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Samsung’s Tizen operating system may debut in TVs as soon as next year, one of the company’s CEOs said in an interview with a German publication.
The Korean electronics company has been working on Tizen, an open-source software, as an alternative to Android. Tizen gives the company more control over its own future, allowing it to rely less on Google and more on its home-grown software. In TVs, Samsung already makes its own software. But as it tries to give devices more functionality and connect them together, that’s easier to do with a common operating system.
“Tizen is going to be used on some of our smartphones just like on our TVs and on home appliances,” Boo-Keun Yoon, co-CEO of Samsung and head of the consumer electronics business, told Die Welt. “This way we create an ecosystem in which we are able to connect all Samsung devices.”
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A Samsung spokesman told CNET that the company is “considering providing a TV based on Tizen OS, but detailed information including availability will be determined by market conditions.”
While Tizen is an open operating system, Samsung and Intel have spearheaded the development of the standards behind it. Tizen enjoyed a splashy introduction at Mobile World Congress in February and has been slowly introducing new versions and rallying developer support.
However, the operating system hit a snag recently, with Samsung delaying the introduction of the first Tizen phone until the fourth quarter. The delay led to some speculation that Samsung’s enthusiasm for the platform had waned, but the company has reiterated its plans to develop Tizen devices.
JK Shin, Samsung co-CEO and head of the company’s mobile business, told CNET last month that the company wants Tizen to be on everything. Shin made it clear that Tizen is more than a pet project and “simple alternative for Android.”
“There are many convergences not only among IT gadgets, including smartphones, tablets, PCs, and cameras, but also among different industries like cars, bio, or banks,” he said. “Cross-convergence is the one [area] Samsung can do best since we do have various parts and finished products.”
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