Samsung unveils bada smartphone platform

Samsung Electronics officially took the wraps off its new bada smartphone platform, first announced in early November. Unveiled at a London launch event, bada (translating to "ocean" in Korean) promises an open, feature-rich platform for creating enhanced mobile consumer experiences--based on Samsung's TouchWiz user interface, bada provides developers with flash control, Web control, motion sensing, fine-tuned vibration control and face detection tools, complete with support for context-aware applications incorporating accelerometers, tilt, weather, proximity and activity sensors.

Samsung adds that bada will support a host of service-centric features like social networking, device synchronization, content management, location-based services, and commerce services, all enabled by back-end servers. In addition, bada-based applications can integrate with device functions to make phone calls, send messages or access the contact list--various service applications also can share information such as personal profiles, social relations, schedules or contents contingent on user confirmation.

Samsung also announced the bada Developer Challenge, encouraging programmers to build apps on the bada platform for their share of prizes valued at $2.7 million. The handset maker is also planning a series of Developer Days spread across the 2010 calendar, with events planned in Seoul, London and San Francisco. For more information, check out the bada Developers website.

For more on bada:
- see this release

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