Wave hello to Samsung's bid to capture iPhone's market

The Samsung Wave was unveiled in Barcelona ahead of Mobile World Congress – the world's largest mobile phone trade show – which opens today.

The Korean manufacturer is currently the world's second-largest producer of mobile phones – behind Nokia – but wants a larger share of the expanding smartphone market, which is dominated by the iPhone.

When Apple launched its 3G iPhone in 2008, the American computer giant redefined the mobile phone. Rather than simply a device for sending texts and making calls, the smartphone incorporated media players, the internet and sparked a craze for hundreds of thousands of software applications – or apps – written by third party programmers.

Samsung's latest smartphone is packed with a specification to impress. Its hi-tech organic LED screen (AMOLED) is thinner, less reflective and more energy efficient than traditional LED displays, which need back-lighting.

Significantly, the Wave is the first handset to run Samsung's new open source operating system (OS) Bada and features an iTunes-style apps store for downloading games, mapping, eBooks and lifestyle applications.

Bada, which means ocean in Korean, is the latest mobile phone OS to be launched in an increasingly congested market – joining Apple's iPhone OS, Google's Android, Microsoft's Windows Mobile, Blackberry's RIM and the open-source Symbian OS.

Because the Wave is expected to undercut the iPhone's retail price, industry experts believe it could steal a march on Apple.

Ernest Doku, mobile phone expert at Omio.com, said: "Samsung's Bada OS brings smartphone technology to the masses, enabling entry level handsets to offer apps, multimedia and a touchscreen experience comparable to high-end devices."

He added: "With handsets like the Wave, Samsung is providing an affordable alternative to the traditional smartphone, offering what consumers have come to expect in a phone – browsing, social networking support and an app store – at a fraction of the price."

The handset arrives in the UK in April. No official price has been announced.