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Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Samsung is preparing to launch a new smartphone in Russia and India based on its own Tizen operating system, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The South Korean electronics giant is planning to unveil a handset running the homegrown mobile operating system in the coming weeks at an event in Moscow, sources told the Journal. The launch will occur during an “Unpacked” event, the same format the company uses to unveil its flagship smartphones, a source told the newspaper.
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CNET has contacted Samsung for more information and will update this report when we learn more.
The consumer electronics giant had previously said it expected to launch its first Tizen-based smartphone toward the end of the second quarter.
The upstart operating system is seen as an alternative to the stranglehold that Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS has on the smartphone industry. Samsung and Intel have been spearheading the development of the mobile OS, and Japan’s NTT Docomo has already committed to carry the phones.
The operating system, which is open-source but has Android elements that the company licenses from Google, offers mobile carriers a chance to embrace an open operating system that it can customize to better directly serve its subscribers.
It’s also widely seen as a way for Samsung to distance itself a bit from its reliance on Google and its Android operating system. While Samsung is the No. 1 smartphone maker and Android partner, it still leans heavily on Google for software updates.
