How Samsung is Building Its Games Ecosystem In India and SE Asia

Samsung Galaxy Apps is an app store that comes bundled on Galaxy and Gear devices. The Galaxy Apps store is also a go-to source for perks and deals offered only to Galaxy and Gear users. This store is the lifeline to get key strategic apps and games for Samsung users.

We had a chat with Ravi Belwal who is Head Strategic Partner Manager, Games. Ravi is building the Samsung Galaxy App store games ecosystem for North America and Tizen Games ecosystem in South East Asia.

GA store is a curated store which is not crowded and it is easy to find the content. Ever imagined an app store that helps you in picking games according to your style? GA store is the store where you will find games optimized for your device, carefully selected for you.

Galaxy App store is growing at a rapid rate with Monthly Active Users (MAU) at 24 Million in the USA alone.

[caption id="attachment_115961" align="alignleft" width="214"] Ravi Belwal[/caption]

"We are working with Key strategic partners to get them on board Samsung Galaxy App Store. Our only requirement is to support Samsung Billing and in return we provide featured promotion inside our store. On GA store there is no CPI cost for our partners to acquire new users. Our featured promotion do help key partners in acquiring new users and thus help them grow their revenue," said Ravi.

Samsung has key partners on board which includes -- SuperCell, JamCity, Diandian Interactive, DoubleDown, Zynga, Game-Insight, Playtika, GoodGame Studios, Kama Games, HalfBrick and many more.

Ravi then explains, "Key advantage in working with us we will not only do featured promotion in North America but will also promote our partner titles in China as Samsung Galaxy App Store is also available in China."

Working with the Samsung Galaxy App store team also open the door for endless opportunities Whether you own a Galaxy device or a Gear, or both, you'll find apps designed for your Galaxy or Gear in one place. No more searching through the legions of apps.

Ravi, is also building the Tizen Games ecosystem in South East Asia. Tizen is an open operating system built from the ground up to address the needs of the mobile and connected device ecosystem. At present Tizen ecosystem is growing at a rapid rate with key global game partners on board like – "Temple Run 2", "Fruit Ninja" etc. If you are interested in bringing your game to the Tizen ecosystem you can connect with Ravi. Samsung Tizen team is also running an app incentive program for $1million. The Tizen Mobile App Incentive Program welcomes all developers around the world. If your app is selected as one of the monthly Top 100 apps, then you can win $10,000. Enjoy the amazing benefits with Tizen now!

Smartwatch Comparison - Samsung Galaxy Gear, Sony Smartwatch 2 & Qualcomm Toq

With a great coincidence three tech companies  - Samsung, Sony and Qualcomm unveiled their new innovations called 'Smart Watch' at nearly the same time and on same day of September 4. Samsung launched Galaxy Gear smartwatch with 1.63-inch AMOLED touchscreen, built-in camera and 70 apps.

Sony on other hand on same day unveiled Sony SmartWatch 2 claimed to be the first NFC watch that is resistant to water.

Qualcomm unveiled its own SmartWatch called - Toq, pronounced as "talk", the Qualcomm Toq pairs with your existing Android smartphone and brings all your notifications where you can see them at a glance.

To no surprise the prices for all these three Smartwatches will also be the more or less same, Samsung & Qualcomm selling for around USD $299-$300, Sony however is cheaper with price tag of around $263 . Interestingly, Apple and Google are also believed to be working on wearable Smart Watches.

As of now we now  have a look of all these Smart Watches launched by its companies - Samsung, Sony & Qualcomm, one by one and below is the comparison of all these three smartwatches.

Spec./Feature	Samsung Galaxy Gear	Sony Smartwatch 2	Qualcomm Toq
Screen	1.63-inch	1.6 inch	N/A
Processor	800MHz processor	N/A	200MHz Cortex M3 processor
Camera	Yes(1.9-megapixel BSI sensor and an auto-focus lens)	No	No
Storage	4GB	N/A	N/A
Water-proof	No	Yes	No
Sunlight Readable	Somewhat	Yes	Yes
Batter Life(with Single charge)	25 hours	3-4 Days	2-3 Days
Wireless Charging	No	NoMicro USB	Yes
Smartphone Compatibility	Samsung Galaxy Note 3, 10.1 Only	Any Android smartphone ver.4.0 and above	Any Android smartphone ver.4.0.3 and above
Price	$299	$263	$300

 

Samsung Galaxy Gear

Samsung's wearable smartphone has a strap-mounted built-in camera, 1.63-inch Super AMOLED panel with a resolution of 320x320, 1.9-megapixel BSI sensor, auto-focus lens and speakers. It also have third-party applications support such as - Evernote, Path, fitness companions like - RunKeeper and MyFitnessPal, others like TripIt, Line, Vivino and eBay.

CNET's First Hands-on of Samsung Galaxy Gear Smartwatch

Sony Smartwatch 2

Sony SmartWatch 2 is claimed as the first NFC watch that is resistant to water and designed to work with Androind smartphones only. Sony SmartWatch 2 is dubbed as second screen for your Android smartphone with 1.6 inch colour display screen and Sunlight readable. Like Samsung the sony smartwatch also with ready-to-go apps such as - Gmail
Facebook, Twitter, Music remote extension/music handling and fitness apps such as - Runtastic.

Qualcomm Toq

The Qualcomm Toq smartwatch is for Android smartphones with a color touch screen with Qualcomm Mirasol display which means it displays your important information even in bright sunlight. The smartwatch optionally comes with Bluetooth wireless headsets and smartwatch also have wireless charging capability.

Qualcomm claim that these smartwatch use no backlight, image refreshing or constant charging so the Qualcomm Toq smartwatches sips power rather than gulping it.

Summary

Summing up all the features, specifications and compatibilities of all three smartwatches, Samsung Galaxy Gear is made to work ONLY with Samsung smartphones which limits its reach among possible users, as not every one is fan of Samsung smartphones, although Samsung Galaxy Gear is much more ahead than both of it competitors -Sony  and Qualcomm in terms of Camera, built-in mic & speakers and calling facility by putting your hands on your hear which is nice and not in case of other two smartwatches we considered here.

Sony and Qualcomm on other hand very casual approach toward 'smartwatch' manufacturing it doesn't have camera or no video call, marginal smaller screen than Samsung Gear but have longer battery life and can work with any Android phones ver. 4.0 and above, which is good.