Now that it has cemented its dominance in the world of Android, Samsung is once again focusing on Tizen. The Associated Press reported this week that the Korean manufacturing giant used its first Developer Conference last week to make its mobile operating system “a part of the technology lexicon as familiar as Google’s Android or Apple’s iOS.” It hopes to entice developers by offering $4 million in cash to those who build the most compelling apps for Tizen, and this week it expanded the Tizen Association, a coalition of three dozen companies backing the platform.  And the first handsets running Tizen are expected to come to market – finally – early next year.

The evolution of Tizen

A little background is in order here: As I wrote in this Gigaom Research Report earlier this year, Tizen is  a Linux-based OS that essentially is an outgrowth of MeeGo, a platform that had been developed by merging Intel’s Moblin and Nokia’s Maemo. Nokia abandoned MeeGo when it went all-in with Microsoft’s Windows Phone, and Intel joined forces with Samsung, which in turn integrated its home-grown bada platform – which had gained some modest traction in some overseas markets – with Tizen.

Some have speculated that Samsung hopes to use Tizen to target the low end of the smartphone market, which is booming and will continue to explode as smartphone penetration increases, particularly in emerging markets. And Samsung recently unveiled Tizen Lite, a version of the OS that can be supported by extremely low-end smartphones. But as I wrote two weeks ago, Samsung is already doing very well in the low- to mid-range smartphone market thanks to its popular line of affordable Android handsets. And Samsung continues to do well in the high end of the market thanks to its line of Galaxy smartphones, which have emerged as something of a foil to Apple’s iPhone. All of which invites the question: What is it doing with Tizen?

The coming world of the internet of things

Rather than viewing Tizen as a new smartphone and tablet platform to take on Android, iOS and even Windows Phone, Samsung’s primary goal with Tizen seems to be M2M – machine-to-machine connections, aka the internet of things. Indeed, the only Tizen-based gadget to come to market so far is Samsung’s NX300, a camera that began shipping weeks ago.

Unlike some other phone manufacturers, Samsung produces a wide range of consumer electronics, from laptops and printers to TVs and refrigerators, all of which could leverage a mobile OS designed for devices that may not have the processing power of a high-end smartphone. And Samsung and Intel are reportedly working with auto manufacturers such as Jaguar, Land Rover and Toyota to deploy Tizen-based systems in connected cars.

A potential hedge during the patent-lawsuit wars

Samsung may also view Tizen as an alternative if the patent wars surrounding Android get too heated. As my colleague Jeff John Roberts wrote reported two weeks ago, a consortium of tech heavyweights including Microsoft, Apple and Ericsson have filed more than a dozen lawsuits against Samsung and other Android manufacturers, claiming the handset vendors infringe on a variety of fundamental smartphone features. The complaint against Samsung appears to address the company’s entire line of smartphones. And it’s worth noting that manufacturers continue to pay Microsoft substantial royalties to build Android handsets. So Tizen could be a far cheaper way for Samsung and other manufacturers to bring smartphones to market.

Some analysts have recently claimed that the war of mobile operating systems is over, with Android and iOS emerging as victors. But I don’t agree – the landscape can move very quickly in mobile, and factors like patent lawsuits and the emerging internet of things could be disruptive. Samsung has become one of the most powerful players in mobile, and it has quietly assembled an impressive list of partners behind Tizen. Developers, device manufacturers and other industry players should be keeping a close eye on the platform in the coming months.