Tag: Korea
Korea/Japan Week: Feed your dog or cat via mobile phone
I had a nose around Korean mobile operator SK Telecom’s demo centre today, where it was showing off its latest mobile services. Most were serious, but there was the odd bit of quirky tech too, such as this Pet Care service.
Basically, it’s an automatic food dispenser, which pops out biscuits for your cat or dog to munch on, while you’re on holiday or away from the house. But here’s the fun part: you control it by mobile phone.
Korea/Japan Week: Mobile users "hate" video telephony
Video-calling hasn’t taken off in the West yet, which I’d put mostly down to the fact that once you openly start using it, your boss and/or partner will assume they can videocall you at any time and see exactly what you’re doing, where you’re doing it, and who you’re doing it with.
It’s a slippery slope for anyone pulling a sickie, having an affair, or just going about their business in a private way. And y’know what? South Korea may be one of the most advanced mobile markets in the world, but people there don’t want it either. This is despite the fact that operators and handset manufacturers are keen to tout it as a hot new service.
Korea/Japan Week: 10 cool things from Samsung's Anycall Studio store
So, I’m here in Seoul being shown a taster of South Korea’s most cutting-edge mobile technology. This morning, that included a wander around Samsung’s Anycall Studio store, which acts as a showcase for the company’s handsets.
Besides the neat touchscreen phone-recommender, there was plenty of other fun stuff to see. I’ve picked out ten highlights from the store, so read on below. Starting with…
1. Picture-in-Picture dual-DMB TV Phone (above). The SCH-B710, to give the handset its full name, is the first Korean phone to come with a pair of digital TV tuners in – one S-DMB (satellite) and one T-DMB (terrestrial). What’s more, you can watch both simultaneously using its picture-in-picture mode, allowing you to watch a film and a football match at the same time.
Korea/Japan Week: Kim Jong-Il boasts he's an 'internet expert'
Well, well, well, it looks like Kim Jong-Il fancies himself as a bit of an ‘internet expert’. Funny that, considering most of North Korea doesn’t have electricity in the evenings.
Jong-Il recently met with the South Korean President, Roh Moo-Hyun (only the second time North and South Korean leaders have ever met), and one of their topics of conversation happened to be the internet. When Moo-Hyun broached the subject of allowing South Korean companies located within the North Korean…
