“Tizen” is Intel and Samsung’s answer to Android

Tizen is apparently the combination of MeeGo and LiMo — neither of which have any serious adoption — that I wrote about earlier. It looks like an Intel- and Samsung-led rival to Android — which is selling well, but has patent issues, and is increasingly under Google’s control.

These sorts of platforms are very hard to build into legitimacy — these days, it takes a lot more than handset vendors and carriers signing off on an OS to matter. Consumers and developers will need reasons to support Tizen, too, which will be a struggle. But it’s probably worth trying, even if just to show Google that it has competition.

Thomas Ricker has more at This Is My Next:

The Linux Foundation will host the project, and a steering group lead by Intel and Samsung will lead the development. The LiMo Foundation is a dedicated consortium — with shared leadership and decision making — consisting of ACCESS, Panasonic Mobile, NEC Casio, NTT DoCoMo, Samsung, SK Telekon, Telefonica, and Vodafone.

And more from Reuters, via the Economic Times:

The initial release of Tizen is planned for the first quarter of 2012, enabling the first devices using the platform to come to market in mid-2012, the two groups said.

Also: Will Android ever reach Google’s search market share?