Open-source smartphone coming in 2013?

In a smartphone market dominated by Android and iOS, will there be room for Tizen?

 

Smartphones powered by Tizen, an open-sourced mobile operating system, may make their debut this year, Japanese news site Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

 

Citing its sources, the Yomiuri Shimbun said Samsung, one of the parties involved in Tizen, may start releasing such smartphones.

 

Aside from Samsung and Intel Corp., other partners involved in Tizen include:

 

 

Tizen aims to grab a slice of the smartphone pie, 90 percent of which is owned by Google's Android and Apple's iOS.

 

Yomiuri Shimbun noted that while apps for Android and iOS have made life easier for smartphone users, it is hard for mobile phone service companies to offer their own services like Docomo's online shopping.

 

It may also be hard for the companies to improve the safety of personal information for the smartphones.

 

Under Tizen, the basic technology information in the OS will be open to the public, as the OS is being developed on the premise that mobile phone service companies will be able to offer their own services.

 

February debut?

 

A separate report on The Next Web said a first glimpse of Tizen might come at the Mobile World Congress event in February.

 

Still, it said market launch dates may be less clear, since Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S4 is likely to be Samsung’s priority.

 

The Next Web also said Samsung's involvement in Tizen is a surprise since many of Samsung devices run Google's Android.

 

But it said the move also shows Samsung is "diversifying its options," adding Samsung had also bared plans to release phones running Microsoft's Windows Phone. — TJD, GMA News