Tizen: It’s not just for Samsung and Intel anymore. The developers of the open source Tizen operating system have launched a new partner program, and the 36 initial partners are made of hardware and software companies committed to working with the new OS.
Partners include app and game makers such as TuneIn Radio, The Weather Channel, KONAMI and McAfee, as well as software and service companies such as HERE (Nokia’s Mapping business), OpenMobile, and eBay.
There are also a few hardware companies including Panasonic, Sharp, and Systena. That doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll see a Sharp smartphone running Tizen and featuring eBay, TuneIn, and Weather Channel apps anytime soon — but it looks like these partners are at least exploring the option of working with the new platform.
You can find the full list of new partners in the Tizen Association’s official launch announcement.
Partners get to join Tizen Association working groups and sit in on meetings, which may not sound too exciting — but it should help them build devices and services designed to support the operating system.
With Android, iOS, and to a lesser degree BlackBerry and Windows Phone dominating the mobile space at the moment, alternatives such as Tizen, Ubuntu Touch, and Sailfish could have a tough time grabbing market share. But it’s probably not a good idea to bet against any project that’s strongly backed by major players including Intel and Samsung.
This is quite intriguing. Thanks to Samsung’s Touchwiz, transition from Android could be surprisingly smooth…