Just as Canonical announces its plans to launch Ubuntu on smartphones, so another 'new' player - Tizen - is set to swing into action in 2013, courtesy of Samsung.

The oft-delayed Tizen operating system is the product of a collaboration between Samsung, Intel and the Linux Foundation, and is designed to offer a truly open-source OS for a range of devices – including smartphones and tablets.

The platform, however, already has something of a tainted past, having sprung up from the tail end of MeeGo - Nokia and Intel's failed smartphone OS.

Natural, then, that Samsung would want to signal its intent to make a mark with Tizen in 2013.

Lean on me

"We plan to release new, competitive Tizen devices within this year and will keep expanding the lineup depending on market conditions," explained a Samsung representative in a statement to Bloomberg Businessweek.

Samsung is yet to offer any details on the planned timing or hardware specifications of Tizen's market debut.

While Android is known for its open source credentials, operating systems such as Tizen and Firefox OS are looking to go further – by fostering an ecosystem based on the open mobile web and HTML5.

Branching out

But, perhaps more importantly, Tizen offers Samsung an opportunity to decrease its reliance on Android.

The Korean firm may have become the largest smartphone OEM in the world in 2012, but its fortunes are currently tied to Google and its mobile OS.

As such, Tizen will be an interesting experiment for Samsung in 2013, although it's worth noting that the company is exploring other OS options too – including a range of devices running Windows Phone 8.

[source: Bloomberg Businessweek]