The Tizen operating system is likely to gain momentum among smartphone manufacturers as it offers better multimedia services
Samsung will begin selling a smartphone that runs on its Tizen operating system in the third quarter of this year, advancing the company’s plans to reduce dependence on Google’s Android software. Samsung Z happens to be the first in the series.
The Tizen open source operating system is designed for a wide range of device categories, from smartphones to in-vehicle infotainment and beyond. To achieve this cross-platform flexibility, Tizen uses HTMl5 as the main focus for application development, allowing developers to maintain a single codebase. The Tizen platform supports Web applications (HTMl, Javascript, CSS) and provides a rich set of services that include the application framework, along with content, location, messaging, multimedia, network social and system services.
Tizen is already used in a few Samsung products including a smartwatch but has not been deployed in a mass produced smartphone until now. Unlike Apple Inc with its own operating system, Samsung’s popular Galaxy smartphones and tablets use Google’s open source Android platform, a reliance that prevents Samsung from challenging the dominance of Apple’s App Store and Google Play in the lucrative market for smartphone apps. The Tizen phone will have preinstalled apps and users will have access to additional apps through Tizen Store.
Samsung has been encouraging the development of Tizen apps but the numbers available are likely to be small in comparison to the App Store and Google Play. The South Korean company said the Tizen smartphone has a 4.8-inch high definition display with a fingerprint sensor for security and a “slim, angular” design.