Samsung is looking to give its open-source Tizen ecosystem a push. In a bid to popularize the platform, the electronics company has announced that its new lineup of Smart TVs for 2015 will all operate on Tizen.
On Thursday, Dec. 31, Samsung revealed its impending plans for the Tizen platform. The announcement comes ahead of the International CES 2015, which kicks off in Las Vegas on Jan. 6. The company will unveil the first-ever Tizen-powered Smart TVs at the event. Samsung has previously demonstrated the Tizen-powered TVs at developer conferences in 2014.
With the new Tizen-based Smart TVs ready to take over the consumer market in 2015, users will be able to sync them with other Samsung gadgets that also deploy the open-source OS from the company.
"Building our Smart Platform around Tizen is a groundbreaking step towards a much more intelligent and integrated system," said Won Jin Lee, executive vice president of Samsung's Visual Display Business. "Tizen not only enriches the entertainment experience for our customers today, but unlocks great potential for the future in home entertainment."
Despite the platform being around since 2012, Samsung only has a handful of products that run on Tizen, including cameras, tablets and smart watches. The NX300M smart camera from the company was the first-ever consumer product to run on the OS.
The electronics maker is also expected to release the Tizen-powered smartphone Samsung Z1, whose launch has been delayed several times, in January 2015.
Samsung's focus on Tizen is seen as a move to free itself from its dependence on Google's Android platform and channel its own ecosystem effectively, similar to what Apple has done with the iOS.
While the commercial viability of the platform remains a big question, Samsung would be able to create a user base for Tizen with the launch of the new Smart TVs.
Samsung's president of visual display Kim Hyung-suk revealed that the company is channeling all its efforts toward promoting Tizen now. It is hoping that other TV manufacturers will also embrace its Tizen platform and help in the growth of the burgeoning ecosystem.
