Hasta La Gadget!

LG doesn’t lead the sales charts quite like Samsung, but it does have something to crow about today: it just racked up its millionth Optimus G Pro sale in South Korea. The supersized phone reached the milestone three months quicker than LG’s previous record-holder, the Optimus LTE, and sold at an average rate of 8,000 units per day. About the only thing dampening the company’s enthusiasm is the context — Samsung topped a million domestic Galaxy Note II sales three months after launch, or roughly one month faster than LG. We don’t have comparable international figures, either. Nonetheless, it’s clear that LG has had little trouble drawing interest on its home turf.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG

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Source: LG (translated)

Hang around these pages long enough and you’re bound to come across Pantech, the South Korean purveyor of everything from giant 1080p handsets down to… giant 720p handsets. Samsung has noticed this rising star too and, so says Yonhap News, has now made a $50 million investment in the smaller company in return for a 10 percent stake. Implicit in that is that the Korean government has allowed Samsung’s ever-expanding influence to infiltrate a potential rival, since Pantech is now the No. 3 phone maker in that country and only Qualcomm and a state-run bank possess larger stakes than Samsung’s. As a result, the acquisition could have an anti-competitive aura to it — but then, Pantech has actually been struggling of late, not least with large debts, and it has relied on big backers to bail it out.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Via: The Next Web

Source: Yonhap News

If you hadn’t heard, South Korea’s under a lot of pressure lately, including a spate of internet-based attacks against banks and broadcasters on March 20th that some worry (though can’t confirm) was the result of a large-scale hacking campaign. The country won’t simply stand idle and brace for another hit, according to the Yonhap News Agency. It understands from an unnamed senior official that South Korea’s Ministry of Defense is complementing its Cyber Command division with a policy group, not unlike a UK equivalent, that would coordinate online security across different military sections, including the refinement of a defensive cyberwarfare strategy and recruiting more people to bulk up the digital front lines. Provided the claim is accurate, the division would be up and running before the first half of the year is over — and likely not a moment too soon.

[Image credit: John Pavelka, Flickr]

Filed under: Networking, Internet

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Via: The Next Web

Source: Yonhap News Agency

We weren’t convinced LG’s Z160 convertible was skinny enough for Ultrabook status when we went hands-on at CES, but the Korean company has run with the title and launched the Tab-Book Ultra in its homeland. The 11.6-inch slider runs full-fat Windows 8 on an Intel Core i5 CPU in the top-end configuration (GH5WK), and much to the joy of data-hungry users, packs an LTE radio in addition to standard WiFi. Those who want a more traditional laptop experience but also need 4G for the road can now purchase an LTE refresh of the IdeaPad U460, which has been launched in tandem. LG will be showing off the LTE-equipped Tab-Book Ultra at MWC later this month, although its ‘new series’ of smartphones is sure to steal all the attention. We’re still in the dark about when the Z160 will be available elsewhere, but Korean e-tailers are listing it at circa 1,400,000 won (around $1,300), so we can probably expect a similar price when it starts touring.

Filed under: Laptops, LG

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Source: LG (1), (2)

If you were worried that you might have to wait until Mobile World Congress to learn whether or not a 5.5-inch version of the Optimus G Pro was real, your mind can rest at ease. While hoping to drum up buzz for a launch beyond Japan, the company has ever-so-casually mentioned that at least the South Korean edition of the G Pro has a 5.5-inch, full HD screen — half an inch larger than the Japanese model, and just as large as the panel on the Galaxy Note II. Want to know more? That’s part of the promo. Borrowing a page from Sony, LG promises to reveal more of the phone the more Facebook Likes it receives. While previous tips suggest that the 5.5-inch edition will mostly be a larger take on an already supersized device, it’s still very tempting to click that Like button — just don’t expect one of the mentioned prizes if you live beyond LG’s native borders.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG

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Source: LG Social (translated), LG Electronics (Facebook)