Samsung Reveals Bada Development Capabilities

Samsung Electronics has now officially launched its Bada smartphone operating system, and is hoping that the flexible nature of its development capabilities will translate into a healthy amount of third party apps.

It was back in November that Samsung first revealed to the world that it intended to enter the already crowded mobile operating systems space, alongside existing offerings from the likes of Apple, Google, Microsoft, Nokia, Palm, Research In Motion, and of course the Symbian Foundation.

Yet it seems that Samsung has recognised that it is a late entry into the game, and consequently it is touting Bada’s development capabilities with its SDK (Software Development Kit). This SDK promises to give developers free reign over a handsets’ core functions. For example, Bada will even allow third party apps to make a call (or send messages or access the contact list).

This is something that app developers for Android and iPhone do not have, and it seems that Samsung is hoping that this type of flexibility will lead to the development of a healthy number apps for Bada handsets.

“Samsung Bada is a driving force in accomplishing Samsung’s vision of a ‘smartphone for everyone,’” said the company. “To achieve this vision, Samsung Bada offers a feature-rich platform for enhanced mobile experiences for consumers, and a complete mobile ecosystem through a developer support program that both the application store and consumers will benefit from.”

At the moment third party apps are pretty much the preserve of high-end smartphones such as the iPhone etc. However, if Bada is to be used across Samsung’s mid-range handsets, then it could open up a new market by giving those users access to apps. Indeed, this ambition was hinted at by a Samsung executive.

“In providing Samsung Bada, I believe that Samsung will become a true leader in the mobile industry; offering a wider range of smartphone choices for consumers,” said Dr Hosoo Lee, executive vice president and head of the media solution center at Samsung Electronics. “At the same time, Samsung Bada presents a powerful opportunity for developers to get their applications onto an unprecedented number of Samsung devices across the world.”

However, there is still no word on whether Samsung will drop Symbian from its high-end devices.

According to Samsung, Bada (which means ocean in Korean) is based Samsung’s signature TouchWiz user interface, which it says will give it an easy, simple, and intuitive UI without compromising efficiency.

“To enhance creativity and user interactivity, Samsung Bada provides flash control, web control, motion sensing, fine-tuned vibration control, and face detection,” said the company. “Also, it supports sensor-based, context-aware applications. By using various sensors such as accelerometers, tilt, weather, proximity, and activity sensors, application developers can easily implement context-aware interactive applications.”

Samsung also said that Bada supports various service-centric features such as social networking, device synchronisation, content management, location-based services, and commerce services – all supported by back-end Bada servers.

To showcase its commitment to the new mobile OS, Samsung is launching a developer challenge to win a share of the $2.7 million (£1.6m) prize fund. It is also pledging a series of developer days across the globe in 2010 to introduce developers to its new platform.