Dubai: Samsung's third generation of the Wave is here to make a wave. The S8600 Wave 3 runs on completely redesigned Samsung's own operating system Bada OS 2.0, and flaunts a bigger and better 4-inch Super Amoled (480 x 800 pixels) screen. But the emerging platform is going to struggle to get noticed in the operating system war.
On the face of it, the Bada looks like Android more than ever. But well, yes, that one goes down to TouchWiz, the custom skin Samsung has put on their handset. It is gentle on the hardware too and runs glitch-free on the single-core 1.4GHz processor and all that in a remarkably solid and stylish metal shell.
It's a slim with a consciously minimalist exterior and what comes close to a unibody design. The downside is the polished metal surface doesn't allow a secure grip.
The rear cover doesn't completely detach from the body — once unhinged it slides up to let you access the battery and memory and SIM slots.
Both the SIM and microSD card slot are blocked by the battery, which needs to be out if you're going to be ejecting or inserting a card in either slot. It offers 4GB of internal storage (of which about 2GB is usable) with support for microSD cards up to 32GB.
Limited apps
The lock key on the right is smaller but placed conveniently under your thumb — that goes for right-handed users though. There's no dedicated camera shutter key.
For people coming from Android, the limited supply in Samsung's app store will be a major question mark. But the Bada app store has been building up content. It's still a long way from closing the gap.
You can chat to friends with the ChatOn instant messaging service, which lets you send free messages to other phones, similar to the BlackBerry Messenger service, or the instant messaging services on your computer such as Facebook Chat, Yahoo Messenger or GChat.
Bada OS has a cool phonebook feature. A right swipe over a name in the contact list will dial the contact's default number while a left swipe will start the message composer. In whatever direction you swipe, you'll reveal four shortcut keys: call, new message, video call and delete. The side-sweeps work in other lists too where you have names or numbers.
The Wave 3 supports voice dictation and voice commands very similar to the iPhone 4S' Siri. The service is powered by Vlingo and is not as smooth as the Siri, but most of the time it works just fine. Your phone can read messages out. You can download different voices for free at the Samsung Apps store.
The handset is capable of taking 5 megapixel photos and capturing 720p videos.
The handset is DLNA-capable device. You can use the AllShare app to connect with other DLNA-enabled gadgets.
The main disadvantage is the OS doesn't support Adobe Flash. Anyway Flash is also stopping support. It looks like Samsung is banking on HTML5 here.
The 1500mAh battery gives you around two days on a full charge with normal usage, which is not bad compared to other smartphones. It is priced at Dh1,399.
