Samsung Bada got a bit more public today, with the Korean phone giant lifting the lid on its all-new mobile OS. It’s shown off an SDK, promising developers free reign over its handsets’ functions, and hoping they’ll help it create apps for the masses.
Samsung Bada is important, since it’s built on the company’s Touchwiz interface and destined for a home on mid-range handsets. It could put an end to apps being the sole preserve of high end smartphones, and bring them to phones much lower down the pricing ladder.
Samsung says the Bada SDK will go beyond what we’ve already seen from rivals, letting developers create apps with face detection, and even access proximity and weather sensors.
Samsung Bada: Everything you need to know
The company says Samsung Bada will let app-makers create “context-aware interactive applications” and we like the direction it’s going.
Apple has a history of blocking apps from the iTunes app store whenever they use undocumented features of the phone, for example, its proximity sensor. It sounds as if Samsung has learnt from Apple, and is instead throwing open all its phones’ abilities, a little like Android.
Bada even lets third party apps perform core phone functions, such as making a call. That’s something Android and iPhone developers have done without so far.
The possibilities are endless: Fancy a navigation app that knows when it’s raining, and only directs you along covered walkways? Bada could provide that.
Samsung’s pledging a series of developer days across the globe in 2010 to introduce coders to its new platform. It’s also launching a challenge to developers, giving them the chance to win a share of a $2.7 million prize fund.
Bada might not be ready for us to play with yet, but the more we hear, the better it sounds.
Out 2010 | £TBC | Samsung
