The game is afoot.
The number one manufacturer of Android handsets is now taking a stab at releasing a phone with their own operating system. We’ve been hearing about Tizen for a while now, and it made its first commercial appearance on the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo smartwatches. Now Sammy thinks it’s ready for the big time.
The Samsung Z is an upper mid-range phone sporting a 4.8″ 720p display, powered by a 2.3GHz quad core processor. 2GB of RAM will be on board, and the normal split of 16GB and 32GB storage options will be available, backed up by a MicroSD card reader for expansion. An 8MP camera is on the back, and the whole affair is juiced by a 2600mAh battery.
For a first phone, Samsung is packing in a surprising number of high end features from their Galaxy line. IR Blaster for universal remote control function, finger print scanner, NFC, Heart Rate Sensor with S-Health, and the Downoad Booster which uses WiFi and LTE to improve data speeds.
Samsung Android phones are a heavily customized experience, with a number of services built directly by the manufacturer. It’s clear that Sammy believes a “Touchwiz” phone can stand on its own regardless of what OS lives underneath the candy color UI.
We’ll have to see how developers embrace the platform, and what apps will be available as we can be pretty sure that some core Google services like Maps, will likely not be found on this phone. Samsung will be releasing the Z in Russia during Q3 of this year with pricing info to follow soon.
Would a “pure” Samsung device interest you? Can any company launch a new OS in this maturing smartphone market? Drop us a comment below!
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