Samsung announces app store launch date

Electronics giant Samsung today announced it will launch its own online application store for smartphones in Europe on 14 September, following Apple, RIM and other rivals in the mobile space.

The Samsung Application Store wil feature over 300 native applications and will first be available to users in the UK, France and Italy, with over 30 more countries to follow, including Germany and Spain, the firm said.

Initially it will be accessible to Omnia and I8910 HD users, with users of other models such as Omnia II and Omnia Lite getting access at a later date.

Applications, which can be downloaded with a single click, are set to include games, references, social networking, e-books and health-related tools, said Samsung.

The store will automatically display the applications available for the user’s specific mobile phone model. Omia customers will need to upgrade their phones to access the service, by downloading and installing a mobile client from the apps website.

I8910 HD customers, meanwhile, can upgrade their software by selecting the Application Download icon on their phones, said Samsung.

“With the launch of the Application Store, Samsung will increase mobile phone sales and add value for its mobile customers through the availability of carefully selected applications,” said Hosoo Lee, executive vice president of Samsung’s Media Solution Center.

“The Application Store will expand the service channel, not only on handheld devices but also on PCs through the launch of new PC software. The software will allow customers to download applications and manage them on a PC to maximise service usability.”

The firm will certainly be hoping its app store apes the success of Apple’s App Store, which reached the milestone of a billion downloads in just nine months.

Samsung said it is hoping to expand the number of applications available to users to 2000 by the end of the year.