The Linux-based Tizen operating system for mobile devices has officially hit version 2.0, with the relevant source code and SDK now available for devs.
As previously discussed on TG Daily, Tizen can best be described as a highly versatile operating system designed to run HTML 5 apps (and others) on phones, tablets and in-vehicle systems.
Although there aren’t yet any Tizen-powered smartphones or tablets on the open market, Samsung is reportedly working on a number of devices that will be based around the open source OS.
As Liliputing’s Brad Linder notes, the industry heavyweight may be one of the top manufacturers of mobile devices and associated SoCs, but it remains heavily dependent on Google’s Android ecosystem.
In contrast, Tizen is more of a community-driven initiative, and as a major backer and rather influential corporation, Samsung has more input into the direction the software takes during the development process.
“In other words, Samsung can exert much more control over the software that runs on its devices if the company ships phones and tablets with Tizen than it can with Android,” Linder explained.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Samsung is going to ditch Android as its primary OS anytime soon. But the Korean-based company is definitely hedging its bets as of late, and will no doubt be ready to back and ship Tizen-powered devices when they hit the market.
Then again, the real question is how Tizen will be able to (realistically) compete against entrenched ecosystems like Apple’s app store, Google’s app storefront and even a stripped-down web-centric OS like Chrome, which has been increasing in popularity as of late.
