The handset will arrive following the merger of Bada and Tizen

Mar 15, 2013 16:51 GMT  ·  By

South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung is focused on the launch of high-end Android devices, and the unveiling of GALAXY S 4 in New York today proved that, but it isn’t forgetting about its side projects either, it seems.

The company has been long working on a mobile OS of its own, called Bada, which is set to be merged with Tizen this year.

Following the move, the company will launch its first Tizen-based smartphone, and J.K. Shin, president and head of IT and mobile communications division at Samsung, confirmed this to The Wall Street Journal.

During a recent interview with the news site, he confirmed that the handset vendor would launch a Tizen smartphone in the third quarter of the year, although he did not offer further details on the device.

He also said that the smartphone is targeted at users with different needs than what Android can fulfill.