Samsung smartphones are among the best-selling mobile devices on the planet. With an impressive near-25% global market share, the South Korean manufacturer has a major stronghold on the mobile industry and no other company comes close – not even Apple.
But there’s a problem.
Despite being the worldwide leader in the smartphone market, Samsung is the only company among the top five that’s losing ground. And with continued pressure from fast-growing brands like Xiaomi, BLU, and Huawei, Samsung has decided it needs to offer something different.
Their solution is a smartphone unlike any they’ve ever made. One that’s not powered by Android, but by a relatively unknown operating system called Tizen. And while the phone won’t be sold in America (yet), Samsung already has big plans in store for their new OS of choice.
Introducing the Samsung Z1
Samsung launched the Z1 today to millions of potential customers across India. The specs may not be that impressive when compared to Samsung’s flagship devices like the Galaxy Note 4 or Galaxy S5, but with a $92 price tag not many people will complain.
Samsung Z1 Specs
- Network: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, HSDPA 900/2100 MHz
- Display: 4in. WVGA PLS screen
- AP: 1.2GHz Dual Core Processor
- OS: Tizen 2.3
- Camera: Rear: 3.1MP / Front: VGA
- Camera Features: Auto Face Detect Feature, Dream Shot
- Video: MP4, M4V, 3GP, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV
- Audio: MP3, 4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, AMR, AWB, FLAC
- Additional Features: Ultra Power Saving Mode, Private Mode, Send Help Message, Security
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n / Bluetooth® 4.1 / USB 2.0 / GPS
- Sensor: Accelerometer
- Memory: 4GB Internal memory + micro SD slot (up to 64GB) / 768MB RAM
- Dimension, Weight: 120.4 x 63.2 x 9.7mm, 112g
- Battery: 1500 mAh
Samsung claims high-end specs are not necessary to provide a superior smartphone experience on the Z1 because Tizen is an extremely lightweight platform. And because the OS requires less processing power and memory than Android, it’s able to provide fast device speeds while consuming less power. For these reasons and more, Samsung believes the Z1 will become a go-to device for Indian consumers who seek entertainment.
“The smartphone market in India is rapidly evolving, with many consumers using their device as their screen of choice for content including videos, television programs and video games, as well as a range of apps. We have customized the Samsung Z1 to meet these unique, entertainment-focused needs of local Indian consumers for a personal and reliable mobile experience.”
– Mr. Hyun Chil Hong, President and CEO, Samsung India Electronics
Samsung wants to provide Z1 owners with a plethora of free entertainment options that includes music, movies, videos, television, and radio. To accomplish this the company is launching an entertainment package called ‘Joy Box’ that will give consumers free access to premium content available on Club Samsung.
Free Content Includes
- Over 270,000 songs available for streaming or downloading
- 80 live TV channels
- Three month access to 2 million Bollywood songs (via Hungama.com)
- Three month access to 7,000 Bollywood movies (via Hungama.com)
All this free content is an incredible value and Samsung is confident the Z1 will succeed largely because of Tizen. And if you watched CEO BK Yoon’s announcement last week at CES 2015, you also know he has much bigger plans for Tizen than just Indian smartphones.
Tizen Will Be the OS of Everything
Samsung doesn’t plan to abandon Android completely but claims Tizen will help them have every Samsung device connected to the Internet of Things in five years. That’s a lot of devices in a short amount of time when you consider Samsung sold over 665 million of them in 2014 alone. It’s also good news for Tizen who is already powering several of Samsung’s electronics.
Tizen is currently featured inside many Samsung wearables, cameras, appliances, and Smart TV’s. This makes a lot of sense because these devices function much better when they consume less computing power. Now that the OS is featured inside smartphones, it’s only a matter of time before every Samsung device we own is harmoniously synced with each other.
The Internet of Things is rapidly becoming “the Internet.” Having a myriad of gadgets connected to each other will not only be the way we interact with the World Wide Web, but also the way we interact with each other.
Samsung’s allegiance to Tizen proves it.
Tizen isn’t much different from Android. The two operating systems are similar in that they are open source and reside within the Linux foundation. Tizen also has many different profiles like Android that include Tizen IVI (in-vehicle infotainment), Tizen Mobile, Tizen TV, and Tizen Wearable. But unlike Android, Tizen encourages developers to write apps in HTML 5 instead of Java. The end result is a stable OS that’s fast and lightweight without sacrificing performance.
Tizen may not replace Android in terms of popularity, but it’s clear Samsung is trying to separate their devices from the competition. And if that means installing an OS that doesn’t require high-end hardware and results in cheaper products, then that idea may just work.
What do you think? Will Tizen help Samsung better connect the Internet of Things? Let us know in the comments below!
