NTT DoCoMo has postponed plans to launch a smartphone running the new operating system, Tizen.
NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile service provider, has benched its plans to launch a smartphone running a new mobile operating system called Tizen. The carrier said Friday that it is revising its plans to launch the new OS in a smartphone, but has not ruled out the option. The carrier currently hosts a wide range of smartphones running on Apple iOS and Google's Android. Most smartphones in Japan run on the Android platform and it has proved to be a lucrative market for iPhones in recent months.
"We're revising our plan to release it this fiscal year, but haven't decided to abandon it," Jun Ootori, a spokesman for the Japanese telecommunications giant, revealed to PC World, Friday. "The conditions surrounding the Japanese smartphone market and the timing aren't good right now," he added. "We haven't decided anything about the future but we are working with members of the (Tizen) association. We haven't decided on a launch."
The Tizen OS was first shown at the 2013 Mobile World Congress. The new OS, challenging the supremacy of Android and iOS, is a Linux-based operating system suitable for hosting smartphones, tablets and other devices. Samsung showed an interest in the new Tizen hoping to go independent of Google's Android platform. The partnership might turn out as beneficial as its venture with Android. Tizen's debut at last year's WMC bagged support from renowned tech companies like Intel, Panasonic, Sharp, eBay, France's Orange SA and the U.K.'s Vodafone Group PLC, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Docomo spokesman So Hiroki told WSJ that the market is not big enough to host three mobile operating systems, which might have added to the delay.
The dominating Android and iOS platforms also triggered China to develop its own operating system called "COS," which stands for Chinese Operating System. The new OS runs on a wide range of devices including computers, smartphones, tablets, set top boxes, and also extends support for HTML5 applications. The new entries in the mobile OS segment suggest OEM's struggle to end the Android and iOS supremacy. End users will soon have new options, beyond the Android, iOS and Windows Phone, but it is still an open question if the new players will be able to attract a reliable user-base like its competitors.
