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A Different Kind of Linux Smartphone: Samsung To Sell Tizen-Based Model Z
As The Next Web reports, Samsung is finally bringing to market (in Russia, to start) a phone, the Samzung Z, running the Tizen OS. Like Android, Tizen is based on the Linux kernel, but it's intended for HTML5 apps rather than Android apps. It's not Samsung's first Tizen device, though; the second-generation of its Gear smart-watches are running Tizen as well. "Samsung earlier revealed plans for its first Tizen smartphones to be launched during its second quarter of business in 2014, which runs April to July, so it seems like smartphones other than Samsung Z could still be on their way. The Samsung executive said that Tizen devices could account for as much as 15 percent of Samsung’s mobile shipments per year, but Android will still be its main business."
how hackable?
We need a good Replicant based Linux distribution that lets users replace their spyware laden operator's distro with a privacy perserving os that does everything a linux box can.
http://www.replicant.us/
Buy an iPhone, the thing they are copying
If this thingy got Android emulation/virtualisation/whatever layer - may be its time for me to refresh my java script skills.
Idea of programming apps for my phone is really intriguing, especially if i can get access to hardware!
Nothing fancy so far.
The Hurd-based GNUphone looks like a brick, feels like a brick, and is a brick. Sure you can talk into it, and everyone can call you on it, but they only call you crazy.
I used to like Samsung and its Android phone products. In fact, I owned the galaxy series S, S2 and S3. I skipped the S4 and really didn't see the point of the S5. These phones in my opinion, were just overpriced! I am now looking at getting the One Plus One.
As someone who watched the 'community process' of the maemo/meego get ignored and decisions regarding the base OS/packaging system forces through by corporate/political types I'm glad to see at least one company producing a debian based phone.
Access to the OS for C application development outside a VM, EFL/enlightenment as the native application toolkit and access to a QT port.
HTML5 after that seems like an an necessary afterthought but at least your not running in a VM.
No Soviet Russia joke yet? What's wrong with Slashdot these days?
Does it have a physical keyboard?
So far, every attempt at producing a smartphone leads the people involved to believe that they willl be DIFFERENT and they will be able to make a phone which doesn't suck without native apps. So fat everyone else has learned the lesson eventually. Android learned it. Apple learned it. Microsoft have learned it. And the Tizen people will need to learn it to have any chance of success.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
Its rpm based.
Samsung worked with Intel to develop the Linux-based Tizen platform which is open-sourced Ã" meaning hardware manufacturers that adopt it can freely tinker with the interface.
This smartphone has launched with differentiated design some how similar to sony'ish square shaped with curved sides.
Intense competition in tech industry have made difficulties in innovative products and every single company even Chinese have made effort to try out in manufacturing new devices...what they are doing is coming up new device with little change like the series of advancement in APPL and Samsung with bigger screen and little added features in it..i think innovative part has disrupted everything in this battle to go first position.
One problem with the last Samsung android phone I had was all the Samsung crap on it. Surely their own OS will be even worse ? Or maybe they plan to create a rival ecosystem to the google one (maps, mail, calendar, drive, now, their own chromebooks). Hmmm
Will it be a spy phone like android and iPhones?
Or will the device owner be in control?
Cute timing - earlier today saw Jolla talk about pricecuts :)
I just want a real open source phone OS (Android doesn't count because it's practically useless without the Google adware/spyware). One that's not anti-consumer, doesn't spy on you, try to get you to buy things from its app store, doesn't treat the users like morons (hello iOS!) etc. Basically like Linux is on the desktop. I'd gladly PAY a bit extra for this, 10 or 20 bucks (they can't make that much more off me from sell my data, and I don't buy from app stores anyway, so that's a good deal on their part).
Anyone who's used Samsung software knows it's a steaming pile of shit (touchwiz anyone). They need to stick to what their good at... Hardware.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Resistance is futile, we are Microsoft, Oh wait, sorry, we are Samsung! I want to be ruled by foreign governments.
Does it really matter that it is a Tizen phone?
As an Android/iOS developer I would just keep developing Android specific apps and use the Application Compatibility Layer (basically just run the Dalvik/Clone VM on the Tizen device - assuming it wasn't like $5k to port over every android app).
But seriously, if it becomes cheap to port over Android apps through the ACL and their Tizen ecosystem gets swamped with a ridiculous amount of Android apps.... does it even matter that the underlying is Tizen anymore?
(Also I was a little annoyed that in Tizen you have to do Two Phase Object Construction, even the c++ is non-standard to some extent)
Can someone please tell me, just what are these mysterious Google applications that they think Android just can't be used without? And if you think you can supply these applications on another platform, are you really sure it can't be done for Android -- that Android is the one OS in the history of civilization that good apps simply can't ever be written for, or ported to?
The only Google application I've found that I just can't live without on Android, is Maps. And there actually are other competing maps applications; I just don't think they're nearly as nice as Google's.
Beyond that, I can't think of a single part of Android, where I would really miss Google's adware/spyware. I think a Google-free Android is pretty damn achievable, and all we need is a slicker map app than a lot of the OSM stuff I've seen.
What Google adware app are you thinking of, that you simply wouldn't be able to live without? Because I'm drawing a total blank.
Please, it can't be Chrome, can it? That's a decent web browser (I happen to use it), but there are others (e.g. Firefox) that are just as good.
Beyond that..
Yes, I agree with you. Something like this would be vastly preferable to Android. I'm merely saying that doing Android without the adware isn't really all that far-fetched, and what you'd end up with, would be far from "practically useless." It simply wouldn't be in the same league of non-suckiness as desktop Linux. But, hey, all the popular mobile OSes are like that. You might not be happy, but at least you can share the same misery as the iOS/MacOS guys, and comradery is worth something.
Unfortunately, it's going to cost over 9000$!!!
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
Tizen can run Android apps with third party software installed. They are not emulated and run natively I believe.
Have you considered a Jolla phone? I know it is not fully open but they are a decent bunch and when the WiFi UI didn't want to connect to a network, I opened a terminal and manually created a config and the WiFi UI picked that up and connected just fine. If you look around at what they do it mostly seems like "Q: Why is library X missing? A: Well, work it in upstream into Mer or Nemo and we will merge it"
I can understand why someone would want that stuff, but would the same person who is concerned about "Google adware/spyware" ever want that stuff? If you are ok with sending that data to Google (no wait, not just ok with it, but if you want to store that data at Google) then why the hell are you against Google spyware? If you want Google Play and a bunch of other dubious unauditable proprietary software, all of which is just as dangerous as Google apps except less scrutinized, then what's the problem with Google?
Strangely, you even mentioned Angry Birds, of all games. I feel like you're going out of your way to present a weird, inconsistent situation that describes no type of user's niche. That's like someone who smokes two packs a day saying he is scared to eat bananas because he read they give you cancer.
Pick a position! Are you passionate about security or apathetic? Seriously, I can't tell. I'm not even saying a side is wrong, but you're cherry picking as though you're you're an anarchist nazi, or a hippie capitalist, or drunk prohibitionist, or Victorian pornstar, or religious fundamentalist scientist. WTF?
If my other samsung devices are anything to go by, the ux will be hopelessly complicated and nothing like a user wants to use :P
Access to the OS for C application development outside a VM, EFL/enlightenment as the native application toolkit and access to a QT port.
Maybe you should read the developer documentation. Qt and EFL got replaced by the Bada C++ native framework.