Samsung has just launched the Galaxy Gear 2, it’s second take on a so-called smartwatch that, to be honest, wasn’t particularly great the first time round. But Samsung doesn’t really care about that, because the Galaxy Gear 2 has been designed with a hidden agenda – the device is actually the testing ground for a secret weapon in Samsung’s ongoing duel with Google.

Few Galaxy Gear aficionados will notice many changes with the switch from Android to Tizen – the functionality, interface, overall experience is more or less the same. Sure there might be a few more apps and the battery might last a little longer, but it’s still much the same as before.

That’s because Samsung isn’t really focused on building an awesome smartwatch experience. Not just yet, anyhow. Rather, what we have is a kind of trial run for the day when Samsung goes ahead and starts building phones running on Tizen.

That would be a huge deal – as the world’s largest Android phone maker, Samsung sells more phones that Apple, Nokia and BlackBerry combined, and so it’s not really a surprise that the Korean firm doesn’t want to be beholden to Google while it takes the mobile world by storm. Samsung needs Google for now, but ultimately if it could do everything by itself, from top to bottom, that’s only going to put it in a stronger position. And the Galaxy Gear 2 shows that it intends to do just that.

Ace up its sleeve?

Tizen has been a work in progress for some time now. We’ve seen several rumors over the last year that Samsung might release a Tizen-based phone soon, but that hasn’t happened – hardly surprising really, because building a brand new OS complete with enough apps to mount a serious challenge to iOS and Android is no easy feat – we only have to look at Microsoft for evidence of that.

But the thing with Samsung is that it can afford to take its time. Thanks to Samsung’s TouchWiz skin, it’s phones already feature a bunch of proprietary alternative apps and services that have reduced its user’s dependence on Android’s (Google’s) own. Samsung even has its own app store, and it’s phones are becoming even less Android-ish with each new device – in the end, Samsung may one day reach a point where swapping out Android for Tizen becomes a no-brainer and its users will barely even notice.

Should that happen, we could see Android transition from leader to loser in the smartphone race almost overnight – but that’s a big “if.” Perhaps Samsung won’t need to use Tizen. Just the threat of using it could be enough for the company to achieve its aims – which are basically to be able to tell Google what to do at the negotiating table, rather than the other way around.

Samsung and Google’s relationship has been uneasy for some time now, but the fact remains that both companies need each other. In the most recent spat, it was reported that Google is pressuring Samsung to make changes to its new NotePRO and TabPRO devices that look just a little bit too similar to Windows Phone devices. Even so, these arguments are unlikely to kill what remains one of the most mutually beneficial relationships ever seen in the tech world.

We can expect to see a lot more of Tizen in the future. With its emergence on the Galaxy Gear 2, it’s just a matter of time before we see it appear on more Samsung devices. Phones probably won’t appear just yet, but Smart TVs? Fridges? Why not – these are exactly the kinds of things that Samsung can build with Tizen, without taking any major risks.

If and when Samsung does decide to go for Tizen phones, it could cause a serious disruption in the smartphone world. Android would become a lot less appealing for developers if its number one device maker was to suddenly abandon it, but that doesn’t mean Tizen would be able to compete anytime soon. However, we shouldn’t expect to see thousands of Tizen apps appear from nowhere either – rather, Tizen will probably rely on HTML5 web apps, the kinds of apps that run on Ubuntu Touch and Firefox phones so admirably, and which will also work on the Galaxy Gear 2.

Of course this might never happen. Launching Tizen on the Gear isn’t necessarily a declaration of war – Samsung might just want to use it as a negotiating chip. But now Tizen is out in the open, we’re seeing the first major play in what could turn out to be the next big struggle in tech as Samsung and Google vie for total domination of the non-Fanboi smartphone world.