Samsung has officially announced the Samsung Z, the world's first Tizen-based smartphone. The smartphone will ship with a 4.8-inch 720 display, 2.3-GHz quad-core processor and more.
When Samsung launched its new Gear 2 smart watch, it not only unveiled a follow-up to its Galaxy Gear smart watch, it also sent a message to Google that it was moving ahead with its plans to lessen its dependency on Android. Samsung replaced the original Galaxy Gear's Android OS with Samsung's Tizen platform with its latest wearable.
Samsung has just sent Google an even louder message by introducing the world's first Tizen smartphone, the Samsung Z.
"Samsung is committed to enhancing the mobile experience of consumers with innovation that is both personal and unique to their needs," said DJ Lee, president and head of Samsung's Global Sales & Marketing Office in its mobile communications business.
"The Samsung Z integrates the power and adaptability of the Tizen platform, enabling users to browse the web faster and utilize applications more effectively."
The Samsung Z features a 4.8-inch 1280 x 720 HD Super AMOLED display with a pixel density of 306 pixels per inch (ppi). It's powered by a 2.3 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and 2 GB of RAM. In terms of storage, the smartphone will include 16 GB of internal storage and a microSD expansion slot that will support up to 64 GB microSD cards.
It's packing an 8-megapixel rear camera with autofocus and 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera for selfiies and video chat. Its wireless connectivity options consist of a 4G LTE radio, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 LE (low energy), GPS, NFC, and an IR remote to allow the Samsung Z to be used as a universal remote control. The Samsung Z is running Tizen 2.2.1, which looks and acts like Samsung's TouchWiz UI found on its Android-based Galaxy smartphone and tablets.
Samsung has also included some of the popular features from its flagship Galaxy S5 with its first Tizen smartphone. The Samsung Z will have a built-in heart rate sensor right below its rear camera. The handset will also have a fingerprint scanner embedded in its home button and "Ultra Power Saving Mode," just like the Galaxy S5. When a user enables Ultra Power Saving Mode, the smartphone will turn its display to black and white and turn off any nonessential apps and services to squeeze extra hours out of its battery.
The Samsung Z will go on sale in Russia some time in the third quarter and there wasn't any mention of when it will hit other regions. It's expected to be offered by Sprint in the United States, as the carrier is a major supporter of Samsung's Tizen OS and has already announced it will release Tizen smartphones in the future. We'll keep you posted.
