In September 2011, it was announced that MeeGo, a Linux-based open source mobile operating system championed at one point by Nokia, was being retired in favor of an all new open source OS, Tizen. Now Samsung has confirmed it plans to launch a Tizen-based smartphone later this year, and it could be a rival to Microsoft's Windows Phone platform.
Bloomberg reports that Lee Young Hee, executive vice president of Samsung’s mobile business, said, "The Tizen phone will be out in August or September, and this will be in the high-end category ... the device will be the best product equipped with the best specifications."
Tizen is being developed with the help of a number of companies, including Samsung, Intel and Sprint. So far, no Tizen smartphones have been launched, but Huawei also has plans to launch its own Tizen smartphone, though it hasn't given a timeline.
The fact that Samsung wants to launch a high-end Tizen smartphone, along the lines of the company's just announced Galaxy S IV, could show that the company is aiming to launch a major new competitor in the mobile OS race. That could spell trouble for Microsoft, which has made some recent gains with its Windows Phone OS but still lags well behind Android and iOS.
One analyst recently speculated that Samsung, which also makes Windows Phone devices, is deliberately taking development resources away from Microsoft so that Samsung's Tizen smartphone can have a better shot at success.
Source: Bloomberg | Image via Tizen
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