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Samsung's first Tizen phone slips further into the future (update)

Samsung's Tizen mobile OS already powers a pair of smartwatches, but what about those smartphones we've been promised for so long? Well the company's first consumer-ready Tizen phone -- the Samsung Z -- was supposed to make its official debut at a developer event in Moscow yesterday. Of course, the key words there are "supposed to". To hear the folks at the Wall Street Journal tell the tale, there was a Tizen event for enthusiasts, but Samsung quietly pulled the plug on the Z's launch days earlier.

Don't worry, the phone's not dead yet. Samsung eventually confirmed to The Verge that it plans to keep fleshing out the OS and the ecosystem that sustains it, but phone no longer has an official launch date. Why? No one's quite sure yet, though at least a few who attended that Russian shindig thought Samsung might've pushed back the launch because of a dearth of decent apps. That may well be the case, but if it is, it isn't for lack of effort on Samsung's part. The Korean mobile giant has a list of notable software partners and has tried to inspire developers with Tizen app contests. Maybe, just maybe that's not enough.

This isn't the first time a Tizen device launch has gone awry, either. Samsung originally planned to release one in Japan earlier this year before carrier NTT DoCoMo put the kibosh on it, citing an already-crowded field of competitors. That's not going to change. If anything, those entrenched players are going to hunker down ever more as time marches on. If Samsung decides to wait for the golden moment to release its side project unto the world, we may be waiting for our Tizen phones for a long while.

Update: Samsung has confirmed the delay in a statement:

To further enhance the Tizen ecosystem, Samsung plans to postpone the launch of Samsung Z in Russia. Samsung will continue to actively work with Tizen Association members to further develop both Tizen OS and the Tizen ecosystem.