Samsung announced Monday that it would release a smartphone equipped with the Tizen operating system during the third quarter of this year.
The South Korean electronics company wanted to become less dependent on Google's Android OS so it decided to create its own OS. Tizen is a Linux-based OS compatible with smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, laptops and smart cameras. Samsung worked with other technology companies including Intel for its development. Current products running on this OS include NX300M smart camera and Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 smartwatch.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, Samsung is set to release its first smartphone, called Samsung Z, in Russia in the third quarter of 2014. There are no details yet on when it would be launched to other markets, as well as which carriers would sell it. The company also planned to develop other products using the OS, such as televisions, refrigerators and car dashboards.
The Samsung Z smartphone would feature a 4.8-inch screen display, a fingerprint sensor and a battery saving mode that would keep the phone operational even on low battery life. Images of the OS showed that the interface seemed similar to that of Android, except that the apps icons are round. The smartphone to be released in Russia would bear the Russian-based Yandex search bar instead of Google. The prototype is scheduled to be unveiled on Tuesday at the Tizen Developer Conference in San Francisco.
Reuters reported that the company prepared two models of the device but would only offer them in countries with strong demand. Analysts believed that Tizen competing with Android and iOS would be difficult as there weren't enough developers to make apps for the new OS.
"There is plenty of room and plenty of opportunity for a strong third vendor; arguably if you can carve out 10 percent of a two billion units market in smartphones (by 2018), then that could be an opportunity," said Rachel Lashford, Singapore-based analyst at Canalys, during an interview with Reuters.
