Free Bada phones for developers, Samsung confirms more Bada handsets to come

Google isn't the only company giving away flashy handsets to developers. The Mountain View based firm recently concluded its Google I/O show Stateside and gave away Nexus One, Motorola DROIDS and EVO 4G models.  Down in Johannesburg, South Africa, Korean based Samsung passed along the Samsung Wave S8500 to every developer and journalist in attendance. The Wave features Samsung's new Bada OS and a spokesperson said that more info on upcoming Bada equipped phones will be announced during the third quarter. Samsung pointed out that Bada does not support multitasking. If a third party app is running and and a second one is started, the first app will stop immediately.

A Samsung spokesman told Phone Review that the next Bada model will be similar to the Wave and be priced under $200. The unit after that will be equipped with a physical QWERTY keyboard. The Bada app store will debut in South Africa and 19 other countries and quickly hit a total of 80 countries after just a few months. Like Apple's removal of all sexually explicit apps from the App Store,Samsung plans on doing the same thing with the manually monitored Bada app store. Also not allowed will be apps focusing on illegal drugs or apps that "incite(s) violence or hate".Free and paid apps will be offered and credit cards can be used to buy the paid apps although Samsung is working with carriers to hopefully implement some form of carrier billing. The manufacturer hopes to ring up sales of 10 million Bada powered devices this year, doubling to 20 million sold next year as the Bada platform replaces Windows Mobile, Symbian and Android on Samsung models.

Samsung Wave Specifications | Hands-on

source: PhoneReport