You could be forgiven for thinking that Samsung’s mobile strategy is 100 per cent Android, what will all of its MWC releases in the mix of new products this week. Not so, however; the company is still going to “significantly” increase investment in Bada – the same OS it’s merging with Intel’s Tizen — as well as continuing development on Windows Phone 7.
Who would have guessed that Samsung’s Bada operating system would end up this way (hint: everybody). The Korean company has announced that it will be merging its entry-level smartphone platform with the Intel-backed Tizen operating system.
The problem with having a teaser Android app — as Samsung did for its IFA surprises via its Samsung Unpacked app — is that enterprising folks may just have a peek at what’s inside the APK. That’s exactly what’s happened, and while not all of Samsung’s surprises have been uncovered, it turns out that the logos for at least three new Samsung products were already lurking in there.
The idea behind Bada wasn’t necessarily a bad one, but the platform was let down last year by the fact that Samsung only released one handset using the mobile OS. That’s all going to change this year, with Samsung announcing the Wave 578 handset, which adds NFC to the mix. There’s no guarantee it will launch in Australia though…
Remember Bada? You’d be forgiven for forgetting. As a quick reminder, Bada is Samsung’s own proprietary mobile OS that came with their Wave handset last year. Well, turns out they’re still pushing it, and are partnering with Navigon to provide a free satnav app to Bada phones in Australia.
The biggest question surrounding the introduction of Samsung’s own smartphone operating system Bada is also the most obvious: “Why?” And while Samsung have a pretty predictable response to that question, the real potential for the platform is not in smartphones alone – it’s in the potential to interact with other IT devices like televisions. I tried out an early demo of this exact application yesterday at the Bada developer day in Sydney.
If you’re an Australian app developer, you’re currently hamstrung if you want to develop for Android. But Google’s loss could be Samsung’s gain, with the Korean company holding developer days for their new Bada operating system.
As if there wasn’t enough mobile phone excitement today, Samsung has launched the Wave, their first handset running their home-grown Bada OS, through Optus, Voda and Virgin as well.
