Korean Blog: Gadget Technology

Nintendo's Wii Fit Aims to Keep Americans Fit

2008-04-15T16:36:00.000-07:00

I am not really that into gaming but I am definitly looking forward to Wii Fit and any similar games. My favorite game for the Wii so far is Wii Sports, hands down. The Wii was bilt for active/sporty games and thats where it excels.
Nintendo has finally anounced the price for Wii fit in North America. The game which includes the Wii fit excercise board will be available for $89.99, which is not too bad considering how much of a blockbuster hit the game should be.

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Geek Tourism Coming Soon

2008-04-13T16:41:00.000-07:00

The mainstream media has already began to dabble with the idea of tourism tailored towards geeks, its only a matter of time before a major travel publication picks up on the trend. Another example of this unique travel concept was touched on (although rather poorly) by Discover Magazine.
They looked at a number of attractions that may appeal to people that some would classify as geeks. For example, the Ice Hotel, Astronomers Inn, Jules Undersea Lodge,Ell Bulli, uWink, Forty Six, Croft Institute, Miracle Of Science Bar & Grill, Ein-Stein Cafe and Pub (Toronto).
Good intentions, but ther examples were lacking.

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Where's Waldo For Google Earth

2008-04-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

A student in Vancouver, Canada has created the first of what will hopefully be many giant rooftop Waldo's. The idea is that Waldo's will spring up in major cities around the world, and after being photographed by Google Earth satellites everyone will be able to take place in a giant worldwide Where's Waldo hunt.
The artist hopes other strangers across the world will build their own Waldo's to make the game truly global. The art piece asked the question, "is Google God?", the answer of course is no, but its a nice way to put an artistic justification on building a giant Waldo.

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A Garbage Dump In Space?

2008-04-11T12:54:00.000-07:00

The European Space station has released simulation photos that give a perspective on how full of junk the earths atmosphere has become. There are over 6,000 pieces of space junk in earths orbit, and only 800 of those are functional satellites. The problem is going to get a lot worse unless more precautions and action is taken to limit the amount of space junk.
While we may not need to worry about bloating out the sun with our satellites, the space debris travels at extremely high speeds. If the debris impacts a space shuttle or satellite they can cause a lot of damage and possibly a loss of life.

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OCZ's Neural Impulse Actuator: The Brain Mouse

2008-04-09T17:28:00.000-07:00

OCZ's Neural Impulse Actuator(NIA) is placed on the users forehead and uses a combination of muscle movements, eye movements,and EEG readings to work its mind reading magic.
The device is mainly meant for to be used with games, and is said to take some getting used to. Its not as simple as just placing the device on your head and being able to have the same range of motion as a standard as a regular 20th century mouse. After a few hours training most users should feel fairly comfortable with the device, and eventually the response time should be slightly better then your current mouse.
OCZ's Neural Impulse Actuator is designed for processors with multiple cores and will run you about $300.

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Nintendo's Flash Focus Improves Eyesight

2008-04-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

When I first read about Nintendo's Flash Focus game for the Nintendo DS that claims to improve eyesight I was a little skeptical. However, it was recently reported that MLB White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski used the Flash Focus game regularly during the off season and claimed it greatly improved his hitting. He backed it up early into the seasoning with two home runs and a batting average well above 500.
People are always skeptical of the claims these Brain Training, or Flash Focus games make because there are no clinical studies to back it up. Although one man claimed the game improved his batting it is still not 100 percent credible. I think in the future game companies will do more to have a independent clinical study done on the merits of their self improvement games as this style of gaming becomes more important.

Asterisk Disrupts a $7 Billion Dollar Business

2008-04-06T09:46:00.000-07:00

Phone switch software Asterisk has gone up against such industry heavy weights as CISCO and Nortel in the seven billion dollar a year PBX corporate telecom systems. The PBX systems usually higher switchboards, voice mail, and other key phone functions for medium to large businesses.
The entire industry was turned upside down by 23 year old Mark Spencer who coded the Asterisk PBX software for his own company Digium. Where the big companies used to snicker at his efforts they are not laughing any more. With Asterisk's open source model the platform has rapidly expanded and had many application built around the service. That has the corporate companies sweating as their billion dollar business evaporates before their eyes.

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Sony and Fossil Watch & The Shocking Adjectives Used To Describe It

2008-04-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

Sony and watch design house Fossil have teamed up to create a Bluetooth watch. The watch uses the Bluetooth to notify you when you have an incoming call or a text message. You can use the watch to stop your phone from ringing, or to reject the call, the watch can also control the phones mp3 player. The phone retails in Europe for around $380.
The most amazing thing about this watch in reviewers and journalists description of its appearance. The words "sexy", "stylish", and "fashionable" have all been used to describe the watch. Are we the only ones who see a $10 drug store Timex when we look at this watch?

Sony Mylo: The Diamond In The Rough

2008-04-03T10:48:00.000-07:00

The Sony Mylo (My Life Online) is defined as a personal communicator. The device was launched September 15th, 2006. The communicator features a QWERTY keyboard, 2.4 inch LCD screen, and 1GB internal memory and a memory stick pro duo slot.

The Mylo starts to get really attractive when you look at the services it supports. As well as full web browsing on an Opera browser the Mylo handles; Skype, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger. The Mylo also supports MP3, WMA, MPEG4,AAC, anf JPG playback.

Technology wise the Mylo packs some punch, and arguably has a slick design. So why has it been such a failure? The Sony Mylo was originally priced at $299 and since its launch has dropped to $199, which in our opinion is still $50 too expensive. Sony Mylo, a diamond in the rough, just like a diamond needlessly over priced.

The Sentient World War Games

2008-04-01T07:30:00.000-07:00

Ever think you might exist in an alternate universe? Well maybe your not as crazy as others think, the Department of Defense (DOD)is working on a war game simulator that ultimately aims to recreate every individual person on the planet. The software wants to know how long you can go without food or water, how you will react to the DOD's propaganda, and basically probe your breaking points.

So far their models are fairly limited and only work in high priority areas such as Iraq and Afghanistan. The system has limited capabilities for 60 other countries including China. The system

The simulations take in data such as economic indicators, news stories, census data, climactic events, and combine them with military intelligence to give the most accurate intelligence to the military.

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Bug Labs Sells Out!

2008-03-28T17:56:00.000-07:00

No Bug Labs has not sold out to some large electronics corporation, rather they have sold out their initial inventory. This is pretty impressive, until you see there is no sales number given, so their initial inventory could be anywhere between 1 and infinite. The first offering of products was targeted towards developers to build a solid base for the 'do it yourself' platform before it is workable for the general public.
At first I was not blown away with the Bug Lab concept, but after seeing a video of their platform in action at this years CES I changed my mind. The device has all sorts of interesting functions that can not currently be done with most consumer electronics, a GPS tag for photos being one such example. With the companies plan for up to 80 more Bug modules the Bug Devices are showing strong potential.

Korean Music Video Faces Lawsuit From Final Fantasy Creator

2008-03-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

Joystiq is reporting that Korean recording artist Ivy has lost the lawsuit brought against her for the Korean music video Temptation of Sonta. While watching the video you might get a strong case of deja vu despite having never seen the video. This is because Ivy's camp has taken 80% of the plot, characters, and outfits.
Perhaps the music video did not do too well financially because the courts ruling only awarded around $17,000 USD to Square. In the end its better then nothing, and will hopefully teach Ivy that by claiming to be an 'artist' she is generally required to be creative and come up with ideas of her own.

Three Years Of The PSP

2008-03-18T14:22:00.000-07:00

PSP Fanboy has put together an excellent slide show looking at the various achievements and events surrounding the PSP. The slide show marks the third year anniversary of the PSP's launch.
I picked up the PSP the first day it was released. At the time there was nothing like it available, portable media on such a generous screen for a reasonable price was unheard of at the time. As the months went on and the novelty began to wear off I used my PSP less and less. I am not a huge gamer, I mostly purchased the PSP cause I liked it and wanted a portable media player. I did end up purchasing a couple UMD's and converted a couple videos to watch on it, but I never did utilize the system to is full potential.

The Sony PMX-M70 PMP, Slick Design Serial Number Name

2008-03-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

One could spend days pondering why Sony would give such a well designed and beautiful PMP player such a generic serial number of a name, but then again Sony rarely does get to creative in the name department. Considering this is a China only release, the name would not have been comprehensible to me anyways so on to the facts.

The PMX-M70 sports a 4.3 inch LCD, handles MPEG4, MP3, WMA, and ACC, 8GB internal flash memory, and built in speakers. Unfortunately after sleuthing around a little the PMP does not have a China only price. People have reported seeing the device available in Shanghai for around $300.

Zipit Wireless Messenger 2

2008-03-09T10:42:00.000-07:00

The Zipit Wireless Messenger allows users to use online text messaging services such as AOL online, Yahoo Messenger, and MSN Messenger while they are away from their computer. The small portable texting device works with any wireless network the user has access too. The Zipit also functions as an MP3 player and can play picture slide shows.

The Zipit Messenger has a QWERTY keyboard, high resolution LCD color screen, and an SD slot to expand the memory. The retail price is usually around $150. The Zipit is similar to the Sony Mylo, but one of the things it is really lacking in voice chat. The price point would be rather attractive if the device had some Skype functionality, but I suspect this is geared towards a younger dare I say less sophisticated teenage crowd who would probably stay away from real voice conversations only.

If you have a pre teen or teenage kid who permanently occupies your home computer to juggle several text message conversations at once the Zipit might be a great low cost alternative to buy them a computer, or never using your own.

23andMe: "Genetics Just Got (Way Too) Personal"

2008-03-02T10:50:00.000-08:00

23andMe has received a lot of attention lately for decoding individuals genomes for low prices. Also that fact that it has received funding from Google and one of the co-founders is married to one of Google's co-founders makes the company a hot topic these days.

For the low price of $999 23andMe sends you a tube which must be filled with saliva and sent back to their lab. There they will decode your genome and provide you with some nice software that will tell you all sorts of things you want to know, such as who your ancestors are, whether you take your looks from your mother or father, and how you compare to other people you know. They also tell you some things you might not want to know, such as what health problems you are likely to suffer or die from.

So far so good, but what do they do to protect your genetic information? Even if there are no names attached to the genetic information 23andMe will have control over a database that insurance companies will pay top dollar for. The real profits for this company will not come from decoding genomes, but from selling this information to insurance companies, who will use it to deny you coverage or raise your rates.

Welcome To Hallyu Technology Notepad

2008-01-15T02:56:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Hallyu Tech! My name is Henry Finn and I am a 3rd year student at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Canada. I am majoring in Economics and minoring in East Asian studies. Currently I am talking a year off from my economics degree to build on my Korean language skills. Currently I am studying at Soonchunhyang University in Asan, South Korea. If you want to learn more about my life in Korea check out my personal blog: Almost Urban.
I am passionate about technology, but like most people I don't care for tech sites that assault my brain with page after page of new cell phone releases and irrelevant Apple patent filings. I hope that Hallyu Tech will bring a more interesting and thoughtful approach to new tech, tech related lifestyles, and tech trends. If you have not noticed yet I have gradually replaces the word 'technology' with a more manageable short form 'tech'.
Once again diverging from the mainstream tech news the content of Hallyu Tech will move in sync with my geographic location. Thus altering the trends, trade shows, and lifestyles being posted.
Whether you are here looking for the newest tech, engaging ideas, or pictures of the Phillips girls from KES, I welcome you to throw down a bookmark, comment, or kick back and enjoy the free content.

Relaunch Coming Soon With A Move To www.HallyuTech.net

2008-01-03T16:48:00.000-08:00

As many astute readers may have noticed, the site has not been updated for awhile. Believe me it is not due to a lack of content, as usual finding some spare time is the major obstacle.
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes or HP rising from Carly Fiorina's management Hallyu Technology is coming back bigger and better then ever. Following my first CES exhibition the site will officially re launch with its own domain, a professional design, and the most interesting things ever read by either man or machine.

Welcome To Hallyu Technology!

2007-05-10T00:52:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Hallyu Technology! Our blog provides high quality news on the South Korean high tech industry and products. Please take some time to have a look at the blog, our videos, and the sites introduction.

Mobile QWERTY Text Input Solution Aims To Replace Traditional QWERTY Keyboard

2007-02-19T19:39:00.000-08:00

A great new invention from a Korean company that aims to redesign the worlds keyboards. The QWERTY layout has never been the most efficient, it is based on the old type writer layout. The company has designed a layout that makes typing much faster...that is after you have spent countless hours learning the new layout.

More Video: iPod Input Motion Input UMPC Input Gun Input
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JohnChow.com Review

2007-02-16T13:46:00.000-08:00

John Chow is the mind behind The Tech Zone, a blogger, a dot com mogul, and best of all a Canadian. In between partying hard and sampling Vancouvers finest cuisine John Chow finds time to publish a blog that bestows the knowledge he has collected over the years to the masses of hopeful webmasters and bloggers that aim to make their living online. It is a pleasure to see what innovative ideas he will come up with, such as his link exchange program.
JohnChow.com covers a range of subjects from building a websites content to optimizing it's advertisements. Rather then coasting on his Tech Zone fame John Chow discloses his traffic, RSS Feed, and advertisement revenue proving beyond a doubt that his methods of optimizing a website will work. He has also managed to build an impressive audience despite being unjustly banned from Digg after his articles were marked as spam.
John Chow's goal is to break into the Technorati top 100, as of this writing he is ranked in the top 400 and climbing fast. I have set up a bet at Gottabet that despite his best efforts John Chow will not reach the Technorati Top 100 by March. Feel free to join in on the fun , and wager some peanuts on John Chows goal.
I would recommend John Chow's blog to anyone who is interested in building their sites traffic, optimizing their advertising income, or hanging out with the 'in crowd'.