Image Of Samsung Tizen Smartphone Surfaces On Korean Website

An image claiming to show Samsung’s first smartphone running the Tizen mobile operating system has appeared on Korean website moveplayer.net, ahead of the device’s expected launch at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona next month.

The leaked image depicts the alleged Samsung ZEQ9000, a smartphone with a striking resemblance to the company’s Android-powered Galaxy series.

The handsets  boasts a tile-based user interface, not too dissimilar to Windows Phone and the version of Android shown in pictures claiming to be the unconfirmed Nokia Normandy, as well as icons similar to those featured in previously released screenshots of Tizen.

Samsung Tizen smartphone

Samsung is one of the major backers of the open source Tizen OS and had been expected to launch a smartphone last year, but will now target both developed and developing markets from the spring, with an app store also set to be announced during MWC.

Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo had also wanted to launch a Tizen smartphone before the end of 2012, but recently delayed a planned launch in March, believing that the Japanese smartphone manufacturer was not growing at a sufficient rate to support another platform besides Android and iOS.

Tizen is one of a number of open source operating systems hoping to offer an alternative to the likes of iOS, Android and Windows Phone, with Firefox OS, Sailfish OS and Ubuntu Mobile all in various stages of development.

The Linux Foundation, which oversees the Tizen project’s code, says the main advantage of the operating system is that it is truly open source and manufacturers can make alterations to the interface without affecting compliance and compatibility standards – unlike Android.

Analysts believe that Tizen has the best chance of the four platforms of making an impact on the global smartphone market, partly due to its expected popularity in Asia, thanks to the support of Samsung, Huawei and Fujitsu among others.

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