Tizen Phone Launches in India [Not a Question]

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7

Tizen Phone Launches in India [Not a Question]

asked 2015-01-14 20:44:59 +0300

sifartech
6679 ●104 ●126 ●123

updated 2015-02-12 10:29:37 +0300

I am really excited that another non-android OS based phone is being launched today in India - Samsung Launches Its First Tizen-Powered Phone, The Z1, In India For $92. (See phone specs and features; another interesting read here - Samsung's plan for Tizen). Two suggestions for Jolla:

Port Sailfish OS to the Z1. Tizen buyers will be mobile users who are looking for non-android OS and so the ideal target customers for Jolla too. And they may not hesitate to experiment with Sailfish OS on their Z1.
The Tizen ecosystem, like Sailfish OS's, is still in its infacy. But since a giant like Samsung is behind it, mobile developers will pay serious attention to it. As such, the Jolla team should try to target Tizen's developers and motivate them to create apps for Sailfish OS too. (Samsung has also made a bold decision in NOT providing "android compatibility" - thus, only native apps will run on Tizen!).

I hope this competitive pressure will bring forth the best in the Jolla team, and you continue to innovate and make smarter business decisions.

Update - Samsung Tizen store already has 1000+ apps including popular in-demand ones like Facebook, YouTube, Whatsapp etc. On another note, Jolla should also take note of how Samsung kept local needs in mind when launching the phone - e.g., dual-sim feature which are quite popular in India and China.

Update 2: Hands-on reviews are coming in and they all say that Tizen runs smooth on its 'underwhelming' hardware. One of the reviews mentioned that Whatsapp runs on a 'compatibility layer', so it appears to be in contradiction to Samsung's claim that the Z1 won't support Android apps.

In our use, we did not experience any lag or stutter while navigating between the home screens, app launcher pages and opening and switching between apps. Although the phone may seem to be underpowered judging merely by specifications, we feel that Samsung has optimized the OS to run smoothly on the phone ... We also spotted WhatsApp messenger which is an ACL (Application Compatibilty Layer) app. This means that the phone will be able to run select Android apps using emulation. - First impressions: Samsung Z1, the first Tizen smartphone

Z1 and Tizen is Samsung’s alternative to the dominance of Google. And yet you feel that by keeping this as a budget phone with bare minimum specs, Samsung hasn’t really given the Z1 the backing it needs. There’s no doubt that it’s a pretty zippy OS given how smoothly it functioned for us in the demo zone, but the lack of apps and features on the phone don’t really do it much justice. - Tizen Z1 first impressions: Samsung smartphone aimed at first-time buyers

Update 3 - Samsung reports sales of 50,000+ Z1 so far; will be making the phones in India; have decided to launch it next in Bangladesh.

Update 4 - Launched in Bangladesh; 20,000 Z1 sold in the first week.

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2

Maybe not on the device port front, but with Tizen being a Linux/Wayland/SystemD/Qt/Ofono/Connman based operating system, we may be able to easily port any open source Tizen native apps to SailfishOS.

r0kk3rz ( 2015-01-15 13:24:59 +0300 )edit

"Samsung has also made a bold decision in NOT providing "android compatibility" - thus, only native apps will run on Tizen! "

Not true. Tizen (at least on the Z1) comes with OpenMobile's ACL specifically to allow Android apps to run because of the dearth of native Tizen apps. (well, looks like you have to download it actually)

strongm ( 2015-01-15 15:22:45 +0300 )edit

@strongm - From the article I linked to, Samsung seems to have made it pretty clear that the phone will not have any such 'android support' or 'android layer' pre-built. And I am guessing you will be able to install only from the official 'app store' ... so, NO, android support will not be available.

sifartech ( 2015-01-15 19:03:46 +0300 )edit

1

Looked breifly at the tizen SDK, eclipse based, ugh. And the OS itself looks like shite to me. Sailfish looks much better, more thought through and has an SDK/IDE that is totally awesome. Qt with Qt-Creator is absolutely unbeatable. I don't see any future in that Samsung crap, they start out with a low-end device that is much less capable than the Jolla 1. Only thing that was good about it was the dual sim.

Larswad ( 2015-01-19 12:42:37 +0300 )edit

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@Larswad - The development environment might not appeal to you out of your personal preference. I get that. The rest of what you said is however out of ignorance. You say the same thing what my friends tell about my Jolla when they compare the specs with their phone. Naturally, the Jolla does pale in comparison to the latest quad-core or octa-core phones of today. But Sailfish runs great and smooth on the provided hardware, so from a user experience point of view it doesn't matter. The Tizen too runs great on the Z1 hardware. Secondly, the target market of India and China is over 100+ million mobile users (and that's a conservative estimate). And not everyone can afford a US$100+ phone. The hardware of Z1 at that price (<$100) isn't bad. Now, if the Z1 manages to sell to even 0.5% of the 100+ million target base (in India and China), they would not only make a profit but have a user base of 500,000+ Tizen users on the Z1. That's a good strategy ...

sifartech ( 2015-01-19 18:32:11 +0300 )edit

Maybe not on the device port front, but with Tizen being a Linux/Wayland/SystemD/Qt/Ofono/Connman based operating system, we may be able to easily port any open source Tizen native apps to SailfishOS.
r0kk3rz ( 2015-01-15 13:24:59 +0300 )edit
"Samsung has also made a bold decision in NOT providing "android compatibility" - thus, only native apps will run on Tizen! "
Not true. Tizen (at least on the Z1) comes with OpenMobile's ACL specifically to allow Android apps to run because of the dearth of native Tizen apps. (well, looks like you have to download it actually)
strongm ( 2015-01-15 15:22:45 +0300 )edit
@strongm - From the article I linked to, Samsung seems to have made it pretty clear that the phone will not have any such 'android support' or 'android layer' pre-built. And I am guessing you will be able to install only from the official 'app store' ... so, NO, android support will not be available.
sifartech ( 2015-01-15 19:03:46 +0300 )edit
Looked breifly at the tizen SDK, eclipse based, ugh. And the OS itself looks like shite to me. Sailfish looks much better, more thought through and has an SDK/IDE that is totally awesome. Qt with Qt-Creator is absolutely unbeatable. I don't see any future in that Samsung crap, they start out with a low-end device that is much less capable than the Jolla 1. Only thing that was good about it was the dual sim.
Larswad ( 2015-01-19 12:42:37 +0300 )edit
@Larswad - The development environment might not appeal to you out of your personal preference. I get that. The rest of what you said is however out of ignorance. You say the same thing what my friends tell about my Jolla when they compare the specs with their phone. Naturally, the Jolla does pale in comparison to the latest quad-core or octa-core phones of today. But Sailfish runs great and smooth on the provided hardware, so from a user experience point of view it doesn't matter. The Tizen too runs great on the Z1 hardware. Secondly, the target market of India and China is over 100+ million mobile users (and that's a conservative estimate). And not everyone can afford a US$100+ phone. The hardware of Z1 at that price (<$100) isn't bad. Now, if the Z1 manages to sell to even 0.5% of the 100+ million target base (in India and China), they would not only make a profit but have a user base of 500,000+ Tizen users on the Z1. That's a good strategy ...
sifartech ( 2015-01-19 18:32:11 +0300 )edit

Answer 1

8

answered 2015-01-20 00:31:04 +0300

M.Bln.
4289 ●76 ●117 ●113

I would like to see that Jolla and Samsung can develop standards for apps to run on both plattforms. Tizen and SailfishOS share a common history from maemo/meego.

So beside GUI-technics this should help to use the same system technics/functions in apps. Just as the freedesktop.org-project Jolla and Samsung may support a "freeapp.org"-project.

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2

That sounds like a really good idea - a partnership between Jolla and Samsung to provide a common developer environment for Tizen and Sailfish, while each still keeping their 'uniqueness' ... But I doubt if Samsung would be interested ... or even Jolla, for that matter ...

sifartech ( 2015-01-20 00:38:26 +0300 )edit

Answer 2

2

answered 2015-01-15 12:03:28 +0300

Okw

4369 ●53 ●62 ●69

updated 2015-01-15 12:08:22 +0300

I wouldn't be too keen about something with "a giant like Samsung behind it". I'm not familiar with the background of Tizen, but I assume their Tizen devices are designed to run Tizen and that's how they will try to keep it by all means. As they are not an openly open platform I don't really see where would Jolla or SailfishOS step in in this picture.

Make an unofficial port of SailfishOS for Tizen devices so that Tizen-oriented people can switch over to it and forget about Tizen? I don't really see that happening...

Afterall, the Z1 with its entry level specs doesn't appeal as a device. If porting was the way to go I'd choose some flagship models to put the tremendous porting effort into.

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Also, these topics are not strictly in purview of TJC..For Sailfish portingto non-jolla devices, forums like xda is better place i suppose

anandrkris ( 2015-01-15 13:14:27 +0300 )edit

Guess it will depend on Jolla's strategy - if they wish to target the India and China market they will also have to target various price-points. Tizen is attractivly priced. And for that specs the price is right. And since Jolla too tauts low hardware requirements as one of Sailfish's advantages over Android, like Tizen does, this port could highlight that too.

sifartech ( 2015-01-15 15:03:40 +0300 )edit

There was Samsung Z before Z1. It's much more powerful and was first released in... Russia.

BloodyFoxy ( 2015-01-21 17:49:00 +0300 )edit

@BloodyFoxy - I don't think it was released though. Anyway, my point is that I didn't buy the Jolla for its spec (though I did consider it when evaluating its price) but for Sailfish OS. Though others keep complaining here about their Jolla being underpowered, I have faced no such issues so far and it has surpassed my expectations. One of my friend too commented that he was quite impressed with the phones smooth responsiveness. I'll be getting a Z1 too for trying out Tizen, now that I know it runs great on the provided hardware.

sifartech ( 2015-01-22 04:48:00 +0300 )edit

@sifartech Samsung Z was released but in limited quantity. Z1 is a good and cheap phone to try Tizen and it works smooth as Sailfish on Jolla. I'd like to get Z1 for OS test but I already have lots of phones and it's price isn't so cheap now for Russia because of our national currency. I can install Tizen on my PC or ODROID U3 though.

BloodyFoxy ( 2015-01-22 12:29:38 +0300 )edit

Answer 3

0

answered 2015-01-14 21:15:59 +0300

devin
76 ●1 ●2 ●5

updated 2015-01-14 21:17:57 +0300

tizen can run android apps with Application Compatibility Layer (ACL) created by OpenMobile http://www.openmobileww.com/#!acl/c1o3z you can also use Polaris App Generator (PAG) that allows Android applications to run on non-Android platforms including Tizen. It enables games and applications converted to Tizen, with the extension .tpk, to smoothly operate on diverse devices using the Tizen operating system http://pag.polarismobile.com/

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The Polaris App Generator sounds really interesting, Thanks for the info. But I do hope that people don't install such "android compatibility layer" (like openmobile's) - only then can we be totally free of Android.

sifartech ( 2015-01-14 21:37:29 +0300 )edit

1

Seems that no mobile OS or company is strong and bold and unlike enough to not get infected and poisoned by droid-ware ;)

foss4ever ( 2015-01-14 22:37:25 +0300 )edit

5

So what information is correct? You say they can run Android apps through compatibility layer when the updated news on Techcrunch article say you cannot?

Samsung did, however, confirm that reports suggesting that the Z1 could use Android apps were incorrect.

“Both Android and iOS apps must have their codes re-written to run on Tizen devices,” a spokesperson said.

avhakola ( 2015-01-14 23:17:05 +0300 )edit

2

There's nothing wrong with .apk apps per se, is there? It's Android itself, and all the Google stuff that worries me.

bilgy_no1 ( 2015-01-14 23:17:33 +0300 )edit

3

@bilgy_no1, the problem with .apk apps is the developers don't feel like they need to port their app to other ecosystems because they can run the Android version of the software and that leaves rest of us reliant on compatibility layers and lack of native apps.

avhakola ( 2015-01-14 23:20:23 +0300 )edit

Tizen Phone Launches in India [Not a Question]

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