Presentation about technical features of bada

On 8th December, we had the bada Launch Ceremony, providing two sessions: an afternoon session for the press and an evening session for partners, content and service providers for bada platform. The vision, features and support for the ecosystem of Samsung bada were presented at the event.  Without doubt, more than 100 journalists and bloggers and 200 bada partners who attended the ceremony showed strong interests and high expectations toward the future that bada will bring to Samsung customers.

During the evening session, we covered technical part of bada platform: key features of UI, the architecture, game & entertainment support, and service support of bada.

In this post, we would like to share the video presentation of Phil Northam, a manager of evangelists in the UK, speaking about the technical details.

You can find more information under the menu, Documentation at bada Developers, the official web site for developers.

Samsung unveils new smartphone platform “bada”

Samsung unveils new smartphone platform “bada” to the world

Samsung bada offers a powerful opportunity for developers, mobile operators,
and consumers with a wider range of smartphone experiences

December 8th, 2009, London, United Kingdom – Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading mobile phone provider, today unveils its new smartphone platform, Samsung bada. At this unveiling, Samsung showcases the bada SDK (Software Development Kit) for partners and presents the unique benefits and unprecedented opportunities that the bada platform will bring to developers, mobile operators and consumers.

Samsung bada is a driving force in accomplishing Samsung’s vision of a ‘smartphone for everyone.’ To achieve this vision, Samsung bada offers a feature-rich platform for enhanced mobile experiences for consumers, and a complete mobile ecosystem through a developer support program that both the application store and consumers will benefit from. Based on Samsung’s accumulated expertise in developing advanced mobile phones, the company will allow its users to enjoy ultimate mobile experience through superb features.

Dr Hosoo Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of the Media Solution Center at Samsung Electronics said, “In providing Samsung bada, I believe that Samsung will become a true leader in the mobile industry; offering a wider range of smartphone choices for consumers.” He added, “At the same time, Samsung bada presents a powerful opportunity for developers to get their applications onto an unprecedented number of Samsung devices across the world“

Samsung bada, meaning Ocean in Korean, possesses the following key characteristics:

User-interactive

Based on Samsung’s signature TouchWiz User Interface, Samsung bada platform provides an easy, simple, and intuitive UI without compromising efficiency. To enhance creativity and user interactivity, Samsung bada provides flash control, web control, motion sensing, fine-tuned vibration control, and face detection. Also, it supports sensor-based, context-aware applications. By using various sensors such as accelerometers, tilt, weather, proximity, and activity sensors, application developers can easily implement context-aware interactive applications.

Service-oriented

Samsung bada differentiates its position by supporting various service-centric features such as social networking, device synchronization, content management, location-based services, and commerce services – all supported by back-end bada servers. These ground-breaking developer-friendly features support developers to implement various services without additional effort.

Open and configurable

Samsung bada enables developers to take full advantage of mobile device capabilities to create compelling applications with ease. Applications can use device functions to make phone calls, send messages, or access the contact list. Also, various service applications can share information such as personal profiles, social relations, schedules, or contents with a simple user confirmation in order to provide services with greater personal relevance and cooperative service extension. The flexibility of the bada platform makes it applicable to a wide range of devices than any other mobile operating system.

Attendees at today’s launch event will also be introduced to the bada Developer Challenge. The Challenge is the first chance for developers to win a share of a US$2,700,000 prize fund, simply by using the features of the new bada platform to build a wide variety of applications for bada devices. The competition is one of the largest ever for developers of mobile software and is testament to Samsung’s commitment to the new bada platform.

Samsung is also set to announce a series of bada Developer Days to take place across the world during 2010. Open to all developers, the initial events will be held in Seoul, London and San Francisco, with more events following as the year progresses.

The event will also feature insights from current bada development partners including micro blogging service Twitter, movies and games rental outlet Blockbuster, Video and iconic games developers CAPCOM, EA Mobile, and Gameloft . Each partner outlined their vision for the future of mobile apps and how they believe that bada will play a key role in the advance of app services to a wider audience in years to come.

“Our heritage is games machines and arcade machines but we’re eagerly branching out to make the most of mobile,” said General Manager of Online Business Division, Yasuhiro Sumida from CAPCOM. “We recognise our customers aren’t all about games in their homes but want them when they’re out and about, in the palm of their hand. To help us make this move into mobile we want to make sure we are working with the right partner. bada is accessible, open to all and very easy to use.”

“Congratulations to Samsung on the launch of bada. It is great to see one of the world’s leading handset manufacturers embrace software and services on mobile devices so wholeheartedly and wish them all the best,” said Luca Pagano, Vice President, EMEA Publishing, EA Mobile. “The marriage of great games on the right devices is something we take very seriously at EA Mobile and we are excited to light up the upcoming handsets with our high quality games in 2010.”

“We are pleased to once again collaborate with Samsung and launch our games on the bada mobile platform,” said Michel Guillemot, chairman and CEO, Gameloft. “With nearly 100 million Gameloft games downloaded by Samsung users worldwide, it is quite clear that our games on these devices have made significant impact with consumers over the years. Utilizing the new generation device’s technological capabilities we plan to enrich the consumer gaming experience. Samsung bada offers a new and exciting digital distribution channel for Gameloft titles, as well as an additional outlet for users searching for high quality entertainment.”

For further information please visit the bada website (http://developer.bada.com)

About Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2008 consolidated sales of US$96 billion. Employing approximately 164,600 people in 179 offices across 61 countries, the company consists of two business units: Digital Media & Communications and Device Solutions. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com

Samsung shares exclusive insights into mobile app market

Samsung shares exclusive insights into mobile app market

Recent research highlights unmet needs of consumers, soon to be fulfilled through the launch of Samsung bada

Seoul, Korea, December 3, 2009 – Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading mobile phone provider, today unveiled the results of an exclusive new survey into consumers’ mobile software demands, providing unique insights into the opportunities available for the growing developer community across the world.

The survey results were found to be extremely encouraging for those developers currently creating apps for the mobile market, as this was identified as the greatest opportunity for new development. Almost half (42%) of current feature phone users surveyed would pay to download applications if they could – and 54% of those people would be prepared to pay up to €5 for each application they download, illustrating the scale of the potential revenues available for developers by extending application-downloadable smartphone markets.

The research comes ahead of the worldwide launch of Samsung’s new bada platform, which is set to open up millions of mainstream handsets worldwide to the new possibilities of applications. The consumer survey was based on responses from UK, France and Italy –three of Europe’s biggest mobile markets where Samsung currently offers apps through its Samsung Apps.

The research also highlighted the types of applications which are particularly sought after by those consumers who have no previous experience of downloading them – and therefore the people who present the biggest potential revenue opportunity for developers at the moment. The study shows that among users of mainstream handsets who have not downloaded an application before, travel and navigation applications were most in demand with 34% of people surveyed eager to use them, followed by photography (12%), work (11%) and shopping (9%).

“Our findings show the vast potential of the applications market and the huge untapped revenues, driven by high levels of consumer demand,” said Dr Hosoo Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of the Media Solution Center at Samsung Electronics.

Dr Lee added, “Through the launch of bada, Samsung’s open mobile platform, we aim to help developers to capitalise on this exciting market opportunity. The aim of the bada platform is to make smartphone features accessible to everyone, so that developers can reach larger audiences and the variety and creativity of apps can be enjoyed by many. We want consumers to have a fun and diverse mobile experience that really adds value to their lives, by providing them with high-quality applications and mobile services.”

Further findings illustrate where the market opportunity lies for different types of applications among current smartphone users, and indicate the areas where developers could reap the benefits and discover new revenues.

Overall, women were found to be highly attracted to certain types of applications. Gaming applications are ranked more popular among women than men, with 70% of women surveyed saying they use them, as opposed to 57% of men. Women also value photography applications highly, with just under half saying that they use them to help in their everyday lives (49%). Nearly six out of ten women (57%) said that they use apps to enrich their family life, illustrating that demand for apps designed for parents has overtaken those for social networking (which received just 39% of responses).

Education is also an area with huge potential for growth within the application market. When asked what pps they would like to see developed, the highest number of respondents (18%) said they would like new education apps, as they feel that there isn’t a suitable solution available for them at the present time. The figures also show that there are more opportunities for developers in the work and travel related apps arena. These were rated second and third by consumers disappointed that the right app is not available yet (17% and 13% respectively).

In addition, the findings raised the issue of the longevity of apps among smartphone users. 43% of app users said that once they have downloaded an app they quickly lose interest and cease using it, leaving almost half of apps redundant within a relatively short space of time. “This shows that the market is still in its infancy,” said Dr Hosoo Lee. “There’s a clear gap in the market for ‘killer’ apps which can enrich people’s mobile phone lives, and we believe that bada will be the platform to supply these apps.”

Samsung hosts an event in London on Dec. 8^th to provide more information on bada, its new smartphone platform. More information on the bada platform is currently available at www.bada.com.

About the research

The questionnaire was conducted on behalf of Samsung by Vanson Bourne. Responses incorporated the views of 500 male and female participants of different ages based in Italy, France and the UK.

About Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2008 consolidated sales of US$96 billion. Employing approximately 164,600 people in 179 offices across 61 countries, the company consists of two business units: Digital Media & Communications and Device Solutions. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com