Samsung unveils ‘bada’ smartphone in Korea

A model holds up Samsung’s new Wave II smartphone with its company’s own “bada” mobile platform. Provided by the company

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s second-largest mobile phone maker, said yesterday that it will launch the “Wave 2” smartphone in the domestic market this week, finally introducing the company’s own proprietary “bada” mobile platform on its home turf.

The Wave 2 phone, the latest model in Samsung’s Wave series powered by the company’s own mobile software, will be released at a price of 700,000 won ($629) this week, Samsung said in a statement, cheaper than its high-end flagship model, the Galaxy S, which is priced at 900,000 won.

The 3.7-inch smartphone features “Social Hub,” which integrates social networking services, email, contacts and schedules in one place, and “Samsung Apps,” the phone maker’s own mobile application store, it said.

Samsung announced the bada platform one year ago to strengthen its competitive edge in mobile software amid steep competition from the likes of Apple Inc. and other smartphone leaders.

But it has not introduced the bada phone on its home ground until this month as its Android-running smartphone Galaxy S proved popular in the local market, helping the phone giant compete with Apple’s iPhone in Korea.

Shin Jong-kyun, the company’s president of the mobile phone business, said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency last month that Samsung aims to sell 10 million units of bada phones by the end of June.

Samsung, which also makes smartphones that operate using Google Inc.’s Android and Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Mobile software, is slated to announce its latest generation of high-end smartphones powered by Android later this month.

Yonhap