Tizen-powered Linux Phones Coming in 2013

Samsung is to launch a new competitive Tizen-powered operating system this year.

The global leader in consumer electronics has confirmed the new devices will be released in 2013, but has not elaborated on prices or model specifications.

While Samsung has had its own share of success with Android and the Galaxy S series, the company seems to be keeping one step ahead by developing its own alternative platforms for specific markets.

Tizen, an open source, standards-based software platform, is supported by leading mobile operators, device manufacturers and silicon suppliers for multiple device categories such as smartphones, tablets, netbooks, in-vehicle infotainment devices, and smart TVs.

“We plan to release new, competitive Tizen devices within this year and will keep expanding the lineup depending on market conditions,” a Samsung spokesman said.

The Linux-based open-source operating system is believed to be more open when compared to Android, the free software offered by Google to handset manufacturers, and does not have as many restrictions.

The move is seen to reflect Samsung’s strategy of reducing its reliance on Google’s Android operating system, after the internet search engine giant bought Motorola Mobility in May last year.

Although Google’s entry into the handset market upped competition between the likes of Samsung and Apple, cutting-edge developer Samsung should not be affected due to its large and diverse smartphone product portfolio.

Samsung is currently the world’s largest handset manufacturer with 29 per cent of the market, according to the latest figures from analytics firm IHS iSupply.

Executives from Intel, Samsung, NTT DoCoMo Inc and Vodafone Group Plc formed the Tizen Association last year to support the open-source software.

“The Tizen was born as Samsung hoped to lighten its growing dependence on Google on concerns that its top position in the smartphone market may weaken following the Google- Motorola tie-up,” Byun Han Joon, an analyst at KB Investment and Securities in Seoul, told Bloomberg. “Intel always wanted to boost its presence in the mobile CPU market,” he added.

[Image via eurodroid]