6 ms·

It doesn't need to be anything new, radical, or anything of the sort. All it aims to be is an Android-alike that Google doesn't control. (ideally one that also

by jpxxx 14y ago

It doesn't need to be anything new, radical, or anything of the sort. All it aims to be is an Android-alike that Google doesn't control. (ideally one that also enables easy porting of Android code and assets) With this fixed goal and with Samsung's money, it'll succeed.

bryne 14y ago
It might succeed in distribution because they have market share in a portion of the market largely unconcerned about user experience. Has any software produced by Samsung ever made you say "I wish I could use more of this"? Touchwiz?
- cpeterso 14y ago
  Or that Samsung Kies crapware.
- jpxxx 14y ago
  You speak the truth! Even when they're copying experiences, there's always a rough edge hanging out that makes you wince.
- mtgx 14y ago
  Samsung tried that with Bada, too. It didn't work. I think people are really underestimating the power of an ecosystem. Look at WP8 how much it's struggling in low single digits even after billions invested in deals and promotions, and money paid to developers to make apps. Samsung has nothing. It doesn't even have the content Amazon has, which only got popular with Kindle Fire because people were looking for a "hero" against the iPad, and their very affordable $200 "Android-based" tablet seemed to be that one.
- mikecane 14y ago
  >>>Has any software produced by Samsung ever made you say "I wish I could use more of this"? Touchwiz? From what I have seen from users on YouTube, the multi-window feature Sammy brought to Android looks good. And actually does screen splitting better than Windows 8 (no fixed width presets).
gareim 14y ago
They tried that already with Bada and it didn't succeed. What will make this different?
- jpxxx 14y ago
  Bada's outselling and outgrowing Windows Mobile. It's doing fine.
  - sjwright 14y ago
    How many people are choosing to buy a phone because it has Bada?
    - cpeterso 14y ago
      How many people are choosing to buy a phone because it has Android? Gingerbread accounts for 48% of Android devices because many Android users just want a cheap or "free with contract" phone.
      - georgemcbay 14y ago
        Nah, Gingerbread is on 48% of devices because of the broken model where the carrier and phone maker get to decide if the phone gets Android OS updates or not and they have no direct incentive to provide updates (because unlike Apple they aren't making money on the app side to justify the OS update costs), in fact they have incentive not to provide updates in order to persuade users to upgrade to new devices as soon as their contract is up. This combined with the fact that ICS was only released a little more than a year ago (half the term of most people's cell phone contracts) and Honeycomb was never officially put on to phones. While some of those Gingerbread phones were in fact just "cheap phones" a lot of them were also high end (and everything in between) for the time they were sold.
    - jpxxx 14y ago
      A majority of people are purchasing the phone they can afford first. Status purchases are for a more select population. And the phone you can afford is more likely to have Bada.
moxie 14y ago
Google has two primary points of control over Android: Anti-Fragmentation Agreements (AFAs) and "Google Experience" apps. While something like Tizen might alleviate an OEM of the former restriction (at great cost), I don't think it helps them with the latter.
- jpxxx 14y ago
  True. But trashy in-house Experience Apps are ubiquitous and only going to improve. I think the idea here is that Samsung has an out if they end up needing it.
  - greatzebu 14y ago
    They'll change, but I wouldn't take it for granted that they'll improve. It's easy to make a new version, but it takes massive effort to make sure that you are converging on something great as you iterate.
cageface 14y ago
If that were the goal why not just fork Android like Amazon did? You get a functional OS with a lot less work. I really can't see much point in Tizen except maybe as a bargaining chip used to keep Google honest with Android.
- Aissen 14y ago
  You do know Samsung is already doing that, and is very successful at it ? They're the #1 Android maker. So they must have their reasons for wanting to escape Google's control.
  - cageface 14y ago
    What? They lay their own TouchWiz UI over Android but I'd hardly call it a fork. Amazon's version is a fork. Unless you have secret information to share.
  - yareally 14y ago
    It's really not a fork in the way forks go. They have to stay compatible to a point with the master AOSP branch as per agreements with Google. Amazon has no such obligations.

by jpxxx 14y ago

bryne 14y ago

It might succeed in distribution because they have market share in a portion of the market largely unconcerned about user experience. Has any software produced by Samsung ever made you say "I wish I could use more of this"? Touchwiz?

cpeterso 14y ago
Or that Samsung Kies crapware.
jpxxx 14y ago
You speak the truth! Even when they're copying experiences, there's always a rough edge hanging out that makes you wince.
mtgx 14y ago
Samsung tried that with Bada, too. It didn't work. I think people are really underestimating the power of an ecosystem. Look at WP8 how much it's struggling in low single digits even after billions invested in deals and promotions, and money paid to developers to make apps. Samsung has nothing. It doesn't even have the content Amazon has, which only got popular with Kindle Fire because people were looking for a "hero" against the iPad, and their very affordable $200 "Android-based" tablet seemed to be that one.
mikecane 14y ago
>>>Has any software produced by Samsung ever made you say "I wish I could use more of this"? Touchwiz? From what I have seen from users on YouTube, the multi-window feature Sammy brought to Android looks good. And actually does screen splitting better than Windows 8 (no fixed width presets).

gareim 14y ago

They tried that already with Bada and it didn't succeed. What will make this different?

jpxxx 14y ago
Bada's outselling and outgrowing Windows Mobile. It's doing fine.
- sjwright 14y ago
  How many people are choosing to buy a phone because it has Bada?
  - cpeterso 14y ago
    How many people are choosing to buy a phone because it has Android? Gingerbread accounts for 48% of Android devices because many Android users just want a cheap or "free with contract" phone.
    - georgemcbay 14y ago
      Nah, Gingerbread is on 48% of devices because of the broken model where the carrier and phone maker get to decide if the phone gets Android OS updates or not and they have no direct incentive to provide updates (because unlike Apple they aren't making money on the app side to justify the OS update costs), in fact they have incentive not to provide updates in order to persuade users to upgrade to new devices as soon as their contract is up. This combined with the fact that ICS was only released a little more than a year ago (half the term of most people's cell phone contracts) and Honeycomb was never officially put on to phones. While some of those Gingerbread phones were in fact just "cheap phones" a lot of them were also high end (and everything in between) for the time they were sold.
  - jpxxx 14y ago
    A majority of people are purchasing the phone they can afford first. Status purchases are for a more select population. And the phone you can afford is more likely to have Bada.

moxie 14y ago

Google has two primary points of control over Android: Anti-Fragmentation Agreements (AFAs) and "Google Experience" apps. While something like Tizen might alleviate an OEM of the former restriction (at great cost), I don't think it helps them with the latter.

jpxxx 14y ago
True. But trashy in-house Experience Apps are ubiquitous and only going to improve. I think the idea here is that Samsung has an out if they end up needing it.
- greatzebu 14y ago
  They'll change, but I wouldn't take it for granted that they'll improve. It's easy to make a new version, but it takes massive effort to make sure that you are converging on something great as you iterate.

cageface 14y ago

If that were the goal why not just fork Android like Amazon did? You get a functional OS with a lot less work. I really can't see much point in Tizen except maybe as a bargaining chip used to keep Google honest with Android.

Aissen 14y ago
You do know Samsung is already doing that, and is very successful at it ? They're the #1 Android maker. So they must have their reasons for wanting to escape Google's control.
- cageface 14y ago
  What? They lay their own TouchWiz UI over Android but I'd hardly call it a fork. Amazon's version is a fork. Unless you have secret information to share.
- yareally 14y ago
  It's really not a fork in the way forks go. They have to stay compatible to a point with the master AOSP branch as per agreements with Google. Amazon has no such obligations.