South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled its latest Tizen-powered smartphone Wednesday as part of efforts to boost sales in India and its neighboring countries.

   The Samsung Z3, an upgrade from the Samsung Z1 released earlier this year, runs on the Tizen platform developed by Samsung, which is based on Google Inc.'s Android platform.

   Samsung said shipments of the Samsung Z1, which went on sale in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in January, reached 1 million units as of end-June.

   The latest Tizen smartphone comes with a price tag of 8,490 Indian rupees (US$130.43). The official sales will start on Oct. 21 in India.

   With a 5-inch HD Super AMOLED display, the smartphone comes with improved camera features, with an 8-megapixel camera on the back and a 5-megapixel camera on the front for selfies.

   The device will also come with the "My Galaxy" application, which will provide various local information about movies, fashion, and travel.

   With a 2,600 mAh battery, the device also boasts an "Ultra Power Saving Mode," which allows the smartphone to operate up to 33 hours using only 10 percent of the battery power.

   Samsung said the release comes in line with expanding what it calls the ecosystem of Tizen. It latest Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch also runs on the platform. (Yonhap)