Samsung unveils world's first Tizen smartphone

Gadgets

Samsung unveils world's first Tizen smartphone

 

AFP Relax

• View PhotoThe Samsung Z

At first glance, the Samsung Z could be easily mistaken for a premium Android handset. It has a fabulous AMOLED display, a huge processor and even packs a heart rate monitor and fingerprint scanner, but there's one difference.

And it's a big difference. The operating system isn't Android, it's something called Tizen, which was developed by Linux Foundation and Limo Foundation and has been backed heavily by Samsung as a viable alternative to Android.

There's a feeling that Google's getting too powerful in the smartphone and tablet market and that by adopting Tizen instead, manufacturers will be able to build handsets that perform well without needing the latest generation of processors or heaps of RAM -- which is what make phones so expensive. It's one of the reasons why some companies build new handsets that run older versions of Android because they work with less powerful components. And it's a practice that Google is trying to stop.

Tizen offers an alternative solution to these phone makers. It promises performance without cost and could be the key to offering consumers in emerging markets affordable yet powerful handsets.

However, that's for the future. For the present, with the Z, Samsung is focusing on the premium end of the market and trying to show people the extra performance the operating system can squeeze out of already powerful components. Tizen is theoretically better at managing memory than Android and therefore should lend itself well to multi-tasking and 2D and 3D graphics.

"Samsung is committed to enhancing the mobile experience of consumers with innovation that is both personal and unique to their needs," said DJ Lee, President and Head of Global Sales & Marketing Office, Mobile Communications Business, Samsung Electronics. "The Samsung Z integrates the power and adaptability of the Tizen platform, enabling users to browse the web faster and utilize applications more effectively."

And, as with any new operating system, be it Windows Phone, Firefox OS or Tizen, that's the catch. It needs apps, lots of them, and lots of the ones already available on the Android and iOS platforms if it's really going to be a hit with consumers.

Samsung promises that when the phone goes on sale -- initially in Russia in the third quarter of the year -- the Tizen app store will be well-populated and it is currently offering massive incentives to developers to build apps for the operating system. It also hopes to offer very locally-focused applications, specific to Russia before the end of the year.

But even without a large selection of other apps to choose from, a host of Samsung's own services, such as its S-Health suite of apps, come pre-loaded on the device and it will have no problem syncing with the Gear 2 and Gear Neo smartwatches, both of which run on Tizen.

What's more, Samsung is in the process of pushing out an update to its original smartwatch -- the Samsung Galaxy Gear -- that will overwrite its Android operating system with Tizen too.