It was not long ago when we reported that bada 2.0 is already on its way. Samsung’s proprietary mobile OS is getting a new major release this summer bringing a revamped interface, overhauled multitasking experience, and a list of other improvements to Sammy’s smartphone-oriented platform. News about bada 2.0 don’t end here since the French division of Samsung announced that two devices running the new platform have already been scheduled for launch later this year.

Samsung of France held a press conference last week, at which company representatives announced that the first smartphone to ship with bada 2.0 should be expected in September of this year. Even though its exact name is still unknown, the said device will most probably join the Wave family and is meant to become its new flagship handset. As far as its technical specifications go, here is what has been mentioned to date:

• 3.65-inch touch-sensitive display
• 7.2 Mbps HSDPA radio
• 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with a VGA front-facing one
• Support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 and NFC

A second bada 2.0 smartphone is expected to follow in November, but it will be more of a mid-end device with a relatively modest 3.14-inch QVGA display and a 3-megapixel camera.

Since bada 2.0 is expected to launch in July, this could mean that current members of the Samsung Wave family might get an update before the launch of these two handsets, but that is just a wild guess for now. Nevertheless, back at MWC in Barcelona Samsung did mention that even the original Wave will be able to run the new platform, so we do not see a reason why such an update may not be possible.

source: bada World (translated) Samsung Hub

A piece of information coming from Dipesh Shah, Samsung Mobile India’s R&D head, claims that Samsung is to release the next version of its mobile OS “around July this year”.

Speaking to The Financial Express, he talked up bada and underlined its importance to Samsung’s future plans:

“Bada, meaning ocean in Korean, is a driving force in accomplishing Samsung’s vision of a smartphone for everyone.”

There is not much information what exactly we can expect from this upcoming major update, but it’s mentioned it will feature improvements to the interface, and will create more opportunities for bada developers.

It’s reported that Samsung sold “close to one million” bada handsets in Q3 of 2010, and it seems the Korean manufacturer is pretty serious about its mobile OS – this is only reiterated by the fact it sent an open invitation to disgruntled Indian Symbian devs to join the bada ranks.

source: The Financial Express via Samsung Hub