Samsung’s First Tizen Phone May Take on iPhone 5C in October

While the iPhone 5S and budget iPhone 5C may be announced in under a month in September, it’s been rumored that both devices won’t hit stores until October 25th around the same time that Samsung may be launching its next wave of attack on Apple with new devices running the Tizen operating system. Having built a name for itself with its Galaxy line of smartphones, tablets, and phablets, Samsung had partnered with Intel to develop the open-source Tizen OS to compete with Google, but it appears that the rumored October 27th launch date of Tizen may also allow Samsung to try and steal some of the limelight from Apple.

READ: ARM Holdings Should Brace Itself for a Samsung Exit (Editorial)

Though Tizen will be built as an operating system that will scale low-end and high-end devices and everything else including smart appliances and cars, it’s been rumored that Samsung may begin its Tizen voyage with a more modest mid-range device. If this is true, then Tizen may compete squarely against Apple’s rumored budget iPhone 5C, a new mid-range device that’s been rumored to come this fall alongside the premium flagship iPhone 5S.

According to SamMobile, the Tizen handset may launch initially in a few countries, including the U.S. Other launch countries include Japan, France, Russia, and China.

The company will also be hosting a developer conference as well in San Francisco, California. That conference will kick off on October 27th and we’ll likely learn more about Samsung’s Tizen efforts there.

Samsung is betting heavily into Tizen. Though the company has built a name for itself through sales success of Android devices, there have been rumors that there may be a rift between Samsung and Google as Samsung gains more prominence and influence. Coupled with Google now competing in the hardware space with Samsung thanks to the acquisition of Motorola Mobility, Tizen may not only give Samsung a plan B, but would give Samsung more control of the operating system rather than rely on another party. This would allow Samsung to control software updates, hardware release timelines, and influence developers. Samsung had merged it Bada OS into the Tizen project to give the new OS more weight with developers. In addition to these two operating systems, Samsung had managed to emerge as the number two Windows Phone smartphone-maker.