Samsung finally manages to push a Tizen phone out of the door like an unwanted stepchild
It was almost exactly half a year ago when Samsung announced the Tizen-based Z and I questioned whether it was the beginning of the end for their Android efforts. It seemed unlikely they’d stray from their hugely successful Galaxy line, sure, but we’ve always heard murmurings that they want to get away from Android. We’ve seen strong evidence of that in their hesitance to embrace Android Wear for their smart watches, or Android TV for their smart television sets.
But shortly after announcement the company decided to pull the plug on the first official Tizen phone, and it seemed all but sure they were going to retire it for mobile purposes and use it for other areas of smart technology. That changes today.
The company has officially announced the Samsung Z1, and on the same day it was announced it was put on sale in India. Folks in that country can grab one for Rs. 5,700 (about $91), and its specs sheet is every bit as disappointing as that price tag would make you assume:
- 4-inch WVGA display
- 1.2GHz dual-core processor
- 768MB of RAM
- 3.1 megapixel camera, VGA front camera
- Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, WiFi and 3G
- 1,500mAh battery
- Did we mention it runs Tizen?
So that’s Samsung’s first Tizen phone. Their first attempt at breaking away from Android was much scarier, but if this is what Tizen has been relegated to in the early going we’d say there’s little reason to think Samsung is going to abandon their tried and true Android-driven formula anytime soon.
[via Samsung]