Hallyu Tech

LG Versa Game Pad Module

hallyutech — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:33:27 +0000

LG Versa owners can now swap out their QWERTY keyboard modules for something a little more entertaining. LG has released their long awaited game pad module reminiscent of the a Super Nintendo controller. All this can be yours for $29.99 USD.

Its interesting to see one of the major Korean manufactures finally give a long awaited nod to the gamers out there. LG and Samsung have seemed to be content ignoring the robust gaming crazy consumers at home and abroad. While we don’t expect to see at Samsung or LG console soon…or ever, its nice to see them making an effort to support gaming.

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Gamepark Gaming App Store For GP2X Wiz Handheld

hallyutech — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:38:27 +0000

It seems like just about everyone is opening an app store these days, even relatively obscure manufactures are starting to open app stores. Gamepark the company that created the popular GP2X Wiz gaming hand held has recently announced their plans to have an open source game/app store up and running by August 2009. Anyone will be able to create and upload a game to the store. Its a cool concept and Gamepark’s fans are a loyal bunch, so it will likely be very popular with GP2X Wiz owners. The pricing structure has not been announced, but there will no doubt be both free games as well as ones that must be purchased.

App stores overall seem like a great idea to me, it adds additional functionality to devices. Its true that some tiny Korean manufacture is not going to challenge the dominance of the Apple app store, but that is not the point, app stores are about opening up simple aggregation and distribution center for the applications and games. Titles that would have otherwise been lost at least stand a chance of being found in a good app store.

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Korean Touchscreen Calligraphy Tablet Concet

hallyutech — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:15:32 +0000

Yanko Design’s cadets Soon kyu Jang, Chung Lee and Yonghuk have developed a concept for a Korean touch screen calligraphy tablet. Calligraphers can now practice their stroke without burning through so much paper and ink. The concept seems to be a high tech environmentally friendly solution for a low tech traditional art form. Its kind of like showing your grandma who is into knitting sweaters the Custom Ink t-shirt design website. Confucius said, paper always beats touch screen tablet. Although its a cool concept, a true calligraphy master would Tae Kwon Do this tablet in half!

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KTF Korea Turns Your Vacuum Into A Toy

hallyutech — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:51:56 +0000

Korean mobile carrier KTF has launched a mobile phone controlled vacuum cleaner. The applications for this are endless, turning vacuuming into a game for your children, scaring the cat and a direct line between the couch and the kitchen are all possible. The cleaning robot can also do double duty as a security bot. Korea has all the fun.

KTF’s CW100 robot vacuum was built in a partnership with Microbot, who developed a cleaning robot similar to the Roomba. The video camera on the robot streams to the users mobile phone where they can direct it remotely using the keypad. The remote access cleaning bot is on sale for KRW 500,000 or approximately $370 USD.

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Samsung Energy Efficient SyncMaster 70 Display

hallyutech — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:33:24 +0000

Its a green world and Samsung wants their cut of the pie. The company has announced new ultra energy efficient SyncMaster 70 series LCD monitors. The Syncmaster 70 series comes in 20″ or 23″, with a 50000:1 contrast ratio and a 2ms response time. The monitors consume 33% less energy then a typical Samsung display, so you simultaneously can save the environment and knock a little change off your electricity bill. The official release date and pricing is yet to be release, anyone want to bet on an earth day announcement?

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The iriver D50N Korean Electronic Dictionary

hallyutech — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:57:28 +0000

iriver has once again found a way to overcharge for electronic dictionaries with the D50N. The company’s dictionary prices have managed to hold steady for the past several years with the release of new models with minor technical variations. The simple yet stylish and boxy iriver D50N is a perfect example of the minor tweaking that occurs with new e-dictionary models in Korea.

The technical specifications barley differ from its predecessors, a larger hard drive and a new UI are the only improvements. The D50N comes with a 4.8″ 800 x 480 LCD display, 16GB storage, full QWERTY keyboard, a microSD slot, and Wi-Fi. Playback times are 16 hours for audio and 8 hours for video. The usual iriver array of dictionaries provide support for Korean, English, Japanese and Mandarin/Cantonese. All these minor changes can be yours for $370 USD.

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Samsung SCH-W740 Mobile With 8 Megapixel Camera

hallyutech — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:57:24 +0000

The Samsung SCH-W740 has been announced and is packing a massive 8 megapixel camera with a Xenon flash. The phone also sports a 3.3″ LCD touch screen, DMB TV, an e-dictionary and haptic feedback. You can stay connected with the SCH-W740’s HSUPA and Bluetooth 2.0.

The Samsung SCH-W740 seems to be Samsung’s answer to the Nokia N86 or the LG Renoir, its a nice phone but it does not bring anything new to the table. Even if the megapixel count is getting up there, cell phone cameras have a long way to go before they can replace a decent point and shoot camera. The Samsung SCH-W704 will be selling for W900,000 or approximately $660 USD.

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Samsung E Book Reader Papyrus

hallyutech — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:07:12 +0000

This June Samsung Electronics will be launching its very own e-book reader in Korea with plans to “eventually” release the e-book reader in North America. The Samsung Papryus will launch virtually unchallenged in the Korean market, with the Amazon Kindle consistently selling out in the States none have been allocated for Korea. The Papyrus’ biggest competition will come from the swarms of domestic PMP’s with e-book capabilities.

The Samsung Papyrus is the size of an A5 piece of paper, has a touch screen with an aluminum stylus, and 512MB of internal memory. A leather case is included, but a cellular or even Wi-Fi connection is not. The Papyrus will be available on the cheap compared to other e-books with the price expected to be under $300 USD.

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iriver P35 WiFi PMP

hallyutech — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:42:35 +0000

iriver has announced a new personal media player, the iriver P35 has a similar look the the iriver SPINN, but has improved on the software and thrown in a few extra features for good measure. The iriver PMP comes in 8GB or 16GB models, has optional DMB TV (which includes a mini remote control), optional Wi-Fi (with web browser), and a 4.3″ LCD 480 x 272 display that serves up a wide range of media codecs.

The new improved software supports UCI widgets, an FTP server and a accelerometer to switch the display from portrait to landscape mode.

So many choices, sometimes less is more. The iriver P35 PMP is on sale now in South Korea.

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Mintpass’ Mintpad Coming To North America

hallyutech — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:55:27 +0000

When a group of former high level iriver employees banded together to form Mintpass the bar was set high for whatever device these renegades had been developing. When Mintpass‘ first product the Mintpad was revealed the critiques were somewhat underwhelmed. As time has passed though hype around the Mintpad has been building and depending on its pricing it could prove to be a hit.

Mintpass has announced the Mintpad will be going on sale (believe it for not, officially) in North America sometime in May. The Mintpad which handles hand writing recognition, scheduling, a camera, chat services, music, video, voice recording and even a web browser has been selling for around $150 in Korea. If the price is right the Mintpad may be able to find its niche in the North American market.

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