Samsung Electronics today introduced Samsung Z, the first commercially available smartphone powered by the Tizen platform. The Samsung Z will be on show at the Tizen Developer Conference, San Francisco from June 3rd.
Samsung Z has a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display and a 2.3 GHz Quad-core processor.
The Tizen-based Samsung Z offers a faster startup time and immediate multi-tasking capabilities, the company said in a statement. the smartphone fully supports 2D and 3D graphic qualities, smoother scrolling and an improved rendering performance for web browsing. Users will also be able to enjoy safe and secure privacy protection using the built-in fingerprint sensor.
Samsung Z will go on sale in the third quarter of this year, advancing the company’s plans to reduce dependence on Google’s Android software.
Samsung, world’s top smartphone maker by sales volume, said that the smartphone will go on sale in Russia first. It said there are plans to sell the phone in other countries but didn’t name them.
Unlike Apple Inc. with its own operating system, Samsung’s popular Galaxy smartphones and tablets use Google’s open source Android platform, a reliance that prevents Samsung from challenging the dominance of Apple’s App Store and Google Play in the lucrative market for smartphone apps.
The Tizen phone will have preinstalled apps and users will have access to additional apps through Tizen Store.
It said the operating system will allow users to browse the Internet faster and utilize applications more effectively.
Superficially, users may not perceive much difference from the Android operating system because it and Tizen share Linux as the underlying framework. (With inputs from Associated Press)
