Samsung Makes a Splash with the Launch of Wave

First smartphone to feature Super AMOLED display and bada, Samsung's open platform

MISSISSAUGA, ON, July 8 /CNW/ - Samsung Mobile, the leading mobile phone brand in Canada, today announced the availability of the Samsung Wave (model: S8500), the first smartphone to leverage bada, Samsung's new, open smartphone platform. The Samsung Wave is the first Canadian smartphone to feature Samsung's Super AMOLED screen technology - providing users with improved outdoor visibility, reduced power consumption and unrivalled picture clarity.

With the launch of the Wave, Samsung is actively constructing a total eco-system around the bada platform including Samsung Apps, an integrated application store. Samsung Apps will increase the premium content and applications pool through collaboration with partner companies and developers.

The availability of the Samsung bada SDK (Software Development Kit) will ensure that consumers can experience a steady stream of new applications that support bada platform.

"The Samsung Wave represents our strategy to deliver rich, exciting smartphone experiences to everyone via one of the highest quality display screens in the industry," said Paul Brannen, vice president, Samsung Mobile. "We also anticipate that Samsung bada will significantly expand the smartphone consumer market in Canada, which will create an ocean of opportunity for developers."

    
    bada Platform - the Smart Choice
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Samsung's bada platform will drive the democratization of the smartphone era and deliver a smartphone for every lifestyle. The bada is the secret behind the Samsung Wave and enables applications to fully utilize the powerful hardware by providing various APIs for interactivity including UI elements, 3D Graphics, Flash, multipoint-touch, sensors and motion support. In addition, service-oriented features such as social network integration, LBS (location-based service) and in-application-purchase, allow users to experience a variety of applications and content.

Developers can write applications with the bada SDK (Software Development Kit). The bada SDK provides a complete set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) as well as IDE (Integrated Development Environment), simulator, UI builder, and other useful tools and helpful sample applications and documents. This content will facilitate the development of applications for not just the Samsung Wave, but all other mobile phones that adopt bada as their platform of choice. Applications developed with the bada SDK can be sold through Samsung Apps, Samsung's application store.

To motivate developers, Samsung has created a global contest called the bada Developer Challenge. Samsung has set aside a prize pot totalling $ 2,700,000 for this event. The final contest winner will receive $300,000.

The SDK can be downloaded for free from the "bada Developers" site (http://developer.bada.com). Further details on the 'bada Developer Challenge' and 'bada Developer Day' are also available here.

    
    Samsung Apps: Discover, Experience, Enhance
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Samsung Apps, an integrated application store accessible from the device and online, allows Wave users to simply and easily download an abundance of applications. Featuring a wealth of games, navigation, social networking, e-book, health and lifestyle applications, Samsung Apps gives users instant access to a wide range of mobile experiences.

    
    Screen, Speed, Performance and Beauty
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With the Samsung Wave, seeing really is believing as it features the world's first Super AMOLED display; delivering an unrivalled screen experience on a smartphone. The Super AMOLED offers a much brighter, clearer, and less reflective viewing experience. With a free viewing angle and super fast response enabled by this proven technology, the Samsung Wave display provides superb image quality for viewing both videos and photos.

The Samsung Wave benefits from a superb 1GHz processor which offers users the best graphic performance available today. Its speed makes the touch screen user interface incredibly responsive and intuitive and, more importantly, means that the 3D and memory-intensive graphic and video performance is unsurpassed.

The Samsung Wave is also one of the most attractive devices with a seamless, streamlined body that has no parting or harsh lines. A beautiful and strong tempered glass display perfectly complements and enhances the vividness of the Super AMOLED display. Furthermore, with anti-smudge technology, those greasy thumb prints are a thing of the past.

Multi-codec support for DivX, Xvid, MP4 and WMV, and support for virtual 5.1 surround sound delivery transforms the device into a personal entertainment system. HD video (720p) decoding and recording capabilities make the Samsung Wave an outstanding device for capturing, sharing and viewing video.

The Samsung Wave is the first handset in the world that incorporates the Bluetooth(R) 3.0 and WiFi 802.11n standards.

    
    Social Hub and TouchWiz 3.0
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Social Hub allows you to efficiently manage your communication needs by providing intuitive and unified access to emails, IMs and Social Networking Sites (SNS). It is powered by 'Push' technology, ensuring a real time delivery of emails, IMs, calendar events and SNS updates. The benefits of Social Hub are further enhanced by the Wave's TouchWiz 3.0 UI, delivering superb user experience.

For those who love music, the device home-page can be turned into an intuitive media player; while for those who take and share a lot of photos, the page can be customized to feature favorite images. Users will also benefit from Quick Panel, a way of prioritizing and aggregating apps into one screen for instant access.

With its eye-catching screen, Samsung's latest TouchWiz 3.0 user interface gives a tactile, intuitive user experience, and includes iconic new features such as motion UI, Smart Unlock and a customizable widget screen.

    
    Availability and Pricing
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The Samsung WAVE is available today from Bell Mobility stores nationally and online at Bell.ca/mobile and Rogers stores across the country and online at www.rogers.com.

Samsung Wave (S8500) Product Specifications

    
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    Network        2.5G (GSM/ GPRS/ EDGE) : 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz
                   3G  (WCDMA/ HSDPA) : 900/2100 MHz
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    Display        3.3" WVGA (800x480) Super AMOLED with mDNIe
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                   5.0 Megapixel camera w/ LED Flash, AF
    Camera         Face/Blink Detection, Vintage Shot, Beauty Shot,
                   Smile Shot, Panorama Shot, Geo-tagging, Image Editor
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
                   HD(720p) video playing and recording
    Video          5.1ch Mobile Theater
                   MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV,DivX, XviD Video Editor
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Audio          Music Player with SoundAlive, Music Recognition, DISK UI,
                   3.5mm Ear Jack, FM Radio/ Recording
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                   Integrated Messaging 'Social Hub'
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                   (*Availability of Social Hub can be decided by market
                   demands.)
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                   Samsung Apps
                   (*Availability of Samsung Apps differs by country)
                   ----------------------------------------------------------
                   TouchWiz 3.0 w/Integrated phonebook, Voice & Motion UI
                   ----------------------------------------------------------
    Value-added    Dolfin Browser 2.0 / Pinch Zoom(Multi-pointed zoom)
    Features       ----------------------------------------------------------
                   A-GPS, On/Off Board Navigation(2D/3D Map), LBS
                   ----------------------------------------------------------
                   SMS/ MMS/ Email/ Video Messaging/Exchange ActiveSync
                   ----------------------------------------------------------
                   Accelerator Sensor, Proximity Sensor, GeoMagnetic Sensor
                   ----------------------------------------------------------
                   BPP(Basic Printing Profile), OPP(Object Push Profile),
                   PictBridge (USB Printing)
                   ----------------------------------------------------------
                   Offline & No SIM Mode,
                   RSS Reader, Communities & Mobile Widgets
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
                   Bluetooth technology v 3.0
    Connectivity   USB v2.0 (Full -Speed)
                   Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Memory         2GB + microSD (Up to 32GB)
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Size           118 x 56 x 10.9mm
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    Battery        (Standard) Li-Ion, 1,500 mAh
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    

* Product specifications are subject to change without notice.

About Samsung Electronics Canada Inc.

Samsung Electronics Canada, Inc. (SECA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., markets a broad range of award-winning digital consumer electronics, information systems, telecommunications and home appliance products. SECA upholds Samsung's mission to provide consumers with innovative digital convergence products that possess exceptional technology, quality, features, performance and value.

Samsung has been a global TOP sponsor of the Olympic Games since 1998 and has been a presenting sponsor of the Olympic Torch Relay from 2004 to 2008. Also through Samsung's Four Seasons of Hope charity, Samsung helps athletes and celebrities raise funds for their respective charities, including the Wayne Gretzky Foundation in Canada. Samsung is also a proud sponsor of Hockey Canada.

For customer service inquiries, please call 1 - 800 - Samsung (1 - 800 - 726 - 7864), and for more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

For further information: Diane Medeiros, APEX Public Relations, Phone: [phone] ext. 234, E-Mail: [email protected]