Samsung offers $2.7m of grease for wrestling Bada devs

Samsung likes to play the tart when it comes to a mobile OS, but the Bada Developer Challenge for its in-house environment shows where its affections really lie, with a top prize of $300,000.

That compares with the £2,000 that Samsung was prepared to give to the best Android application while promoting its Galaxy handset. The two grand is just for the idea and is UK only, but the comparison still shows how much more important Bada is and how much Samsung is prepared to spend ensuring it succeeds.

Accepting that Bada handsets are still somewhat rare (one announced, but not yet launched), the Developer Challenge expects entrants to work in the simulator for the next three months. Samsung will then send the 300 most promising entrants a Wave handset (the only Bada handset right now) so they can see how accurate the emulator is.

Three months later Samsung will announce a winner who gets $300,000, with 23 runners up getting between $100,000 and $40,000. There are also ten special winners who get $30,000 a piece for creating particularly small and efficient applications.

The search for the best Android application idea was delayed, and the public vote apparently slipped by so quickly we missed it (despite repeatedly asking Samsung when it was going to happen). But the winners have now been announced; two grand goes to an unlock-phone-through-facial-recognition application, which is now supposed to be developed by Samsung.

Samsung supports almost every mobile OS, but is obviously prepared to put a lot of money into promoting its own closed ecosystem. Still, if you're happy to take the money then registration is free. ®