Report: First Tizen flavored smartphone from Samsung to launch in Russia next month

The on-again, off-again saga of Tizen took a permanent turn "on" at MWC when Samsung introduced its new smartwatches, both powered by the OS. At the same time, the Korean manufacturer quietly showed off a Tizen powered handset. During MWC, there wasn't any information provided as to when and where this handset would first be released. But thanks to a report published on Sunday that cites a Samsung official, we now expect that the first Tizen powered smartphone will be launched next month in Russia.

The unnamed Samsung official, who works out of Korea, reportedly said that the plan is for other Tizen powered devices to connect with the smartphone. As for what we can expect from the first Tizen driven handset, the official states that it has specs similar to the Samsung Galaxy S4. Yoon Han-kil, senior vice president for Samsung's Product Strategy Team, earlier said that the company would release two Tizen powered smartphones during the current quarter. One would be a high-end model, while the other would be a mid-range device designed to attract buyers to the platform.

Why did Samsung decide on Russia to be the first market for a Tizen powered smartphone? The answer would seem to harken back to a comment made by Yoon during a recent interview with Reuters. At the time, the executive said that the Korean manufacturer "will release the phones in a few countries where we can do well." After the launch in Russia, the phone will head to Brazil and other developing countries.

It is believed that Samsung wants Tizen to succeed, in order to reduce the company's reliance on Google's open source Android OS.


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source: IndonesianTizen (translated) via GforGames