We all know Samsung, one of the biggest electronics companies.
Some of us even own some of their devices. Maybe a tv or a mobile phone. In recent times Samsung become a major player in mobile sector with Android being used by them. Android is a great operating system, however it is not totally open-source.
So what Samsung is trying to do is to work with NTT Docomo Inc. to develop a new operating system for smartphones that it hopes to put on the market in 2013.
They want to develop phones running the open-source Tizen operating system. According to the Yomiuri, Japanese magazine, other mobile carriers are also getting behind the development of Tizen because they “fear the hegemony” of Apple and Google.
Google’s Android and Apple’s iPhone made application development for mobile devices easier, however, it is difficult for mobile phone service companies to offer their own services, or to improve the safety of personal information for the smartphones equipped with the OS products developed in the United States.
In contrast, the basic technology information used by Tizen will be made open to the public and the OS is being developed on the premise that mobile phone service companies will be able to offer their own services. Besides Docomo, European mobile phone service companies also are participating in the development of Tizen because they fear the hegemony of the two U.S. companies in businesses using smartphones, such as games and music distribution.
Tizen’s main developers are Samsung and Intel, but also Vodafone Group PLC in the UK, France Telecom, other European mobile phone service companies, Panasonic Corp. and NEC Corp. are involved in the development.
The Tizen OS will be an open-source product so users can further develop or improve the software. The development of apps for the new OS system is expected to be simpler.