Samsung unveils first Tizen smartphone ahead of launch

James Delahunty
2 Jun 2014 7:09

Samsung has launched the Samsung Z Tizen smartphone ahead of the Tizen Developer Conference to be held in San Francisco from Wednesday, June 3.
The Z packs a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display (1280 x 720), a fingerprint censor and will be available in Black and Gold. Under the hood, it houses a 2.3GHz Quad Core application processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB internal memory which is expandable to 64GB via microSD.

An 8MP camera can be found on the read, and a 2.1MP on the front.
Of course the most notable thing about the device is on the software side. The Samsung Z will be the first commercially available smartphone running the Tizen (v 2.2.1) operating system, which Samsung promises delivers a fast, optimal performance with improved memory management compared to Android.

Tizen boots faster than Android devices (apparently), and also delivers immediate multi-tasking capabilities.

The OS has made an appearance in Samsung's Galaxy Gear devices, but has struggled to make an appearance in smartphones after NTT Docomo in Japan cancelled plans to launch a Tizen device earlier this year, while France's Orange carrier also hit the brakes on a Tizen launch.

Samsung was expected to focus only on emerging markets at first with Tizen smartphones before launching a handset in the United States or Europe, and it has stuck to that strategy with the Samsung Z, which will launch in Russia in Q3 before entering other territories. India is probably the next likely landing zone for the Tizen handset.