Android and Tizen will coexist, Samsung insists

Tizen, Samsung's own mobile operating system, will not replace Android on the company's phones, but rather will coexist with it, according to Alvin Kim, principal engineer at Samsung Electronics. 

Speaking at the Samsung Developer’s conference in London, Kim explained that Samsung will focus on Android as it always has, with Tizen developing alongside. Crucially, Kim promised that both platforms "will coexist in the future".

Kim wasn’t willing to explain when the first Tizen-based phones will arrive.

"I expect Tizen will evolve very quickly because of the open-source community," Kim predicted, but declined to comment on exactly when we’ll see the first phones on sale running Tizen, rather than Android, saying only that he hopes "some devices will be given to the market by the end of next year."

Developers won’t have as long to wait however, as a 10-inch tablet, made by Systena, not Samsung, will soon be available for software makers to make all kinds of funky apps for the platform. It has a Full HD display and a quad-core processor, so I’ll be very keen to see how it handles Tizen, which is designed to be much more power-efficient than its Android counterpart.

Tizen is the operating system being developed principally between Samsung and Intel, and is designed to function on various types of technology. Samsung recently showed off its first Tizen-based camera as well as discussing plans for cars sporting Tizen-based in-car entertainment systems. At the developer conference, Kim explained that Tizen will also be seen on TVs, printers, PCs, fridges and wearable devices, although no further details were discussed.

What do you think of Tizen? Is it an exciting prospect or is there no place for another operating system in an already overcrowded market? Pop your thoughts in the comments below or over on our Facebook page.