Samsung today announced three new smartphones that will run on its Bada operating system, as the company looks to move into software.
The South Korean-based company's new devices come after its previous Wave phone. The new Wave 3, Wave M and Wave Y follow Samsung's new naming system and will all run the company's Bada 2.0 OS.
The Wave 3 will have a 4-inch WVGA Super AMOLED screen, 1.4-gigahertz processor and 5-megapixel camera, representing the high-end offering in the Wave series.
The Wave M will be a mid-range device with 832-megahertz processor, 3.65-inch screen and a 5-megapixel camera. The Wave Y will have the same processor as the M, but sport a smaller 3.2-inch screen and 2-megapixel camera to cater to younger users.
Samsung did not announce any prices or release dates for the new devices, but the company appears to be setting up its Bada-powered Wave phones as an alternative to the Android-based Galaxy series.
Analysts say Bada is capable of high-end features like near-field-communication, voice recognition and direct Wi-Fi sharing, but instead of focusing on advanced users, Samsung is aiming the OS at new smartphone users.
The company is also reportedly hopes to bring in mobile app developers with a full software development kit in the near future.
Samsung's renewed focus on its own mobile platform follows Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility. Much of Samsung's success in the smartphone market is due to the popularity of its Android-based handsets, but some analysts believe Google's new acquisition is leading manufacturers to consider new options as a potential rival.
These new Bada-based phones may be just the start of Samsung's foray into software. The electronics giant is reportedly looking to enhance its software through acquisitions, according company officials.
Many have speculated that the company is exploring the possibility of purchasing HP's well-reviewed, but recently abandoned, WebOS software.
A strong move toward software, like purchasing WebOS would suggest, may make Samsung more of a mobile competitor to Google than a partner. Until the company makes a major acquisition, it will likely try to increase its presence in the software space with the Bada-based Wave phones and possibly make more Bada phones in the future.
Samsung is launching ChatON, a cross-platform mobile chat service, in the coming weeks, hoping to lure more customers to their handsets and challenging the growing competition in mobile messenging services.
ChatON is expected to support a variety of mobile operating systems, including Samsung's own Bada mobile operating system, Android, feature phones and even competitors' platforms, including iOS and BlackBerry.
Reportedly, the service, which also supports sharing media like photos, videos, voice messages and contacts, will allow users to have private one-to-one conversations or participate in group chats.
Smartphone users will also have the ability to comment on each other's profiles, send multimedia messages that combine text and audio, and view their own "Interaction Rank," which displays how active they are on the ChatOn network. The service is expected to let feature phone users text, send images, use calendar appointments and contact sharing.
Samsung's announcement comes at time when people are increasingly turning away from traditional and more costly text messaging to mobile device apps to communicate and share with friends and family. Last week, TheNextWeb reported the simple text message, or SMS, may become a thing of the past in three to five years, a likely casualty of the other instant messaging services now available on smartphones and tablets.
Research in Motion's BlackBerry messenger smartphone app, for instance, often cited as the leading communications method in the recent London riots, is one example of this movement toward alternative messaging services.
BBM provides a free alternative to text messaging for BlackBerry users and has demonstrated an ability to operate during times of heavy communication traffic, such as in the wake of Hurricane Irene. The resulting activity jammed traditional wireless carriers' lines and disrupted most mobile communication, but not BBM.
Apple's new iMessage client is also expected to launch this fall, providing instant iOS-to-iOS texting for all iOS devices, including the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, and is set to run over 3G and Wi-Fi rather than via SMS text.
IMessage will allow iOS users to send texts, photos, video and contact information all in one messaging window, and even have group messaging like in a private chat room.
Also, earlier this month, Facebook launched a standalone app called Facebook Messenger, which lets users to exchange instant messages, images and location information by using contact numbers stored on smartphones, regardless of whether they are friends on the site.
Facebook's offering may be in response to rival social network Google+ and its highly praised Hangout and Huddle features, which allow group videos and instant chat with friends, illustrating how both standalone apps and emerging social networks are exploring new ways for their customers to communicate.
Samsung's entry into an increasingly crowded field may have a strong chance of finding an audience, especially with its cross-platform capabilities, but it may have initial difficulties building a base outside its own device users. While Samsung phone consumers may take to the service since they already own the company's handsets, reaching out to other phone makers' users may prove more difficult.
Samsung's ChatON will reportedly go live next month in over 120 countries and in 62 languages.
By 2015, more than half of handsets in use will be smartphones, creating major opportunities for device manufacturers in newly emerging markets.
Global smartphone shipments are expected to surge as the popular devices climb from around 33 percent market share to nearly 55 percent worldwide, according to research firm IHS. Global shipments are expected to crest above the one billion figure in 2015, dwarfing the 478 million shipped in 2011.
Most analysts expect the majority of that growth will be for lower-priced offerings in emerging markets. That may mean Apple and Google's current dominance in the global market, combining to control nearly two-thirds, will face tests as lower-end smartphone use expands.
Excitement over Apple's anticipated iPhone 5, expected to debut later this fall, is bound to keep the device in the headlines. The Cupertino company is reportedly preparing to release a cheaper 8-gigabyte iPhone 4 for launch within the next few weeks, hinting at its plans expand its market.
Selling a cost-efficient version of the iPhone 4 may allow Apple to attract customers who seek a capable smartphone, but who are not willing to pay the premium price. A lower-cost iPhone 4 would also keep the company competitive in emerging markets set to explode in the future.
Apple is also reportedly close to a deal with China Mobile to launch the iPhone 4 by the end of October. The company is in talks with China Telecom to participate in the iPhone 5's debut. Both would bolster Apple's presence in a key global market.
Google's recently proposed purchased of Motorola Mobility, one of the leading manufacturers of Android devices, may also better position the search giant's presence as smartphone usage expands to emerging markets.
Android, used for free by phone makers, has found itself on devices at a wide variety of price points. Android handset makers like Samsung, however, must continue to support Google's OS for its acquisition to pay off.
For its part, Samsung, which owns its proprietary Bada OS, is in a good position to become a bigger player in emerging markets. The handset maker has done well running Android iOS, and IHS points out that during the second quarter of 2011, Samsung's smartphone sales grew 600 percent sequentially, due primarily to its low-end products in China and Latin America.
Microsoft is readying itself for a smartphone comeback and is looking to launch the company's first big update to the Windows Phone 7 OS in September. In addition, the company has a lot riding on its partnership with Nokia, which has inroads in developing markets.
The pressure is on in the Microsoft deal, but research firm Garner predicted this summer Microsoft's Windows Phone OS will surpass Apple to take second place by 2015, due in part to Nokia's sheer volume and reach around the globe.
Finally, Research In Motion, whose BlackBerry dominated the smartphone market in its early days but has been slipping steadily of late, has decided to focus on the company's new line of super smartphones, running on its QNX OS and expected to debut in early 2012. It is too early to tell whether this strategy will pay off for the Canadian company, especially in emerging markets so key to future smartphone success.
Samsung today said it would welcome disgruntled Symbian programmers with open arms, joining Google, Skype and others, that hope to lure highly-skilled coders abandoned by Nokia to develop their own operating systems.
"If you are a Symbian developer unhappy about Nokia's recent announcements, and are hence looking for a new platform to showcase your talents, we say 'Hello!' and 'welcome to Bada operating system,'" Samsung said in a newsletter. "If you're new to Bada development, or are moving your app from Symbian, we'd like to welcome you."
Those developers, seen as having valuable skill sets, are being sought after from rival companies hoping to entice them after being left in the cold. Nokia abandoned its Symbian platform in favor of a partnership with Microsoft to build Windows-based devices.
After Samsung's statement, Nokia chief financial officer Timo Ihamuotila said the company would continue to support Symbian "as long as it gives us a profitable margin."
Much of Nokia's current lineup still runs on Symbian, so it can't wash its hands of the platform. But the comments show that it hopes developers don't completely abandon its platform, since it needs at least a year to push out new Windows devices. Without any company fully-backing the platform, Symbian looks like it is in store for a quick death.
Nokia's stock value has also fallen 20 percent since the announcement of the Microsoft partnership, highlighting investor skepticism in the radical plan. Ihamuotila's statement was enough to win back a modest two percent in the hours which followed.
The Finnish phone maker is desperate to make headway in a market dominated by Apple and Google. Despite fielding a number of cutting-edge handsets, its efforts have been crippled by Symbian, which failed to keep pace with developments in the smartphone world.
Symbian began as an open-source smartphone platform, with code contributed by Nokia, Sony Ericsson and others, and was bought by Nokia in 2008. It was intended to be developed by a community, organized under the Symbian Foundation, but never fully took off due to licensing issues. A clean cut would remove the dead weight.
The writing is on the wall, and Symbian developers should probably consider jumping ship. Nokia has already sold off part of Qt, its Symbian support platform. And for better or worse, there's effectively one less smartphone OS in the running now. That means more opportunities for everyone else.
Samsung today introduced the Wave 2, Wave 723 and the Wave 525, three new smartphones based on its open-source Bada operating system, designed for social networking and gaming.
The South Korea-based company said the more sophisticated Wave 2 features a 1-gigahertz processor, 3.7-inch "Super-Clear" touch screen display and a 5.0-megapixel auto-focus camera for video recording. The mid-range Wave 723, meanwhile, comes with a 3.2-inch screen, 5.0-megapixel camera for video recording and video calling. The entry-level Wave 525 integrates a 3.2-inch display and a 3.2-megapixel camera.
All three devices run on Samsung's Bada 1.2 software, and include "Social Hub," an application that combines email, messaging and social networking into one inbox, giving users an easier way to see everything, as well as "Widgets," or smartphone apps, for gaming, music and video and even e-books.
Several third-party companies, such as Twitter, Capcom, EA Mobile and Gameloft are developing Bada apps. Both free and pay apps are available for download but Samsung has yet to provide accessibility on its website. The company said the new Bada phones will hit Europe first in the coming months, with other markets following throughout the first quarter.
"The new Wave family is testament to Samsung's continuing commitment to deliver a smartphone for every lifestyle," said Stephen Jun, head of Samsung's mobile division. "These three new devices in the Samsung Wave family represent Samsung's commitment to delivering choice for smartphone users and ultimately democratizing the smartphone market."
Samsung released its first Bada smartphone -- the Wave S8500 -- in June last year, which went on to sell more than one million units in the first month. Unlike Google's Android operating system and Microsoft Window Phone 7, Bada, the Korean word for "ocean," was created in an attempt to improve networking and gaming of other platforms. The company had said it plans to introduce Bada into all levels of its mobile line, including the low-end feature phones.
Samsung said it will begin selling high-end phones based on its Bada mobile operating system in the coming weeks, as the company attempts to catch up to rivals Apple and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion in the fast-growing smartphone sector.
"You need a proprietary system to drive growth in the smartphone market and Bada will do the job," said Ho-Soo Lee, head of Samsung's software labs.
Bada, which means ocean in Korean, is at the heart of Samsung's push to regain lost market share from Apple and RIM in the booming smartphone market. Earlier last month, the company outlined an aggressive plan to introduce one-third of its high-end devices with Bada software and another half running Google's Android software.
"We have a very strong response from application developers and we see strong potential in Bada to become a major operating system," Lee said.
Samsung, the world's second-largest handset maker behind Nokia, said it plans to release the first Bada smartphones in the U.K. and Germany in coming weeks, with other markets following shortly thereafter, and an app store in June.
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