Samsung Mobile is working with Yahoo, Google and AccuWeather.com to introduce a new set of rich connected mobile applications that will run on Samsung's lineup of TouchWiz touchscreen phones.

Samsung Mobile, a.k.a. Samsung Telecommunications America, decided to team up with UIEvolution for the creation, toolset and delivery of rich connected mobile applications. As competition increases among handset makers working to differentiate the on device experience with recent launches from Apple of the iPhone SDK and App Store and Blackberry's App World, Samsung was looking for a way to connect the mobile developer community with the TouchWiz UI technology that is driving the touch screen device market.

"UIEvolution is an enabler of the mobile ecosystem, which can be a challenging platform for content providers, developers, handset manufacturers and carriers, so we offer managed services to help them run and manage services they want to deploy to consumers," said Chris Ruff, president/CEO of UIEvolution, Kirkland, WA. "Working with Samsung is an evolution of that greater story.

"UIEvolution can help them drive new value, create new revenue opportunities and delight consumers to make their service stickier," he said. "That is what we're all about."

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2007 consolidated sales of $105 billion.

Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs
The rich connected mobile applications are designed to customize and personalize the user experience.

These new connected mobile applications will be pre-loaded on select Samsung Mobile touchscreen devices.

The rich connected mobile applications are organized within the widget tray located on the left side of the home screen of the phone.

By expanding the tray, users can simply position the applications onto the phone's home screen for one-touch access to their favorite applications such as Yahoo oneSearch, Google search and worldwide weather information from AccuWeather.com.

UI Evolution is developing a set of developer tools for Samsung to support the easy development of its rich connected mobile applications.

Based upon the Eclipse IDE, developers will have a custom interface allowing them to easily access code samples, FAQ's, device emulation, and submission of content for sale through the Samsung Rich Connected Application storefront.

Other widgets currently available on Samsung Mobile's TouchWiz touchscreen phones include a music player, a messaging platform, games, a calendar, a clock and an alarm clock.

Each phone that supports TouchWiz may also include carrier-specific widgets for easy access to the carrier's custom services.

Samsung Mobile expects to launch several new touchscreen devices with TouchWiz technology and will also continue to collaborate with developers to significantly expand its catalog of connected mobile applications in 2009.

In 2007, phones with touchscreens were virtually non-existent.

Since the introduction of camera phones based on CMOS image processes, the touchscreen has been the first truly innovative feature revamping the global handset market.

By 2011, phone shipments with touch screens are forecasted to reach 178 million users.

One of the key handset makers in this emerging market is Samsung, which has sold more than 10 million units of its touch screen lineup, equivalent to achieving 25 percent share of the global market for touch screen phones.

The majority of these devices are equipped with Samsung's industry leading TouchWiz UI technology, which offers customizable widgets for consumers to personalize their phone interface and provide a one-touch access point to favorite and most commonly used applications and features.

A technology and development environment was needed to offer Samsung mobile consumers the interactive experience they are accustomed to and open up the TouchWiz UI for developers to create and deliver rich connected mobile applications across the entire Samsung TouchWiz lineup.

When Samsung chose to open up their TouchWiz platform for third-party developers, they selected UIEvolution in order to leverage nine years of wireless experience building and deploying mobile applications across thousands of devices and hundreds of countries.

Developers will be able to create new widgets for the TouchWiz platform, with an Eclipse IDE that provides easy access to code samples, FAQs and device emulators.

Then they can sell these connected mobile applications through Samsung's Rich Connected Application storefront.

Yahoo, Google and AccuWeather.com have already committed to launching widgets for the platform opening the door for an array of new applications and services for Samsung TouchWiz devices.

UIEvolution is working with Samsung to extend their TouchWiz lineup of devices to meet the increasing demands from consumers for interactive and seamless on device experiences that reflect their lifestyle and interests.

Initially, TouchWiz will be available on six Samsung handsets, including Delve, Eternity, Omnia, Behold, Memoir and Finesse.

"Samsung's goal is really to build the ecosystem around the TouchWiz platform, and UIEvolution touches every piece of their ecosystem and we've become a strong partner for them to team with," Mr. Ruff said.

"We're seeing a lot of device manufacturers beginning to think about software finally, because one thing Apple has taught the OEM market is the importance of software and how it integrates for end users, not just hardware," he said.

"TouchWiz is very forward thinking, and it's an important in next-generation software that is really easy to use so consumers can have the apps and services they want, which is a much better platform for touching users via advertising and marketing."