02-15-2010, 06:58 PM
Samsung has officially unveiled the S8500 "Wave", the first handset to be based on Samsung's own smartphone platform Bada on the eve of Mobile World Congress 2010 held at Barcelona. The phone boasts of a "Super" AMOLED 3.3-inch touchscreen display that can display stuff at 800 x 480 pixels, a Social Hub for staying in touch with friends, and Samsung's new TouchWiz 3.0 user interface.
The "Wave" comes with Samsung's own 1GHz processor and will be available in two avatars - a 2GB and an 8GB version. The phone is quite compact (for a touchscreen) and will be the first device to support Bluetooth 3.0 as well as to offer 802.11n Connectivity. The memory is expandable up to 32GB using microSD cards. Then, there is support for aGPS as well. At the rear of the phone is a 5 megapixel camera that going by Samsung standards, should be able to capture excellent images. The video recording part is great as well. It can capture videos at 720p resolution.
As for the UI, there is Samsung's proprietary TouchWiz UI running atop Bada OS. However, the major difference is that this is the latest version of TouchWiz and it now supports instant access to Twitter and Facebook and a Smart Unlock option. The phone is believed to have more than 512MB of RAM which should make it really fast! Also, an initial report by folks over at Engadget says that it *could* support some multitouch gestures. That bit is unconfirmed though. The Bada OS, by the looks of it, looks competent enough - but the question is whether it will survive in the face of competition form Android, Symbian and the likes. Also, with Samsung keenly developing Android based devices as well, where does that leave Bada?
As for the Wave, the phone is expected to go on sale by April 2010 at an unannounced price.
The "Wave" comes with Samsung's own 1GHz processor and will be available in two avatars - a 2GB and an 8GB version. The phone is quite compact (for a touchscreen) and will be the first device to support Bluetooth 3.0 as well as to offer 802.11n Connectivity. The memory is expandable up to 32GB using microSD cards. Then, there is support for aGPS as well. At the rear of the phone is a 5 megapixel camera that going by Samsung standards, should be able to capture excellent images. The video recording part is great as well. It can capture videos at 720p resolution.
As for the UI, there is Samsung's proprietary TouchWiz UI running atop Bada OS. However, the major difference is that this is the latest version of TouchWiz and it now supports instant access to Twitter and Facebook and a Smart Unlock option. The phone is believed to have more than 512MB of RAM which should make it really fast! Also, an initial report by folks over at Engadget says that it *could* support some multitouch gestures. That bit is unconfirmed though. The Bada OS, by the looks of it, looks competent enough - but the question is whether it will survive in the face of competition form Android, Symbian and the likes. Also, with Samsung keenly developing Android based devices as well, where does that leave Bada?
As for the Wave, the phone is expected to go on sale by April 2010 at an unannounced price.
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