Meet Tizen, son of LiMo, the latest mobile device operating system

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 29 September 2011 11:10

Business IT - Technology

The LiMo and Linux Foundations have announced plans for another Linux based mobile device platform, one that will support smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, netbooks and in-vehicle infotainment systems.

Initial release of the new platform, Tizen is targeted for Q1 2012. This, they say will enable the first devices to come to market in mid-2012.

Tizen, they say, "combines the best open source technologies from LiMo and The Linux Foundation and adds a robust and flexible standards-based HTML5 and WAC web development environment within which device-independent applications can be produced efficiently for unconstrained cross-platform deployment. [leveraging] the robustness and flexibility of HTML5 which is rapidly emerging as a preferred application environment for mobile applications and the broad carrier support of the Wholesale Applications Community (WAC)."

Tizen is claimed to embody "a state-of-the-art reference user interface enabling the creation of highly attractive and innovative user experience that can be further customised by operators and manufacturers."

The two foundations claim that: "The mobile industry continues to embrace Linux and open source technologies as key factors in lowering device realisation cost, increasing flexibility and improving time to market." The expect Tizen to "further enhance these effects due to its cross-category reach and strong focus on open standards."

According to the Tizen web site "Tizen smartphone technologies include a flexible and powerful user interface, 3D window effects, advanced multimedia, location based service frameworks, sensor frameworks, and multi-tasking and multi-touch capabilities. In addition, support for scalable screen resolution means that the platform can deliver a consistent user experience across a broad range of handset types and form factors."

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