MORE ABOUT TIZEN

Based on Linux 

Tizen is an open source operating system based on the Linux kernel and WebKit runtime. This means that users can obtain the source code that Tizen is based on, allowing smartphone owners to tinker with and alter a device’s software. Android, Firefox OS and Ubuntu are also open-source, unlike Apple’s closed iOS mobile operating system.

Samsung’s Android Alternative? 

It’s no secret that Samsung’s Android handsets have been widely successful. However, numerous reports have suggested that Samsung has been itching for an OS with more creative control, seeking to wean itself off Google. In a recent interview, Samsung’s own JK Shin told CNET that Tizen is more than just a side project, but also a “simple alternative for Android.”

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, considering Samsung has been taking steps to add its own brand to the mobile OS on its smartphones. Implementing a relatively unknown OS such as Tizen onto a flagship device like the Galaxy S4 could give Samsung the opportunity decrease reliance on one of its competitors. Samsung smartphones come with a heavily skinned version of Android known as TouchWiz, which puts Samsung’s own spin on the Android interface and includes its own Samsung Apps store.

The App Challenge 

There’s no denying that Samsung and Intel are pushing for developer support for their Tizen platform, especially when the companies are willing to put $4 million toward app creation. As part of the app development challenge, developers have until Nov. 1 to submit apps for the Tizen OS. Judging will take place between Nov. 4 and 5 and the winners will be unveiled in December.

 The developer behind the best game will be awarded $200,000, while the best non-gaming app will receive $120,000. The top 10 HTML 5-based applications will receive $50,000 each, and the total $4.04 million allotment will be spread across nine categories and 50 developers. Tizen’s app page is blank at the moment, but with hundreds of thousands of dollars hanging in the balance we’re interested to see how it grows.

Emphasis on HTML 5

Tizen encourages its developers to write apps in HTML5, which the most recent iteration of the HTML standard that debuted back in 2010. Other operating systems such as Android and iOS use Java and Objective-C as their primary coding languages. HTML5 essentially enables a smoother Web browsing experience for mobile devices, such as the ability to display embedded videos or play music without an additional plugins and save data offline.

Similar to Android Yet Different 

Like most smartphone user interfaces, Tizen’s OS seems to feature core components such as the home screen, notification panel, and lock screen. While the Tizen OS shares some Android design elements, there are also some fundamental differences.

For example, the Tizen home screen displays applications just like an app drawer would, rather than the Android home screen which displays the time and only one row of icons at the bottom of the screen. While the home screen may differ, drop down menus and app menus have the same grayish boxy look as those in Android do. Like Google’s mobile OS, there’s a notification bar that can be accessed by swiping down from the top of the screen. Of course, this is based on a prototype of the Tizen OS that was showcased at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, so the final design is subject to change.

Multi-Window View, Floating Browsers 

 Based on what we can gather from the app design guidelines posted on Tizen’s developer page, Tizen is likely to come with a multi-window feature similar to the Q Slide feature found on newer LG devices. Essentially, Tizen apps would be able to exist in either “full window” form or a “mini window” mode that would create a “floating browser” effect. Multi window views and floating browsers aren’t new, but they’re certainly not standard smartphone features that come built in to every smartphone’s UI.

At the same time, Tizen’s website details another design aspect dubbed “Multi-window,” which is similar to a feature of the same name found on Samsung smartphones. This feature lets you view apps in a split view. However, unlike the Samsung feature, which runs two apps in separate windows on the screen, Tizen’s version displays one app in a split view. So, for instance, rather than selecting an email to read it, you can enable a split view that shows the body of your email and your inbox at the same time. Similarly, in a music app you could theoretically have the song currently playing displayed next to your playlist without having to navigate back and forth.

Basic Gestures

The Tizen operating system is built to interact with certain touch gestures that consist of taps, swipes and flicks among other actions. As is the case with most touch screen devices, tapping an item will select it and long-pressing will launch an app-specific option menu. Pinch to zoom, dragging and dropping icons, and flicking to quick scroll are all supported within the Tizen UI.

Not Just For Smartphones

Tizen may be touted as Samsung’s new Android alternative, but the truth is the software isn’t made just for mobile devices. At this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Intel demonstrated an infotainment system for cars that runs on the Linux-based OS. According to Intel, this system would be able to access Google Maps for navigation, change songs stored on the system’s hard drive or output real-time information coming from your vehicle.

 Tizen’s website notes that the software will eventually be designed for tablets and netbooks as well as smartphones, but it’s also slated to come to Smart TVs. This isn’t very surprising considering Samsung is a major player in pioneering the Smart TV category.

TIZEN

Tizen is an open source, standards-based software platform supported by leading mobile operators, device manufacturers, and silicon suppliers for multiple device categories such as smartphones, tablets, netbooks, in-vehicle infotainment devices, and smart TVs. Tizen offers an innovative operating system, applications, and a user experience that consumers can take from device to device.

The Tizen project resides within the Linux Foundation and is governed by a Technical Steering Group. The Technical Steering Group is the primary decision-making body for the open source project, with a focus on platform development and delivery, along with the formation of working groups to support device verticals.

The Tizen Association has been formed to guide the industry role of Tizen, including gathering of requirements, identification and facilitation of service models, and overall industry marketing and education.

Tizen provides a robust and flexible environment for application developers, based on HTML5. With HTML5's robust capabilities and cross platform flexibility, it is rapidly becoming the preferred development environment for mobile apps and services. The Tizen SDK and API allow developers to use HTML5 and related web technologies to write applications that run across multiple device segments.

courtesy:www.tizen.org

HOW TO USE AN S PEN

Samsung added even more functionality to its S Pen stylus in the Galaxy Note 3. Here's everything you need to know to get started.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Samsung's latest flagship device is scheduled to arrive in stores this week. The Galaxy Note 3 is bigger and better in nearly all respects. The company added a larger, 5.7-inch display with a higher resolution, a speedy 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, and 3GB of RAM, and gave its S Pen stylus even more features, all while making the device slimmer and sleeker than its predecessor.
The S Pen is the primary reason for the success of the Note line of smartphones and tablets. The special stylus brings added functionality to Samsung's devices, allowing users to quickly take onscreen notes, draw pictures, and much more.
Here's how you can get the most out of the Galaxy Note 3's new S Pen:

Air Command

The S Pen is located on the bottom right-hand side of the Galaxy Note 3. Removing the stylus will cause the device to launch the Air Command menu, which can appear on the home screen or inside of an app. The menu gives quick and easy access to various S Pen features, such as Action Memo, Scrapbooker, Screen Write, S Finder, and Pen Window. It can also be enabled by hovering over the screen and clicking the button on the side of the stylus.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Action Memo
Action Memo is the first option on the Air Command menu. This feature allows you to handwrite notes that can be linked to different actions, such as calling a number you wrote down, adding it as a contact, or sending it as a message or e-mail. You can also search the Internet or Google Maps, or even add the action to your Tasks.
The Galaxy Note 3 can automatically recognize what you write to complete these actions, however the feature seems to have a problem reading poor handwriting, which may leave many users frustrated.
In addition to being able to change the Action Memo background and ink color, notes can also be minimized and placed as a thumbnail on your home screen. Saved notes can be found inside of the Action Memo app in the Galaxy Note 3's app drawer.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Scrapbooker
The second feature on the menu, known as Scrapbooker, gives you the ability to draw around a portion of the screen to take a screenshot. After selecting a certain area of the screen and taking a picture, you can add tags, written notes, and different categories for better organization. Images are then saved in the Pinterest-inspired Scrapbook app on your device.
Screen Write
A feature carried over from previous Note models is Screen Write. This feature takes a screenshot of your current page and then you can write notes on top of the image.
Inside of the Screen Write feature you can change the pen size and color by selecting the pen icon in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. To the right you will find the eraser, crop, undo, and redo tools, along with share, cancel, and save.
S Finder
Apple has Spotlight on its Mac computers and iOS devices, and now Samsung has S Finder. This feature, which can also be accessed with a long-press on the Galaxy Note 3's Menu button, allows you to search for anything on your device, including apps, contacts, and even handwritten notes.
Pen Window
Arguably the coolest thing Samsung included in the Galaxy Note 3, besides the S Pen itself, is a new multitasking feature called Pen Window. This feature lets you draw a box on the screen and then choose from eight different apps -- Calculator, Clock, YouTube, Phone, Contacts, ChatOn, Hangouts, and a browser -- to launch inside of it.
Clicking on the side or bottom of a box will let you resize it, while clicking on the white space at the top will let you move it. Other options include expanding the app to full-screen mode, or even minimizing it into a Chat Head-esque floating icon on your home screen.
To open a second box, simply launch the Air Command menu, select the Pen Window feature, draw a box, and choose a new app.

Settings

The S Pen settings, which can be found in the Controls tab, will let you customize your experience even further. From here you can turn off pen detection, change the action that occurs when you remove the S Pen, enable an onscreen pointer when you hover, and more.

(Credit: Screenshot by Dan Graziano/CNET)

S Pen Keeper
A cool but gimmicky feature Samsung added is the Galaxy Note 3's ability to alert you when the S Pen and smartphone are separated. The feature, which oddly enough only works when the screen is off, can be found in the S Pen settings as the "S Pen keeper" option.
When this is enabled you will receive a popup notification, in addition to your phone vibrating and making a sound when leaving the S Pen behind. Be warned, however, it only seemed to work half the time.

Other features

S Note
Another feature that has been recycled from previous Note models is S Note, which lets you draw and write notes over different templates, images, videos, charts, maps, and so on. The S Note feature isn't found on the Air Command menu, but rather inside of the app drawer.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Pen.Up
Samsung created a social-networking app, called Pen.Up, for Galaxy Note owners wanting to share, comment on, and rate the artwork they and others created using the S Pen. The Pen.Up app is available for Galaxy Note owners as a free download in the Google Play store.
Buttons
One of the biggest complaints among Galaxy Note 2 users was that they couldn't use the stylus on the phone's capacitive buttons. Thankfully this is no longer an issue. The new S Pen now works on the Galaxy Note 3's menu and back button.

S PEN EXPLAINED

The SAMSUNG GALAXY Note has a Wacom dual digitizer, a first in a mainstream smartphone. That means is supports both capacitive multi-touch and active pen input from a precise EMR digital pen and a digitizer layer under the screen. Wacom is the world leader in pen based computer technologies and first developed this technology for Tablet PCs for very accurate handwriting level pen use that works with touch displays.

Details:
Almost all other phone styluses are just capacitive and therefore no more accurate than your finger. The Galaxy Note's active pen uses Wacom's EMR patented technology. EMR which stands for Electo-Magnetic Resonance, which requires no internal power to generate a signal on the pen-side that enables the pen coordinates on or above the screen to be detected (the display provides the power rather than the pen). The Note's screen surface incorporates a sensor board that detects the pen's movement. Weak energy is induced in the pen's resonant circuit by a magnetic field generated by the sensor board surface. The pen's resonant circuit then makes use of this energy to return a magnetic signal to the sensor board surface. The digitizer board under the screen detects information on the pen's coordinate position and angle, as well as on its general operating condition including speed and writing pressure, etc. 

With EMR Technology, the sensor unit is installed behind the display screen. Because the sensor does not cover the front of the display, the quality and brightness of the displayed image are not compromised.

Wacom's sensors are high precision and high resolution, which together make it possible to detect even small hand-written letters. The sensor traces the movement of the human hand and reproduces such "human" elements as the feel, force and ambivalence of the pen tip.

The dual capacitive multi-touch and EMR active pen technology is called Wacom Feel It and was developed and honed over 2 years on major ( HP, ...) Tablet PCs. The Galaxy Note is the first use in a smart phone.