Samsung Confirms 2013 Launch For Tizen Smartphones

By Zak Islam
published

First Linux-based handsets were revealed last year.

Samsung has confirmed that its first Tizen smartphones, as expected, will launch sometime during this year.

A spokesperson said that the South Korean technology giant plans "to unveil competitive Tizen devices within this year." Details on how many devices would be offered and associated features will be unveiled at a later date.

The Samsung rep also said that the company will release more Tizen-based devices "based on market situations." It's expected that tablets powered by the platform will launch after the handsets.

Tizen operates as a Linux-based operating system that was created after Nokia's MeeGo platform was canned. Intel and Samsung are overseeing the development of the platform, while the Linux Foundation is also involved.

The companies are hoping to see Tizen, which is said to be more open than Android, become a direct competitor to Google's platform. Japanese carrier partners including NTT Docomo are expected to launch the device initially.

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Zak Islam
8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Tomtompiper
    Between this and Sailfish it is looking like a good year in the mobile space.
    Reply
  • darkavenger123
    diffrence is this gonna make?? They should just focus on the hardware where they excelled. Btw, ex Wave 2 user here.....was a good option when it was launched due to price/performance at that time....comes Wave 3....absolutely no value due to the mass powerful mid-range Android phones...

    Unless it is priced like a Galaxy Young and perform like an S3, there's absolutely no reason to buy another 'try me out' OS with no apps.
    Reply
  • ojas
    First Linux-based handsets were revealed last year.
    Yes, Zak, because Android isn't Linux based, is it now?

    My god, who hired this guy?
    Reply
  • ruel24
    Seriously, Tizen looks like a good idea. With Bada, it'll run 100% of all Android apps with similar responsiveness (according to Open Mobile, who is responsible for the ACL) and it unties Samsung from Google. However, neither Samsung nor Intel have a history of producing good software. I really would have liked them to incorporate KDE Plasma Active UI in the mix.

    http://youtu.be/ulcizzAj-N4
    Reply
  • kartu
    @"oh it got no apps" guy, it can run Android apps.

    Apple is not enough a competitor, so Google might get Intelish, good to see someone is trying to create alternative OSes, especially when they try to stick to existing standards (in Tizen's case, web)
    Reply
  • Bloob
    kartu@"oh it got no apps" guy, it can run Android apps.Apple is not enough a competitor, so Google might get Intelish, good to see someone is trying to create alternative OSes, especially when they try to stick to existing standards (in Tizen's case, web)
    So can Sailfish, doesn't mean they'll get apps though. I also hate the focus HTML 5 is getting; I don't like the idea of wasting power needlessly on a hand-held, and a good designer would redesign the GUI to fit the platform anyways.
    Reply
  • house70
    Not only has to be able to run Android apps natively, has to be attractive enough for devs to come up with a simple way to install GPlay market on it. In that case, it will catch on.
    Reply
  • TheRealArtlover
    ojasFirst Linux-based handsets were revealed last year.Yes, Zak, because Android isn't Linux based, is it now?My god, who hired this guy?Hell, forget Android... Phones have been running Linux since at least 2003. I think the Motorola A760 was one of the earlier ones.

    Who hired this guy indeed. But hey, better 10 years late than never I suppose.....
    Reply