SouthKorean
Latest
LG G-Slate spotted in Korean music video, 3D cameras and all?
Oh LG, did you really think you could slip an entire tablet past the eagle-eyed gadget obsessives of Korea? The G-Slate has been one of the more mysterious devices launched at CES this year, but it now appears to have shaken off some of its shyness and made a cameo appearance on K-Pop star Seungri's latest music vid. Our Korean correspondents inform us that Seungri's band Big Bang has had a relationship with LG since the introduction of the cheap and cheerful Lollipop handset (video evidence after the break), so it's not unreasonable to believe this young chap has an inside line on LG's upcoming hardware. His video shows an LG-branded slate at 0.53 and 1.52, and although we get only brief glimpses, one of them suggests a dual-camera array on the back, which seemingly corroborates earlier rumors of the G-Slate bringing some 3D voodoo to the market. Skip the break and see for yourself. [Thanks, Alan Yi]
Exploding phone battery not blamed for Korean's death
This certainly won't be the first time that an exploding cellphone battery has been pegged with blame before all the facts shook out, but now it seems that the South Korean worker who perished yesterday was in fact not killed by his mobile. Reportedly, the National Institute of Scientific Investigation "said the injuries were too substantial to have been caused by a battery explosion," and an unnamed medical examiner was quoted as saying that it was "difficult to conclude that the damage of internal organs was caused by [the explosion]." Details are still likely to unfold in the coming weeks, as it will be about a fortnight before autopsy results are analyzed and a final conclusion is drawn. Seems that "virtually impossible" notion from LG may be accurate after all, eh?[Image courtesy of Yonhap News]
South Korean civic group set to rid country of mobile phone addiction?
In an effort to battle the evils of mobile culture and it addictive effects, the civic group School Beautiful Movement together with SKT Telecom and Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity (KADO), has launched a program to help kids better manage their cell use. Twelve kids were chosen from elementary, middle, and high schools to participate in the program and will spend time talking about the cell use, feelings when their cell isn't available, and proper use over the next two months. The program will also feature special cell phone lockers for the kids to hide their handsets away in during class time if the urge is just too great. In a KADO survey from 2005 it was revealed that 90% of South Koreans between 14 and 19 had mobiles and 38% of those sent more than 1,000 text messages a month, and 43% reported using them during -- gasp -- lectures. While we think this is all a very good idea -- and know that we could totally quit anytime we wanted to, we just don't want to -- we have to wonder why SKT is onboard here, perhaps new mobile for all the participants SKT?
Samsung 'restructuring' handset division, hints at Armani partnership
In the wake of increased competition from Motorola and Nokia in particular, Samsung is reportedly "restructuring its handset division," which will aim to find "new sources of revenue, realigning businesses, and cut costs." As expected, the move will also involve a number of "personnel reshuffles," but a Samsung spokesman was quoted as saying that there won't be any "forceful" job cuts. Interestingly, we're hearing further details that the firm is indeed courting the idea of partnering with "luxury name brands such as Italian fashion house Armani to develop premium brand phones," and considering just how hot avant-garde mobiles have been of late, we certainly don't think that's a bad idea.[Via JustAMP]
VK goes belly-up
Officially, it was the discrepancy between the value of the dollar and that of the won, combined with aggressive marketing strategies of companies like Nokia and Motorola that have driven Korean battery-turned-handset maker VK into receivership, a form of bankruptcy. Personally, we believe it had something more to do with the boatload of unimpressive and stylistically unoriginal handsets (Kickflip notwithstanding) they've released since they entered the mobile phone game in 2002. Either way, they'll surely be missed; if not by us, then by SK Telecom and other investors who parted with billions of their won earlier this year in a failed attempt to keep VK afloat. Our only regret is that we won't get to pocket the 4-megapixel VK 2200, but since we don't live in South Korea, there's a good chance we never would anyway. Oh well, at least we'll always have CeBit.
