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Ford partners with SK Innovation for EV battery production
As expected, Ford confirmed today that it will partner with Korea’s SK Innovation to produce 60 gigawatt-hours annually in tractional battery cells and arrays” for use in electric vehicle batteries starting “mid-decade”.
Last-minute battery deal keeps Ford, VW electric car plans on track
A last-minute settlement between two battery giants, LG and SK, may have saved EV production plans for Ford and VW.
South Koreans can now store their driving license on their smartphones
South Koreans can use their smartphone as official ID.
SK Telecom utilizing Multi Carrier technology to improve LTE service, roaming
South Korean wireless carrier SK Telecom has officially begun the commercial rollout of its Multi Carrier (MC) network. The technology, which will be available in twenty-three cities by the close of 2012, will allow equipped devices to seamlessly wander between the 800MHz and 1.8GHz LTE frequencies (while also adding 20MHz of uplink/downlink spectrum). Aside from improving throughput and coverage within the country, SK hopes the addition of the 1.8GHz frequency to its handsets' repertoire will provide customers with a better LTE roaming experience when abroad -- a handful of Asian and European nations have settled on 1.8GHz as their Long Term Evolution band of choice. New devices, with compatible radios, will be necessary to leverage the Multi Carrier goodness, although the carrier did note that Samsung's ever-popular Galaxy S III would support the hotness. We would like to raise our glass to SK Telecom and offer a toast to the bright future of multi-band high-speed wireless networks. Cheers!
SK Telecom and LG U+ launch LTE in Seoul, fellow South Koreans seethe with envy
Frustrated by a lack of choice amongst LTE carriers? We sympathize, so join us while we ponder a relocation to Seoul where not one, but two major telcos -- SK Telecom and LG U+ -- have enabled access to the high speed protocol. Service began on July 1st for data devices (read: modems) while phones from Samsung and LG are scheduled to make an appearance this fall. While those in Seoul are already surfing at higher speeds, the LTE wave is slated to go nationwide by 2012 for U+ subscribers and in 2013 for those on SK. Still not enough 3GPP goodness for you? Add the nation's third major carrier KT and their Q3 LTE trials to the mix, and we'll know where to send you next time you're hankering for delectable download speeds with a side of spicy kimchi.
Too Human previews start rolling in
It looks like the promised early preview copies of Too Human have started to arrive, as we're now being flooded with new video from the game as well as previews from both Wired and MTV's Multiplayer. Joystiq has gone to the trouble of summing up both previews. We recommend reading both previews if you have the time. Having read the previews, the reaction definitely seems to be a mixed one. Both previews note that the game is very short, clocking in at around 10 hours, and that the cliffhanger ending doesn't live up to the rest of the game, with Wired's Chris Kohler noting noting that there was "not nearly enough payoff for all the story exposition." What story is present is apparently well told though, and, more importantly, the gameplay is reportedly very solid, as MTV's Steven Totilo notes the game "has the potential to win fans of pure play."That said, Kohler notes that the game can be played again using the same character and that the game will be repopulated with more challenging enemies and remixed levels. From the sound of both previews, Too Human will find a home with fans of dungeon crawlers who intend to play through multiple times and get the best loot, but may suffer with those who only intend to play through once in order to enjoy the story. Frankly, we'd settle for a good dungeon crawl on the 360. We'll have to wait and see if the game delivers when the reviews start showing up in August.In the meantime, enjoy some more Too Human footage after the break.
Too Human dev diary: new details, more goblin man
The latest Too Human developer diary has been released (according to DCEMU, it should be on Xbox Live sometime today). This episode focuses on the game's two player co-op mode. Of particular note are the loot sharing options and skill manipulation. Co-op play offers three different options for divvying up the loot found during play. Loot can be distributed randomly, free-for-all and round robin. The first two are self-explanatory (with free-for-all being the best options for the ultra competitive), but round robin is a little different. Round robin alternately gives each item to a different player. In other words, player one gets the first item, player two gets the next item, player one gets the next, etc.The second revelation in the video is that players will be able to reorganize their entire skill tree at any time. It costs a certain amount of in-game currency, but it also means that you won't have to create a new character if you're unhappy with the skills you've chosen. Not only that, but it will allow players to customize their character based on a given situation (like choosing new skills that compliment your co-op partner, for examply).Finally, the video continues The Goblin Man of Norway, the fake documentary that began in the previous developer diary. We are again reminded of Halo 3's Believe ad campaign, which is by no means a bad thing. Check out the (very long) video after the break.
SK release Kil'jaeden video
As promised, SK Gaming have just released their video of their world-first kill of Kil'jaeden. They call this fight "all about absolute perfection in terms of execution," and "definitely the hardest boss ever made and an impressive final boss." Of course, this video contains full spoilers for the KJ fight. I'm just going to assume SK's site will go down, so I'm embedding it from Filefront above, and linking to WarcraftMovies if you want to download it. It's shot from five points of view, though SK promises that it is not "messy" -- hemo rogue, resto shaman, enhancement shaman, and two different destro warlocks. And since people are always curious, the music used in the video is, according to SK: Airbase - Ocean Realm Alex M.O.R.P.H. - Walk the Edge (B2B Woody Van Eyden Mix) To download in glorious 1680x1050 WMV, head on over to WarcraftMovies (edit: apparently a WCM premium account is required to download the full-res version). An H.264 version is due in a few days.Edit 2: Here's a high-quality version at Filefront; thanks, bdew.
SK-Gaming downs Kil'jaeden for world first
They've done it again. The first guild to kill M'uru, SK Gaming (of Vek'nilash EU), is now the first guild in the world to kill Kil'jaeden himself, the last boss of the Sunwell Plateau and of The Burning Crusade. The gate to the encounter has been open for three days in Europe. As Nihilum notes, SK's kill does end Nihilum's tradition of taking down every end boss in WoW since C'Thun. This is almost certainly the last world first we'll see until Wrath of the Lich King. The US first on Kil'jaeden is, of course, still up in the air. Their loot was: Hammer of Sanctification Thalassian Ranger Gauntlets Cover of Ursol the Wise Cover of Ursoc the Mighty Hand of the Deceiver 3 Badges of Justice 4 Sunmotes The winning raid has one feral druid, three hunters, one mage, two paladins, four priests, three rogues, five shamans, four warlocks, and two warriors (Thanks to Nihilum for this info, and thanks to Eiel for corrections). SK promise that a video is in the works; as always, we'll keep you posted. Grats to SK!
Westinghouse's 13 new SK, TX, and VK series HDTVs
We've seen firms let loose entire clans of HDTVs before, and apparently Westinghouse is aiming to be the next to direct you straight to overload. Without further ado, let's get to the VK Series. The 40-inch VK-40F530S sports a 1080p resolution, a pair of HDMI inputs and a 6.5-millisecond response time, while the 42-inch VK-42F130S / VK-42F240S shares the same resolution and response time while adding an NTSC / ATSC / Clear-QAM tuner. Rounding things up is the 47-inch VK-47F130S, which looks to sport the exactly same specs as the 42-inch siblings. For the rest of the gang, head on past the jump.
Sharp's Sidekick "Shuriken" hooks up with FCC
We're still not sure whether this is the legit Sidekick 4 -- you know, the true successor to the Sidekick 3, as opposed to some tangential compromise like the Sidekick iD -- but we're definitely encouraged by Sharp's internal designation for this sucker. It's been assigned the model number "PV250" to be exact, which would put it above the Sidekick 3's PV200 (and well above the iD's PV150), suggesting that the Shuriken is likely the next-gen Sidekick we should all be getting excited about, not the Slide from Motorola. Then again, it seems like there isn't much new here; it should get a healthy 3-inch widescreen display, which is nice and all, but 3G data is still nowhere to be found. Guess you need a functioning 3G network to offer 3G devices, eh, T-Mobile?
Westinghouse announces 2007 LCD HDTV lineup
Westinghouse is rolling out new HDTVs in all sizes and resolutions at CES, starting with its new line of 1080p LCDs, the TX series. The latest 1080p panels from the company, all with native 1080p input via all connectors and advanced calibration settings. The 42- and 47-inch will ship in May with MSRP of $1,999 and $2,499 respectively, while the 52-inch follows in May, price TBA. Next is the SK series, with 720p LCDs available in 32- and 42-inch models shipping in May for $899 and $1,599, in addition to a 26- and 32-inch pair with DVD players integrated into them. The DVD playing models will be available in April at $799 for the 26-inch and $999 for the 32. The company is also debuting three smaller HDTVs, with two 26-inch models designed to replace customer's existing CRTs that retail for $699 and a 19-inch for $449. Westinghouse is facing steep competition on price from competitors like Vizio now, we just hope they don't pull a Sony and start complaining about prices. The 56-inch quad HDTV will also be at the booth, we plan on counting each of the pixels to make sure its 8 megapixel-plus resoltion is authentic. Read - Westinghouse TX Read - Westinghouse SK Read - Westinghouse SK w/ DVD Read - Westinghouse SK 26-inch Read - Westinghouse SK 19-inch
SK Telecom releases USB HSDPA modem
The honeymoon's not quite over for us when it comes to HSDPA modems in interesting form factors; SK Telecom's IM-H100 USB modem from Pantech isn't the first USB modem to support HSDPA, and it certainly won't be the last, but the swiveling connector is worth a mention. Other than that, you get lightning-fast downstream speeds packaged inside a rather curious metallic red cylinder, and that's about it. But hey, no complaints here -- when it comes to equipping your lappie with 3G data, simplicity is the name of the game.[Via I4U News]
South Korea wants 100% robot market penetration by 2020
You've got 14 years, South Korea, to make good on your promise: 100% market penetration for robots in the home some time between 2015 and 2020. We'll be generous and give you the later date to work with, but don't you and your Ministry of Information and Communication go spouting off about how you've got goals to put a robot in every home by 2020 unless you're dead serious, you hear us? Because we here at Engadget take our robots seriously -- from Roombas to Ri-Man -- so don't go all getting our hopes up for some postmodern South Korean android utopia of intelligent networked household service bots unless you're prepared to deliver, ok?[Thanks, Palm Addict]
