Samsung Z: Company's First Tizen OS Powered Smartphone Unveiled

South Korean technology giant, Samsung Electronics unveiled the company's first proprietary Tizen OS powered smartphone Samsung Z on Monday (2 June).

"Samsung is committed to enhancing the mobile experience of consumers with innovation that is both personal and unique to their needs," said DJ Lee, President and Head of Global Sales & Marketing Office, Mobile Communications Business, Samsung Electronics.

"The Samsung Z integrates the power and adaptability of the Tizen platform, enabling users to browse the web faster and utilize applications more effectively," he added.

The new Tizen OS powered Samsung device sports 4.8-inch super AMOLED HD (1280x720p) screen and ships with 2.3GHz quad-core processor (most probably Snapdragon 800 series). It is backed by 2GB RAM and 16GB inbuilt storage (expandable up to 64GB).

The Samsung device also boasts of finger-print sensor and ultra power saving mode, Health S 3.0 applications as seen inside the company's current flagship smartphone Galaxy S5.

Other stipulated specifications include 8.0-megapixel main camera, 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera for video chatting and boast of latest wireless data transfer technology such as LTE (Category 4) with 150/50mbps download/upload speed, Bluetooth v4.0, Wi-Fi (802.1 a/b/g/n HT40) with MIMO (2x2), NFC, IR Remote control and more.

Company says that the Samsung Z will first hit the Russian market in Q3 and later in other markets. Since the new Tizen OS is very new to the markets, the ecosystem is quite dry with limited applications. To boost the number of apps, company will be hosting app challenge programs to software developers in Russia and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) regions during the local launch of Samsung Z.

Samsung is already the world's biggest Android smartphone maker by a large margin, now with the launch of company's own Tizen OS based device, the South Korean firm has begun a process of moving away from Google OS;  this to be a brave step by the company to attain self-dependence, but it remains to be seen how public would receive the new OS.

Many believe Samsung's effort to first introduce the Tizen smartphones in the Russian market is a well thought strategy, It will be more easier for Samsung to launch in Soviet Union than introducing it in someplace like the US or Japan. The Russian market is not as carrier dependent as other mature phone markets. Many wireless companies such as Sprint, Orange, and Vodafone , which are already a part of the Tizen Association, reported CNET.

Key Specifications of Samsung Z:

 [Image credit: Samsung Mobile Press]