Lots of secrets dribble into an editors’ life, and more often than not you mention it, look into it (which is kinda hard as it’s a secret innit..) or try to combine information, rumors (and planted rumors as well) and observations into the melting pot called my brain.
This time a pattern seems to emerge and that is that Samsung is slowly isolates itself from it’s major competitors. Sometimes in a friendly way and sometimes they pull the rug. most of the time it’s boardroom decisions and the executive minions are ordered to keep mumm and simply say: Dunno… Which is more effective then denial!
In the midst of all this is Tizen, a rollercoaster of an operating system that might prove to be too heavy a competitor to the established names of iOS and ‘Droid but also BlackBerry and Nokidows. it’s a small footprint mobile OS that connects almsost everything with almost everything else, as long as it’s connected. So yes, a camera that scans the inside of your fridge in combination with your diary (4 guests tonight, please order my groceries, pre-heat the oven and have the appropriate recipe at hand. Meg is a veg (known from my PIMS) so 3 steaks and 1, whatever. It can also program your car to go to the shops that’s holding your order and connect to the cars near you to see what is the most dynamic route. The Internet of Things which acronyms to TiTs which is not PC but neither am I.
There should be secrets about Tizen: Open Source, community and many stakeholders. And yet it seems to play a major role in dismantling, or at least show to the public, another mobile application platform called (자몽) which is like Jamong. In it Samsung and MicroSoft were working together to create another ecosystem (which is beyond a (Mobile) Operating System) to compete on the same level as Apple and Google. They did so in cooperations with smaller companies and suppliers, most of them in Korea.
This might mean that this ecosystem wasn’t targeted to the EU and USA in the first place but to the new, emerging markets like India and China but maybe also Russia and Africa. Should US en EU companies be involved it would mean a more global OS.
According to those (in-)famous sources Samsung is going back to its’ own plans (which might mean Tizen or their own, rabbit out of a hat system whilst MicroSoft will go go their own way, combining Windows OS and maybe Symbian? It might also mean that Samsung will have two eco-systems: An expensive, Android based one that will deal with the current, mature and pretty rich markets and a Tizen one for the lighter phones, the TiTs and anything else, until it has the power, the brand image and the qualities to replace the Android version by the Tizen ecosystems. Which means less money to Google, more independency of others and of course, Samsung as an innovative brand that is about as strong as Google and Apple are now.
There is one massive critical success factor: Games, Apps and Services: The GAPS.
Apple buying Beat will make it’s iTunes and store much, much stronger. Google has it’s own playstore and it’s up to Samsung to decide about the need for that. After all, they do have their own store and such but, frankly, I’ve not even registered myself. Apps I get via the Google-play route and games? I’m to stupid for my smartphone games. But zillions of people live to game so it’s important to get that ecosystem running. With their own VCR’s/HDrecorders, TV’s and curved screen home cinema’s and probably some music center as well, Samsung might be able to corner a market that is indeed par to Google and Apple. And the combination of all that hardware and software certainly would make it a global supplier and manager of information. Beyond Google and Apple.
Also according to the sources some 30 companies were involved and willing to develop all kinds of games and apps. To these companies, Samsung pulling the rug under the JAMONG concept must be a bitter pill. They seem to be victim to Samsung honcho’s changing plans. Changing plans, or maybe mismanagement of expectations, seems to be Samsung Mobiles’ core business today.
Tizen to be introduced in Barcelona and than not, JAMONG and several other expectations were not met. Of course, that’s all a result of bloggers and journalists writing and rehashing not-news, expectations and some shimmers of Samsung press and leaking employees. Rumors had it that a music service was to be included in Samsungs’ chat-on service, maybe even books and movies but it never really outgrew the rumors stage. The timing of the introduction of the Tizen phone I’m not sure about but it’a about time it’s out in the open in large numbers.
It might also have to do with the cultural differences between the occidental (west) and oriental (east) philosophy. We as westerners are much more open in our communication and plans, we’re willing to admit failure (most of the times) and go on with plans, either changed or improved. I have a distinct feeling that Korean, Japanese and Chinese strategic planners and boards are less open then we are. In their culture failure is a problem, if not a disgrace. So, by playing their cards close to their chests they create two advantages: Plans that are only known to an inner circle and which might create extra business due to the unexpected product, service and timing but at the same time they will not lose face over delays or the termination of a plan.
As for the developers that were busy creating JAMONG apps: I do hope they started it as an HTML5 project. In that case porting it to Tizen, FFOS and other mOSs’ should help them overcome their loss.
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