Tizen Software Platform Gains Momentum and Adds Industry Support

Huawei joins Tizen Association Board of Directors as Updated Platform is Introduced

February 2012 – BARCELONA, SPAIN – Tizen Association and Linux Foundation today announced important progress updates that advance the Tizen software platform towards market introduction. Included in today’s announcement is the release of the beta release of the Tizen platform source code and SDK and the news that Huawei has joined the Tizen Association Board of Directors.

As announced today by the Tizen Technical Steering Group on tizen.org, developers are encouraged to start working with the new features and functionality of the Tizen beta source code and SDK and provide feedback to help improve the platform during the final stages of its development. The beta release features an updated UI framework and web APIs for easier development of rich web applications and the Tizen SDK now features Windows® operating system support in addition to Ubuntu to provide developers with greater choice in managing their projects. Developers can obtain further details from the blog post and download the beta SDK at http://www.tizen.org.

“It is very pleasing that Tizen continues to make good progress while capturing broad industry leadership,” said Morgan Gillis, executive director of Tizen Association. “The new platform seeks to give device vendors freedom to differentiate and to assist operators in all regions to compile user propositions in a flexible way which is attuned to the specific requirements of their markets.”

Within today’s news it is also confirmed that Huawei has joined the Tizen Association Board with the intention of creating and commercializing Tizen handsets for a range of markets and so comes together with the other Board companies who are guiding Tizen to serve the need of the industry at-large for an independent device software platform and ecosystem.

“We are very happy to join fellow industry leaders on the Board of Tizen Association,” said Glory Zhang, spokesperson for Huawei Device. “Our ongoing goal is to work closely with our customers and partners to bring truly innovative handset propositions to consumers in all markets and the new Tizen ecosystem complements our existing areas of focus and provides fresh opportunity for tremendously strengthening Huawei’s brand name in the mobile segment.”

“We warmly welcome Huawei to Tizen Association,” said Kiyohito Nagata of NTT DOCOMO, chairperson of Tizen Association. “The open source approach and strong industry guidance through the Tizen Association Board are designed to make Tizen attractive to a wide range of companies and developers — we look forward to seeing many instances of mutual success within the new ecosystem.”

Tizen is an open source, cross-architecture, standards-based device software platform featuring a standards-based HTML5 and W3C standards enabling device-independent applications to be produced efficiently for cross-platform deployment. This approach leverages the robustness and flexibility of HTML5 which is rapidly emerging as a preferred application environment for mobile applications.

About Tizen Association

Tizen Association is a dedicated consortium of mobile industry leaders working together to guide the industry role of Tizen, including gathering of requirements, identification and facilitation of service models, and overall industry marketing and education. The Board of Tizen Association comprises Huawei, Intel, NEC CASIO, NTT DOCOMO, Orange, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung, SK Telecom, Telefónica and Vodafone. A full description of Tizen Association can be found at www.tizenassociation.org.

About Huawei Device

Huawei Device believes that everyone can be the center of information and that the world would be a better place if access and information barriers were knocked down. Its strong suite of mobile phones, mobile broadband devices and home devices is testimony to Huawei Device’s focus on customers and its commitment to providing user-friendly mobile internet experiences through ongoing innovation. Based on more than two decades of success in the information and communications industry, and with our own channel expertise, operational capabilities and global partner resources, Huawei Device is transforming from a company that sells millions of devices in single transactions to large businesses, to a “Business-to-People” (B2P) brand that also sells individual devices directly to millions of people. As at the end of 2011, Huawei Device serves more than 500 operators all over the world. For more information, visit Huawei Device online: www.huaweidevice.com.

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is a nonprofit consortium dedicated to fostering the growt of Linux. Founded in 2000, the organization sponsors the work of Linux creator Linus Torvalds and promotes, protects and advances the Linux operating system by marshaling the resources of its members and the open source development community. The Linux Foundation provides a neutral forum for collaboration and education by hosting Linux conferences, including LinuxCon, and generating original Linux research and content that advances the understanding of the Linux platform. Its web properties, including Linux.com, reach approximately two million people per month. The organization also provides extensive Linux training opportunities that feature the Linux kernel community’s leading experts as instructors. Follow The Linux Foundation on Twitter.

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The Linux Foundation and Tizen are trademarks of The Linux Foundation. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.