Korea

Samsung launches Anycall Clutch (SPH-W9500) for South Korean market

On 03.08.10, In Mobile Phones, By Editor

Samsung has launched a handset, Anycall Clutch (SPH-W9500) exclusively for South Korean market. Anycall Clutch looks like a variant of the S7070 Diva phone and has the same quilted back. The distinct feature of the model is its diamond-shaped home button.

The set is an all-touchscreen device with a 3.2-inch display, 3-megapixel camera with “3D motion picture feature”, 1.3-megapixel camera for video calls, 3G connectivity (HADPA), GPS, T-DMB mobile TV receiver, SOS function, Bluetooth, e-dictionary and a microSD expansion slot that works with cards of up to 16GB. The 960mAh battery offers enough charge for up to 8 hours of talk and 500 hours of standby time.

The TouchWIZ 2.0 of Samsung is used for all the interaction providing users with a quick way to access the key phone features as well as popular social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Lady UI is the name of the UI variant on the Clutch and it comes with preloaded widget for party planning and some diet assistant app.

The Samsung Anycall Clutch will be available in three shades including Silver, Pink and Black on KT for 600,000 won, which is about $523.

Tagged with: 3G connectivity • Bluetooth • GPS • HADPA • handset • Korea • LAN • megapixel • Mobile TV • Samsung • SOS • SOS Function • South Korea • South Korean • T-DMB • Touchscreen • Touchscreen device • TouchWIZ • TouchWiz 2.0 • twitter • Video Call • video calls • Widget

Worldwide mobile subscriptions to reach 5b in 2010

On 02.26.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The rise in the number mobile phone users will continue through 2010, according to a recent International Telecommunication Union (ITU) report. It has also been predicted that number of mobile subscriptions will surpass the 5 billion mark sometime this year if the current rate of growth continues.

400 million more mobile subscriptions will be there in 2010 as compared to last year. China and India will emerge as the biggest contributor to this rapid increase in the subscribers. While the developed countries have a penetration rate of almost 100%, the developing countries have just 57 percent of its people hooked to mobile phones.

Most advanced countries in telecoms and the Internet terms in 2008 has been named as Sweden, Luxembourg, Denmark, Netherlands, Iceland, Switzerland, Norway and the UK (in Europe), and South Korea and Japan in Asia.

Tagged with: Denmark • ASIA • China • Europe • India • Japan • Korea • Luxembourg • National Telecom • Netherland • Netherlands • Norway • South Korea • Sweden • Switzerland • UK

South Korea telco SKT alters its billing strategy

On 02.26.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The billing method of South Korea’s largest mobile network operator by subscribers, SK Telecom (SKT) will be altered and it will start charging its customers for calls on a per-second basis.

SKT has charged for calls on a ten-second basis since it first launched commercial services over an analogue network in 1984, as its current rivals, KT Corp and LG Telecom (LGT) both also do. It’s the first move of the company to alter the billing startegy and in total it expects the change to save its subscribers up to KRW16.8 billion (USD14.5 million) each month.

The decision is expected to be seen as a step in the right direction keeping in mind that the high cost of mobile services has been an area of focus for telecoms regulator the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) in recent years.

According to LGT, it too will restructure its billing and implement per-second charges in the near future but KT has not revealed any such plans.

Tagged with: ASIA • Korea • Launch • LG • LTE • operator • SK Telecom

Nokia considers opening a factory in Argentina

On 02.22.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Opening of a new handset factory in Argentina by Nokia is on the cards thus, taking its tally of own-factories to ten worldwide. The handset production of the company is being moved to lower cost countries and the move came under controversy when it closed its Bochum plant in Germany.

According to Nokia spokesman Tapani Kaskinen, Nokia is investigating the possibility to arrange mobile device assembly in Argentina.

The company currently has ten factories in nine countries: Brazil, China, Finland, Hungary, India, Mexico, Romania, South Korea and recently it announced its plans to cut around 12% of its workforce at its Finnish factory as it switched the facility from low-cost handset production towards higher margin smartphones.

Tagged with: Argentina • ASIA • Brazil • China • Europe • Finland • Germany • Hungary • India • Korea • Mexico • Mobile Device • Nokia • North America • Oman • Romania • South America • South Korea

100,000 subscribers sign up Orascom’s CHEO in its first year

On 02.04.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: 100,000 subscribers have been added by CHEO Technology operating under the Koryolink brand in its first year and expect to add millions more in the next five years. CHEO Technology is the North Korean subsidiary of Egypt-based telecoms group Orascom Telecom.

Although the handset price of USD195 places wireless services out of the reach of the average citizen, the increasing subscription figures show that mobile phones are not limited to elite members of the military and communist party. Koryolink currently offers only a basic voice and SMS service while international calls and roaming are not provided by the operator.

A 25-year license to operate 3G services was awarded to Koryolink in January 2008, with the first four years on an exclusive basis. 75% of the company is owned by Orascom telecom and 25% by state-owned Korea Post and Telecoms Corporation.

Tagged with: 3G • Africa • ASIA • CHEO Technology • Egypt • Korea • Korea Post and Telecoms Corporation • Koryolink • operator • Orascom

ZTE’s Android to be launched this quarter

On 01.15.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Android-powered smartphones would be launched by ZTE which has joined the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), in the first quarter of 2010.After phone and PC maker Lenovo and rival kit vendor Huawei, ZTE becomes the third Chinese equipment supplier to join the OHA.

The announcement was made after Korean phone maker LG plans to launch 20 smartphones based on a range of operating systems including Android, Windows Mobile and Linux.

According to Lin Qiang, general manager of ZTE Smartphones, the company has has invested heavily in the research and development of Android smartphones during the last year because of its trend and popularity and is committed to invest in this innovative platform to meet the market demand.

Tagged with: Android • Huawei • Korea • Lenovo • LG • Windows Mobile • ZTE

LG aims 20% rise in handset sales

On 01.14.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Increase in the global handset sales has been planned by LG Electronics under which the company aims to sell 140 million units in 2010, a rise of 20%. About 20 new smartphones would also be launched by the company in 2010, of which more than 10 would be Android- based. Major focus would be on home market Korea and North America.

Other 2010 handsets model would be based on Linux and Windows Mobile systems. Production of easy-to-use smartphones aimed at first-time owners would also be the focus of the company in the first half of 2010, before moving into premium handsets with cutting-edge designs later in the year.

Tagged with: Android • Korea • LG • LG Electronics • Linux • North America

LG unveils its business plans for 2010

On 01.14.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In its bid to become one of the top two mobile device manufacturers in the world by 2012, a raft of plans has been drafted by LG Electronics for its mobile business. The plan includes the goal of 20 percent increase year-on-year besides selling 140 million handsets in 2010. Details of a concerted drive into the global smartphone market are also included in the plan.

About 100 mobile retail stores in the developing world has been opened by the company in 2009 but the it still feels the need of a strong push into the Korean and North American markets.

Special smartphone business division was established by LG besides boosting the smartphone R&D workforce by 30 percent last year. LG’s current year target is to 20 smartphones based on operating systems including Android, Windows Mobile and Linux.

With the launch of a device supporting 3-Way Sync technology allowing seamless viewing of all mobile, PC and web content over a wireless network will also be unveiled as an innovation by LG.

Tagged with: Android • Droid • Global Smartphone Market • Korea • LG • North America • Operating System

Vinaphone to start 3G roaming service by 2010

On 12.16.09, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Vietnam leading mobile operator, Vinaphone will start international roaming service by 2010. The decision came after the company joined Conexus, an alliance of international mobile phone providers. Through
this agreement, subscribers to one of the alliance’s members and VinaPhone’s users will be permitted to use the services provided by all the other members of the alliance.

A flat rate of 0.2 USD per SMS on roaming will be charged from the customers of Conexus’ 11 members. Other support services such as handset lending, SIM card replacements overseas, making free calls to 18001091 when in Vietnam will also be provided to the subscribers.

11 members of the Conexus Mobile Alliance networks is there in growing economies such as the Republic of Korea , Japan , Hong Kong , Taiwan , Macau , India , the Philippines , Indonesia , Singapore and Thailand and boasts a combined customer base of more than 240 million mobile subscribers across the region.

Tagged with: 3G • ASIA • Conexus • Hong Kong • India • Indonesia • International Roaming Service • Japan • Korea • Macau • mobile operator • Philippines • Singapore • Taiwan • Thailand • Vietnam • Vinaphone

Samsung’s Bada set to come in 2010

On 12.11.09, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With the goal to extend the smartphone experience to average users on mainstream devices, Korean handset vendor Samsung put the wraps off its Bada platform, announcement of which was made a month
ago in London. The OS will be launched in the first half of 2010. However, the company made it clear that Bada is actually not a brand new OS but it is based on the existing Samsung proprietary.

Though the firm is involving itself in a variety of top-tier smartphone OS community projects, it still believes that sufficient enthusiasm cannot be achieved by collaboration to bring the smartphones to the mass market or at a cost point that will allow them to be bought by a wide audience.

According to Thomas Richter, director of portfolio management, Samsung Telecommunications Europe, the new technology will be based on touch interface. Bada trident will have an existing operating system, UI technology and industrial design expertise. However, the effectiveness of the device depends upon thriving community of capable developers.

Twitter, EA Mobile, Capcon, Gameloft and, oddly, onetime video rental market leader Blockbuster are some of the on hand content partners of the Samsung.

Tagged with: ASIA • Blockbuster • Europe • Gameloft • Korea • London • Mass Market • Operating System • Samsung Telecommunications • smartphones • Teleco • twitter