Two articles in the Joongang Daily this morning provide further evidence of the mobile revolution that is sweeping the nation since the arrival of Apple's iPhone in late 2009. The first article, entitled "Smartphone craze spurs location-based apps" explains a variety of location-based services that are taking off in Korea. One will allow a woman to track the location of her boyfriend, another allows parents to follow the location of their children, and so forth.The other article, describing how credit card companies and mobile carriers are vying for mobile payments business also presents some interesting data on the rapid diffusion of such services here. (Click on the graphic to see a full-size version.)
Location-based services and mobile payments are but two examples of the types of services that become possible once broadband goes mobile.