At first glance, the Samsung Z could be easily mistaken for a premium Android handset. The operating system isn't Android, it's something called Tizen, which was developed by Linux Foundation and Limo Foundation and has been backed heavily by Samsung as a viable alternative to Android. There's a feeling that Google's getting too powerful in the smartphone and tablet market and that by adopting Tizen instead, manufacturers will be able to build handsets that perform well without needing the latest generation of processors or heaps of RAM -- which is what make phones so expensive. For the present, with the Z, Samsung is focusing on the premium end of the market and trying to show people the extra performance the operating system can squeeze out of already powerful components.



More...