Samsung indefinitely puts the brakes on Tizen launch
Summary: It's the Android-rival mobile operating system that never was. At least for now, anyway.
Samsung is holding off its debut launch of its home-grown mobile operating system that aimed to rival Android.
Tizen, which was set to launch in Russia with the Samsung Z smartphone in the third quarter, will now not go on sale as the South Korean-based electronics giant aims to drum up support for its developer platform.
The software (and smartphone) was due to be paraded at a developers' conference in Moscow, but the device was scrapped, leaving developers unsure of the platform's status.
Samsung said in a statement:
'To further enhance Tizen ecosystem, Samsung plans to postpone the launch of Samsung Z in Russia. Samsung will continue to actively work with Tizen Association members pursuing to further develop both Tizen OS and the Tizen ecosystem.'
In a nutshell, Tizen hasn't quite mustered up the support Samsung would have hoped, particularly with the developer community charged with building apps and services for the breakaway platform.
Samsung currently relies on Android as its sole device platform for its smartphones and tablets. But Samsung has been pushing hard for its own platform in order to gain greater share in the mobile operating system market. Also, by planning to transition from Android to Tizen, it reduces Samsung's overall reliance on the platform while being able to carve out its own feature set of services for its users.
It's not to say that Tizen hasn't already been a success, as such. Samsung has already dished out prototype devices, such as televisions and smart watches, running the platform.
And it's not the first time Tizen has struggled to get off the starting line.
Earlier this year, Japan's NTT DoCoMo pulled its support and called off plans for a Samsung smartphone running the Tizen software. Some European operators have also toned down their support rhetoric in recent months.
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