Cupertino firm to start scaling down operations, and that’s nothing but good news for Samsung who has been allegedly working on another smartwatch, so it could give it the boost it needs to take Apple’s place at the top of the table.
Samsung has released an update for its Gear Watch Designer Beta application for Mac and Windows. In addition to bundling the standard flurry of bug fixes and stability improvements we’ve come to expect from any new software version, the upgrade also brings developers the facility to create watch faces for the first-generation Gear S smartwatch.
At present, the only devices supported by the standard Gear Watch Designer client are the Gear S2 and Gear Fit 2, which both run the latest version of Samsung’s Tizen-powered wearable OS. This leads us to believe that the manufacturer might actually be working on a major software update for the original Gear S to bring it in line with its successor.
To install the upgrade, head over to Samsung’s Developer website by clicking here. Next, you’re going to want to select your operating system. You will then notice the package download. Once it’s done, simply head into your machine’s Downloads folder and install the file. If you have a previous version of the application installed, you will be asked if you’d like to override it. Select Yes.
Following in the footsteps of Apple and Google, Samsung has today taken the wraps off its own universal typeface to represent its brand. The font, which has been named SamsungOne, is a family of scripts that covers a total of 26 writing systems, more than 400 languages, and over 25,000 glyphs. It has been optimised to work on a whole host of different devices, including smartphones, TVs, laptops, tablets, microwaves and ovens — so users should feel like they’re engaging in a cohesive and universal experience when using the manufacturer’s wide range of products.
The main reason for creating the font is, of course, to gain instant recognition from consumers. Samsung wants people all over the world to see the unique typeface on posters, billboards and adverts, then instantly relate it to the brand without a bold logo being present. To achieve this, the company teamed up with design firm Brody Associates and a number of specialists in the typography industry to create five typographic principles and characteristics that leads customers to create relationships between images and firms:
Humanist: SamsungOne mixes a simple, single-width stroke with more calligraphic details. A squared curve is combined with angled terminal ends to create a font which is very human, flowing and open.
Distinctive: Dynamic angles that come from how an arc joins a line create a consistent design personality. Prominent dots, distinctive diacritics and the tail on l add legibility as well we provide some of the distinctive design DNA for SamsungOne.
Universal: Like a global Family, SamsungOne is uniquely localized while speaking some of the same typeface DNA.
Expert: A crafted hands-on approach to type design and detail where small adjustments to height plus descenders and ascenders ensure balanced forms. A balanced and proportional set of characters aids consistency.
Legible/Scalable: Letterforms are specifically designed to work functionally at small sizes, and dynamically at large sizes. Characters are open and spacious aiding readability. Specific details are added to ensure legibility at text sizes.
I have to say, I’m pretty impressed with design of SamsungOne. What do you think of it? Be sure to let us know in the comments section below.
Samsung has a plethora of phones and tablets in its lineup and regularly releases firmware updates for various devices. These can include major updates, which bring a newer version of the OS to a particular device, or minor ones that improve performance and stability and fix bugs. Software updates for Samsung devices roll out in various regions every day, and you can find out which firmware updates were pushed out by the company over the last 24 hours through our firmware list.
As usual, you can download each of these firmware from our firmware section (simply enter your device’s model number to view all firmware for that device) in order to update to a new firmware manually, or as a means to return to your phone or tablet’s stock software.
