Samsung eyes bada 2.0 release in H1 2011, improved UI and NFC support coming

Samsung's own take on operating systems, the bada OS, will get a lot of new features in its upcoming 2.0 version, which is set for release in the first half of 2011. Sammy promises an improved user interface along with Near-Field Communication (NFC) support and SDK support for Linux and Mac.

As you have probably heard, NFC provides safe transactions including mobile phone payments and support for it is a welcome addition to the OS. The recently launched Google Nexus S heralds the technology's launch in the United States and we expect to hear much more about it next year.

The bada OS made its debut on the Samsung Wave, the first device to showcase the Super AMOLED technology. And while there weren't many devices following, the operating system is growing steadily and Samsung expects to sell 10 million handsets of the Wave series by the end of the first half of 2011. Currently, sales are expected to reach nearly 5 million Wave phones by the end of 2010.

The Samsung Wave was released with the first version of bada in the summer of 2010. Currently, the OS stands at version 1.2 with some minor tweaks over the original release. Even though we find bada to be pretty responsive, it is still lagging significantly in apps and functionality in comparison to iOS and Android. Do you think that it could find its place among other operating systems out there? Let us know and check out Samsung's expectations for bada below.

source: Samsung Hub