The name 'Tizen' has been bandied about in mobile tech
circles for some time now but for anyone other than the most ardent
follower of mobile matters, the odd-sounding moniker mightn't mean all
that much.
For those who are still unsure what exactly
Tizen is, what it might mean to the general tech consumer, and wondering
whether it'll prove a viable competitor to Google's Android, we've
taken a closer look at this next gen-operating system...
Doing the robot
Since
2007, Google's Android mobile platform has gone from strength to
strength, its inextricable rise to prominence mirroring that of the
smartphones it powers.
In six short years, Android
devices have become pre-eminent in the smartphone space thanks mainly to
the continual innovation and powerful marketing strategies of Samsung-
something that has seen the Korean firm's output dominating worldwide
sales and establishing Google's OS as the mobile platform of choice for OEMs, developers and consumers alike.
Whether
Android's seemingly unshakable position would have resulted without
Samsung's backing, or Samsung's dominance of worldwide smartphone sales
would have happened without Android in tow, is a debate that still rolls
on. Android is number one in the worldWhat is clear however is that JK Shin and co are increasingly looking at alternatives as a way to maximise potential revenues.
Why
so? Because whilst Android may feature on its best-selling wares, the
spoils from that particular eco-system - be it from in-game purchases,
streaming services such as Play Music, or the lucrative mound of data
accrued from such services (that can be subsequently used to leverage
other Google products) - don't go into Samsung's bank account.
The
solution to such a conundrum? A 'home-cooked' operating system that
whilst open-source in nature, has the reigns held somewhat by Samsung.
Enter Tizen...
System addict
So, this Tizen then.
You've probably gathered that it's a mobile OS and that Samsung has its
finger in this particular software pie.
Most casual
observers probably aren't aware however that, much like Android before
it, Tizen has its roots in Linux and is governed by a 'steering group'
comprising of device manufacturers, software developers, and mobile
network operators.
Samsung and chip maker Intel are the
key drivers of the initiative first galvanised in 2012 - Tizen rose
phoenix-like from the ashes of Intel and Nokia's much talked about (but never really made it out into the open) MeeGo OS and Samsung's decision to incorporate its ailing native platform Bada into the new venture. Nokia's MeeGo never really got a fighting chanceThe
aim, although not explicitly stated as such, appears to be to take on
the might of Android by extending the reach to third party devs by
supporting JavaScript, CSS, and most pertinently, HTML5.
The
fledgling OS is not restricted to mobile devices however - the Tizen
Foundation envisage the platform's versatility allowing it to power
netbooks, tablets, TVs, and in-car systems.
The latter in
particular seems to be a sector ready to embrace the platform with
director of the Tizen Foundation and Intel platform and business
manager, Chris Croteau, recently commenting that the OS has "a strong
base built up in automotive" and that the "automotive grade Linux
consortium, led by Toyota and Jaguar and Land Rover, is all based on
Tizen." Is Tizen destined for Jaguar?Indeed,
this ties in with the Tizen Foundation's gathering of support from no
less than 36 other companies including Huawei, Fujitsu, Panasonic,
Konami, eBay, and Japanese network NTT Docomo to call on in their quest
to broaden commercial possibilities for the platform beyond that of
Samsung's initial goal of lessening its dependence on Android.
So, the cornerstones all appear to be in place, so when will we see it on an actual phone?
Left to their own devices
The
cynical out there might suggest that Tizen could have a touch of
MeeGo's smoke and mirrors about it, given that the internet has been
awash with talk of the OS since its launch at Mobile World Congress 2013
and yet actual devices running it have been thin on the ground.
Since then, reports suggesting a Tizen-powered smartphone from Samsung surfacing before the end of that year (later commuted to 'September 2013') came and went with the operating system finally breaking cover on the Samsung NX300M, a digital camera.
Recent developments however have looked more promising - a mid-November report published by the Korea Herald covering
a local think-tank on the future of smart TVs shed more light on the
situation. Quoting the head of Samsung's visual display unit, a
Tizen-powered TV will not launch until the OS makes its smartphone bow,
now slated for 2014. The Samsung Z9005 RedWoodThis, when coupled with a video of the platform being demoed
on a developer unit called the Z9005 Redwood doing the rounds, at least
suggests that Samsung and the rest of the interested parties haven't
forgotten about Tizen.
As ever with this kind of caper,
Samsung has remained tight-lipped, choosing to ignore tech journalists
calling it out on its unfulfilled promises of launch dates and the
continual shifting of goalposts. The resulting information vacuum has of
course caused the rumour mill to go into overdrive with industry
analysts and the like going to town on how Tizen will eventually
manifest itself in hardware form.
The latest addition to
the saga comes via the announcement of the Tizen 3.0 iteration at the
Tizen Developer Summit in South Korea last month.
The new variant is said to include support for 64-bit chips, which given that next-gen smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S5 are tipped to rock such architecture, is significant and adds weight to rumours that the next Samsung flagship could appear in both Android and Tizen versions.
Unfortunately
for eager Tizen-ites, the release date for version 3.0 is given for Q3
2014, so we could be waiting for quite a bit longer.
We're gonna need a bigger app store
If
what we know of Tizen so far is correct, the OS looks to be on to a
winner. The extended reach enabled by support for other coding
languages, the versatility that allows it to be utilised in other
non-mobile devices (plus a string of high-profile partners lined up to
get on board), support for 64-bit chips and the ability to sustain 3D
user interfaces, all bode well.
If
history teaches us anything though, it's that mobile OS' live or die by
the wealth of apps available in their app stores. Just ask BlackBerry.
So,
with that in mind, it's safe to say that Samsung and all who sail in
the good ship Tizen will have to pull out all the stops to pique the
interest of third party developers and get them creating high-quality
apps to entice a potential user-base.
Thankfully, those
involved in the venture foresaw this and set about creating a series of
incentives to get devs on board, the first of which was the 'Tizen
Port-a-Thon' - an initiative that targeted developers for Samsung's now
defunct native OS, Bada.
The invite-only scheme opened in
April this year and encouraged Bada devs to register and submit apps
for entry into the Tizen market, offering $3,000 as a basic incentive
and providing developers with hardware on which to tweak their wares.
Never
ones to rest on their laurels, Samsung (and the Tizen Foundation)
followed that up with the announcement of the 'Tizen App Challenge', a
similarly positioned initiative only this time offering a combined total
of $4m in prizes for those devs successful in getting their apps
certified.
The Tizen App Challenge ran until December
2013 and offered financial reward for apps in various categories
including a hefty $200,000 grand prize for game app developers, and
perhaps most notably a $50,000 purse for each of the top ten rated HTML5
apps.
Whether
this will provide app creators with the impetus they need to develop
for Tizen remains to be seen, but given that the Tizen Foundation has
also partnered with app crowdfunding outfit appbackr as well as third
party 'middleware' porting tools including Construct 2, and Havok's
Project Anarchy, the signs are positive.
Brian Warner,
Senior Member Services Manager for Linux Foundation Collaboration
Projects said of the partnerships: "We've been really impressed with the
flurry of new developer tools and activities in support of Tizen and
firmly believe in the value of the competition because history has shown
time and again this is the best way to foster vibrant, robust
ecosystems."
That's a wrap
From what we've learnt
during the course of this little 'examination', it could be that
Android may well have a viable competitor to contend with in the near
future should all the pieces fall in to place.
Samsung,
Intel and the rest of Tizen's interested parties have clearly done their
homework and addressed the main pitfalls of getting a new OS and
associated eco-system off the ground.
Well, except one
that is; turning the heads of both developers and consumers with an
actual Tizen device. On that front, the silence has been deafening but
given that those other two mobile platform upstarts - Jolla's Sailfish and Mozilla's Firefox OS - are now out there on commercially available devices, we'd hedge our bets on a Tizen phone showing up soon. MWC 2014 anyone?
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