Samsung has announced it intends to launch a high-end smartphone based on a new smartphone platform the Korean electronics maker has been co-developing with Intel, called Tizen, in August or September of this year.
According to Bloomberg, the revelation the smartphone giant is going ahead with launching a high-end smartphone running the new platform, rather than Android, was made during an interview with a senior executive in Seoul.
“The Tizen phone will be out in August or September, and this will be in the high-end category. The device will be the best product equipped with the best specifications,” says Lee Young Hee, executive vice president of Samsung mobile.
The news was also confirmed by Samsung chief executive JK Shin during an interview with The Wall Street Journal, with Shin revealing the company is merging its low-end Bada smartphone platform, predominantly used in emerging markets, with the Tizen platform.
“We are in the process of merging Bada with Tizen [an open-source operating system being developed by Samsung and Intel Corp]. You will likely see the first smartphone using Tizen from Samsung in the third quarter of this year,” Shin says.
However, Shin is quick to hose down speculation the new smartphone platform is being developed because of a rift with Google, which entered the hardware business through its acquisition of Motorola Mobility last year.
“We like Android and we plan to continue our good relations with Google. I don’t think it’s correct to say that there’s friction,” Shin says.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
