Samsung & Armani have once again joined forces, and announced at this years Milan International Furniture Fair the release of a premium LCD TV. A 46″ version of the TV will be available in Europe, Korea, and Russia, with a 52″ model being released in the same markets later this summer. Details are thin, but the TV’s are said to be ‘top of the line technology’, with 100Hz Full HD and HDMI connectors.

The press release says the display was created for customers “who are seeking a prestige television that combines sophisticated design and leading flat screen technology“, a very nice way of saying the main customers this will be targeting is people obsessed with branding. Sitting in the press release for anyone to see is the full scope of Armani’s involvement in the project, which is very little. The two remotes (why two?) are designed by Armani as well as the Samsung/Armani logo on the display that stylishly lights up in four different colors. Everything else is just smoke and mirrors provided by the “strategic marketing alliance announced by the two companies in September, 2007“.

Source

Gp2X F-200 Handheld Gaming Device

GamePark Holdings GP2x F-200 gaming hand held looks like a mash up between the DS Lite and PSP, and although you might not think the device can compare to either device the GP2X F-200 has proven itself to be a nice little gaming device.

Running on a ARM920T processor and sporting 64 MB of NAND flash memory (expandable storage via SD), this Linux handheld pumps out a plethora of media on its 3.5″ touchscreen TFT-LCD. The system comes pre-loaded with five games, but its the systems ability to easily load emulators that makes the device stand out. Commodore 64, Atari ST, Arcade, and Game Consoles, if there is an emulator for it chances are the Gp2X F-200 can run it. On top of the gaming the handheld does all the other standard PMP functions, video, audio, pictures, and e-books. GamPark Holding’s open source handheld gamers paradise is currently available for $169.99 USD.

Gp2X F-200 Review

There is a great review of the GP2X F-200 at Artstechnica by Jerry Bonner who was very satisfied with the handheld. The best part of the review is when he ponders over the karaoke function of the Gp2X F-200 and wonders, “how many people out there are singing aloud on the go?”. Well Jerry, take a trip to South Korea and you will be horrified to discover the answer to you question is… everyone sings aloud, even while on the go.

GamePark Holdings

It looks like the decision made by GamePark Holdings engineers has paid off. It was rumored that all of GamePark’s engineers abandoned ship after the engineers and management disagreed over the feature of the company. After releasing the GP32 the engineering staff left and formed GamePark Holdings, the company responsible for GP2X F-200. In March 2008 it was rumored that GamePark, no doubt short of engineers not to mention company spirit filed for bankruptcy.

Source

Although the critics were not too friendly to D’Cube’s previous attempts at PMPs the new D9 has one some respect for its improved functions and stylish design. The D9 supports a wide range of codecs including AVI, WMV, WMA, MP3, and JPEG. The PMP comes in 2GB and 4GB versions, with expandable memory via microSD. The 4GB model is available for W128,000 ($131 USD)

Best of all (if you live in Korea) the player includes a DMB TV tuner so you can catch all your favorite dramas on the go. Your Full House or Winter Sonata programing will be displayed on the D9’s 3.5″ 320 x 240 resolution TFT-LCD.

Source

Hyundai has come way out of left field bringing what they have dubbed as the worlds firts 46-inch stereoscopic 3D TV to market in Japan. The 1920 x 1080 LCD display also has 2 HDMI and 3 composite inputs. Hyundai’s display requires special broadcasts and gigantic clown glasses to take advantage of the 3D functions. The broadcasts, which began several months ago are provided by Nippon Broadcast Service. The TV is not cheap costing Y498,000 ($4,938 USD), and the 3D glasses will run you another Y2,980 ($29.55).

The release of a stereoscopic 3D TV from Hyundai is surprising considering their fairly lackluster display of generic copy-cat LCD displays at CES.

Source via Engadget

The RD-P1 is the newest dictionary from Sharp Korea features over 118 different dictionaries and supports a new pen based writing recognition system, and Mp3 playback. The dictionary’s 5.4″ LCD screen and handy QWERTY keyboard are all packed into its 1.8cm thin design. The suggested retail price is W210,000 ($215 USD), but will anyone pay it?

The new RD-P1 electronic dictionary is a little confusing, it departs form the companies standard fair of dictionary’s featuring color displays, hard drives, and video playback. One might assume Sharp was targeting the low end of the market, but the price is over double the cost of their low end dictionaries. The ’sharp’ price might be due to the 118 dictionaries they have included, that many dictionaries would cost a lot for royalties. It appears that Sharp Korea is targeting consumers way to obsessed with definitions or dictionary authors.

Source

Samsung has just released its first Smart Phone with High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA). The HSUPA utilizes 3G networks to offer incredibly fast download speeds. Samsung’s SCH-M470 smart phone will be able to download data up to five times faster then WCDMA. For example the incredible speeds allow for 5 Mp3 songs to be downloaded in one minute using HSUPA. The best part about all that speed is that data plans are actually affordable to the average consumer in Korea.

In addition to the SCH-M470’s super speed the smart phone supports web browsing, push email, and Google search. Connectivity includes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and a 2 mega pixel camera is thrown in to complete the package. If your looking to fulfill your need for speed, the SCH-M470 is currently available in Korea for W600,000 - 700,000 ($614 - 714 USD).

Source

South Koreans where filled with pride this Tuesday as the country’s first astronaut successfully entered earths orbit aboard a Russian Soyuz TMA-12 spaceship.

Yi So-Yeon a 29 year old bio systems engineer had the honor of being the first Korean, 49th woman, and 2nd Asian woman to orbit the earth. Yi So-Yeon will dock with the International Space Station later today where she will give her first media interviews and talk to Korean students via radio.

Korea has yet to become a major player in outer space, but the country has plans to become one of the top seven space powers by 2010. It aims to launch a domestically developed rocket that is capable of carrying satellites to orbit later this year.

Source

After teasing the Korean market with TV ads and flaunting it about at CES Samsung has finally released their Deluxe MITs UMPC under its domestic Anycall brand. The UMPC connects to the net via WiBro and HSDPA. The Deluxe MITs runs Windows XP on a 5″ touch screen, with a 30GB hard drive, and it even manages to pack in a 1.3 mega pixel camera.

By far the most interesting feature of the Delux MITs is its amazing folding QWERTY keyboard. The UMPC and keyboard are all attached and fold into a neat little package.

Source

While WIMAX struggles to deploy or sits idle in North America yet another WiBro device has made it to market in Korea. Samsung released the SWT-W100K a new all in one WiBro PMP under their domestic Anycall mobile brand. The PMP

sports a 4.3″ touch screen and runs on WinCE.Net 5.0. Aside from the standard audio/video functions the device also does DMB, web browsing, and GPS navigation. When you need a connection more intimate then WiBro you can use the PMP’s Bluetooth 2.0 or USB connection. Add on to that 8GB’s of storage and a 2 mega pixel camera and you have a very useful PMP.

The design or more so lack of it makes the PMP look more like a Cowon then a Samsung. The PMP seems to be designed with in car navigation in mind which may explain its fairly uninspired design, but hey its whats on the inside that counts.

When Sprint announced the Samsung Instinct at this years CTIA the news broke hard and fast. The Instinct was billed the hottest phone a this years convention with reporters calling it Sprint’s ‘iPhone killer’, but after the headline began to wear thing the inevitable criticisms began to kick in. The web browser, screen, style and even release date were all criticized, but after the dust has settled a good number of people are still wondering what the Samsung Instinct has up its sleeve. So without further ado here is everything you need to know about the Samsung Instinct.

Samsung Instinct

The Samsung Instinct has a smooth jet black front covered with a 3.1″ touchscreen and a ‘back’, ‘home’, and ‘call’ button. The touchscreen is said to work well with the user interface, and the phones web browser incorporates tilt navigation. For example when you browsing the web you can tilt the screen to view different areas of the screen.The Instinct touchscreen also provides haptic feedback (vibrates) when a button on screen is pushed.

The Instinct also comes equipped with GPS navigation thats responds to voice commands, which will no doubt come in handy for regular drivers. In keeping with the voice theme the Instinct has licensed the same Klausner visual voicemail that is used in the iPhone. The phone is able Sprint’s 3G high speed networks offering TV, full html web browsing, and the ability to use the phone as a modem for a laptop. The memory is micro SD and can be expanded up to 8GB. The instinct also does Bluetooth and packs a 2 mega pixel camera.

Price And Availability

The Samsung Instinct will be available in mid June 2008. The official price for the phone has not yet been released but $200-$250 (USD) is the standard estimate. Sprint has confirmed the Instinct will cost under $300 (USD). Subscription fees are not cheap, but all inclusive. The Instincts plan will cost around $100 (USD) a month including everything (web, data, TV, phone calls) except music downloads.

Instinct An iPhone Killer?

Only time will tell as the consumers inevitably ignore the tech pundit’s and vote with their dollars. The web browsing was reported as a work in progress, but Sprint and Samsung have until June to improve the phones software. The Instinct is a bit thicker, narrower, and lighter then the iPhone weighing in at 4.4 ounces and measuring 4.57″ x 2.17″ x .49″ compared to the iPhones 4.8 ounces, 4.5″ x 2.4″ x 0.46″. The leaves the Instinct with a slightly smaller display, but Sprints phone makes up for these shortcomings in a number of ways. Unlike the iPhone the Samsung Instinct is 3G, has a replaceable battery, expandable memory, and the all might haptic feedback.

They key unknown in this equation is whether or not Apple will remedy its shortcomings by releasing a new iPhone. With iPhone’s disappearing from Apple stores a new Apple phone may already be on its way. Sprint will not release the Instinct until mid June which gives Apple some time to prepare their Instinct-killer.

Sprint’s Instinct Marketing

Sprint is going all out with their new flagship phone, no expense has been spared in promoting the Instinct. With the marketing budget set to $100 million, Sprint will be spending more on Instinct marketing then it ever has for any other phone.

After kick starting the media frenzy and stealing the show at CTIA Sprint has followed through with a new website. The website Now Is Good provides all the technical information for the Samsung Instinct as well as a good look at the phones functions and Sprints services. If your instincts are telling you Sprints new phone if for you, head on over to its website where you can sign up for an e-mail notification when the Instinct hits stores.

Conclusion

It will be an interesting wait for the Samsung Instinct, with Apple poised to release a new iPhone that may either overwhelm or disappoint. The final price of the Instinct will also be interesting news, if Sprint releases the phone at a price closer to $200 all comparisons to the iPhone will be off.