Samsung Electronics to sell third Tizen OS smartphone in India

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co said on Tuesday it will start selling its third model smartphone powered by the company’s own Tizen mobile operating system ( OS) in India next week.

The Z2 phone, equipped with a four- inch screen and Indiaspecific features such as a safety mode for motorcyclists, will be the cheapest Tizen phone Samsung has launched to date at 4,590 rupees ($ 68.44).

The phone, the first Tizen-powered device that will run on 4G networks, will start selling in India on August 29.

The world’s top maker of smartphones, televisions and memory chips is trying to reduce its dependence on Google, whose Android OS powers Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones.

The company has been using Tizen on products ranging from TVs to home appliances and wearable products to enable the devices to communicate with each other and phones via the Internet.

Samsung has so far kept Tizen for a small number of markets such as India and Bangladesh, where many potential customers are still first- time buyers looking for a cheap device.

Samsung declined to comment on sales figures but analysts have said the Z2’ s predecessors have found some success.

Samsung paid $ 150 million to buy the US- based luxury appliances maker Dacor Inc, the Korea Economic Daily said in August.