Bada
Bada is an open smartphone operating system from the Samsung Group in Suwon, South Korea. In December 2009, Bada (Korean for "ocean") was officially launched in London along with a software development kit( SDK) for independent developers.
Samsung uses Bada alongside its proprietary cell phone operating system and Symbian. Bada was developed with the aim of being able to offer the versatile applications(apps) that are only available with smartphones on less expensive cell phones as well. During development, special emphasis was placed on the synchronization of multiple end devices, social networking and suitability for 3D games.
Bada's user interface includes a speed dial directory, messaging functions and an address book, which can be used by independent developers for their own applications. The Unix-based TouchWiz controls the finger operation on the multi-touch screen and the hardware components of the Bada cell phones.
With a developer program and an application store, Bada wants to motivate external developers to write apps for Samsung's cell phones. With Bada, Samsung also offers a platform for mobile operators, who can use it to provide innovative services to their subscribers.
Since Bada also supports Adobe Flash, developers can implement their own user interfaces or incorporate existing Flash content into their applications. An integrated web browser enables the use of web content in an application.
The architecture of Samsung Bada consists of four layers:
- The Kernel Layer is based on a real-time operating system or Linux kernel, depending on the hardware configuration.
- The device layer provides basic functions such as system and security management, graphics and Windows system, data protocols, and management of telephony and audiovisual multimedia display.
- The Service Layer controls application engine functions, including messaging and address management.
- The Framework Layer exports open APIs in C++ and consists of an application framework and functions exported from the underlying layers. Independent developers are to write their applications for the Bada platform on the framework layer.