Category Archives: Technology

Mobile Internet on Smartphones Challenging Real-name ID Law | Telecoms Korea

Mobile Internet on Smartphones Challenging Real-name ID Law

Submitted by TKorea on 2010/03/12 – 10:44 pmNo Comment

The decision, which overturns the regulator’s ruling a year ago, is touching off a debate about the effectiveness of Internet regulations that have changed little over recent years, while the Web market and the industry are changing rapidly with the emergence of new Web devices such as smartphones, a mobile handset with computer-like functions.

“IT companies have long been concerned about the real-name requirement for Web portals,” said Kim Joong-tae, a consultant to IT companies and head of Seoul-based IT House, a private group collecting data and analysis on the local IT industry. “It makes it practically impossible for Korean companies to make services that attract users around the world.”

via telecomskorea.com

This is a good post, though it jumps around a little too much. The take-away is that the real name verification law limits the reach and grow of local Internet players.

What they don’t address is the benefits that real name verification has for data collection with the big local players. Real name verification makes it easy for these companies to collect data on their users across sites. If there companies were really against real name identification, it would have been overturned a long time ago.

Wireless Data Usage Surges over 100-fold After iPhone’s Launch – not surprising. tethering might factor into this.

Wireless Data Usage Surges over 100-fold After iPhone’s Launch

Submitted by TKorea on 2010/03/08 – 9:43 pm

Monthly usage of wireless data among smartphone users in South Korea surged over 100-fold during the first two months following the iPhone’s launch here, a report from KT showed Monday.

via telecomskorea.com

Certainly not a surprise, but KT had to have been taken aback. Nobody predicted the sales of iPhone that has been seen here in Korea. This corresponded to increased data plans for iPhones as well as other smartphones.

I hope that they are able to alter their business model from features to data to a certain extent. It think that this will benefit users, though not the telecoms.

Web Design for the Korean Market 101

Web Design for the Korean Market 101

Here’s a quick rap sheet for WEB DESIGN FOR THE KOREAN MARKET
(aesthetically speaking):

Benchmarks:  (note: Korean sites are usually best viewed in IE.  Many Korean sites will not display properly in FF, Safari or other browsers).

Portal/Search: use www.NAVER.com as you benchmark. Not Daum.

Social Network: www.cyworld.com
(you must look at the pop-up “mini-hompies”– that’s the meat of it.)

Community/Forums: www.dcinside.com

Blog: www.tistory.com

Flash: www.kidzania.co.kr

Commercial: www.flowerfund.co.kr

Ecommerce: www.Gmarket.com

Korea Portal Naver

if you need other examples, you have to give me a specific area.

Anyway.. here’s the bullet point rundown:

Pastel colors, media rich, loud, flashy, lots of flash ok (esp. for menus and stuff like that)

via kmixx.com

Richard, you’re becoming a must-read for me. Great post.

The rest of you, read the whole thing. You’ll hate everything he says, but he’s 100% right on. I haven’t been an IE user for years, but I keep it handy each and every time I visit a Korean site. I load up all the active X I can get my hands on, update Flash, and put on my sunglasses to ward off the glare from flashing graphics.

Choice vs Package (business in Korea) http://www.kmixx.com/2009/12/choice-vs-package/

I like this one. Yet another I missed a while ago. It’s pretty obvious (after being pointed out) to someone who has lived in Korea for a long time, but it’s also critical for anyone to know who wants to enter the market.

Korean Tech Is Losing Its Cool – BusinessWeek

Korean Tech Is Losing Its Cool

How Korea, a onetime digital trendsetter, became a laggard in an era of smartphones—and amazing apps

By
Moon Ihlwan

The iPhone’s popularity is a sign that Korea may be losing its edge in the international market, despite its reputation as the epicenter of digital cool. The country still rules in hardware, but it is stumbling in software.

“The Policy Backfired”

Seoul in 2005 required handset makers and content providers offering products or services in the country to use a Korean technology for Internet access instead of the programs used in most other countries. The rule was rescinded last year, but it clearly slowed the foreigners: The iPhone hit Korea more than two years after its U.S. debut. The downside is that Korean software writers were left with programs that worked only in their home market. As a result, they received scant exposure to the rigors of the global marketplace. “The policy backfired for Korea by stopping competition for innovation,” says Chung Tai Myoung, an engineering professor at Sungkyunkwan University.

Yet when it comes to smartphones—perhaps the most important new sector in the technology business—young Koreans don’t expect much from homegrown alternatives to Apple or BlackBerry. “I don’t think I’ll want a Korean phone in the next few years,” says Yoon Ju Hwan, a 30-year-old fund manager who bought an iPhone in December. “We simply don’t have the capabilities to create the kinds of things Apple does.”

The above is just a couple good paragraphs from the article. I recommend you check the whole thing out. It’s a good, well-rounded piece.

My only pause is that I think the author cherry-picked responses from techies. I don’t think that this is the opinion of the average Korean. I’d say the average Korean still doesn’t give a hoot about smartphones.

What iPhone apps do you use? (Korea) – I’d love to know what others are using. I’ll provide a list of ones that I use (not just download)

What apps do you use?
March 02, 2010

In just three months after the Apple iPhone went on sale here in December, some 300,000 units have been sold. Part and parcel with the device’s dominance in hardware is its strength in mobile applications, reflected in the iPhone App Store.

Since knowing users’ app preferences makes the difference between a major hit and just another junk download, Digieco, a management research institute affiliated with KT, the Korean mobile carrier that supports the iPhone here, recently looked into which ones users download most. They found, perhaps unsurprisingly, that apps for public transit routes and maps were very popular, along with social networking and scheduling software.

The average Korean iPhone user has 86 apps on his or her handset and spends 5,800 won ($5) on apps purchases every month, according to Digieco.

via joongangdaily.joins.com

I’m interested to see what other people are using in the way of iPhone apps. Here are some that I actively use (at least once a week).

1. Google Apps

2. TweetDeck

3. Facebook

4. Foursquare

5. Daum maps

6. Jihachul

7. Lingopal (Korean phrases)

8. SugarSync

9. Diigo

10. Ustream (broadcaster/viewer)

11. Kindle

12. Asphalt 5 (free) – driving game (3 yr-old son loves it and so do I)

13. Shrek Kart (free) – driving game (3 yr-old son loves it)

14. Jungle Crash

15. Waterslide

16. Pandemica (not great, but cool idea)

17. Feed Me! (game for pre-schoolers)

18. Skype (almost forgot that)

Of course, this doesn’t count all the apps that came pre-installed, which I use every day, including: iPod, Safari, Contacts, Calendar (Google sync), Camera, Mail (Gmail), Clock (as alarm).

What about you? Anything you’d recommend?

Mobile Operators Prodded to Create Unified App Store

Mobile Operators Prodded to Create Unified App Store

By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

There is no love lost among Korea’s three mobile telephony carriers ― SK Telecom, KT and LG Telecom ― as they continue to claw and punch their way into messy market battles.

So when these bitterest of enemies say they will play together to create a massive, open marketplace for mobile applications, one they claim will be seamless and resourceful for consumers like Apple’s App Store, it’s hard to suppress skepticism.

via koreatimes.co.kr

This very well could happen, but I certainly don’t see it as a competitor to Apple’s App Store. These guys might agree to standardize, but they are not going to release control easily. They will not want to allow people outside of their walled gardens. This is still the business model of the carriers and they will hold on to it like the music companies held on to CDs.

Read more..

BubblePLY & Screenr

[EDIT 10/3/2012 – I removed the links to BubblePLY. After trying it out again, I got virus warnings. My old video links directly to the download page now. Overall, I just have bad vibes about it and I don’t want anyone going there off of my recommendation.   However, Screenr is still wonderful.]

BubblePLY is a very cool annotation tool for online videos.  It accepts more than just YouTube, but it makes no guarantees about those it will accept.  I suppose you’ll just have to try it out and see.

 

BubblePLY enables you to put text annotations, subtitles, and even images and video on top of the video.  This is a great tool for teachers.  Imagine the benefits of being able to annotate instructional videos.

 

Here is a sample (though, not good one) from my personal video collection:

 

[edit – The embed doesn’t seem to work, which is unfortunate. I hope that they fix this. Here is the link to the video.]

 

 

Here is a screencast of the process done with Screenr.  You’ll notice the audio isn’t very good.  I think that’s my microphone (and/or audio card).  Both BubblePLY and Screenr is a great job, though.

 

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