Samsung Electronics

Co. Ltd. finally unveiled its new smartphone platform, Samsung bada. The company showcased the bada SDK (Software Development Kit) for partners and presented the benefits and opportunities that the bada platform will bring to developers, mobile operators and consumers.

The company says Samsung bada is a driving force in accomplishing Samsung’s vision of a ‘smartphone for everyone.’ 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. Based on Samsung’s accumulated expertise in developing advanced mobile phones, the company will allow its users to enjoy the ultimate mobile experience through superb features.

Dr Hosoo Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of the Media Solution Center at Samsung Electronics said, “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.” He added, “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.“

Based on Samsung’s TouchWiz User Interface, Samsung bada platform provides an easy, simple, and intuitive UI. To enhance creativity and user interactivity, Samsung bada provides flash control, web control, motion sensing, fine-tuned vibration control, and face detection. 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 bada differentiates its position by supporting various service-centric features such as social networking, device synchronization, content management, location-based services, and commerce services - all supported by back-end bada servers. These developer-friendly features support developers to implement various services without additional effort.

The platform enables developers to take advantage of mobile device capabilities to create compelling applications. Applications can use device functions to make phone calls, send messages, or access the contact list. Also, various service applications can share information such as personal profiles, social relations, schedules, or contents with a simple user confirmation in order to provide services with greater personal relevance and cooperative service extension.

Attendees at today’s launch event will also be introduced to the new Samsung bada Developer Challenge. The Challenge is the first chance for developers to win a share of a US$2,700,000 prize fund, simply by using the features of the new bada platform to build a wide variety of applications for bada devices. The competition is one of the largest ever for developers of mobile software.

Samsung is also set to announce a series of Developer Days to take place around the world during 2010. Open to all developers, the initial events will be held in Seoul, London and San Francisco, with more events following as the year progresses.

The event will also feature insights from current bada development partners including micro blogging service Twitter, movies and games rental outlet Blockbuster, video games developers CAPCOM, EA Mobile, and Gameloft . Each partner outlined their vision for the future of mobile apps and how they believe that bada will play a key role in the advance of app services to a wider audience in years to come.