Samsung's new Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo smartwatches ditch Android

Mobile World Congress 2014 - Mobile World Congress 2014 kicks off in just a matter of hours, but Samsung has jumped the gun announcing two new smartwatches. The two new smartwatches don't feature the word "Galaxy" in their name, they're just known as Gear 2, and Gear 2 Neo.

Samsung has opted to drop Google's mobile OS Android, in favor of Tizen, something we thought would happen. The new smartwatches don't only feature Samsung's open-source OS, but they will feature revamped hardware, too.

The front-facing camera has been moved from the face of the smartwatch into the strap on the body itself, an IR port is provided so that it turns the Gear 2 smartwatches into a full living room remote. As for hardware, we have a 1.63-inch 320x320 Super AMOLED display, single-core processor at 1GHz, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of on-board flash.

When it comes to Tizen, we won't see the usual apps that are on Android-powered devices, but Samsung has its own apps spread out on the Gear 2. We have Bluetooth Call, Camera, Notification(SMS, E-mail, Apps), Media Controller, Schedule, Smart Relay, S Voice, Stopwatch, Timer and Weather. There are also downloadable apps, of course.

The Gear 2 is also now a fitness tracker, which has Samsung killing two birds with one smartwatch-shaped stone here. Both of the new smartwatches feature a decent camera, too, which is capable of shooting 1080p video.