Samsung Unveils New ‘bada’ Platform, Promises Smartphone Experience For Everyone

Today marked the launch of a new mobile operating system for Samsung phones dubbed ‘bada’, promising new software solutions, an open and flexible platform for developers, and an intuitive user experience for the end consumer.

Meaning ‘ocean’ in Korean, bada aims to elaborate on the popular TouchWiz interface found on Samsung devices with a variety of input methods, but more importantly incorporating the ability to download games and applications to the phone.

From motion-sensing to face detection, weather sensors and vibration control, bada-enabled phones will be sure to give users new and unique ways to interact with their device, regardless of price point.

Social networking finally shifts from fad to core phone functionality as bada introduces location-based services, access to sites like Facebook and Twitter and data backup and syncing to mass-market handsets.

Kevin Thau, Twitter’s head of mobile, was positive regarding the potential of bada taking the micro-blogging site mobile:

“Mobile social media continues to go from strength to strength and we’re always keen to help make it easier for people to Tweet on the move. Samsung handsets are truly ubiquitous across the globe and it’s always a pleasure to be putting Twitter onto more and more smartphones.”

An app store is only as good as the wares filling up the virtual shelves, and thankfully some big names in gaming are on board with bada.

EA Mobile, Capcom and Gameloft all pledging support to develop games for the fledgling platform, whilst movie chain Blockbuster intends to “give customers access to the latest entertainment experience at their ultimate convenience”.

Realising the integral part that the bedroom developer also plays in apps and innovation, Samsung has unveiled a bada Developer Challenge, with a $2,700,000 prize pool for games and software created by the sharpest minds. Samsung are eager to show off their new platform as flexible and easy to work with, hosting demonstrations in Seoul, London and San Francisco for willing participants.

With a view to releasing the first bada-enabled phone in the first half of 2010, Samsung aims to break down barriers to entry with their new operating system, bringing the smartphone experience to far more handsets at an attractive, affordable price point.

Samsung have plenty of experience with third party platforms like Windows Mobile in the Omnia II and Google’s Android in devices such as the Samsung Galaxy, yet these handsets are usually tied to the upper end of the market.

With their proprietary platform said to provide a richer and more robust user experience than prepay or entry-level consumers are used to, and their wealth of experience in this sector proven by million-sellers like the Tocco Lite, bada could easily find a home in mass market and put the legacy of “dumb” phones to rest once and for all…

However the proof of the platform is in the playing, and with no demonstrations of software or hardware on hand at today’s London event, it might be some time before Samsung’s bada translates from quirky buzzword into legitimate Ovi Store-beater. Time will tell…

Tags: bada, samsung, samsung bada