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Samsung's first Tizen phone shows off Galaxy style in leaked snap

The first Tizen phone, the Samsung ZEQ9000 or Zeke mixes a hint of Galaxy, a dash of Android and a soupçon of Windows Phone.

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
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Richard Trenholm
2 min read

Is this the phone to tempt you away from Android? Say hello to the first Tizen phone, the Samsung ZEQ9000 -- also said to be known as the Zeke -- which mixes a hint of Galaxy, a dash of Android and a soupçon of Windows Phone.

The leaked snap comes courtesy of Korean site moveplayer.net, complete with a few provisional specs. Word on the street is that the 4.8-inch phone boasts a 720p screen with a 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor underneath.

Although it's set to be the first phone showing off the new operating system backed by Samsung and Intel, it's also suspiciously familiar-looking. The phone itself looks very much like the rest of Samsung's Galaxy line-up, while the large square tile widgets of the interface strongly echo the look of Microsoft's Windows Phone.

As an aside, Samsung isn't the only one leaning towards the Windows way of thinking: leaked snaps of Nokia's rumoured Nokia X suggest it will customise Android to look more like Windows Phone's live tiles than Google's native look.

The first Tizen phone was set to launch in March on Japanese network NTT Docomo, but the network has decided "The market is not big enough to support three operating systems at this time." But Tizen is still expected to take its first steps into the spotlight in a month at Mobile World Congress, the annual industry extravaganza where phone companies show off their wares for the year. CNET will at MWC mob-handed to bring you all the news, previews, videos and hands-on first impressions you need to know about.

Can Tizen compete with Android, or is Samsung stuck with Google's software? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.