Samsung on Tuesday unwrapped its new smartphone using the Tizen platform, a move aimed at breaking away from Google's Android and staking a claim to the "Internet of Things."
The South Korean consumer electronics colossus showed off the Samsung Z, its first Tizen-powered smartphone, in a major shift away from the ubiquitous Android operating system used in the majority of its devices.
Samsung touted Tizen as a platform not just for phones, but for a range of connected devices from home appliances to door locks and watches which may communicate with one another in the future.
The unveiling came a day after Apple - a few blocks away in San Francisco - unveiled a coming new version of its iOS mobile operating system with capabilities that could have iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch devices vying for that same spot in the middle of a what is billed as the booming Internet of Things.
The world's biggest smartphone maker made its pitch at the Tizen Developer Conference, a forum that aims to help the platform become a rival to Android and Apple's iOS.
Samsung showed off a line of Tizen-powered devices ranging from Tizen-Android cameras to its freshly announced smartphone powered entirely by the South Korean technology firm's open-source operating system.
Samsung even teased a prototype smart television that connects to rich online content using Tizen.