As Sesame Street is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary now seems like as good a time as any for us to practice our counting…of mobile operating systems/platforms. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Darn, my hand ran out of fingers! Well, no matter, Samsung thinks there is plenty of room for more and has taken the wraps off its own, new open mobile platform, bada.
Yup, another mobile OS is hitting the streets come December, and its name is bada (which means ‘ocean’ in Korean). In case you were wondering, the name was:
chosen to convey the limitless variety of potential applications which can be created using the new platform. It also alludes to Samsung’s commitment to a variety of open platforms in the mobile industry.
But enough about its meaning…what is it? Well, according to the official announcement, bada will offer developers an easier way to create applications for “millions of new Samsung” phones while providing consumers with “a fun and diverse mobile experience.” Samsung says the new platform will be simple for developers to use, “particularly in the area of applications using Web services,” and will allow said developers to include more sophisticated and attractive UI” designs for their apps.
The platform is also being touted as carrier-friendly, by providing for “an easy-to-integrate platform…so that mobile operators can provide unique and differentiated services to their customers.” According to Dr Hosoo Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Media Solution Center at Samsung Electronics, “bada will be Samsung’s landmark, iconic new platform that brings an unprecedented opportunity for operators, developers and Samsung mobile phone users around the world.”
The official website went live earlier today. Samsung will also be hosting an official launch event in London sometime next month where it will also take the wraps off its bada SDK.
Bada means BIG in Hindi.
Isn’t Android good enough? I think it is more reasonable for Samsung to build an mobile OS based on Android than to create its own.
Bada means ‘bad’ in baby language.
Is this for real?
Let me guess, the default search provider will be Bing. Wait for it….. Bada-Bing!
Don’t encourage them.
The Bada sales pitch is directed at carriers, but carriers are irrelevant. iPhone and Android proved that customers care about features, and carriers are becoming dumb pipes, whether they like it or not.
Exactly. It’s hard to believe Samsung is this tone-deaf on the mobile industry.
It remains to be seen w receptive the consumers will beto yet another mobile OS, but Samsung is taking a huge risk on this. If their OS sucksn no one is going to buy their phones no matter how good they are.
oh boy… and this my friends is why Apple will continue to dominate in the new cell-phone space.
Now you will have 1. 2. 3. 4. 5! platforms to develop for… each with their own dev libraries, etc… don’t even get me started on the different “custom” libraries for some of the android phones out there either.
Hmm, which device would have the biggest base for apps… Apple!
Not an apple fan boy, but when there’s too many chefs in the kitchen, someone’s gonna get burned.
Apple doesn’t dominate now.
says who?
Numbers…
Ya, exactly. Choice is terrible. How the hell are developers supposed to decide between the PS3, 360, wii and PC for their newest game? IMO, choice is bad. There should only be 1 game console. 1 flavour for all.
People forget that Apple has spent over eight years building up the ecosystem around the iPhone, starting with OS X (developer tools), the iPod (Made-for-iPod/iPhone peripheral licensing) then the iTunes store, (media/software distribution/billing system) and Apple retail stores where the device could be shown off in the best environment. The iPhone was then able to leverage and build on every single one of those previous accomplishments.
Apple makes it look easy but it ain’t, otherwise the iPod/iTunes store wouldn’t control 70% of the market.
Also interesting how OS X was based on NextStep and was all written in Objective-C, a language from the 80s.
During the rise of the internet, Objective-C was relegated to the backwaters of the programming world. Like who cared about companies writing applications for the Mac.
The iPhone SDK comes out and now Apple’s development environments becomes the hottest girl at the dance.
Quite a name .. and i just hope this new platform has more features, i don’t like Samsung’s slack os. makes the device run very slow
Yeah….. I just bought a new Samsung two wks a go with a 2 year plan due to my old phone blowing up.
Nice to see my new Samsung phone that runs a diff OS will be obsolete in 4 to 6 months and no new kewl apps will be designed for it — Yeah, this game never gets old!!!??
How much did it cost?
OK. this is cool, but is it necessary?
Bada boom, Bada BAD.
So no-one has anything good to say about it?
I know there are too many mobile OS out there, but in the desktop computer market there are too few. And as someone for the consumer and against the monopoly, i know i prefer the former.
Why oh Why Samsung, When you can have Android fore free or Windows for money, why would you spend all that money and time building your own OS
I think its a welcome move by Samsung. Enough of oligopolies… may the best OS win, and the rest follow
Its funny that we hate to have monopolies, and then we hate to see more options.
There seems to be lot of confusion whether this is an OS or an SDK? Also how they can possibly name this Bada? Cannot think of a worst name.
Windows-only = FAIL!
You done commenting on this post, Apple fanboy?
london .. that says it all .. old mentality about the whole thing.
just pray it doesn’t follow the steps of tmax window
Sorry, guys!
Bada means Sea in Korean language. Trust me on this cuz I’m a Korean.
fail,,, just use whats free, . it already has fans,
What next? MySamsung (on the lines of MyOpera)?
This sounds big. I guess its a brave step. Samsung should just stick to just one platform which is best then develop it as a great platform for users and developers and use only one os for all its phone. In this case they can have variety of apps for one platform. I really wish Samsung makes it really great this time and really concentrate and work towards one only.
This could be very useful. I have seen one platform which is designed for sports fans which was developed by a Univertisity in Scotland.
My god, what was Samsung thinking? Was anyone seriously waiting for this to come??
I surely hope they will support HTML widgets. Developing for mobile devices becomes harder by the day instead of easier because every major company thinks they’ve got the next big thing when it comes to mobile OS, it’s even worse than the browser wars of the last couple of years.
People need to realize that more platforms are a good thing.
More Platforms = More Competition = More Innovation
Apple isn’t going to add new features to the iPhone OS unless they feel like someone else is creeping on their turf.
Same goes for Android.
And Microsoft isn’t going to add new features to Windows Mobile… well they’re just not.
But everyone else will innovate!
What’s disturbing is that this creates even more development problems for companies who write games, apps, or deliver mobile content.
I never thought this would be true, but Adobe may be the savior to our development woes. Adobe is constantly seeking to make it’s runtime consistent across platforms. Flash will soon be able to compile native iPhone apps.
I understand ‘open’ is the idea, but ‘business’ is the verb. I don’t have time to learn 5 new popular platforms. And I can assure you there is no ’standard’ between these projects for development.
Adobe has a huge opportunity here, I hope they are committed to devoting resources to these platforms.
Samsung Group is very huge! If they want to crush Apple and MSFT they can do it.
Big does not mean smart.
Crushing Apple MS? Right, unless they are crazy to loose us market.
I do business in Asia and South Korea is one of my markets. In Asia, it’s a completely different story. South Korea itself is treated considerably different to other markets.
This will probably work out for them quite well. South Korean buying habits are extremely nationalistic. Technology in that country is absolutely DOMINATED by LG and Samsung. They generate large revenues domestically.
In addition, as I work in software, I have come across a development community that is also massive with developers being hired for relatively little money. This is quite an opportunity for them to have a first go at developing apps local to their market if they feel like they can’t quite get a foothold in the AppStore or the Android Market.
Make no mistake, this is certainly something they can successfully grow as they have a very healthy technology-centric buying culture right on their doorstep. Girls are just as into gadgets as they are makeup, fashion, and skin care (some of the other major verticals).
What will be interesting to see is if LG tries to compete and develops its own platform!