Samsung readies its first Tizen smartphone for launch in India

Electronics giant Samsung is set to unveil its first Tizen OS-based smartphone, the Z1, in India on Dec 10. The device is expected to be priced below $100, so as to compete with Android One devices in the market, reports Reuters.

After having announced plans to launch Tizen-powered smartphones back in 2013, earlier this year in April and more recently in Russia last quarter, it seems like Samsung is finally ready to bring the new OS in all its glory to the masses, packaged in a low-priced mobile device. Tizen is Samsung’s own open-source operating system, that’s built on Linux with multiple profiles to work with mobile devices, TVs, wearables and vehicles. It’s already available on Samsung’s Gear smartwatches.

Specs for the Z1 haven’t been released yet. However, given its price point and the competition it’s up against in the form of Android One devices from Spice, Karbonn and Micromax, it will likely feature a sub-5 inch screen, 1.3-1.6 GHz quad-core processor, up to 1GB RAM and a 5 megapixel camera.

Additionally, the Tizen device slated to launch in Russia this year was delayed because Samsung wanted to bolster the cocsystem behind the OS — so maybe we’ll also seem some quality apps and services on board too. We’ll have to wait until next week to find out what Samsung really has up its sleeve.