Handheld Devices Progress by Leaps and Bounds

Black Label II

Handheld devices continue to develop at a rapid pace. Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and other companies are introducing ever slimmer devices with multimedia functions that allow users to watch shows aired by terrestrial networks and listen to MP3 music files. This moth alone, they will showcase them at expos in Seoul, Russia and China. Small and medium-sized companies, meanwhile, are entering new markets with a state-of-the-art display device users can wear like a pair of glasses to watch digital broadcasts.
Korean mobile phone makers are betting on making them slimmer. Samsung Electronics has just released its “ultra slim” phone, which is just 6.9 mm thick, at the Sviaz ExpoComm 2006, an information and communication technology show that started on Wednesday in Moscow. “The trickiest part of the technology is to make mobile phones as slim as possible and feature a camera function at the same time,” a Samsung executive says.

LG Electronics unveiled a new mobile phone to be released at the Expo Comm Wireless Korea 2006 this week. The new model, named “Black Label II”, is designed for simplicity with red keys on a black surface. It is only 16.5 mm thick and weighs 88 grams. Pantech is to introduce 32 cutting-edge mobile devices including a slim phone targeted at young office workers and a phone equipped with a touch wheel sensor at the Sviaz ExpoComm.

Phones are also getting smarter. Newly released handsets have multimedia functions enabling users to watch TV shows broadcast by terrestrial networks and play online games while listening to MP3 music files or download video clips.

Two women wear so-called ‘video glasses’ that enable users to enjoy high-definition video stored in their handheld devices during the Expo Comm Korea 2006 at COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul on Wednesday.

That means small and medium-sized firms have to develop original devices to compete with their bigger rivals. Kowon Technology, which produces microdisplay devices, has unveiled a pair of “video glasses.” With a built-in micro LCD panel measuring 4.8 mm by 4.2 mm, the device enables users to watch digital broadcasts when connected to digital multimedia broadcasting handsets. “The device gives users the same feeling as watching a 32-inch TV from a 2 m distance”, the company claims. The glasses bring the virtual reality of sci-fi movies a step closer to reality.

(englishnews@chosun.com )