Samsung's Tizen smartphone reportedly coming next year

Back in May, the first images of Samsung's Tizen smartphone prototype were released, though little else about the phone was divulged.

Samsung did manage to reveal a few scant specifications, including the phone's 1.2GHz dual-core ARM processor and 4.3-inch HD display, but there wasn't much else about the Linux-based OS to show off at the time.

Then in September, rumblings of Samsung readying a Tizen Galaxy for release made the rounds, with sources claiming the device would be coming in the "near future."

It's been a few months, but it appears Samsung is still on track to release the first Tizen phone in the coming year thanks to its partnership with Japanese carrier NTT Docomo.

Another new OS?

According to Daily Yomiuri, Samsung's Tizen smartphone would launch in Japan first under Docomo (the only Japanese carrier without iPhone), with other countries expected to get the device around the same time.

Regardless of where the Tizen phone first launches, it will find itself in an uphill battle against the likes of Android and iOS, two operating systems Samsung counts as Tizen's chief competition.

Analytics firm Garnter reported Android held 72.4 percent of the smartphone market through the third quarter of 2012, with iOS holding onto just over 13 percent, there's little room for a little fish to make a big splash.

The recent launch of Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 and the upcoming release of Research in Motion's BlackBerry 10 will also provide some stiff competition for the untested OS.

TechRadar has reached out to Samsung, and will update this story when and if they respond.