LTE, WiBro to be Global 4G Standards

The news is out that LTE Evolution and WiBro Evolution (known as WiMax Evolution outside of Korea) have been selected as the two global standards for fourth generation mobile technology.  As reported in The Korea Herald, the decision was made at an ITU meeting in Vietnam June 9-16.  The ITU will complete developing the specific standardization framework for the two technologies by March 2011 and grant final approval in February 2012. “With Korea playing a key role in the international standardization effort, the nation will be able to lead the way in designing core technologies for the next generation,” said Kim Jeong-sam, director of the radio spectrum policy division at the Korea Communications Commission.  The research and development on WiBro Evolution has been led by Samsung Electronics and Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI).

iPhone 4 "Made in Korea?"

The Chosun Ilbo today carried an interesting short story entitled, "iPhone 4 Made in Korea."   In fact, amid all of the news reports of a titanic clash between Samsung's new Android phone and the iPhone, many of the most important components of the iPhone 4 are supplied by Korean companies.  The screen, which received a great deal of attention during the iPhone 4's unveiling recently in San Francisco, is manufactured by LG, which also makes the displays for Apple's iPad.  Samsung supplies the flash memory chip and the A4 CPU chip that powers the iPhone.  As if that weren't enough, the batteries in the new phone are manufactured by Samsung SDI, and it is equipped with multi-layer ceramic capacitors made by Samsung.  Smaller Korean companies are also involved.  Amotech supplies the varistors used in the phone, and Interflex produces the flexible printed circuit boards.

Google versus Naver in the Mobile Broadband Era

I read an interesting short article in Telecoms Korea today that confirmed my thinking.  To be specific, I thought that the introduction of the iPhone and Android-based phones in Korea would quickly begin to erode Naver's monopoly on web-based search here in Korea.  That appears to be what is happening.  According to the article "Although Naver is a leading search engine on the web, NHN has felt threatened from Google in conjunction with the expansion of Android-based smartphones in the local market. Google services, including mobile search, are offered by default on Android smartphones and the iPhone, and Google is gaining popularity with Korean mobile users and on the web."  Enough said.