Vodafone UK have thrown their hat into the bada ring and announced that they are taking preorders for the Samsung Wave S8500. Priced from free on a new contract, the Wave S8500 will arrive on June 1st 2010 complete with a 3.3-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 5-megapixel autofocus camera and a 1GHz processor.
Samsung are pushing bada as their new “smartphone for the common man” platform, which means you get an app store together with all the expected social networking integration from a smartphone, but a more affordable price. We grabbed some hands-on time with the Wave S8500 back at MWC 2010 and, despite our initial skepticism about bada’s positioning, came away impressed by the handset itself.
The Wave S8500 will be free on new Vodafone contracts priced £25 per month or above, assuming you’re willing to sign up for two years.