After biting the dust by launching Bada OS, Samsung in its pursuit for breaking shackles from Android has announced the launch of its first Tizen powered smartphone in India. Priced at Rs.5,700, Samsung Z1 is said to offer faster boot times and longer-lasting battery life. The company which was previously planning to sell Tizen phones in Russia and Japan zeroed down on India perhaps of the market size. Samsung Z1 which appears quite similar to budget Anroid smarphones of Samsung a matte finish on its back and a metallic band covering the sides.
The new move by Samsung to launch Tizen powered smartphones is seen as as an attempt to overcome the challenge to differentiate what it offers with Android-powered devices versus its rivals. Some of the features of new Samsung Z1, Tizen powered smartphones are:
- Tizen OS Version 2.3
- 3.1MP fixed-focus camera, backed by LED flash
- VGA front camera.
- 4 inch (480x800p) screen
- 1.2GHz dual-core A7 processor with 768MB RAM
- 4GB internal storage and supports microSD cards with capacities up to 64GB.
In the looks department, Samsung Z1’s notification panel looks quite similar to that of the one seen in its Android phones, with toggles occupying the top bar. It is followed by music player and notifications. In the app drawer, the top 8 app shortcuts are fixed and, thus, cannot be removed. The users can move the remaining 12 apps (in the 4×3 grid from the bottom) by scrolling it across. Samsung is also providing free access to Bollywood songs and movies for three months via tie-ups with local services Hungama, nexGTv and Box TV for its Z1 smartphones.
