Monday, June 2, 2008
Korea’s Big 3 Mobile Phone Makers Compete in Japan
The Korean mobile phone makers are increasing their market shares in the global market. Now, they are trying to show the same growth in the Japanese market. On April 30, market observers said that Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Pantech Group decided to double their sales in the Japanese market by taking a chance coming with the change of the Japanese market. The change is given by NTT Docomo, Japan’s largest mobile carrier, who once said that it will suggest a guideline to help mobile phone makers manufacture simple calling phones by separating the cutting-edge technology for mobile internet from the basic OS. Also, the Japanese makers like Mitsubishi, Sanyo and Sony Ericsson are reducing or withdrawing the mobile phone manufacturing business. LG Electronics supplying mobile phones to NTT Docomo set the target of 700,000 units for this year. This is a double increase from a year before. The company said that the chocolate phone, its global hit product, will be launched to the Japanese market, the last market in the world. The global fandom of the chocolate phone will attract Japanese consumers’ interest. It plans to roll out wine color chocolate phones to meet the preference of Japanese consumers. Managing Director Ma Chang-min of LG Electronics said, “The chocolate phone has been sold 200,000 units in only five months, showing the good performance even at the beginning stage. We will increase the volume to the Japanese market by a double.” Pantech Group, supplying its handsets to KDDI, the 2nd largest carrier in Japan, is also preparing its new 3G products to increase the share in the Japanese market. The company was the first maker who entered the Japanese market in 2005. Since then, it has drawn consumers’ interest by targeting elderly consumers and providing multi-functional handsets. Pantech Group has rolled out au W61PT, its 3G slide phone with the sophisticated design for Japanese consumers, in last February, increasing its influence on the market. It plans to surpass 1 million units, up 20% from a year earlier. Samsung Electronics weighs the brand power more than the growth of sales. Samsung has supplied its 3G handsets to Softbank through Vodafone Global since 2006. To date, as many as 10 models were rolled out. Particularly, its 707SC model has been sold 400,000 units. An official of Samsung Electronics said, “Japanese consumers prefer the advanced technology as well as the sophisticated design. They are the most critical consumer in the world. Therefore, we are trying to establish our brand image stronger rather than focusing on the sales.”
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Samsung Launched World’s Smallest Color Laser Printer
Samsung Electronics said on April 29 that it rolled out the world’s smallest color laser printer. Its newest product, named CLP-315K, is 20 percent smaller than its previous model, CLP-300, fitting small places. The product features the sophisticated design with the black color exterior framed by high grossy material. Also, it generates a noise level of only 45dBA while printing, making a less noise than chat. The black and white documents are made at 16 pages-per-minute, and the color copies and prints are made at 4 pages-per-minute. It also supports the printing in higher resolution, and it offers better quality in photo printing. Samsung’s new color laser multi-function printer, CLX-3175FNK, the latest installment of its kind, supports color copying, color scanning, faxing and networking. Compared with the previous model, CLX-3160, it is 40 percent smaller. It allows users to save the scanned document directly to a USB memory and read various formats of documents from a USB memory to print. Samsung Electronics rolled out a color laser printer, CLP-300, and a color laser multifunction printer, CLX-2161K, nicknamed Lay, in the last year. Rolling out new installments of the both products, it decided to use the nickname, Lay, to its all color laser printers and multifunction printers. Executive Director Lee Jang-jae of Samsung Electronics said, “After the launch of the world’s smallest color laser printer in the last year, the market for color laser printers has doubled in a year. This year, we will continue to roll out more innovative products offering better quality in performance, stability and convenience.”
Posdata begins IPTV service in US in september
POSDATA Begins IPTV Service in US in September
POSDATA will begin the IPTV service in the US in September. POSDATA said that it is working with Celrun and AcanetTV to establish a joint venture in the US. The joint venture will have a capital of KRW 10 billion and manage the IPTV service in the US. POSDATA will attract content providers for movie and drama shows to provide the content continuously. Also, it will invite companies which established a marketing network in the Korean-American community. In last January, it held a bench mark test for CAS/DRM, VOD/CDN and set-top box to designate contractors for the system build-up. And, the build-up began in the last month. The service initially targets the Korean-American community as well as the Asian communities like Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Vietnamese, familiar with Korea’s drama shows and movies. Later, it will expand the service coverage to nationwide, targeting mainstream viewers. Particularly, the service will be focused on the content business including drama shows, entertainment shows and movies. Then, it will expand the business to TV shopping, VoIP service, online education, karaoke and games. Also, it will provide the mobile IPTV service by combining the IPTV service with its WiMAX business. And, it will develop the relevant solutions to create synergetic effect. As of last year, the Korean-American community consists of 700,000 households. The number of Korean American reaches to 2.2 million, showing a sizeable market. Particularly, there has been no on-demand service provider for Korean-American who want to watch Korea’s broadcasting content. And, the existing video rental service is diminishing due to the low quality of picture. Therefore, the needs for new service is growing, laying the foundation for the IPTV service. POSDATA plans to begin the service in California including Los Angeles, where most Korean-Americans live so that the demand for Korea’s broadcasting content is high. President Yu Byung-chang of POSDATA said, “We’ve provided content service for cartoon and traffic information in Korea. Particularly, in Pohang and Gwangyang, we are providing various services like the internet line, portal and VoIP. Based on our content service know-how and our experience in establishing the IPTV system for Hanaro Telecom, we will firmly lay the foundation for our success in the US.”
POSDATA will begin the IPTV service in the US in September. POSDATA said that it is working with Celrun and AcanetTV to establish a joint venture in the US. The joint venture will have a capital of KRW 10 billion and manage the IPTV service in the US. POSDATA will attract content providers for movie and drama shows to provide the content continuously. Also, it will invite companies which established a marketing network in the Korean-American community. In last January, it held a bench mark test for CAS/DRM, VOD/CDN and set-top box to designate contractors for the system build-up. And, the build-up began in the last month. The service initially targets the Korean-American community as well as the Asian communities like Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Vietnamese, familiar with Korea’s drama shows and movies. Later, it will expand the service coverage to nationwide, targeting mainstream viewers. Particularly, the service will be focused on the content business including drama shows, entertainment shows and movies. Then, it will expand the business to TV shopping, VoIP service, online education, karaoke and games. Also, it will provide the mobile IPTV service by combining the IPTV service with its WiMAX business. And, it will develop the relevant solutions to create synergetic effect. As of last year, the Korean-American community consists of 700,000 households. The number of Korean American reaches to 2.2 million, showing a sizeable market. Particularly, there has been no on-demand service provider for Korean-American who want to watch Korea’s broadcasting content. And, the existing video rental service is diminishing due to the low quality of picture. Therefore, the needs for new service is growing, laying the foundation for the IPTV service. POSDATA plans to begin the service in California including Los Angeles, where most Korean-Americans live so that the demand for Korea’s broadcasting content is high. President Yu Byung-chang of POSDATA said, “We’ve provided content service for cartoon and traffic information in Korea. Particularly, in Pohang and Gwangyang, we are providing various services like the internet line, portal and VoIP. Based on our content service know-how and our experience in establishing the IPTV system for Hanaro Telecom, we will firmly lay the foundation for our success in the US.”
[Notice]The OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy
It might be a good event at Korea for the internet economy. Anyone who registered membership in advance can participate in this meeting for free.
For your information...
This is the meeting information:
Homepage: http://www.oecdministerialseoul2008.org/
Title: OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy
Date: 17-18 June 2008
Venue: COEX (World Trade Center, Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-731, Korea)
Organized by Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Hosted by Korea Communications Commission (KCC)
Program: Ministerial Meeting (17-18 June 2008), Stakeholder Forums (16 June 2008)
SIDE EVENTS: World IT Show (17-20 June 2008), Future of the Internet Economy Pavilion, forums, seminars, and Dynamic IT Korea Experience, etc.
In 1998, as the Internet was emerging as a mainstream activity, the OECD convened a Ministerial Conference on E-Commerce in Ottawa, Canada. The Conference established policies in areas such as privacy, security, taxation and consumer policy that have been instrumental in nurturing online activity.
Ten years later, the online world is at another critical juncture. Major transformations in Internet use will affect how the Internet economy develops: our daily reliance on the Internet for commercial and social activities is increasing; and the integrity of the network is tested daily by severe and sophisticated attacks. The implications for economic and social activities are far-reaching and profound, including for the next several billion Internet users.
The changes afoot require, once again, principles and practices to help guide the Internet economy over the next decade. The Ministerial represents a timely opportunity for governments, businesses, the Internet technical community and civil society to consider social, economic and technological trends shaping the development of the Internet economy, and to discuss policies that can best provide an enabling environment for the future.
For your information...
This is the meeting information:
Homepage: http://www.oecdministerialseoul2008.org/
Title: OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy
Date: 17-18 June 2008
Venue: COEX (World Trade Center, Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-731, Korea)
Organized by Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Hosted by Korea Communications Commission (KCC)
Program: Ministerial Meeting (17-18 June 2008), Stakeholder Forums (16 June 2008)
SIDE EVENTS: World IT Show (17-20 June 2008), Future of the Internet Economy Pavilion, forums, seminars, and Dynamic IT Korea Experience, etc.
In 1998, as the Internet was emerging as a mainstream activity, the OECD convened a Ministerial Conference on E-Commerce in Ottawa, Canada. The Conference established policies in areas such as privacy, security, taxation and consumer policy that have been instrumental in nurturing online activity.
Ten years later, the online world is at another critical juncture. Major transformations in Internet use will affect how the Internet economy develops: our daily reliance on the Internet for commercial and social activities is increasing; and the integrity of the network is tested daily by severe and sophisticated attacks. The implications for economic and social activities are far-reaching and profound, including for the next several billion Internet users.
The changes afoot require, once again, principles and practices to help guide the Internet economy over the next decade. The Ministerial represents a timely opportunity for governments, businesses, the Internet technical community and civil society to consider social, economic and technological trends shaping the development of the Internet economy, and to discuss policies that can best provide an enabling environment for the future.
Computer trained to 'read' minds
Brain scans show activity as subjects think about specific words.
A computer has been trained to "read" people's minds by looking at scans of their brains as they thought about specific words, researchers said on Thursday.
They hope their study, published in the journal Science, might lead to better understanding of how and where the brain stores information.
This might lead to better treatments for language disorders and learning disabilities, said Tom Mitchell of the Machine Learning Department at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, who helped lead the study.
"The question we are trying to get at is one people have been thinking about for centuries, which is: How does the brain organize knowledge?" Mitchell said in a telephone interview.
"It is only in the last 10 or 15 years that we have this way that we can study this question."
Mitchell's team used functional magnetic resonance imaging, a type of brain scan that can see real-time brain activity.
They calibrated the computer by having nine student volunteers think of 58 different words, while imaging their brain activity.
"We gave instructions to people where we would tell them, 'We are going to show you words and we would like you, when you see this word, to think about its properties,"' Mitchell said.
They imaged each of the nine people thinking about the 58 different words, to create a kind of "average" image of a word.
"If I show you the brain images for two words, the main thing you notice is that they look pretty much alike. If you look at them for a while you might see subtle differences," Mitchell said.
"We have the program calculate the mean brain activity over all of the words that somebody has looked at. That gives us the average when somebody thinks about a word, and then we subtract that average out from all those images," Mitchell added.
Then the test came.
"After we train on the other 58 words, we can say 'Here are two new words you have not seen, celery and airplane."' The computer was asked to choose which brain image corresponded with which word.
The computer passed the test, predicting when a brain image was taken when a person thought about the word "celery" and when the assigned word was "airplane."
The next step is to study brain activity for phrases.
"If I say 'rabbit' or 'fast rabbit' or 'cuddly rabbit', those are very different ideas," Mitchell said.
"I want to basically use that as a kind of scaffolding for studying language processing in the brain."
Mitchell was surprised at how similar brain activity was among the nine volunteers, although the work was painstaking. For an MRI to work well, the patient must sit or lie very still for several minutes.
"It can be hard to focus," Mitchell said. "Somewhere in the middle of that their stomach growls. And all of sudden they think, 'I'm hungry -- oops.' It's not a controllable experiment."
=================================
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24890316/#storyContinued
A computer has been trained to "read" people's minds by looking at scans of their brains as they thought about specific words, researchers said on Thursday.
They hope their study, published in the journal Science, might lead to better understanding of how and where the brain stores information.
This might lead to better treatments for language disorders and learning disabilities, said Tom Mitchell of the Machine Learning Department at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, who helped lead the study.
"The question we are trying to get at is one people have been thinking about for centuries, which is: How does the brain organize knowledge?" Mitchell said in a telephone interview.
"It is only in the last 10 or 15 years that we have this way that we can study this question."
Mitchell's team used functional magnetic resonance imaging, a type of brain scan that can see real-time brain activity.
They calibrated the computer by having nine student volunteers think of 58 different words, while imaging their brain activity.
"We gave instructions to people where we would tell them, 'We are going to show you words and we would like you, when you see this word, to think about its properties,"' Mitchell said.
They imaged each of the nine people thinking about the 58 different words, to create a kind of "average" image of a word.
"If I show you the brain images for two words, the main thing you notice is that they look pretty much alike. If you look at them for a while you might see subtle differences," Mitchell said.
"We have the program calculate the mean brain activity over all of the words that somebody has looked at. That gives us the average when somebody thinks about a word, and then we subtract that average out from all those images," Mitchell added.
Then the test came.
"After we train on the other 58 words, we can say 'Here are two new words you have not seen, celery and airplane."' The computer was asked to choose which brain image corresponded with which word.
The computer passed the test, predicting when a brain image was taken when a person thought about the word "celery" and when the assigned word was "airplane."
The next step is to study brain activity for phrases.
"If I say 'rabbit' or 'fast rabbit' or 'cuddly rabbit', those are very different ideas," Mitchell said.
"I want to basically use that as a kind of scaffolding for studying language processing in the brain."
Mitchell was surprised at how similar brain activity was among the nine volunteers, although the work was painstaking. For an MRI to work well, the patient must sit or lie very still for several minutes.
"It can be hard to focus," Mitchell said. "Somewhere in the middle of that their stomach growls. And all of sudden they think, 'I'm hungry -- oops.' It's not a controllable experiment."
=================================
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24890316/#storyContinued
What is Web 2.0?^^
Web 2.0 is a term describing new trend in the use of WWW (World Wide Web) technology that people use after appearing internet. This term became notable after the first O’Reilly Media web 2.0conference in 2004. Although web 2.0 has various definitions, Tim O’Reilly regards that web 2.0 as business embracing the web as a platform and using its strengths.
After first O’Reilly’s presentation in web 2.0 conference, web 2.0 trends have been so actively evolved by so many frontiers. Recently presented in web 2.0 Korea conference and its event shows that the latest web 2.0 trends bring the keyword like social network, open platform, data portability, open ID, web applications, mash up and semantic web to us. The article from Forrest Research (April, 2008) also showed that web3D or webXD that contains virtual reality, augmented reality, and metaverse would be the next major internet wave instead of web 2.0. ^^
After first O’Reilly’s presentation in web 2.0 conference, web 2.0 trends have been so actively evolved by so many frontiers. Recently presented in web 2.0 Korea conference and its event shows that the latest web 2.0 trends bring the keyword like social network, open platform, data portability, open ID, web applications, mash up and semantic web to us. The article from Forrest Research (April, 2008) also showed that web3D or webXD that contains virtual reality, augmented reality, and metaverse would be the next major internet wave instead of web 2.0. ^^
Alcatel Talks Up Its Prospects to Holders
PARIS -- Alcatel-Lucent tried to reassure restive shareholders at its annual meeting that its long-term growth prospects were strong, despite the competitive pressures buffeting the telecommunications-equipment sector.
Associated Press
Alcatel-Lucent's Patricia Russo, at Friday's meeting, doesn't plan to leave.
The meeting, held here Friday, was the second since the merger in late 2006 of Alcatel SA of Paris and Lucent Technologies Corp. of Murray Hill, N.J.
Alcatel-Lucent's track record since the merger has been marred by repeated sales and profit warnings, with executives struggling to integrate the two firms as the market for telecom equipment went through a period of intense change and price wars. Chief Executive Officer Patricia Russo and Chairman Serge Tchuruk have been criticized for the deteriorating profitability of the firm, which has seen its market capitalization halved since the merger.
Despite the continuing problems, Mr. Tchuruk sought to reassure shareholders that the longer-term picture was bright. "The board of your company remains confident because the telecoms business contains a considerable margin for growth, which is being masked by current market conditions," he said. However, he acknowledged that the telecom-equipment sector was "going through a new crisis" in which prices were falling steeply, offsetting the gains in sales volume in recent years.
Alcatel-Lucent reaffirmed that its sales of telecom equipment would be flat this year, because the economic slump is prompting its major customers, telecom operators, to spend less to upgrade networks.
Shareholders approved a resolution put forth by the company that made it easier to remove Mr. Tchuruk and Ms. Russo. Previously, the board had to have a two-thirds majority to remove either of the top two executives -- a provision enacted after the merger that was intended to ensure management stability. Now, the board will go back to needing a simple majority vote to remove the CEO or chairman.
Speculation over whether the resolution would bring about Ms. Russo's exit has helped push Alcatel-Lucent's share price up about 6.8% since the start of the week. But Ms. Russo has consistently said she has no plans to leave.
"If half the board was just waiting for this resolution to vote against me, I can assure you I'd have left a long time ago," Ms. Russo said in an interview this week with French weekly Challenges.
Analysts have noted that even a new CEO would struggle to fix the structural issues facing the company. Shareholders, some decidedly unhappy with the share-price performance, peppered management with questions at the occasionally rowdy meeting. Mohammed Karim Lahjouji, an individual shareholder who said he had lost €100,000 ($155,000) as Alcatel-Lucent's share price dropped, railed against the management: "I don't understand your ethics, I don't understand your performance. It's scandalous, I've had enough."
Shareholders also approved a resolution linking Ms. Russo's departure package to the company's performance. The resolution calls for Ms. Russo to receive two years of remuneration upon her departure, including fixed and variable pay, and accelerates vesting of her stock options in the company if Alcatel-Lucent meets certain targets.
Write to Jethro Mullen at jethro.mullen@dowjones.com and Leila Abboud at leila.abboud@wsj.com
Associated Press
Alcatel-Lucent's Patricia Russo, at Friday's meeting, doesn't plan to leave.
The meeting, held here Friday, was the second since the merger in late 2006 of Alcatel SA of Paris and Lucent Technologies Corp. of Murray Hill, N.J.
Alcatel-Lucent's track record since the merger has been marred by repeated sales and profit warnings, with executives struggling to integrate the two firms as the market for telecom equipment went through a period of intense change and price wars. Chief Executive Officer Patricia Russo and Chairman Serge Tchuruk have been criticized for the deteriorating profitability of the firm, which has seen its market capitalization halved since the merger.
Despite the continuing problems, Mr. Tchuruk sought to reassure shareholders that the longer-term picture was bright. "The board of your company remains confident because the telecoms business contains a considerable margin for growth, which is being masked by current market conditions," he said. However, he acknowledged that the telecom-equipment sector was "going through a new crisis" in which prices were falling steeply, offsetting the gains in sales volume in recent years.
Alcatel-Lucent reaffirmed that its sales of telecom equipment would be flat this year, because the economic slump is prompting its major customers, telecom operators, to spend less to upgrade networks.
Shareholders approved a resolution put forth by the company that made it easier to remove Mr. Tchuruk and Ms. Russo. Previously, the board had to have a two-thirds majority to remove either of the top two executives -- a provision enacted after the merger that was intended to ensure management stability. Now, the board will go back to needing a simple majority vote to remove the CEO or chairman.
Speculation over whether the resolution would bring about Ms. Russo's exit has helped push Alcatel-Lucent's share price up about 6.8% since the start of the week. But Ms. Russo has consistently said she has no plans to leave.
"If half the board was just waiting for this resolution to vote against me, I can assure you I'd have left a long time ago," Ms. Russo said in an interview this week with French weekly Challenges.
Analysts have noted that even a new CEO would struggle to fix the structural issues facing the company. Shareholders, some decidedly unhappy with the share-price performance, peppered management with questions at the occasionally rowdy meeting. Mohammed Karim Lahjouji, an individual shareholder who said he had lost €100,000 ($155,000) as Alcatel-Lucent's share price dropped, railed against the management: "I don't understand your ethics, I don't understand your performance. It's scandalous, I've had enough."
Shareholders also approved a resolution linking Ms. Russo's departure package to the company's performance. The resolution calls for Ms. Russo to receive two years of remuneration upon her departure, including fixed and variable pay, and accelerates vesting of her stock options in the company if Alcatel-Lucent meets certain targets.
Write to Jethro Mullen at jethro.mullen@dowjones.com and Leila Abboud at leila.abboud@wsj.com
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