A few weeks ago, we found out Samsung is working on its own mobile OS – Bada. Right from the bat, we asked – who needs it? There are already several mobile operating systems available on the market and why would Samsung spend its resources on “yet another mobile OS” is beyond me. Do they actually expect to have some other handset maker to license Bada? Samsung is a huge handset maker, second only to Nokia, and even if they end up as the only company which uses Bada, it’s still something — look at Nokia’s Series 40, for instance.
That made me think. Instead of going full-blown for the entire mobile OS, Samsung should offer its UI, TouchWIZ, to other handset makers. They already run it on several platforms — Windows Mobile, Android and Symbian included — plus TouchWIZ can perfectly sing along feature phones. Why not offer the widget-friendly interface to third parties. I love TouchWIZ and could see smaller handset makers adopting it over night. Samsung has invested heavily in TouchWIZ and it’s probably one of the best (if not the best) UI solutions out there. It’s certainly the only UI that works across that many platforms and that by itself is its strength. The Korean company could offer it as an off-the-shelf solution that works on top of any smartphone platform which is not made by Apple. Plus, they could offer customization services for those who require something even more. Or open APIs and let the community do its magic.
What do you think? Is this the better way to go for Samsung? Drop us a comment if you have one. 😉