Samsung finally folding Bada OS into Tizen

Samsung has announced plans to kill off its Bada operating system and merge it with Tizen, the open source project formed from the ashes of Nokia and Intel’s MeeGo. Yonhap reports comments from Hong Won-pyo, the president of Samsung’s Media Solutions Center, saying that once Tizen devices come out, the two will come together. Samsung plans to release multiple Tizen devices this year.

Tizen phones will be able to run apps designed for Bada devices, but it won’t be possible to upgrade a Bada phone to Tizen. “Rather than seeing this as a straightforward merger, it’s better to view it as a transition to a better service,” says Hong, indicating that Bada wasn’t a good fit for modern smartphones. We initially heard that the two operating systems would fold into each other over a year ago, but Samsung played down the reports a few days later.