Samsung Mobiles celebrates Ramadan with region-specific Islamic applications

Samsung mobile owners can now celebrate the Holy Month of Ramadan with Samsung Noor, a fully-fledged section of the Samsung Apps Store aimed at providing a great variety of Islamic applications to help users make the best out of Ramadan.

The free-to-download Samsung Noor applications gives users of Samsung mobiles, such as the Galaxy S and Wave, access to many custom-developed regional applications, including a Hijri calendar and Prayer times in over 400 different cities.

“While we live in a very multicultural country, Samsung takes pride in providing its growing customer base with a variety of applications catered to their wants and needs,” said Sandeep Saihgal, general manager of mobile phones at Samsung Gulf Electronics. “Ramadan is a very special month for people of all faiths and our Samsung Noor applications will help enlighten and enrich people during this holy month.”

In addition to the “Hijri Calendar” and “Prayer Times”, Samsung Noor includes the only “Mobile Quran” that is Al-Azhar certified, comprehensive explanations for the origins and benefits of Prayers, Tasbeehs and Sunnas using the “Al-Doaa”, “Al-Sebha” and “Al-Sunna” applications.

Users with online access through Wi-Fi or 3G can also use the Galaxy S and Wave’s built-in RSS Reader with the “Al-Bayan” application, a regional and Islamic RSS feed that keeps users updated with the latest Islamic and regional news.

“In addition to the Islamic application, Samsung also developed a Ramadan-specific application, called ‘Ramadaniat’, which provides full descriptions of Ramadan activities like Seyam and Taraweeh, amongst many others,” explained Saihgal.

Additional applications that are part of the Samsung Noor package include “Hajj and Umra”, which provides a daily Hajj guide and explanations of rituals and deeds, “Tazkerah”, a notification service of when to recite Zikr and the benefits of each Zikr, “Zakaty”, the interactive Zakah calculator accompanied by explanations and asnad, and “99 Names”, a beautiful graphic representation of the 99 Divine names with explanations of their meaning.

“Samsung has developed these applications with the aim of catering to the spiritual needs of our growing customer base well beyond the holy month of Ramadan, helping them sustain a healthy spiritual life that they can pay forward to family, friends and colleagues,” continued Saihgal.

The Androidâ„¢ -powered Galaxy S incorporates a 4-inchSuper AMOLED screen and a 1 GHz application processor that enables vibrant HD videos and rich augmented reality content through a variety of best-in-class services and technologies.

Samsung Wave is based on Samsung’s new, open smartphone platform, bada, and is the cornerstone of the company’s commitment to ‘smartphone democratization.’ The bada platform enables applications to fully utilize the powerful Wave hardware by providing various APIs for interactivity including UI elements, 3D Graphics, Flash, multipoint-touch, sensors and motion support.

Users of the full range of Samsung smartphones – including the Galaxy S, Wave, Galaxy 550, Champ and more – can download Samsung Noor applications directly onto their handsets through the built-in Samsung Apps Store. Users of the bada-powered Wave also have the option of transferring apps from their computer onto their handset. More information on Samsung Noor and Islamic applications can be found at http://www.samsungapps.com/ .