Launch of iOS, Android smartphone rival delayed: NTT Docomo

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Japanese mobile operator NTT Docomo said Friday that the launch of a new smartphone operating system to rival Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS had been pushed back owing to development delays.

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The open source offering called Tizen, based on the Linux operating system, is the product of a tie-up between companies from Japan, China, South Korea, Europe and the United States.

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The consortium that makes up Tizen Association include Docomo, U.S. giant Intel, Japan’s Fujitsu, South Korea’s Samsung and LG, China’s Huawei, and European mobile carriers Vodafone and Orange.

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Docomo’s president had previously said he hoped the new system would launch by the end of the current fiscal year to March.

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But that timeline is being pushed back because Docomo is still “developing products that would maximise the features of the Tizen”, company spokesman Jun Otori told AFP.

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Tizen is among a handful of new smartphone platforms expected to hit the market this year to challenge the stranglehold of Android and iOS.

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The systems account for more than 90% of the smartphone market, with BlackBerry and Microsoft’s Windows Phone vying for third spot.

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Phones using operating systems based on the open-source platforms Linux and Mozilla’s Firefox are due out this year, most likely in emerging markets.

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