Open-source project Tizen has released the Tizen 2.0 "Magnolia " source code and SDK to software developers and device makers, a few days before Samsung's announcement of new phones based on mobile OS.

The Tizen 2.0 release includes many new features and improvements over Tizen 1.0 released in April, including HTML5 application programming interfaces (APIs) and a new native framework, the project's technical steering group said in a blog post on Monday.

Tizen 2.0 developers will find strong HTML5/W3C APIs and a new native framework. Highlights of this release include:

- Enhanced Web framework that provides state-of-the-art HTML5/W3C API support
- Web UI framework, including full-screen and multi-window support - Additional Tizen device APIs, such as Bluetooth and NFC support, and access to the device's calendar, call history, and messaging subsystems
- Web Runtime framework supporting new configuration elements for specifying the required features and privileges, and providing the basic runtime environment for NPRuntime plugins
- Native framework supporting full-featured application development and providing a variety of features such as background applications, IP Push, and TTS (Text-To-Speech)
- Core and native reference applications including Calendar, Contacts, Gallery, Phone, Settings, and Video Player
- Enhanced Web IDE providing WYSIWYG design environment, Chrome-based JavaScript inspector, and JavaScript log viewer
- Native IDE providing a project wizard, WYSIWYG design environment, unit test tool, and dynamic analyzer

Samsung is planning a line of phones built around the Tizen operating system, to reduce its dependence on Android after Google acquired mobile phone competitor Motorola Mobility.

Intel is also backing the Tizen project, after deciding to cut support for a project to develop the MeeGo operating system along with Nokia.

The next version of the operating system, Tizen 2.1, will be released in the second quarter of this year.