All you need to know about Tizen Operating System

         If you list out operating systems currently exist around, there are numerous. It is quite a complex process to maintain different operating systems for each device like Smartphones, Computers, Watches, Televisions, games, IVI (in-vehicle infotainment) etc. The new era of Electronics is advancing towards simplifying this process. The growing Tizen operating system is aiming towards simplifying user needs. Tizen is a Linux-based operating system whose development is guided by the Technical Steering Group, which is an organization that includes both Samsung and Intel. Also, there is a Tizen Association led by a Board of Directors from Samsung, Intel, Huawei, Fujitsu, NEC, Panasonic, KT Corporation, Sprint Corporation, SK Telecom, Orange, NTT DoCoMo, and Vodafone. Tizen Association decides what needs to be done in the OS whereas the Technical Steering Group determines what code is actually incorporated into the operating system to accomplish those goals.

         Like Android operating system, Tizen operating system is also an open source and one can use Tizen Common base to develop a new profile to meet the memory, processing and power requirements of any device so, we can easily expect it to grow to a next level.

           Tizen is a flexible operating system built from scratch to address the needs of all stakeholders of the mobile and connected device ecosystem, including device manufacturers, mobile operators, application developers and independent software vendors. The best thing about this OS is support for HTML-5. We will discuss more on the significance of HTML-5 support soon. Tizen also provides application development tools based on the JavaScript libraries jQuery and jQuery Mobile.

 

           The Electronics giant, Samsung has shown special interest in Tizen after its attempt to go all alone with mobile operating system Bada could not be successful for various reasons. Samsung has reportedly merged the Bada OS with Tizen in 2013. Samsung has launched few devices like Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch and Samsung Z series smartphones. Z series phones are affordable smartphones available in Indian markets. Samsung is reportedly set to launch Televisions running on Tizen operating system. 

 

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Tizen Operating System Vs Android Operating System:

• Booting –  Tizen is lightweight and offers faster start-up compared to Android.
• Notification bar – Just like devices running Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, there will be a swipe down notification bar on Tizen devices.
• Smoother scrolling – Tizen offers improved scrolling and rendering performance for web browsing.
• Multi-tasking and multi-touch – Multi-tasking and multi-touch gestures are supported just like on Android devices.
• 3D – Tizen will offer 3D window effects with support for apps and games that require advanced 3D graphics.
• 64-bit processors – Tizen version 3 will support 64-bit processors, which is something that Google is working on for its next Android update.

 

Support for HTML 5:

The applications built on Tizen operating system allows developers to use HTML5 and related web technologies to write applications. This is good news for content creators since the platform should allow for shorter development cycles, works intuitively with the web and should lower the cost of making apps. Suppose, if your app is taking content from your site, coding it in HTML5 is a solid way of producing a fast experience, with minimal hassle. A user can experience a great look & feel with smoother access to web applications for phones and tablets. This would build more Hybrid mobile apps which are mostly composed of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. Unlike mobile web apps, which store source files on a server, hybrid mobile apps store HTML, JavaScript, and CSS files locally so, no internet access is required to launch a hybrid mobile app and the user would not understand the difference between two.

 

Development Of Tizen Apps By Samsung:

The good news is that Tizen will support native and web apps just as it did for Bada and existing Bada apps will also be ported over. Gaming apps like Cut the Rope and Gameloft’s Asphalt 7 are already set for the open Tizen Store and give you an idea of the caliber of content you can expect at launch. Back in 2013, Samsung conducted a Tizen app challenge to spread the awareness and it awarded $4 million to the 64 winners who created a both native Tizen apps and HTML5 based applications. Again in 2016, from August 18 to November 21, Samsung has launched a contest with a total amount of US$185,000 worth prizes up for grabs.

Tizen Source Code:

I have already conveyed that Tizen is an open source material and one can easily get its source code and modify it according to their needs to tackle performance, look & feel and various other parameters. The source can be downloaded from the link http://download.tizen.org. Like the Android store, Tizen store is also available and lists the wide variety of apps for Gaming, startups, photo editors etc. You can take a look here http://www.tizenstore.com

 

 

Tizen vs Android Wear:

As Tizen OS can be easily incorporated into multiple devices, Samsung has already launched Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic smartwatches which are built using Tizen OS. According to Samsung Gear S2 can be paired up with smartphones running Android 4.4 and higher with over 1.5GB RAM, iOS 9.0 and later, and smartphones iPhone 5 and newer. However, for iPhone 6S and 6S+ running iOS 10 and later, connection to Gear may be unstable. A big plus in Android Wear’s column is that it is compatible with not only any Android phone running Jelly Bean 4.3 or later but also – in a limited way – iPhones including the 5, 5c, 5s, 6 and 6 Plus if they’re running iOS 8.2 or later. There is a lot more to improve for Tizen to establish cross platform/OS connectivity in order to compete with most widely used Android Operating System.

Android Apps Compatibility

Despite being a new operating system, because of their shared Linux heritage, it should be possible to run Android apps on Tizen devices. The base for bot Android and Tizen is Linux architecture. This would help apps built on Tizen OS to run on Android OS and a compatibility check. From what we can tell, this is possible and it has been claimed that Tizen has something called an “ACL” which means Application Compatibility Layer. Essentially, it allows Android apps to run on Tizen at the same speed as they would be on an Android device. However, you cannot run all Tizen apps on Android.

Future of Tizen Operating System:

The first challenge for Tizen will be to reproduce alternatives to all of the Google services which are integrated into the Android OS and the second one will be developing the Tizen App Store as mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets live or die based upon the wealth of apps available to them. Android App store is the most popular one with a huge number of contributions from app developers.

It feels somewhat obvious to us that Tizen is being auditioned by Samsung in the mobile sector, even if it’s being more readily employed in cameras, smartwatches, and TVs. But the firm has invested money in getting the OS up and running and to increase the cross-platform connectivity so, it stands to reason that we should expect to see further development down the line.

It might be the case that some people do not the way android performs or its features. It could be that Tizen is the low-cost operating system for devices that are aimed at areas where Google doesn’t work well, or just it isn’t allowed. Most of the end users only expect cheaper smartphones with the wide variety of free applications support. So, looking at Samsung’s investment in Tizen and cross-platform use, we can expect a tough competition between Tizen and Android which would definitely benefit end users like us.

Did you like Tizen? Do you want a change in Technology? Your thoughts are most welcome here.