Samsung have taken their first step away from the Android operating system for their mobile devices with a long-expected Tizen-powered smartphone that will be making its first appearance in the Russian market. The just-announced Samsung Z will be making appearances in other locations, as yet unspecified, and this looks to be a trial run of sorts for the Samsung-created mobile OS.

In terms of hardware for the phone, the setup is typically Samsung. The Z will host a 4.8-inch AMOLED display that comes in at 720p (1,280 x 720) and the company is adding a quad-core processor (2.3GHz) and 2GB of system memory to the mix. Cameras are typical for mid-range Samsung devices, being an 8MP rear, 2.1MP front combination and there’s also set to be a 2,600mAh battery included in the Tizen device.

There are a few interesting inclusions for the Samsung Z however, the company has opted to add the heart-rate sensor and fingerprint scanner from the Galaxy S 5 to their first wholly home-brewed smartphone.

This really does look like Samsung is testing the waters and seeing how a combination of their hardware and software would be received by the world at large. How they will set Tizen apart from Android remains to be seen, we haven’t had our hands on Samsung’s OS yet so we can’t really speak for the differences but you can bet that we’ll be checking things out the first chance we get.

Source: Samsung Tomorrow via Ars Technica