Samsung Galaxy S Has A Great Screen To Show Off That Gaudy Bada OS

Samsung has announced their answer to the Nexus One, the Samsung Galaxy S. Trust me, the name isn't the only thing that screams "2000" though. The device, despite the gorgeous screen, still looks like something you'd expect from an LG device circa VX-9800. Samsung's take on Android looks so stupidly toy-ish that I can't even take it seriously despite the fact it's running 2.1. Specs time:

• Android 2.1
• 4-inch Super AMOLED display, WVGA 800 x 480 resolution
• 5-megapixel autofocus camera
• 1GHz processor
• A-GPS, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0
• micro SD 8GB/16GB up to 32GB

Yes, the specs are decent. Hey, the specs are even great, but let's be honest. This isn't a groundbreaker. It's not especially pretty, it's not especially fast, light, or especially anything except for especially "meh". This is Samsung playing catch-up. Press release lies beneath!

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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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