Priced at Rs. 5,700.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BENGALURU: Samsung has unveiled its first Tizen powered smartphone named Z1 to be launched in January in India, priced at Rs. 5,700 ($90).
The announcement came during an event hosted by Samsung in Mumbai for its retail partners.
The talks regarding the launch of Samsung’s’ Tizen based smartphones in India has been in the air since the South Korean manufacturers made the announcement about its indigenous operating environment early this year.
The twitter post of Mumbai-based retailer Manish Khatri, who was one among the few retailers to attend the event, reveals the image of Tizen powered Z1 smartphone.
#Samsung #Z1 #Tizen pic.twitter.com/O0aYBurUce
— Manish Khatri (@MAHESHTELECOM) December 22, 2014
Apart from the image of the yet-to-launch-device, Khatri has also posted the complete technical specification of the smartphone, even before Samsung’s official announcement.
Full specifications #Samsung #Z1 #Tizen pic.twitter.com/MnXHkpACEx
— Manish Khatri (@MAHESHTELECOM) December 22, 2014
According to the leaked spec sheet of Z1, the device is powered by a Dual-core 1.2 GHz processor and is coupled with a 768 MB Ram. Interestingly, not many smartphones come with 768 MB RAM, the usual standard is 500 MB or 1 GB. The device has a 4 inch TFT touchscreen display with a pixel ratio of 480×800 pixels.
Coming to the camera department of Samsung Z1, it has a 3 MP primary camera and a VGA front camera. The camera allows only VGA recording at 15 fps which, is a major shortcoming of the device. In addition to the inbuilt 4 GB internal storage, Samsung has also provided a Micro SD expansion slot with a maximum storage capacity of 32 GB. Z1 also has all standard connectivity features such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS and 3G.
The new Samsung Dual SIM smartphone is backed up by a 15,000 mAh battery.
The retailer also reports that the South Korean manufacturer has partnered with mobile service providers such as Reliance and Aircel to bundle free data plans along with the new Samsung Z1. It is believed that Reliance and Aircel will offer 500 MB free 3G data for a period of six months for the users.
According to The Korea Economic Daily, Samsung is planning to release the ultra-low-price Samsung Z1 at the price of less than KRW 100,000 (Rs. 5,800). The first Tizen powered smartphone is targeting the budget phone market which currently is booming.
Samsung Z1 will make its entry into the Indian market during the first half of January next year via online retailers and retail stores across the country.