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Samsung Wave 2: A Better Choice

Liam — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:41:13 +0000

Having a lot of options to choose from is something a consumer should be happy about. Mobile phone users now have an opportunity to decide on which product suits them best. True to that, Samsung offers a number of mobiles that consumers can choose from depending on their lifestyle and needs. One of them is the Samsung Wave 2 handset and now is the time for us to know more about it.

Target Market

Who wouldn’t notice that almost everyone has a mobile? We are talking about different kinds of people, young or old, rich or financially challenged, professional or a student. It is known for fact that the younger generation compromises a big percentage of the total number of mobile users. And admit it or not, not everyone can or is willing to spend a lot of money to get a mobile or a Smartphone packed with features that they don’t really need.

The predecessor of the Samsung Wave 2 is obviously the Samsung Wave. It is safe to say the Samsung Wave was a success and has a lot of admirers. However, the price of this mobile kept many consumers away. The Samsung Wave 2 specifically focuses to attract young adults and students who love to access social networking sites and the internet, but usually don’t have a large amount of money or income to spend on a mobile.

Social Hub

The main highlight of the Samsung Wave 2 is a feature called Social Hub. What is it all about? This feature allows you to access communication tools and your favourite social networking sites in one location. This simply means that you can check your emails, friends’ profiles, and updates from social sites all together. There is no need for you to log in and out to switch from one social networking site to another. With these, accessing Facebook, Twitter as well as your multiple email accounts has never been easier.

Samsung Sells 1 Million Wave Smart Phones

Liam — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:53:06 +0000

It comes as a bit of a surprise, but apparently the mobile phone industry actually has room for more operating systems. Undaunted by the same pressures that faced the First ELSE, Samsung pushed through with the development, production and launch of the Bada operating system –the proprietary OS for the Korean phone maker.

The device was first seen at the MWC last February, while we were quite astounded by the amazing quality of the super AMOLED touch screen display there is no doubt that the handset was overshadowed by the release of the Samsung i9000 Galaxy S (which shared similar hardware specs, has the Android OS and has a much larger super AMOLED display).

Samsung’s intention with the Bada OS was to introduce the smart phone to all markets. The Korean phone maker believes that every person should own a smart phone and that the Bada OS is the perfect, match for a device targeted for everyone. It’s a pretty big call to make, but Samsung has most of the elements down.

The user interface is a little plain, despite having the TouchWiz UI already activated, the Bada sticks pretty much to clean cut basics. It pretty much betrays the power of the high end Wave, but it makes the platform a great fit for slower, lower end devices.

Still, the Wave is good enough to hold its own; good enough, in fact, to sell over a million units easily. According to Samsung they were able to reach the mark just a little after the first month of sales –and for a new OS in an industry already dominated by the Android and the Apple iOS, it is quite a feat that the Wave was able to achieve.

For those who still have not purchased the Samsung Wave handset, the device is already available in various offers and tariffs.

Samsung: Limited Offers for Free NFS Shift Downloads

Simon — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:39:24 +0000

In some ways, we wanted to omit the “limited” part of the title, and that is because with 1.2 million free download slots available, there are plenty of chances for everyone to grab a copy of this impressive little mobile racing app. The offer is open to all Samsung S8500 Wave owners, and will last until all slots have been consumed. Limited or not, this is certainly a recommended download for any Bada smart phone owner who wants to experience some serious racing fun.

As any gamer would know, the Need for Speed series of racing games is considered to be the anti-thesis of the Gran Turismo series from Sony Computer Entertainment. NFS games thrive on providing the raw edge of gaming, taking players off the track and into the streets (though one NFS game did tackle closed circuit races), and NFS: Shift offers exactly that.

In terms of graphics, there is nothing that really stands out with the new game, the limited hardware on mobile phones require the polygon count to be cut down heavily and the once detailed car models that NFS is known for is absent in the game. Gone also are the 3D backgrounds –these have been replaced with large sprites that provide a similar effect, but with less of the graphic eye candy.

Gameplay however retains that same old high-speed action that the series is known for, and for this one simply factor alone players should try getting a copy of the game before all 1.2 million copies run out. NFS: Shift brings together many of the older racing control elements of the console versions with the addition of the accelerometer aided steering. While fun, it can also be quite complicated for newer players. Performing drifts around hairpin turns will take a lot of practice for many players unaccustomed to the slippery feel of tilting.

Samsung’s Wave is Free on Vodafone and Virgin Media

Liam — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:45:12 +0000

We recently reviewed the new Samsung Wave. Mobile network operator Vodafone UK and virtual network operator Virgin Media have now announced that they are now offering the new Samsung Wave smart phone as a free handset under several of their new contract deals and tariffs. The announcement just came a while back and is a welcome treat for anyone who has been curious about trying out the new mobile platform from Samsung.

Vodafone and Virgin are offering similar rates for the Wave handset, but Virgin Mobile adds in a little incentive of having twice the number of free minutes. Either way, the handset is free for 25 Pound monthly tariff for two years.

As you may have already heard, the Samsung Wave is the very first handset from the Korean manufacturer that makes use of their proprietary operating system, the Bada. The OS itself was announced last year and had been presented to developers in an early unveiling last December. While end users could not make much out of the holiday presentation, it seems that Samsung has been successful in getting developers to support the open source platform.

Aside from the new operating system, the Wave also features new Samsung technology in the form of a super AMOLED screen. As seen originally in the Mobile World Congress where the handset first debuted, the visual quality of the screen is astounding as the display is able to render colors in very rich and deep tones.

The handset is running on an ARM Cortex A8 1GHz CPU, has a 5 mega pixel camera with autofocus and LED flash (as well as geo tagging and 720p video recording), almost 400MB of free internal storage, and to top it off, the 3.3 inch super AMOLED capacitive touch screen display. It is cheaper than all the other high end Android smart phones as well.

Samsung Wave Review

Liam — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 10:42:44 +0000

Samsung have long been associated with stylish and practical mobiles: The D500 led the way for a new future of the ‘slide’ model and the Tocco provided consumers with a low-priced but fashionable touch screen. Enter Samsung’s latest offering to the mobile phone community – The Wave.

A slim mobile with a 3.3″ touch screen gives this phone an aura of class and fashion. But that does not mean that it takes anything away from the practical end. Indeed over the last few years, with the recession biting into consumers’ pockets, many have opted for practicality and function over basic design – so it’s good to know that the Samsung Wave deals available can offer the practicality and function required without sacrificing style, or breaking the banks (again).

The 800 x 480 pixels screen proves to be more than sufficient to meet the demands of web surfing and photo viewing and with a Wi-Fi support and a 3.5G high-speed data option, not to mention its 1ghz processor and 2gb internal memory with the ability to expand to 32gb, video streaming will be accessible like never before on a Samsung phone. Indeed 720p HD video playback will be perfectly acceptable to its processor. A 5 mega-pixel camera and the ability to record in HD gives The Wave a further edge in multimedia mobile technology.

However perhaps the most appealing element of this new offering from Samsung is the debut of its Operation System – Bada. While it is not entirely new – the system is based on existing proprietary OS – it does include a new ‘layer’ which will enable a innovative developing community to thrive. What does this mean? In essence it will allow something akin to the ‘iPhone apps’ to flourish and give The Wave an ‘open source’ feel to it as it will mean that independent developers and programmers will work closely with Samsung to let the phone reach its full potential.

For some the size of The Wave, 118 mm, will be a put off to those who want a compact mobile but when you realize what it has to offer this should quickly become a distant apprehension. Furthermore others have raised concerns over its new Operation System, however there is no reason why it shouldn’t be able to succeed with a committed group of developers behind it and it seems as though there is little to stop The Wave making a huge splash in the mobile market. The Samsung Wave is available on Vodafone now.

Samsung Apps is Expanded: Joins Larger App Community

Liam — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:44:15 +0000

Samsung has already had an App store for a while now, but it was not until the official launch of the Bada operating system on the Samsung Wave smart phone did the Korean company made a solid commitment to providing apps.

As stated in the title, the Samsung App store has indeed been increased and the final result is about three times the original size of the store prior to the update. This big increase is all thanks to the large degree of Bada specific applications that are available for the many Wave smart phones.

As many may already know, the Samsung Wave is an open source mobile platform that focuses mainly on its apps features in order to keep up with its larger competitors. While Samsung is not pushing the Bada as a high end mobile platform, they still have the goal of a smart phone for every man, and getting the low to mid range market to invest in a smart phone will require plenty of apps that will draw the attention of users. The Samsung Wave is just the first of a series of mid to low range Bada devices that they Korean manufacturer will be releasing.

In other Samsung Wave related news; it appears that the virus scare is finally over. In fact, the issue has started at almost the same time it begun. Despite the fact that all Samsung Wave smart phones that were shipped to Germany came bundled with a micro SD card that was infected with a virus, the issue does not apply to the UK. In fact, local stocks of the Wave smart phone do not even come with a micro SD card in the first place. Still, it has been advised that anyone who has purchased a Wave smart phone from the UK should not use the bundled micro SD card without having the virus cleaned beforehand.

Up Close with Samsung’s Wave Smart Phone

Liam — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:32:33 +0000

Okay, so it’s the very first Samsung smart phone with the Bada operating system and the super AMOLED capacitive touch screen. But with the device’s overall lack of marketing impact and relatively unknown mobile platform, it is hard to see how well the Bada will really match up to industry leaders such as the Android, iPhone and even Symbian (which has recently been changed into an open source platform to better compete with other OS).

So far, the reception and interest for the Wave is hardly noticeable. More people are interested in seeing the i9000 Galaxy S Android from the Korean manufacturer –it also does not help that the Galaxy S uses better hardware than the Wave itself.

The first thing to understand about the Wave is that it may be the first of its kind, but it is not Samsung’s first smart phone. The company is the third largest manufacturer of mobile phones and the Wave was designed just the way it should be –a borderline mid range device.

The Wave is not made to compete with Android smart phones, the upcoming iPhone or the new N-series devices from Nokia. Samsung has been aiming for a smart phone for every man approach, which means that the Wave was meant to be a transition device from basic handset to smart phone.

First time smart phone users will certainly appreciate the impressive 3.3 inch super AMOLED touch screen display, the 5 mega pixel camera with autofocus and flash, a high speed ARM A8 1GHz CPU and of course, the Bada OS and its library of apps. Samsung made a smart move by enticing developers to support to the new OS –providing the Bada with plenty of apps at launch. Hopefully, Samsung is able to keep enticing the dev community to keep making apps for their new OS.

Four New Devices to Feature Bada OS

Simon — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 10:21:13 +0000

The Bada operating system is the new mobile platform developed by Samsung. The OS was announced last year and was shown off to developers by December. According to reports, many developer and companies were eager to support to new open source platform.

It was not until last February that Samsung finally unveiled the Wave smart phone, the very first device to use the new Bada operating system. Aside from the new OS, the phone also features the super AMOLED touch screen (which we all loved, thanks to the impressive visuals and the rich color tones; this is probably the only screen to get so close to achieving true black).

While focus on the Wave smart phone was short, Samsung proved that it can produce a great smart phone that balanced high end specifications with reasonable features that placed the Wave at a slightly lower price (though it is still a pretty expensive device) and this is most likely the trend that Samsung is aiming for with their new Bada handsets.

According to reports, each of the new Samsung Bada phones will have lower specs than the last, placing each of the device in the mid to low range smart phone market where the saturation of buyers is at the largest. With all the big name manufacturers competing for the high end market, Samsung will not have much competition for the mid range department (though the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini and Mini Pro Androids would be something to look out for).

Details on the actual hardware for the new phones have not been announced, but as seen in the initial images, two of the four devices will comes with slide out QWERTY keyboards –all four phones will be using touch screen displays.

Find out more about the new Bada devices at Know Your Mobile.