Samsung plans to launch a high-end smartphone powered by the open source Tizen mobile platform in August or September this year, reports Bloomberg.

“The Tizen phone will be out in August or September, and this will be in the high-end category. The device will be the best product equipped with the best specifications,” said executive vice president of Samsung’s mobile business, Lee Young Hee, during an interview in Seoul.

Samsung is one of 12 companies developing Tizen as an alternative to Android. The South Korean tech giant, along with operators Orange and Docomo, said last month that they plan to “commercialise Tizen devices in the second half of 2013”.

The Tizen 2.0 Magnolia SDK and source code was released to developers, operators and OEMs last month.

The largest smartphone manufacturer in the world in terms of shipments, Samsung launched its current smartphone flagship, the Galaxy S4, in New York yesterday.

Google was not referred to at the unveiling, taken by some as a sign that the company is downplaying its reliance on Android ahead of the launch of a Tizen device.

Smartphones using Android made up 96 per cent of Samsung’s shipments in the third quarter of 2012, according data from Bloomberg Industries.