Samsung Tizen Phones To Release on Japan, Offsets Android

Samsung is set to launch its first smartphones this 2013 running in a new mobile operating system calledTizen. Yes, you read it right. This is due to a joint venture between NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan’s largestmobile communication company, Samsung Electronics Co., Intel Corporation, and its partners, which aims to develop a new operating system for smartphones that will compete with the two U.S. companies, Google and Apple this year.

Tizen is Linux-based and utilizes Intel on its back-end. Being an open-source, this technology will be publicly available soon for apps developer to start developing compatible software. Under way is the development of services that is Tizen-specific. It is said to be more open and easy to be edited compared to Android.

Samsung, the first Tizen manufacturer, will release their smartphones in Japan under DoCoMo and in other countries as well this 2013. This will be followed by Vodaphone UK and France Telecom. The Tizen project is supported by various mobile phone service companies in Europe.

Currently, Google (Android) and Apple (iOS) hold a 90% market share in the OS market. Android is enjoying a big chunk of the pie at 72.4% while iOS is at 13.9% share in third quarter of 2012. With the presence of Tizen, this heightens the competition. But it will take some time before we see how it competes with the existing giants but definitely Tizen needs apps and support to support its existence.

(source)