Samsung's Tizen, Firefox OS and Ubuntu OS to unseat Google Android by 2015 - How Linux and HTML 5 are Oz the Great and Powerful for Open Source

“If we become a dumb pipe, our revenue will continue to shrink.”

Kiyohito Nagata, Managing Director of Strategic Marketing for NTT DoCoMo and a member of the Tizen Association.

The LiMO (Linux Mobile) Foundation looks set to get new lease on life by going mobile on smartphones and Tablets in a form of a new Linux Base OS as Samsung bids to become more like Apple. 

Samsung, a longtime member of the LiMo Foundation since 2007, has made the official announcement earlier on Thursday January 3^rd 2013 that smartphones based on their in-house Linux core based Operating System, Tizen OS as stated in “Samsung to Sell Tizen-Based Handsets After Motorola Deal”, published January 3, 2013 4:52 AM ET By Jungah Lee, Bloomberg and “Samsung: Tizen Linux phones will arrive in 2013”, published January 3, 2013 10:10 AM by Katherine Noyes, PCWorld.

Tizen OS is designed in partnership with Intel, would debut by the Second Quarter of 2013 as stated in “Samsung confirms Tizen based handsets for 2013”, published January 3, 2013 5:26 AM PST by Don Reisinger, CNET News  and “Samsung ups the ante with Intel, plans for Tizen smartphones”, published JANUARY 3, 2013 BY JOSHUA SHERMAN, DigitalTrends.

Tizen OS, has the full backing of the Linux Foundation, is a partnership between  Samsung, chip maker Intel who’ll be making the mobile chipsets for Tizen OS handsets and developing the forerunner of Tizen OS, that being MeeGo. Tizen OS is based on the failed results of Intel and Nokia’s MeeGo Project and marks Samsung’s second attempt to develop their own OS for their smartphone and Tablets.

This is aside from Bada OS, which translates form Korean to mean “Wide Ocean”, which had reached version 2.0 as stated in the Geezam Blog article “Samsung’s “bada” mobile operating system gets updated to 2.0”, and had made its debut at the Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona in February 2010 but failed to catch on with customers, only achieving 4^th Place spot globally in the smartphone Operating System Stats globally.

Tizen OS promises to be literally Open Source on a smartphone, allowing Developers to change whatever the like, including the basic interface of the smartphone down to the deep inner kernel of the OS, something which Google Android allows but will not support. With Tizen OS combined with Samsung’s market Dominance, they have a clear shot at occupying the Third tier spot in the ever expanding Smartphone and Tablet OS race as noted in “Samsung Tizen-based smartphones could contend for 3rd place behind Android and iOS”, published January 3, 2013 17:19 GMT (09:19 PST By Matthew Miller, ZDNet.

LiMo Foundation hopes to replicate the success of Linux platform Ubuntu in the PC world in the form of Canonical’s Ubuntu partnership with Dell in the smartphone world using Tizen as a starting point. Tizen’s aims is to basically wean Developers and Customers alike off Google Android and onto using a Intel Processor friendly and more modifiable and Developer Friendly Open Source OS as argued in the article “Tizen Is The Fulcrum Samsung Can Use Against Android And Google”, published January 5th 2012 by Ewan Spence, Forbes.

Tizen OS’s Open Source roots makes it easy for Developers to port their Google Android App already popular with customers on Google Android devices over via Tizen OS Application Compatibility Layer in keeping with the original spirit of Open Source. This feature, combined with Samsung’s market dominance of the smartphone industry, is sure to be an attraction to many Developers.

Samsung’s Tizen OS and the current popularity of smartphones presents a very compelling argument for new and experienced Developers, with Samsung and Apple, the two top dogs in the smartphone and Tablet World having  shipped a total of 700 million handsets globally in all of 2012 as noted in “Samsung, Apple dominate as 700M smartphones ship in 2012”, published January 24, 2013 8:29 PM PST by Steven Musil, CNET News.

For them, the Tizen OS represents the next big OS platform for which to develop or port existing smartphone or Tablet Apps as both App stores grow in size with Apple declaring they’ve clocked some 40 billion downloads to date with 20 billion in 2012 as noted in “Apple App Store hits 40 billion downloads; 20 billion in 2012, alone”, published January 7, 2013 5:39 AM PST by Don Reisinger, CNET News.

This as the App Economy shows no signs of slowing down boosted by the expansion of Mobile computing as noted in my blog article entitled “Amazon set to launch smartphone in Fourth Quarter of 2012AD - The App Economy and the Increasing Importance of Digical Content”.

Tizen OS’s design is based on the Linux OS kernel for mobile devices and is designed with support for more sophisticated Apps based on HTML5. It’s development is being driven by suggestions from Engineers and Technicians from Samsung and Intel, Tizen OS’s main minders, instead of committees as was the case in previous failed attempts at a mobile phone OS such as Bada OS as described in the Geezam Blog article “Samsung’s “bada” mobile operating system gets updated to 2.0”.

The group also consists of Telecom Providers such as Japanese Telecom Provider NTT DoCoMo and US Telecom Provider sprint Nextel who had previously stated support for Samsung’s own home-grown Linux based HTML5 supporting Mobile Operating system according to a report by Japan's Daily Yomiuri in the article Samsung to sell first “Tizen smartphone next year, report says”, published December 31, 2012 4:32 AM PST by Roger Cheng, CNET News.

The success of this latest smartphone and Tablet OS venture is very essential for Samsung, as albeit they sold more phones than Apple in the Third Quarter of 2012 according to the stats of analyst Gartner as stated in “Samsung outdoes Apple 2-to-1 in smartphones; Nokia falters”, published October 26, 2012 5:45 AM PDT by Don Reisinger, CNET News and the stats of analyst IDC as noted in “Smartphone sales up 47 percent as Android increases its lead”, published November 14, 2012 3:21 AM PST by Zack Whittaker, CNET News as shown below, they make less money from continue Advertising and App Store content sales, most of which goes to Google owned Android.

Albeit Samsung and other smartphone maker success in the smartphone game against Apple, to the point of having the top smartphone in the world for 2012, the Samsung Galaxy S3 as reported in “Samsung Galaxy S3 as stated in Galaxy S3 claims top spot in smartphones worldwide”, published November 8, 2012 4:28 AM PST by Zack Whittaker, CNET News and being one of the Top 2 smartphones makers in world alongside Apple as stated in “Apple, Samsung U.S. smartphone sales jump 43 percent”, published August 8, 2012 6:08 AM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News, Samsung only makes money from handset sales.

Samsung makes less money from its OS, mainly taking in revenue from handset sales as opposed its main rival Apple that makes money both from handset sales as well as App Store purchases and even advertising from the use of its browser, Safari as noted in the article “Mobile Manufacturers Part III: Apple Makes More Money”, published January 9, 2013, Seeking Alpha .

In fact, Apple’s App Store, despite Google Play App Store needing only another 25,000 Apps to be on par, still makes more money, according to App analytics firm Distimo as stated in the article “Google Play is growing faster, but Apple’s App Store brings in way more money: Distimo”, published 20 December 2012 by Andrii Degeler, The Next Web and “Google Play surges, but Apple's App Store is still No. 1”, published December 20, 2012 7:03 AM PST by Lance Whitney, CNET News.

The Apple App Store’s clocking approximately US$15 million in average daily revenue in November 2012, mainly from in-app Purchases from Freemium Apps as well as Premium Apps, when compared to US$$3.5 million in average daily revenue achieved by Google Play App Store as I’d predicted with regards to App Games in my Geezam blog article entitled “Smartphones and Apps – Freemium Games are No. 1”.

This expanded revenue stream has caught Samsung’s eye as a means of capitalizing on its lead in terms of smartphones. Hence Samsung’s continued interest in developing a smartphone platform with Intel despite the failure of Bada OS as described in “Samsung's secret weapon in the mobile Wars: Tizen”, published January 17, 2013 12:34 PM PST by Roger Cheng, CNET News.

Worse yet is the plight of Telecom Providers!

Telecom Providers only make money from the two (2) years subscriptions and the Tiered Data Plans, which are mandatory with the purchase of a smartphone. As such, additional continued revenue streams such as Google Search, advertising related to search on Google Search and purchase of Apps at Google Play and the purchase of other content still evade the Telecom Providers and Handset makers if they continue to use Google Android. Hence their committed support for Samsung and Intel’s Tizen OS!

 Intel’s support of Tizen represents a last-ditch effort to gain some traction in the Mobile computing world, from which they’ve been largely missing and for which their only answer thus far has been a Dual-Core Atom Chip as reported in my blog article entitled  “Intel showcases Dual-Core Z2760 Atom Processor, codenamed Clover Trail for Win 8 – End of Watch for PC Makers who must get into the Tablet Game”.

So to make it absolutely clear, Samsung is aiming to become more like Apple via its development of the Tizen OS as Google’s hindering them from making money from the OS and even Search, which Samsung does not own. Samsung’s aware that Google Android got them to the top spot in the Smartphone and Tablet market, but they’re interested in getting a slice of the App Economy via having their own OS, again copying Apple.

The last time I had such glowing accolades to pile on the Linux OS head was when HP (Hewlett Packard) had launched their Web OS on their HP TouchPad line of Tablets which was at the time a very big endorsement of Open Source by a Silicon Valley PC maker as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “HP and Web OS – 2011 is the Year of the Linux on PC”.

This time around Samsung have no choice but to succeed.

Already, others Mobile OS are in the wings, ready to become the next big thing in the growing Mobile Computing Market of Smartphones and Tablets, namely Mozilla Firefox OS and Ubuntu OS as stated in “Ubuntu, Firefox line up to take on iOS, Android in 2013”, published January 3, 2013 9:44 AM by Ian Paul, PC World. Both Mozilla Corporation, makers of Firefox OS and Canonical, makers of Ubuntu OS have a good chance, as both Mozilla Corporation and Canonical have had a few years of experience in Search Engine and Mobile computing, specifically in making Laptops respectively.

For them porting their already Open Source projects to a smartphone or a Tablet as a Mobile OS is the next natural evolution. With Mobile Computing expanding and slowly killing off Laptops and Desktop computers as argued in my Geezam blog article entitled “How the Apple iPad killed Ultrabooks, Printing and the Mouse as the World Rediscovers Tablets”, they actually have no choice in the matter.  

They have to go into Mobile Computing i.e. Smartphones and Tablets in order to continue to survive even just as a Browser (Firefox) or as an Operating system (Ubuntu). Thus Firefox OS as described in my Geezam blog article entitled “How to reset the default Search Engine in Mozilla Firefox” and Ubuntu OS  as stated in “Ubuntu OS smartphones tapped for late 2013”, published January 2, 2013 10:57 AM PST by Jessica Dolcourt, CNET News are really survival strategies, should the Laptop and PC business finally succumb to Tablets and smartphones by 2015.

Thus with their entry into the Mobile Computing market, there is now a total of eight (8) OS’, including themselves namely:

1.      Android

2.      iOS

3.      Windows Phone 8

4.      Blackberry 10

5.      Firefox OS

6.      Ubuntu OS

7.      Tizen

8.      Web OS

Thus despite complaints from some quarters, such as CNET Editor Jessica Dolcourt that there are too many smartphone OS and the field is already too crowded as opined in “No, we don't really need another smartphone OS”, published January 2, 2013 3:11 PM PST by Jessica Dolcourt, CNET News at least this is achieving the much needed biodiversity in terms of OS in the smartphone world as I’d opined in my blog article entitled “Microsoft and Windows Phone 7 - Love Potion Number Nine”.

As this is the Chinese Year of the Snake, the potential that these Linux-based Open Source OS that have full support for HTML5 and can port and run Google Android Apps have to make it big in rapidly expanding Mobile Computing space, especially Samsung’s Tizen OS, is tremendous and represents the coming of yet another Smartphone Wizard in the shadow of Oz the Great and Powerful (2013).

Japan’s Nippon Light Metal Company Limited to mine Rare Earth elements in Jamaica - Jack Reacher recycling gadgets for Rare Earth Elements

“The concentration of rare earth elements in mineable quantities around the world is unusual, and the concentration of rare earth elements found in Jamaica’s red mud deposits are significantly greater than what is known about other red mud sites around the world”

Minister of Science, Technology Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell in Parliament on Tuesday January 15, 2013 as reported by the Jamaica Observer

Jamaica, it seems, is on the cusp of a great Rare Earth Adventure as was hinted in The Jamaica Gleaner article “Paulwell to make big mining announcement”, published Tuesday | January 15, 2013 by Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner.  

Nippon Light Metal Company Limited a Japanese Mining firm has discovered very high concentrations of Rare Earth Metals in the Red Mud left over from the process of extracting Alumina from Bauxite located in the RDA (Residue Disposal Area) of Bauxite Companies as reported in “Jamaica could earn billions from Japanese firm’s research here”, published Wednesday, January 16, 2013 BY ALICIA DUNKLEY Senior staff reporter, The Jamaica Observer.

This as announced in Parliament on Tuesday January 15, 2013 by the Minister of Science, Technology Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell. The potential of this discovery is huge as it’s ironic; a value-added product valued at least US$3500 per Kilogram being extracted by a Japanese mining company from Red Mud Waste left over from the production of Alumina. An even better twist: Alumina, JAMALCO’s sole product, sells for less than US$300 per metric tonnes at a price that’s artificially low thanks to recycling of Aluminum and China flooding the market which cheap aluminum.

The irony of Recycling as the Waste becomes more valuable than the product thanks to Rare Earth Metals in RDA Waste as was suggested in my Geezam blog article entitled “How American and Canadian investors Plan to make money from the US$10 million Trade in Plastics and other Recyclables in Jamaica” and my blog article entitled “Panther Corporation of Canada sets up solar Powered Recycling Center - Investing in The Apparition of Jamaica's Waste Management Problem”. A fulfillment of Jesus’ Masonic edict of the Stone that’s seen as less valuable becoming the chief Cornerstone!

The Japanese firm, Nippon Light Metal Company Limited, a 10,000 employee strong outfit with average revenues of US$7 billion, has already signed a MOU (Memorandum of understanding) with the GOJ (Government of Jamaica) since September 2012, when they’d begun their research. So confident are they that they’ve already projected extractions rates of 1,500 metric tonnes and have already committed US$3 million a joint venture with the JBI (Jamaica Bauxite Institute).

The profits from the venture, if commercialized, will be split 50/50 in a partnership with the GOJ, but for now Nippon Light Metal Company Limited is standing the full cost of the project. Jamaica, folks, thanks to the Bauxite Company’s maintenance of the RDA, has now become akin to Afghanistan in terms of the levels of Rare Earth Metals in our Red Mud.

This makes Jamaica a potentially huge supplier to Japan, helping them to cushion themselves against China’s 90% Monopoly of Rare Earth Metals and their habit of reducing export quotas of Rare Earth Metals back in 2010 to boost prices as noted in my Geezam Blog article entitled “Chinese Crisis in Rare Earth Metals: Afghanistan is Silicon Valley's Savior”.

Currently the prices of Rare Earth Metals have been falling since the Fourth Quarter of 2012 as reported in The Wall Street Journal  article entitled “Prices of Rare Earths Succumb to Gravity”, published November 12, 2012, 7:07 p.m. ET by Rhiannon Hoyle, The Wall Street Journal resulting in a current oversupply of REE (Rare Earths Elements) as they are called on the Mercantile Stock Exchanges.

This is thanks in part to due diligence in the usage of Rare Earth Metals by Japanese Electronics manufacturers as noted in “China’s grip on the world’s rare earth market may be slipping”, published October 19, 2012 at 11:03 am by Brad Plumer, The Washington Post.

Also, increased mining activities by heavy hitters in the Rare Earth Mining outside of China such as Molycorp and Lynas as noted in “Analysis: Rare earth prices to erode on fresh supply, China”, published Wednesday Sep 19, 2012 8:26am EDT By Eric Onstad, Reuters helped to create an oversupply and thus push the price down by the end of the Fourth Quarter of 2012, with current prices in US$/Kg shown below:

 

Thus it’s no coincidence that Nippon Light Metal Company Limited was in Jamaica since September looking into extracting Rare Earth Metals from Red Mud stockpiled in the RDA of Jamaican Bauxite companies. The boom in smartphones, Tablets and Television sets was creating a demand for which they needed a low cost supply of Rare Earth Metals, making doing the research feasible.

This discovery has the potential to revitalize the Bauxite Mining Sector that’s now basically committed to LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) as an Energy source in order to remain competitive against the Chinese as stated in my blog article entitled “JPS Co parents Marubeni and EWP mull decision to supply LNG - GOJ to eat Humble Pie to avoid an Ice Age Continental Drift”.

It also opens up a whole new sector of Mining in Rare Earth Metals as predicted from 2012 in my blog article entitled “PM Portia Simpson Milller ALCOA Talks hint at LNG - Lady Gaga's Paparazzi in Jamaica's  Bauxite Sector”  and  Gold as predicted in my blog article entitled “AUSJAM and the Pennants Gold Mine Rush - King Solomon’s Mines in Clarendon”.

It’s not mentioned in the article but trust me, Gold is in Jamaica. Already Rio Minerals Jamaica Limited showing interest via requesting a Exclusive license for committing to Gold Mining in the Mavis Bank Area in St. Andrew and parts of St. Thomas as noted in the article “GOLD HUNT ON!” published Tuesday December 11, 2012, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Naturally the news has everyone excited, including yours truly as I had worked as a Process Engineer with a contractor named ACS (Automated and Computer Supplies) and was based for 2 months on the JAMALCO Plant, an Alumina Mining company located in Halse Hall, Clarendon. I even did several blog articles while at JAMALCO, one of which featured Honeywell as noted in my blog article entitled “Honeywell partners with Immarsat for In-Flight Satellite Broadband in 2013AD - Konshens Gal a Bubble for Qualcomm Airplane Broadband”.

However, both newspapers have done editorials that suggest they like the money part, approximately US$1.5 billion in projected revenues from 1,500 metric tonnes of Rare Earth Minerals as noted in “Keeping our fingers crossed on this red mud hope”, published Wednesday, January 16, 2013, The Jamaica Observer and “EDITORIAL - The potential of rare-earth metals”, published Thursday January 17, 2013, The Jamaica Gleaner.

But again they display a lack of knowledge, (or is it disinterest?) in the Chemistry part or even the potential environmental impact of Rare Earth Mining may have on the Environment.

The environmental impact is not much different from that Gold Mining and the issue of the use of Cyanide, which the development of the use of Cupriavidus metallidurans bacterium to extract Gold from toxic Gold (III) Chloride (Au₂Cl₆) would solve as argued in my blog article entitled “Cupriavidus metallidurans Bactrium used by Michigan State Professors to produce Gold Nuggets - BioChemistry Step Up Revolution for Cyanide Free Gold Mining”.

It should be of grave concern, as NEPA (National Environmental and Planning Agency) doesn’t have the legal or physical resources to police or enforce punishment for breaches against the Environment as noted by freelance environmentalist, Sociologist and Roman Catholic deacon, Peter Espeut in his opinion piece “Transparency and mining”, published Friday November 23, 2012 by Peter Espeut, The Jamaica Gleaner.

The GOJ’s keenness on developing and diversifying Mining is very much in keeping with developments in the wider Caribbean in Mining. Guyana comes easily to mind as an example of Mining being both a good money earner but having a negative impact on the Environment.

Natural Resources Minister Robert Persaud having to declare a ban on Gold Mining operations in July of 2012 due to its negative impact on the Forest areas and Rivers from Cyanide pollution as noted in “Guyana bans gold, diamond mining in rivers”, published Sunday July 8, 2012, The Jamaica Gleaner. Gold Mining earns approximately US$1 billion per annum, dwarfing its previous top money earner, Sugar.

Clearly there’s money in mining Rare Earth Minerals and Gold, but it has disastrous environmental consequences. But what are Rare Earth Minerals, seeing as Gold, a Transition Metal is a No-brainer? And why are they so valuable?

Rare Earth Metals belong to the series of Metals in the Periodic Table known as Transition Metals, so called as they can have multiple oxidation states. Of the Transition Metals, Rare Earth Metals, mainly consisting of the Lanthanides along with Ytterbium and Scandium are so named as not because they are less abundant than the other metals but because they are not as heavily concentrated in any given spot. Hence the reason for their high price tag; a list of them and their prices on the Mercantile Stock Exchange can be seen below:

Most of the Earth’s Metallic Resources can be easily mined from the Earth’s Lithosphere, the upper crust of the Earth upon which we live. Interesting too, like the Noble Gases with their outer shells of electrons full paired up, these Rare Earth Metals are fairly unreactive. When they do react, they exhibit multiple oxidation states and display Metallic and Covalent bonding properties in both aqueous solutions and solid crystalline structures. As such, like aluminum, they are often extracted and stored as oxides of various grades and coarseness as specified by the buyer purchasing the Rare Earth Metals.

The also possess catalytic properties that make them great for Process Chemical Engineering Reactions as well as Electronics manufacturing as can be seen by the Rare Earths List in Wikipedia, thereby directly powering the Mobile Computing Revolution as stated in my Geezam blog article entitled “How the Apple iPad killed Ultrabooks, Printing and the Mouse as the World Rediscovers Tablets”. The Infographic below should also shed some light on how important Rare Earth Metals are to the Consumer Electronics Industry.

As a consequence Mining them is easy if you know how to identify them via chemical assay methods. Rare Earth Metal extractions is somewhat similar to those used at JAMALCO  in the Precipitation Department to precipitate and separate heavier Sodium Alumina Tri-Hydrate Crystals via gravity to be calcined (heated at high temperatures) in the Calcination Department to make the final Alumina powder for export.

Rare Earth Mining Methods mostly involving gravitational Mining methods using Centrifuges and Precipitation Tanks. The difference is that in Rare Earth mining, it’s the head of the Green liquor that’s creamed off that contains the Rare Earth Minerals.

This is formed by Molycorp combining a chemical with the slurry of material that causes it to precipitate out of the mixture and rise up to the top as described in “Digging for rare earths: The mines where iPhones are born”, published September 26, 2012 12:00 AM PDT by Jay Greene, CNET News.  Very much like cream curdles or whey involved in the making of Cheese; the heavier precipitate, consisting of 95% of the Green Liquor, settles to the bottom of their Precipitation Tanks.

If you’ve endured reading thus far, you’d realize that this is not my first article on Rare Earth Metals. Neither will it be my last as evidenced by these blog articles on Rare Earth Metals and their connection to Alternative Energy:

1.      Alternative Energy and Rare Earth Metals - Allan Quatermain and King Solomon's Mines

2.      Alternative Energy and Rare Earth Metals Recycling - Pass it on

3.      Alternative Energy and Rare Earth Metals - GoldFinger

 Their usefulness is in the manufacture of everything that’s Electronic, from LED/LCD Displays, Batteries, Electronics as noted in yet another editorial entitled “Time for innovative and enterprising thinking”, published Sunday, January 20, 2013, The Jamaica Observer. The continued development of All-Electric Vehicles as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “The American Race towards Alternative Energy” is also another reason why this discovery’s so important.

Now that this opportunity has fallen into our laps, quite by happenstance, it now draws us in the Diplomatic World of Rare Earth Metals politics. This discovery, albeit a big potential money earner for Jamaica in effect this pits us against China, signaling possible negative fallout should the Chinese Government perceive this in a negative light.

But if the GOJ’s planning to go ahead and mine Rare Earth Metals and Gold, be reminded of one thing: There’s a lot of it that can be easily be extracted from old Electronics Gadgets that stockpile our Landfills as argued in my blog article entitled “NSWMA can benefit from coming Lithium Demand from All-Electric Vehicle - The Beverly Hillbillies go Electric”.

Japan’s Nippon Light Metal Company Limited will rescue the Bauxite Industry via making revenue from the Value added commodity that is now Red mud Waste left over from the less profitable Bauxite production. Jamaica on the other hand, via Recycling, needs to rescue ourselves from the ever increasing sea of Electronic Waste with help from the Telecom Providers.

Electronics Waste Recycling has a potential for generating revenue via Recycling as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “How American and Canadian investors Plan to make money from the US$10 million Trade in Plastics and other Recyclables in Jamaica” and my blog article entitled “Panther Corporation of Canada sets up solar Powered Recycling Center - Investing in The Apparition of Jamaica's Waste Management Problem”.

Getting the Telecom Providers to have customers return their old Cellphones, chargers and Batteries with attractive offers in terms of an exchange for a better smartphone would be a Jack Reacher (2012) start towards recycling gadgets for their Rare Earth Elements.