Teasing Us From Korea - M8000

[Jon Westfall]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://aving.net/newproduct/default.asp?mode=read&c_num=10012' target='_blank'>http://aving.net/newproduct/default...ead&c_num=10012</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Normally we're not all about the softcore shots of foreign phones straight up with no chaser -- why taunt ourselves like that? -- but we kind of couldn't resist the urge with the M8000. After all, it is the first consumer device we've heard of with either WiBro or WiMax, and once we came to find out it's also got DMB support, TV-out, integrated VoIP, a stubbier, smaller antenna, and that long-awaited camera module not found in the i730, well, we couldn't contain the urge."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/sphm8000_1.jpg" /><br /><br />Ah, as rightly stated by the guys at Engadget, this is something we'll never see in the US. But we can drool can't we ;)

[Darius Wey]

Ah, as rightly stated by the guys at Engadget, this is something we'll never see in the US. But we can drool can't we ;)

On Christmas, I caught up with a family friend from Hong Kong. He gave me a little guided tour of the state of all things mobile in Asia, and I must say, the western world is really falling behind.

They've got almost everything there - from unique gadgets to insane next-day publicity via magazines. 8O

[DaleReeck]

I used to get PO'ed at all the cool stuff Korea and Japan get. But I came to the realization that providing products (and more importantly, an infrastructure) for 50 million and 130 million people, respectively, is a lot easier than providing for the US's 280 million people. Plus, with higher population densities, Korea and Japan have less land area to cover with services.

Granted, there are other variables too, like people in the Far East being more culturally receptive to cutting edge technology and less likely to complain when it doesn't work 100% (we Americans like to complain :D ). But in the end, it may be just a numbers game.

Of course that doesn't explain why China (1 billion+ people) also seem to be ahead of us in phone coolness :)

[wirelessbeachbum]

Did anyone notice in the picture a service called push-to-all....sounds like some kind of PTT service.

[shindullin]

The Asian markets are also more receptive to paying top dollar for these devices because they are more status symbols than they are here in the US. The latest PDA phone is just a geek badge in much of the west. It's a symbol of money and tech sophistication in much of the East. That means that they're more willing to spend more money more often. Average turn around for cell phones in Korea is slightly less than a year. That means some people (seems like mostly kids and 20 somethings from my unempircal observations) are buying more than one new cell phone a year, in order to offset those old fogies who only switch phones after a year or (gasp!) two years.

[q-live]

well can we get one from korea and get it to work over here???? especially if we open it up??????when is the release date in korea??? i got to have this device..... i realized that its gonna be so much better than 700w .... but i have to have a camera in my phone for the amount of money these devices cost.

[shindullin]

Unless you speak Korean, or a grey market vendor like Expansys (sp) offers it, I wouldn't try. It's got a Korean lang OS, so even if you managed to get an unlocked version and somehow got it working with either Sprint or Verizon (Korea uses CDMA technology similar to that used by these companies), you still be guessing as to what everything says. Don't let the English on the phone fool you, there's gonna be Korean script used in the phone as well.

[shizblue]

As a Korean, I've found out more from the link.

1) WiBro service is to start at the end of Q2'06 here in Korea. So, any Korean couldn't buy the device by then. Got a word that smaller U.S. carriers looking into WiBro, Korean version of Wimax, for service. Stay tuned !!
2) KT(Korea Telecom) is the service carrier, but the spec says it supports satellite DMB(Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) as well that the competing SK Telecom provides.
3) Nobody in U.S. could activate this device becuase all relevant services are not compatible.
4) I'd confess that Koreans are crazy about buying a new phone everytime it rolls out !!

Thanks.

[q-live]

well i wanted it for verizon and i figure i could put the same os on it that the i730 hassince its the same phone with a camera....please someone make it work cause i shouldnt have 2 suffer cause of the idoits at verizon