Bada-Boom! The Samsung Wave Gets Real

Weeks like these are so tough to keep up with. The Mobile World Congress is going on this week in Barcelona Spain, which means we have a lot to talk about. Let's start off with Samsung's first Android offering, the Samsung Wave.

The Wave isn't running stock Android. Instead, it's running Samsung's spin on the platform known as Bada. This is the dealbreaker for me. This is a great device. It's got a vibrant screen, WiFi, aGPS, support for all kinda of codecs, great camera, micro SD expandable memory, snappy 1Ghz processor, and everything else you'd expect from a brand new device, but it's hampered by this horrendous looking UI.

All the functionality is still there, and I'm not one to harp on looks, but it goes beyond looking terribly and ventures into the counter-intuitive. Despite the great hardware, I just can't imagine using this thing would be a pleasing experience. It looks like a blend between a gaudy LG featurephone and Nokia's Symbian OS. That's not a compliment. This is all certainly reflected in Engadget's reactions to the device. They've got quite a bit of work to do before the Bada OS become a real player, and they can start with tearing the existing UI apart.

Check out all the photos here.
Want to see the full press release and specs? You know what to do.

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