In an attempt to increase the number of phones that run on its own operating system, Samsung will release its first Bada-powered handset in spring globally, with a late March or early April release date in particular. This will be part of a push that also includes Android and Windows Mobile handsets on the way to triple smartphone sales to 18 million units globally and annually, which would be more than triple what the company sold in 2009. To help support and encourage this growth, Application Store will be made available in 50 countries.
Bada, like Android or LiMo, will be open source, and go a step further by allowing developers to customize contacts, the dialer and other core utilities. Bada will have a devoted app store, and carriers will get the option of customizing the OS as well. No other details of the device are yet known.
At the same time, Samsung confirmed an earlier report that will see the first Android phone with support for video calling, the M100s, though the device will be at least initially be restricted to Korea. Incidentally, it will also be Korea’s first Android handset, powered by the latest 2.1 build of the OS.
The new model features a 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED touchscreen with 800×480 resolution, a 5-megapixel camera and an 800MHz processor. It would also have a DMB-TV tuner and will be carried by SK Telecom. Apps can be downloaded from either the Android Market or the carrier’s T Store. Pricing remains unknown.
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