LG’s LU2300 set to challenge Samsung’s M100S for Korean Android dominance?

Eternal archrivals-to-the-death Samsung and LG have a tendency to match one another tit for tat in virtually every consumer electronic category, but for whatever reason, LG’s been far less interested in going for broke with Android over the past year — though a preoccupation with Windows Phone 7 Series is a solid guess at this point. Things may be changing, though, now that we’ve got news out of Telecoms Korea that they’re prepping a more brutal assault than the weakling GW620 could ever provide in the form of a so-called LU2300 for the domestic market (we’re assuming the actual thing will be a little more… well, “designed” than the snow-white mockup above). The site is playing up LG’s announcement that the phone will bundle a bunch of popular apps in ROM (awesome?) but the real news is the impressive spec sheet, which is said to include a Nexus One-like 1GHz Snapdragon and WVGA AMOLED display paired with Android 2.1 and a 5 megapixel cam capable of 720p video. It certainly sounds like it’s ready to give Samsung’s M100S a run for its money, but we’ll need to wait until its second quarter release to know for sure.

LG’s LU2300 set to challenge Samsung’s M100S for Korean Android dominance? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink MobileTechWorld  |  sourceTelecoms Korea  | Email this | Comments

Robot teachers to invade Korean classrooms by 2012

We’d had some indication that robot teachers could be headed to classrooms sooner or later, but it looks like things may now be progressing faster than anyone thought. According to South Korea’s etnews, the country has announced plans to invest in a so-called “R-Learning” program that promises to put robotic teaching assistants in up to 400 pre-schools by 2012, and expand to a full 8,000 pre-schools and kindergartens the following year. Those apparently wouldn’t be in charge of the class (yet), but they would be used to do things like recite stories, and could let parents check in on the classroom and send messages to their children. If that trial program proves to be successful, the robots could then be expanded to elementary schools, and the Korea Institute of Science & Technology (the folks responsible for the bots) is apparently already eyeing international possibilities.

Robot teachers to invade Korean classrooms by 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung, Hynix, Applied Materials in corporate espionage shocker!

In the cut-throat world of high tech manufacturing, “going rogue” is an ever-present temptation — and no one, from AMD to LG, is immune from scandal. For the latest bit of corporate shenanigans, look no further than Applied Materials, who installs and maintains Samsung’s chip manufacturing equipment — prosecutors in South Korea have accused the company of stealing the latter’s semiconductor technology and leaking it to Hynix Semiconductor (who ranks third in the world in the manufacture of NAND flash, behind Samsung and Toshiba). According to the AP, eighteen people have been indicted in the case so far, including the vice president of Applied Materials Korea. We just hope they didn’t get the idea from us! That is definitely not the message we’re trying to impart with this site.

Samsung, Hynix, Applied Materials in corporate espionage shocker! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mobience smallQWERTY keyboard saves the lives of touchscreen detesters

Have any idea what a SureType keypad would look like if it were removed from a BlackBerry and (barely) enlarged? We’re guessing it’d look a little something like this. Designed by Mobience, the smallQWERTY keyboard is meant to give you a more tactile option when it comes to texting or inputting characters into your phone, MID, UMPC or pretty much any other handheld device. There’s no mention of a price, and we’re not told exactly how long it’ll take to master this thing, but we’re bubbling over just thinking of the fun we could have from hacking into the text input fields of nearby devices with this. Shh… you didn’t hear that from us.

Mobience smallQWERTY keyboard saves the lives of touchscreen detesters originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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KIST Mahru-Z waits on you very, very slowly

We’ve seen KIST‘s Marhu robot tooling around here before, but now they’re showing off the latest models, the Mahru-Z (with some help from Mahru-M), in some super useful scenarios. Mahru-Z and M have been successfully demonstrating their service abilities by carrying cups of tea, and retrieving toast from toasters and delivering it as well. The Z-version bot is a bit shorter than previous iterations, and also sports different, more dextrous arms. He stands about 4 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 122 pounds. Both bots are networked and use 3D object recognition in their task completion. Overall, the improvements to the Mahru bots are iterative, but it sure is great to hear that one day we’ll have someone to bring our breakfast to us in bed. Video is after the break.

Continue reading KIST Mahru-Z waits on you very, very slowly

KIST Mahru-Z waits on you very, very slowly originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iriver’s K1 Smart HD packs MKV video support into 3.5-inch player

The list of devices with native Matroska support is growing rapidly fueled by the preponderance of ripped HD videos living large on the torrents. iriver’s hoping to capitalize on this phenomenon by adding .MKV to the list of supported formats (including AVI, WMV, MP4, TP, MPG, ASF) inside its new 3.5-inch (480×320 pixel) K1 Smart HD personal media player offering 18 hours audio / 6 hours video playback. In addition to detailed specs we’ve also got the official pricing: ₩229,000 (about $204) for the basic 8GB model, ₩279,000 ($248) to add a DMB mobile television tuner, ₩299,000 ($266) to bump things up to 16GB, and ₩349,000 ($310) if you want the full package with WiFi, DMB, and 16GB of storage. Korea-only for now.

iriver’s K1 Smart HD packs MKV video support into 3.5-inch player originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jan 2010 04:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The MP3 Players  |  sourcePopco  | Email this | Comments

Motorola takes Android to Korea with MOTOROI

That Korean-language version of the XT701 we saw recently is starting to make more sense now that we know exactly what was up Moto’s sleeve: meet MOTOROI. The company’s very first Android-powered phone for South Korea takes most (but not all) of its cues from its China Unicom-branded doppelganger, featuring a 3.7-inch WVGA display, 8 megapixel camera with 720p video capture, HDMI-out, and — like most phones sold in and around Seoul — support for T-DMB television tuning. Like the Droid, it’s available with a home charging dock that’ll turn it into a handy alarm clock; unlike the Droid, though, the MOTOROI features multitouch browsing out of the box similar to the Milestone in Europe. The oddly-named phone (is “ROI” acceptable for short?) launches early next month on SK Telecom.

Motorola takes Android to Korea with MOTOROI originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 17 Jan 2010 23:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Korean Air subsidiary renting out PSP Go consoles for in-flight gaming

Korean Air subsidiary Jin Air has a new trick up its sleeve for entertaining passengers going to and fro South Korea. The airline is now offering a 16GB PSP Go to rent for in-flight gaming. No clue what games are on the device, but it’s probably the best 4,000 won (about $3.50) you can spend — assuming, that is, there’s more than a sudoku app.

Korean Air subsidiary renting out PSP Go consoles for in-flight gaming originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Jan 2010 07:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Joystiq  |  sourceSiliconera  | Email this | Comments

Motorola XT720 spreading Android, BLUR to South Korea?

Though its market share pales against the home teams, Motorola has maintained a continued presence in South Korea for some time — and seeing how the company is going all-in with Android globally, it makes sense that they’d be launching it here, too. Enter the alleged XT720, a localized version of the XT701 that’s seeing duty on China Unicom on the other side of the Yellow Sea. Rumor has it this will be coming to SK Telecom, but details are sketchy and conflicting: Mirae Asset Research says the phone will feature a 5 megapixel cam while the source of this picture here says it’s 8; they’re also quoting the screen as a 3.7-inch 480 x 640 unit, but clearly, it’s going to be WVGA if the pic is legit. The research firm believes we’ll see this launch next month which would likely make this the first high-end device out of Moto to feature BLUR; whether that’s a good thing or not, though, is strictly a matter of personal opinion.

Motorola XT720 spreading Android, BLUR to South Korea? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Unwired View, Telecoms Korea  |  sourcekangrk.tistory.com  | Email this | Comments

Fils Sound Film transparent speaker hands-on (video)

Korean gadgets these days are either gunning for next-to-nothing thinness or mind-boggling transparency, which is marvelous. Today we came across another Korean company (and an old friend), Fils, which does transparent “sound film” speakers in many forms: photo frame, umbrella, curtains, cap, hoodie and even model yacht (yeah, seriously), all thanks to the highly-flexible piezoelectric film. Sure, the sound quality was hardly top-notch, but apparently Fils is hooking up with a few big-name Korean electronic companies (TVs?), so we’re all going to suffer soon whether you like it or not. Cheer yourself up with the video after the break.

Continue reading Fils Sound Film transparent speaker hands-on (video)

Fils Sound Film transparent speaker hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 19:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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