Samsung Is Working On A New Smartphone Operating System That It Hopes Will End Android

Even though most smartphones today run on Android or Apple's iOS operating systems, there are still a bunch of other players scrambling to fill in the gap for third place.

One of those is called Tizen, an open source operating system that's being developed by Samsung and a bunch of other companies.

Some see Samsung's involvement in Tizen as a sign that it's trying to ween itself off Google for smartphone apps and services. Samsung misses out on a lot of potential revenue when Galaxy phone owners use Google services like Gmail and buy apps and content from the Google Play Android store.

In fact, Samsung already announced a major Tizen-powered device this week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the new Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo smart watches. (The original Galaxy Gear ran Android.)

It makes sense too. Samsung is the biggest Android phone maker, and the only company that makes any real profit from Android phones and tablets. If it suddenly decides to migrate to Tizen, then Google will lose its biggest Android partner and a bunch of potential revenue and market share.

Tizen is still in its early stages and likely won't start shipping on devices for another year or more. But we got a look at an early version running on a prototype Samsung device.

Take a look:

This is the lock screen. As you can see, it already looks a lot like Samsung's Android phone software.

Steve Kovach/Business Insider

You can store widgets for news, weather, etc. on your home screen.

Steve Kovach/Business Insider

It comes with all the standard apps. Keep in mind this is just a prototype, so everything is very basic right now.

Steve Kovach/Business Insider

The camera software is nearly identical to some of Samsung's Android Galaxy phones.

Steve Kovach/Business Insider

The control panel in the drop-down menu lets you control basic functions like Bluetooth and WiFi.

Steve Kovach/Business Insider

There aren't many apps in the app store yet. You won't find any popular apps like Instagram or blockbuster games like Angry birds. But a lot of developers have committed to making apps for Tizen.