Tizen tablet is a first step for Samsung's Android rival

The first device powered by Samsung's Android-rivalling Tizen software has emerged blinking into the daylight.

Making its debut at Japan's Smartphone & Mobile Expo gathering, the Tizen tablet is built by Systena and is the first public outing for new operating system Tizen.

The as-yet-unnamed tablet sports a 10.1-inch high-definition screen with a 1,920x1,200 resolution. Under the screen is a 1.4GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, supported by 2GB of RAM. It's running version 2.1 of Tizen.

The tablet isn't designed to hit shops, but is aimed instead at developers to build and perfect apps for the untried Tizen platform.

Tizen is an operating system currently being developed by Samsung, having previously been passed round various manufacturers without ever seeing the light of day. Samsung is so committed to Tizen that rumours even suggest the Samsung Galaxy S5 will offer you a choice of either Tizen or Android. More likely the manufacturer will make that choice for you, though.

Why is Samsung so keen to offer an alternative to Android, the software that's made it the biggest phone manufacturer in the world? Because every Android phone Samsung sells is a funnel that takes the money you spend on apps, music or movies and channels it into Google's pocket, that's why.

Samsung wants a piece of that action, so is keen to set up its own alternative. And because Tizen phones avoid paying Google a fee to use Android, they're cheaper for Samsung to sell and are thus perfect for developing markets, where phones need to be cheaper to compete.

Is Samsung onto a winner with Tizen? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook wall.