Jul 13

South Korea enlists armed sentry robots to patrol DMZ

Posted in: korea, military, South Korea, SouthKorea, Today's Chili
South Korea has been working on deploying armed sentry robots along the border with North Korea since at least as far back as 2006, and it looks like it’s still keeping at it. While complete details are a bit light, they country apparently put a pair of new sentry robots in place in the Demilitarized Zone last month, which pack both a machine gun and a grenade launcher to ward off intruders. Those would of course be controlled by humans, but the robots apparently use heat and motion sensors to do all the monitoring on their own, and simply alert a command center if they spots a trespasser. Of course, they are still just in the testing phase, and the military says it’s waiting to see how things work out before it begins a more widespread deployment.

South Korea enlists armed sentry robots to patrol DMZ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink AFP  |  sourceYonhap News  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 09

Cowon’s V5W PMP: a V5 with 100 percent more WiFi

Posted in: korea, PMP, South Korea, SouthKorea, Today's Chili, wifi

What do you get when you marry a V5 with WiFi? Why, a V5W, of course! Cowon’s sexy V5 portable media player — a device we (mostly) loved on back in March — has just gained the primary feature that we argued should’ve been included from the start. It looks as if all of the other specifications have remained the same, meaning that you’re still looking at a 4.8-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen, Windows CE 6.0 underneath, 16/32/64GB of internal storage, USB 2.0 connectivity, HDMI / composite video output, a solid list of supported file formats and the best audio quality this side of the Mississippi Indian Ocean. Pricing remains a mystery for now, but we suspect it’ll list for around the same as the original (which still needs a price drop, frankly).

Cowon’s V5W PMP: a V5 with 100 percent more WiFi originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 08:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PMP Today  |  sourceCowon  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 08

iSuppli: OLED panel shortage a concern for Android smartphone makers

Posted in: Android, HTC, korea, LCD, LG, samsung, South Korea, SouthKorea, Today's Chili

Everyone wants an OLED display on their cellphone, right? Ok, maybe not everybody, especially when compared to regular AMOLED, but we certainly want, no demand, a 4-plus inch Super AMOLED on our next Android smartphone. Problem is, there just aren’t enough to go around according to iSuppli. An issue compounded by the fact that Samsung, the world’s largest AMOLED panel manufacturer, gets first crack at its displays in support of its massive growth plans for 2010, leaving companies like HTC to look elsewhere as we’ve already heard. That leaves LG, the only other source for small AMOLED panels, to shoulder the burden until the two can ramp up production, or until more players can enter the market. Samsung hopes to significantly boost production in 2012 when it brings a new $2.2 billion AMOLED facility on-line. Meanwhile, Taiwan-based AU Optronics and TPO Display Corp. plan to introduce AMOLED products by the end of 2010 or early 2011. Until then there’s always the venerable LCD which will continue to dwarf AMOLED shipments for many years to come. See the numbers after the break.

Continue reading iSuppli: OLED panel shortage a concern for Android smartphone makers

iSuppli: OLED panel shortage a concern for Android smartphone makers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Jul 2010 05:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 07

FURO robot waitstaff lull Koreans into a sense of complacency

Posted in: korea, robot, RobotApocalypse, Today's Chili, video
Service robots are nothing new (and neither are dancing robots, for that matter) but unlike our old friend CAFERO, FURO has something of a human face. Of course, this is supposed to soothe and reassure us, but like the old robo-teddy we’re pretty much convinced that this is yet another harbinger of doom. Developed by Future Robot of Korea (not to be confused with Furo, the Japanese robotics manufacturer) this guy can take credit cards and features a touchscreen display and that ominous, disembodied cartoon head. And it will do a two-step for you if you’re nice! Video after the break.

Continue reading FURO robot waitstaff lull Koreans into a sense of complacency

FURO robot waitstaff lull Koreans into a sense of complacency originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Jul 2010 11:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Plastic Pals  |  sourceFuture Robot  | Email this | Comments

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Jun 17

KT brings the Nexus One to South Korea, complete with Froyo

Posted in: Android, froyo, Google, korea, nexus one, NexusOne, South Korea, SouthKorea, Today's Chili
The Nexus One may have taken a little while to reach South Korea, but it looks like KT is doing its best to make up for lost time — the carrier has just announced that it will not only be offering the Nexus One, but that it will come complete with Android 2.2 (a.k.a. Froyo). True to Nexus One form, you’ll be able to snag the phone off-contract for 699,600 won (or about $576), but you’ll also be able to get it for just 150,000 won (or $125) on a two-year contract. Not many surprises beyond that, but it looks like supplies will be limited to just 4,000 units for the June 21st launch — although KT promises it will be readily available at stores across the country in July.

[Thanks, Tom]

KT brings the Nexus One to South Korea, complete with Froyo originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceKorea Times, Newswire  | Email this | Comments

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Jun 03

iRiver busts out low end T8 Candy Bar and S100 PMPs in Korea

Posted in: korea, mp3 player, Mp3Player, PMP, Today's Chili

iRiver’s just announced two new lines of cheap PMPs for your fanciful, color-loving ears. First up, the T8 Candy Bar boasts a classic USB stick design, and is available in eight outrageous colors. They pack 4GB of storage and a battery life of up to 17 hours — but not much else. Up next the slightly more interesting S100, which comes in both 4GB and 8GB varieties, with a 2.83-inch, 240 x 320 resolution color display, FM Radio, microSD slot, and 720p video playback. Both the T8 Candy Bar and the S100 are available in Korea only so far, and the T8 runs 69,000 Won (around $58) while the S100 starts at 129,000 Won (around $106) with several different configurations. Shot of the S100 is after the break.

Continue reading iRiver busts out low end T8 Candy Bar and S100 PMPs in Korea

iRiver busts out low end T8 Candy Bar and S100 PMPs in Korea originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Jun 2010 04:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceThe MP3 Players, iRiver  | Email this | Comments

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May 24

Viliv’s AMOLED Prime P3 media player sports both Android and Windows CE

Posted in: Android, handheld, korea, media player, MediaPlayer, Today's Chili
We’ve never been comfortable with the fact that Viliv’s many fun and fashionable PMPs have yet to gain a real foothold in the states. Maybe this will change with the Prime P3 media player. As near as we can tell (our Korean is a little rusty) this bad boy sports a 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen, has both Android 2.1 and Windows CE 6.0 partitions, and supports 720p video. But that ain’t all! Connectivity is via microUSB, and additional storage comes courtesy of microSDHC. Rounding things off are an 800 MHz ARM Cortex CPU, accelerometer, and WiFi — all in a pretty classy little package. Available in flavors up to 32GB, we have no idea when this will see release, or for what price. We’ll let you know as soon as we get a heads up. For reals.

Continue reading Viliv’s AMOLED Prime P3 media player sports both Android and Windows CE

Viliv’s AMOLED Prime P3 media player sports both Android and Windows CE originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 May 2010 00:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink I4U News  |  sourceViliv  | Email this | Comments

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May 10

Barbie’s Samsung X170 thin-and-light is her only part made to scale

Posted in: korea, samsung, South Korea, SouthKorea, thin and light, ThinAndLight, Today's Chili

As long as we’re corrupting our daughters with an improbable baseline for bodily perfection, we might as well extend that reach to portable computing, right? Meet the Samsung X-series Barbie Special Edition with Intel Core 2 Duo CULV proc, 4GB of memory, 500GB disk, and scads of Barbie-branded trinkets and bloatware. The ultimate irony here is that the X170 is one of the least attractive and chubbiest thin-and-light devices we’ve ever seen. But hey, if you’re lucky maybe it’ll ship with a free copy of Cosmo to complete the cycle.

Barbie’s Samsung X170 thin-and-light is her only part made to scale originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 May 2010 03:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAkihabara News  | Email this | Comments

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Apr 28

Mahru robot dances via telepresence, Kate Gosselin never had it so good (video)

Posted in: korea, robot, Today's Chili, video

We are such suckers for a cute robot. Take Mahru, for instance — every time it does a jig or grabs a slice of toast we are charmed just a little bit more. And while the thing is impressive, it might be the manner with which they program the device that might be the most interesting part. Apparently, the gang at KIST have a system in place whereby an operator can wear a motion capture suit and send movements to the robot in real-time (well, mostly real-time — there is still quite a bit of lag below the waist, so to speak). The video below shows said operator waving his arms and moving his torso, only to have the robot mirror his every move. Wild, huh? And if that ain’t enough, the thing has learned a dance or two since we last laid eyes on it. Talk about giving Asimo a run for his money! Peep for yourself after the break.

Continue reading Mahru robot dances via telepresence, Kate Gosselin never had it so good (video)

Mahru robot dances via telepresence, Kate Gosselin never had it so good (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Apr 2010 11:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceIEEE Spectrum  | Email this | Comments

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Apr 19

Sarotech T2 offers NAS relief to media fanatics in a diminutive, HD-friendly package

Posted in: korea, media player, MediaPlayer, Today's Chili
Sarotech’s newest might not be the wildest media player in town, but if you’re looking to get down to business in a svelte (4.5 x 3.75 x 0.85-inch) package, the T2 should be more than up to the task. This bad boy sports a Sigma SMPS8653 CPU (500MHz), support for Full HD MKV, H.264 videos, DTS and Dolby sound, and 1080p HDMI 1.3 output. If that weren’t enough, this will also apparently function as a NAS functions (including FTP and Samba), 802.11n WiFi, and it has a USB port for external storage. Available now in South Korea for 160,000 won (about $143).

Sarotech T2 offers NAS relief to media fanatics in a diminutive, HD-friendly package originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Akihabara  |  sourceAVing  | Email this | Comments

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