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All Samsung Wave phones will get Bada 2.0, if they can handle the upgrade
Bada 2.0 won't just be riding the Wave 3, Wave M and Wave Y, but according to a tweet from Samsung, it'll be available on all older Wave models as well. The company did warn that the OS could run "differently" between devices based on specifications like CPU and memory size, which may affect lower end models like the Wave 525 and Wave 533. However, if you are the proud owner of any of the fancier Wave phones like the S8500, expect the full OS makeover. The upgrade is due to splash across Europe some time in the fourth quarter, rolling out worldwide soon thereafter.
Samsung Wave S8500 review
For some of us jaded and cynical gadget bloggers, getting a feature phone to review is somewhat painful. We grumble and roll our eyes, then put the box in a corner of the office for "later." See, feature phones are really just wannabe smartphones -- like a walled garden full of weeds and broken glass, most feature phones are crippled with restrictions and a crappy user experience. But somehow this time, when we finally opened the box, we discovered something different: a smartphone disguised as a feature phone. The Samsung Wave S8500 was announced with great fanfare at Mobile World Congress in February, and was (at the time) the first device to showcase the Bada mobile platform, the first to feature a Super AMOLED display, and the first to offer Bluetooth 3.0. Let's dive in and take a look at what the Wave is all about -- and what it's not. %Gallery-103844%
Skyhook hones in on another partner, Samsung's Wave to geo-locate like no other
Skyhook Wireless seems to have located itself yet another major partner in its continued quest to pinpoint every single cellphone owner in the world. Sure, we're exaggerating a bit just to get you riled up, but there's no arguing the fact that the company fulfills "hundreds of millions of location requests every day across over 100 million handsets, netbooks and cameras." Or so it says, anyway. The latest company to buy into Skyhook's geo-locating promise -- which uses a mysterious combination of GPS, cellular and WiFi data to get a darn good lock on your current position in most any environment -- is Samsung, with the Bada-equipped Wave (S8500) first to tout it. As time goes on, even more Sammy phones will utilize Skyhook's technology, though we're left to wonder what exactly those models will be. Anyone up for educated guessing?
Samsung Wave shipping with infected microSD card (confirmed, limited to first run)
Did you get a Samsung Wave today, or perhaps early last week? You might not want to connect it to your computer, just in case. We're hearing anecdotal reports that the 1GB microSD card shipped with certain German units includes a nasty surprise: it automatically installs the trojan Win32/Heur using the file "slmvsrv.exe." While we're not sure exactly what the virus does or if it's widespread, there's no point in finding out the hard way, right? Install a good antivirus program and then format that sucker, or better yet, simply drop in a larger microSDHC card. Don't forget this thing plays DivX HD, people -- you're going to need more than a single gigabyte of storage. Update: Samsung HQ got in touch with MobileBurn to confirm the existence of the virus in shipping S8500 Wave handsets, but said that the outbreak was confined to the German market's initial production run and all other shipments are A-OK. Still, there's no harm in disabling autorun before connecting one to your PC, eh?
Samsung Wave brings Bada to Europe today, everyone else told to wait
Samsung's Wave (otherwise known as the S8500) may not be coming to Vodafone UK until June 1st, but it's available somewhere in Europe starting today. According to a new release from the outfit (seen in full after the break), today marks the first day in which its first Bada-equipped smartphone is available in Europe, with Germany, France and the UK mentioned in particular. We're also told that the "complete Bada SDK 1.0.0 will be available for download shortly," and while pricing details weren't discussed, the Wave should ride to Southeast Asia, China, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America in short order. Don't everyone cheer at once, okay?
Samsung's Super AMOLED-packin' Wave S8500 priced in Germany: €429
Samsung's world-beater -- you know, that Wave S8500 that debuted back at Mobile World Congress -- was revealed without one of the most vital statistics, but that's being remedied today courtesy of a product listing over at Amazon's German portal. The Bada-equipped device, complete with a Super AMOLED display that's supposedly viewable in broad daylight, has found a €429 MSRP across the pond, which equates to around $579 using today's highly volatile exchange rates. Granted, that's a contract-free (read: unsubsidized) price, but we're still going to hold out for a late-night session with the new OS before pinging our importer. Plus, those funky European AC adapters do nothing at all for us. Sorry.Update: Looks like some other German outlets have it priced even lower. Huzzah!
Samsung Wave shows what's Super about its AMOLED display by going outdoors (video)
Direct sunlight -- is there anything more terrifying for an OLED screen? Up until now, you had to sacrifice some outdoor performance from your phone's display in order to get the spectacular contrast and viewing angles on offer from OLEDs. Up until now. Samsung's Wave has been taken for a quick spin by Dutch publication portablegear and while we've no idea what their feedback on the phone was, the moving pictures speak for themselves. The phone remains entirely readable and usable in spite of the bright environment around it -- if you question how much light is hitting it, just take a look at the hand of the person holding it -- and color saturation is maintained throughout. Samsung promised us a great media experience on the handset, but this quick demo places its Super AMOLED tech a clear step above... well, every other display out there. The wildly impressive video awaits after the break, and you can find more imagery and our hands-on impressions here.
Samsung Wave first hands-on: Bada-packed and super fast (video!)
Well, we just had our first encounter with Samsung's new Bada-sporting Wave handset. We'll say this to start... the screen is gorgeous, and the phone itself is super fast. No hesitation almost anywhere, but it's hard to make a judgment call at this point. A lot of the software seemed unfinished, and we saw a few crashes and weird behavior. Still, it's clearly a device capable of handling some pretty intense work, and a Samsung rep we spoke to wanted to emphasize its ability to multitask. We were also told that the phone has more than 512MB of RAM, which is notable for a device of this type. We're going to play with it a bit more and flesh out our impressions, but for now feast your eyes on the gallery... and check the video after the break! A few more takeaways (with some input from senior editor Thomas Ricker): Overall the device feels like a glorified feature phone, and speaking to some other tech folks here, that feeling seemed to be common. There just doesn't seem to be a lot to it that we haven't seen in other Samsung devices, especially considering the TouchWiz integration. There was an issue with flipping the keyboard from portrait to landscape -- as we said the phone is early, so this may change, but we had to leave an app and reopen in the other orientation to get it working. We also noticed that there doesn't seem to be word prediction in place right now. The browser is redirecting to WAP pages, so it was hard to see what the results were. We also thought the buttons were in a very odd place, making it a bit hard to navigate. The display wasn't always responding to touches, and at least one unit completely froze on us. For those asking, from the looks of things (and the press release) there is no multitouch on this device. Correction... we just tried pinching and zooming on the phone and while it did create some kind of zoom result, it also kept giving us an error! Furthermore, when we tried to load an image heavy site, it forced the phone into its task manager mode and made us close all applications before we could proceed with using the phone. Clearly there is work to be done. %Gallery-85462%
Samsung Wave: 3.3-inch Super AMOLED, Bluetooth 3.0, and new Bada OS (updated)
How's about a little smartphone love on Valentine's Day? Samsung's press conference just got underway in Barcelona, and one of Mobile World Congress' first smartphones to debut this year is a real doozy. The Wave (S8500) that we've heard so much about lately is finally official, and it's the first handset to ship with Bluetooth 3.0. It's also packing 802.11n WiFi, TouchWiz 3.0 and the company's own Bada mobile platform. You'll also get a 3.3-inch "Super AMOLED" (saywha?) display, and while the 800 x 480 resolution is just dandy, the lack of multitouch is a real buzz kill. Digging into the internals, you'll find a 1GHz processor, 5 megapixel camera, aGPS, accelerometer, 2GB or 8GB of internal storage space, a microSD expansion slot, multi-codec support for DivX, XviD, MP3 and WMV, and support for virtual 5.1 surround sound and 720p recording / decoding. The company's also touting its mDNIe (mobile Digital Natural Image engine) technology, which is already used in its LCD and LED TV lineups; in other words, this phone is probably one of the better ones for multimedia viewing (so long as you don't venture under direct sunlight, of course). It'll be available worldwide starting in April, but unfortunately pricing remains a mystery. Full specifications and press release are after the break. Update: Check out our hands-on with the device! The at-show prototypes do respond to multi-touch pinch and zoom... with an error. But at least they detect it. %Gallery-85459%
Samsung S8500 Wave caught in a spigot of leaks
Trust in yourself, son, the increase in smartphone news that you sense is not imagined, it's very very real. Mobile World Congress is about to kick off in Barcelona which means we're just hours away from being knee-deep in the stuff. One of the most anticipated devices is the Samsung Wave, first spotted on billboards around Barcelona yesterday. The anticipation is warranted for 2 reasons. First, this 3.3-inch candybar slate is presumably sporting Samsung's new Super AMOLED which should help with outdoor viewing. And b, it's the first phone to run Samsung's new Bada smartphone OS... yes, another one, developers. According to Daily Mobile, the Wave S8500 brings a1GHz processor, 5 megapixel autofocus camera with flash, 720p video recording to 2GB of internal memory or microSD expansion, 802.11b/g/n WiFi and HSDPA data, DivX video support, and a 3.5-mm audio jack in a device measuring 10.9-mm thick. Unfotunately, we can't confirm any of those specs yet (wait until Sunday's press event) -- the pics, however, certainly match up with what we've already seen. We've dropped in a few choice shots after the break, the rest are at Daily Mobile in the link below. [Thanks, Daniel]
