First non-Samsung Tizen OS TVs are here, but not in the U.S.

By Phil Nickinson October 10, 2022

Samsung today announced that it’s going to license its implementation of Tizen OS — which was itself born from the Linux Foundation in 2012 — to a number of television manufacturers starting this year. That’s hardly an aberration, of course. Roku and Amazon Fire TV each license their operating systems to various manufacturers (and Amazon just started making its own branded TVs in the Omni series), and LG’s webOS has gotten into the game, too. You also can find Google TV on a number of sets.

But don’t look for the Tizen OS on any familiar TVs in the United States anytime soon. The first brands to get Tizen are Akai, Bauhn, and Linsar — all found in Australia — and are available now. Other TVs from the likes of RCA, Vispera, and Axen will hit Italy, New Zealand, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom later this year.

Samsung first announced that Tizen OS would be licensed at the 2021 Samsung Developer Conference.

Riley Young/Digital Trends

The new sets will be able to take advantage of Samsung TV Plus, which is Samsung’s version of free and ad-supported streaming TV (a la Tubi or Freevee in the U.S.), as well as the Universal Guide and Bixby, which is Samsung’s voice assistant.

“2022 has been a memorable year for Tizen OS as we celebrate its 10th anniversary and the very first Tizen-powered smart TVs available from other brands,” Yongjae Kim, Executive Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics, said in a press release. “Starting with these new Tizen-powered smart TVs, we will continue to expand the licensing program and introduce Tizen OS and its ecosystem to more products and brands around the world.”

Tizen OS also has made an appearance on other Samsung products — namely as an Android alternative on phones and watches. But it never really took off, and instead has served as Samsung’s smart TV operating system.

Still no word on if it will ever hit any other manufacturers in the United States, but that field already is pretty crowded among sets running software from Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Google TV.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Section Editor, Audio/Video

Phil spent the 2000s making newspapers with the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, the 2010s with Android Central and then the…

Audio / Video

Samsung’s 2019 QLED TVs are now on sale. Here’s how much you can expect to pay

Samsung Q900

We were pretty wowed by Samsung's slate of new TVs at this year's CES in Las Vegas. With impressive new features, more sizes, and even better image quality, the only remaining questions were: How much will they cost, and when can we get them? We now have answers to both, along with all of the other details around Samsung's 2019 TV lineup.
New features
This year, all of Samsung's Smart TVs will be equipped with Apple's iTunes Movie and TV show catalog of content -- a Samsung exclusive for now -- as well as AirPlay 2. The company's 2018 TVs are also expected to get AirPlay 2. The Universal Guide feature has been updated for better usability and now includes available iTunes content for rent or purchase. Samsung's Bixby intelligent personal assistant makes its debut on the 2019 TVs, and the company's One Remote has been given far-field mics to pick up voice commands from anywhere in the room. Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa are both slated to be added to these TVs later in the year.

Gamers will appreciate the changes to Samsung's Real Game Enhancer option, which now incorporates AMD's Radeon Freesync variable refresh rate technology, which the company claims will help prevent tearing and stuttering. Game Motion Plus is also present, which removes motion blur and judder.

Audio / Video

Samsung’s TVs are the first to get AirPlay 2, Apple TV app, plus iTunes movies

Samsung-Apple-TV-Airplay-2-Launch

Starting May 13, all 2019 Samsung TVs, and a select group of its 2018 models, will be updated with support for Apple's AirPlay 2 content casting and screen mirroring technology, plus access to the Apple TV app, including iTunes rentals and purchases, and Apple's upcoming Apple TV Plus streaming video subscription service.

The update makes Samsung TVs the first non-Apple TV devices to support these key Apple services and technologies. It's a partnership that has been on the horizon since the news was announced ahead of CES 2019.

Audio / Video

Samsung will stop releasing new Blu-ray players in the U.S.

Samsung 4K UHD Blu ray Player 6

Samsung will exit the U.S. Blu-ray player market -- and has abandoned plans to introduce a new high-end 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray model that was originally meant for release later this year.

"Samsung will no longer introduce new Blu-ray or 4K Blu-ray player models in the U.S. market," a Samsung spokesperson confirmed to Digital Trends. The statement implies that the company might continue to offer the devices in overseas markets like Europe, or even in neighboring markets like Canada and Mexico.