Citing a report on Die Welt, a German newspaper, tech site T3.com said that Samsung's first open-source operating system would be rolled out early 2014. Named "Tizen", the operating system would be launched on a smart TV prior to it being available to other devices like smartphones.
In a statement, Boo-Keun Yoon, Samsung co-chief executive and head of Samsung consumer electronics business said, "Tizen is going to be used on some of our smartphones just like on our TVs and on home appliances. This way we create an ecosystem in which we are able to connect all Samsung devices."
Tizen is a joint venture between Intel Corp. and Samsung Electronics. There had been numerous reports of mobile phones being powered by the open-source software prior to its release as Samsung was reportedly veering away from its partnership with Android. Android had been powering most of Samsung's smartphones. Another tech site, NDTV.com, cited a website called Tizen Indonesia who released photos of mobile phones supposedly powered on Tizen. Samsung's new operating system was shown in photos having the Android user interface. Tests on the reported Tizen-powerd phone was reportedly similar to that of Windows Phone.
Samsung has been reporting impressive year-on-year figures. Of its 2012 fourth quarter KWR56.04 trillion or USD52.4 billion in revenue, its IT and Mobile Communications unit doubled its earnings from last year to KWR5.44 trillion or USD5.09 billion.
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