Samsung offering over $1 million in prizes for smartwatch apps
In an attempt to entice developers and to get them to build apps that consumers will love, Samsung is set to launch a big-money competition.
The company needs compelling apps for its latest Gear smartwatches and as they run the Tizen rather than Android operating system, Samsung is pulling out all of the stops to attract the best designers.
A Strategy Analytics report, published earlier this week in the Wall Street Journal highlighted how unpopular Samsung's own apps are with its smartphone customers.
A study group of US Galaxy SIII and Galaxy SIV owners used Samsung's in-house developed apps for an average of seven minutes in total a month. ChatOn, the company's own take on social messaging, was activated for six seconds a month, while Facebook clocked up an average 11 hours' use over the same period.
Samsung is clearly conscious of not making the same mistake again, and so will be offering $1.25 million in prize money when the competition officially launches on May 8.
Still it's not all bad news. Despite poor reviews of its latest generation of smartwatches -- the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit watch-cum-fitness tracker, they appear to be selling well. South Korean publication MK News claims that Samsung has already sold out of its initial stock of the Gear Fit wearable (200,000 to 250,000 devices) in just two weeks.
