Rumours that Samsung would launch at least one Tizen-powered smartphone in 2013 have been confirmed by the company itself. “We plan to release new, competitive Tizen devices within this year and will keep expanding the lineup depending on market conditions,” Samsung today told Bloomberg in a statement. One of the first could be headed to NTT DoCoMo in Japan.
Samsung’s decision appears to have been at least in part to Google’s acquisition of Motorola last year. It is hoping to use Tizen to reduce its own dependence on Google’s Android mobile operating system as it expects that the Google-Motorola merger may weaken its position as the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer.
Samsung did not provide any details on when specifically this year it will launch its first Tizen-powered smartphones. Specifications and pricing also remain unknown at this time. There have been rumours of such devices in the past including a Tizen-powered Galaxy smartphone and the Samsung GT-I9525.
The announcement will be welcome by Intel which has been looking to grow its market share in the mobile processor market. Given that it is a Tizen backer, it is likely that its processors will make their way into Tizen-powered devices.
Tizen is a Linux-based open source software platform backed by Intel, the Linux Foundation, LiMo Foundation, Samsung and a number of carriers. First announced in 2011, it is designed to support a variety of devices ranging from smartphones to in-vehicle infotainment devices and televisions.
Read more: Bloomberg