Tag Archives: korea

Korean companies finally utilize Twitter – more important position of Me2Day in this article

Korean companies finally utilize Twitter

 

Big companies are reaching out to the public through Twitter and other social networking tools that have emerged as a powerful medium of communication with the development of mobile technology.

via koreaherald.co.kr

The more interesting element of this article is the position of Me2Day. Me2Day is not mentioned until 2/3 the way down the page. You may say that this is an English publication, so they refer to Twitter, but I see Twitter gaining greater mindshare in Korea overall.

They do make the point that the demographics are different, with Me2Day having younger users. However, this base won’t matter much if they don’t start pushing to the media. They need to start paying for some articles (yeah, we all know it happens). If they don’t, Twitter will glitter and Me2Day will fade.

Rules Suppressing Mobile Payment, Games to Be Rewritten

Slipping Into Smartphone-Driven World

Rules Suppressing Mobile Payment, Games to Be Rewritten

By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

Smartphones are intelligent, and South Korean government officials are finally accepting that they shouldn’t be made retarded by the country’s aging Internet regime.

via koreatimes.co.kr

I really hate the first sentence here. What was this writer thinking? It sounds like a 3rd grader introducing the topic, specifically his use of “retarded”.

However, with that said, this is a pretty good article. I think some points are a little off (real name requirements are older than a year), but it’s a nice overview on what’s being done.

Naver (NHN) Concerned about Fair Competition in Mobile

NHN concerned about fair competition in mobile search market

By Lee Youkyung
SEOUL, March 15 (Yonhap) — The head of NHN Corp., operator of South Korea’s most-visited search engine, expressed on Monday concerns about fair competition, arguing that users should be given a choice for a variety of search engines in smartphones, an increasingly popular gateway to the Web.

via english.yonhapnews.co.kr

Normally, I’d heckle the poor Naver exec crying about fairness in the marketplace, but I won’t this time….other than laughing at the hypocrisy LOLOLOLOLOL!!! (ok, got that out of the way)

He’s got a great point here. There’s not even a way to change default search to Naver (or Daum or other Korean site) on iPhone (as far as I know) and I doubt there is on just about any other non-Korean phone (and probably not on Korean smartphones either). Microsoft is just implementing forced choice on its OS in Europe for a similar problem, is it too far afield to say that dominant mobile OS’s are guilty of the same? I’d say he has a case and, given the fact that he’s likely got some “friends” in the government, he’s likely going to pursue that case successfully. I’ll be interested to see what happens.

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.

Can I Learn Korean? Great blog with suggestions from someone trying to learn Korean

Media_http3bpblogspot_emboa
via canilearnkorean.blogspot.com

I really like this. The blogger writes about his experiences as they relate to learning Korean. These are primarily pointing to websites and apps for learning the language. Great recommendations.

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.

Univ. Entrance Drops for 1st Time since ’90 in Korea

Univ. Entrance Drops for 1st Time since ’90 Write 2010-03-07 13:10:38   Update 2010-03-07 15:20:18

The ratio of high school graduates entering university has fallen for the first time since 1990.

Statistics Korea said in its social indices report for last year that 82 percent of high school graduates went on to college last year, down from 83.8 percent in 2008.

The female university entrance rate was 82.4 percent, besting that of males at 81.6 percent for the first time.

Experts say they are unsure whether the fall is temporary or if the entrance rate has peaked and is falling.

via world.kbs.co.kr

I’m very interested in this. Is this just an anomaly or is it a trend in the de-emphasis of university education? Is there an increase in attending non-Korean institutions?

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