Samsung Wave 3: More Than A Sideshow

Admittedly, they didn't spend a lot of time talking about their newest flagship Bada phone; but Samsung was unequivocal in their intention to make Bada a serious smartphone OS. Having recently announced Bada 2.0, the Wave 3 serves as a showcase for the operating systems strengths and announced an effort to drive developers towards their platform. Previously Bada was targeted primarily at replacing the operating sytems on the company's lineup of feature phones, and lofty targets have been the norm, as have the failure to meet them (they previously announced expectations to have 7,000 apps on the platform by the end of 2010, and have not yet reached that mark). So, how much of their talk was just home team grandstanding? It's unclear, but we welcome them to do their best in this competitive market. 

 

As for the Wave 3, the 4" Super AMOLED WVGA display comes encased in a brushed aluminum unibody frame and is certainly no slouch in looks. A single core 1.4 GHz processor powers the phone, giving it plenty of power, and TouchWiz is of course lovingly layered atop the base Bada platform. TouchWiz for Android users will recognize the Social Hub and Music Hub apps, and Samsung touts the platforms multitasking abilities. This will likely all be lost on the US, a quick search showed not a single major carrier listing Bada phones amongst their offerings. 

Wrap-Up

Samsung's keynote highlighted the extent to which they have their fingers in nearly every segment of the consumer electronics market. In addition to phones and tablets, Samsung introduced a new television and talked up their Smart TV initiative, a pair of new cameras and the Series 7 laptops that we covered earlier. In each product category they have shown themselves able to provide high quality products and we can't wait to get our hands on them. Unfortunately, waiting is very likely a big part of what we'll be doing. The Galaxy S II was introduced in February, and six months on it's not yet for sale here. So, big stuff is coming our way from Samsung, it just remains to be seen when. Stay tuned throughout the week for further IFA coverage.

Galaxy Note and Galaxy Tab 7.7
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  • B3an - Thursday, September 1, 2011 - link

    Would 1280x800 res on a 5.3" display give the Galaxy Note a higher pixel density than the iToy 4? I'm too lazy to work it out myself :)

    And that Galaxy Tab 7.7 is looking great. I love AMOLED with it's blacks, contrast and response times, especially now it dont use pentile crap. With these resolutions it will be extremely impressive.
  • JasonInofuentes - Thursday, September 1, 2011 - link

    Nope. 285 ppi vs ~330 ppi. This isn't retina, in fact it's nearly the same as the OG Droid and Droid 2, but across a larger surface it will look rather nice.
  • DesktopMan - Friday, September 2, 2011 - link

    Samsung has not used the term "Super Amoled Plus" when talking about the Note and 7.7, so they might quite possibly have pentile displays.
  • DesktopMan - Friday, September 2, 2011 - link

    Correcting myself: The 7.7 does indeed have a Super Amoled Plus display.
  • dstigue - Thursday, September 1, 2011 - link

    It appears the Note would make more sense in the business world. Doctors signing scripts while on the run. Lawyers taking notes between cases. It is a shame if the battery is 1200. It wouldn't last too long. I can definitely see that being enterprise worthy as well. Plus loading it up with Juniper Junos Pulse seems like they are trying to bring Android to the business world. This isn't targeting Apple. This is targeting RIM. Knowing they are injured in the private sector now is the time to take that market share and start pushing your way into the business sector. Let's see how this gamble plays out.
  • JasonInofuentes - Thursday, September 1, 2011 - link

    You're right, this is a productivity play, but there's real media appeal here too. That display will look great playing HD media, and Samsung won't be skimping on their media options just because of their enterprise push.
    The issue is, a year and a half ago we didn't think there was a need for a tablet device. And we're not necessarily convinced even now. So, if the 10" form factor tablet hasn't yet proved itself as a productivity device, then can a 5.3" succeed? We're curious to find out.
  • senatorpaulo - Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - link

    The battery is a world class size of 2500mAh, just FYI.
  • willstay - Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - link

    Though I recently I got SGS2, I am going to get SGNote at whatever cost. This is some device if pocket is small, rather than switching to smaller phone, I would switch to pant with bigger pocket :)

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