Samsung Set To Sell its First Tizen Based Smartphone in 2013

According to a report from Japan’s Daily Yomiuri, Samsung seems to be getting serious about launching its first Tizen based smartphone in 2013. Tizen is an open sourced mobile operating system that has support from Samsung, DoCoMo, Vodafone and others with the major intention of giving competition to the hugely popular Android OS by Google.

The newspaper cites sources from Japanese operator DoCoMo who claim that the company is working with Samsung and others in the mobile industry to release a phone based on the platform next year. The report doesn’t have any precise details, in either terms of the phone’s specs or scheduled launch dates.

Samsung will probably begin selling the smartphones next year and they are likely to be released in Japan and other countries at around the same time, according to sources.

It is surprising that Samsung went ahead to work on Tizen which seems to go against its commitment to Android. On a positive note, it does indicate the company’s interest in diversifying its options. Samsung also announced recently that they will soon be launching a Windows Phone too. Given that Google itself is back in the hardware business with its Nexus range and its ownership of Motorola Mobility, spreading Samsung investment across other platforms makes sense, even though Android has helped it become the world’s top smartphone maker.

While Android is based on Linux, it is not entirely open sourced and the platform remains an investment for Google. Tizen’s supporters say the new platform will be truly open and based on open standards. Moreover, Tizen isn’t just limited to smartphones, it can be used for tablets, smart TVs and more.