Before Android conquered the mobile phone industry as the dominant operating system, Samsung phones were running the Tizen mobile OS platform. Since Google’s Android operating system took over the lead spot in the race, Tizen was left out in the cold, though a number of Samsung devices still run the OS at present. But the South Korean phone maker is rolling up its sleeves to bring back its proprietary operating system to where it was before. Samsung has launched a new incentive program that aims to support developers of Tizen apps with $1 million in investment.
The long-term goal of the Tizen Mobile App Incentive Program is to expand the mobile app ecosystem for Samsung’s in-house platform by inviting the global developer community to build apps for Tizen. As well as new apps, the program also accepts apps that are already available on the Tizen store, so developers who have been a member of the Tizen community for quite sometime are eligible to participate. It is worth noting that the program is Samsung’s first effort to support Tizen developers worldwide. Developers are allowed to submit their apps to Samsung for a chance to win $10,000 and even higher. The program will officially kick off in February 2017 and will run through October 2017. The program is open to developers who create apps for gaming, social networking, and more. Bear in mind also that Samsung will award $10,000 to each of the top 100 apps downloaded from the Tizen store and pre-registered to join the program every month. Developers will also be able to generate revenue from their apps through mobile ads with the InMobi Ad Software Development Kit.
Woncheol Chai, vice president of global product management for Samsung Electronics’ mobile communications business said in a press statement that the program is intended to evolve the Tizen ecosystem and provide better experience to customers. Submissions to the program will start in January of next year and Samsung will notify the winning developers every 10th of each month beginning on March 10, 2017 until November 10, 2017. The program was also announced last week at the NASSCOM Game Developers Conference, largest gathering of game developers in India, where Samsung last month unveiled the Tizen App Challenge to persuade Android and iOS game developers to port their existing games to Tizen in exchange for cash rewards of up to $20,000.