Samsung’s Tizen Store Goes Global

[Alex]

Unless you live in India or Bangladesh, you can’t actually get your hands on a smartphone running Tizen, Samsung Electronics Co.’s homegrown alternative to the Android mobile operating system.

 

But starting this week, Samsung is throwing the doors of the Tizen app store open to most countries around the world.

The unusual worldwide launch of the Tizen Store suggests that the South Korean company has broader ambitions beyond India and Bangladesh, where the first Tizen phone has shown some initial signs of traction, according to people familiar with the matter.

 

That handset, a basic offering called the Samsung Z1, has been on sale since January for less than $100, and is aimed at users who may not even have a bank account.

 

But from the get-go, Samsung has been eyeing Tizen smartphone launches in other countries across Asia, part of a broader effort to help the fledgling operating system gain momentum.

 

Samsung has already released six smartwatches, four of them powered by Tizen. Earlier this year, Samsung’s co-chief executive B.K. Yoon said in an interview that every connected television manufactured by Samsung would run Tizen.

 

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/04/30/samsungs-tizen-store-goes-global/