First Samsung Bada smartphone hits Europe

The Wave was first shown off at this year’s Mobile World Congress, and is the first smartphone based on its open smartphone platform Bada.

Vodafone is taking pre-orders for the Samsung Wave, which it will offer on June 1 on £25 a month plans.

Samsung said it is trying to construct an ‘eco-system’ around the Bada platform, which will include Samsung Apps - available in 80 countries.

It will also make the Samsung Bada SDK (Software Development Kit) available, so that there will be stream of new applications to support the platform.

The beat SDK is already available to app developers, and the complete bada SDK 1.0.0 will be available soon.

"The Samsung Wave represents our strategy to deliver rich, exciting smartphone experiences to everyone," said JK Shin, President and head of the Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics.

"This launch will make our platform vision a reality and consumers, developers and operators will experience the freedom of choice that bada enables."

After Europe the Samsung Wave will expand availability to Southeast Asia, China, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America.