Source: Telecoms Korea

DON’T CALL US A PHONE COMPANY

DON’T CALL IT A PHONE

IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Entertainment and education services, namely providing information and entertainment programming and information via telecommunications networks, wireless communications networks, global communications networks, information service networks and data networks

IC 038. US 100 101 104. G & S: Communications services, namely transmission of voice, audio content, video content, visual images and data by telecommunications networks, wireless communication networks, global communications networks, information service networks and data networks; providing multiple user access to a global computer network; email services; messaging services; providing access to interactive information for conducting commercial transactions, financial transactions; providing access to interactive information in a broad array of fields

IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Software programs for use in wireless communication devices for creation and delivery of voice, visual images, audio content, video content and data; software for the transmission of voice, visual images, audio content, video content and data; software for conducting commercial and financial transactions; software for providing access to advertising, news, information and entertainment; computer game software; word processing software, global mapping software; search engine software; software utilities; Consumer electronic devices, including PDAs, telephones, headsets for telephones, computers and cameras

An ambitious joint mobile phone venture between Internet service provider EarthLink and Korean giant SK Telecom has renamed itself Helio, in hopes of creating a new brand aimed at high-tech hipsters.

Source: CNet

The Los Angeles-based company, formed earlier this year with seed capital of $220 million from each partner, is creating a new high-end phone service targeted at a young, big-spending demographic.Headed by EarthLink founder Sky Dayton, the company says it’s trying to bring the culture of phone use in South Korea–where networks are more advanced and subscribers spend far more time and money on multimedia and entertainment features–to the United States.

“We’re really behind the times when it comes to wireless in the United States,” Dayton said. “I think a lot of people are tired of waiting.”

With fashion-conscious phones, a simple pricing menu, and even a few flagship stores planned, Helio seems to hope to become the Apple Computer of the phone world. But it’s launching into what could be an extraordinarily difficult market.

The joint venture is what’s known in the mobile phone world as an MVNO, or mobile virtual network operator. That means that it won’t actually own cellular towers or networks itself, and will instead buy time and access to the high-speed networks of Sprint Wireless and Verizon Wireless.

A number of other companies are doing the same thing, largely in hopes of targeting a narrow market segment that the big phone carriers aren’t reaching. Disney Mobile wants families, for example; ESPN is after the young sports-watching male; while Virgin Mobile targets the teenage audience that shops in its music stores.

That ongoing rush into the market has worried some analysts, who see signs of a repeat of what happened in the wired telecom world in the mid- to late-1990s. In that market, many small alternative phone companies popped up to offer phone or high-speed Internet service competing with the phone giants, but virtually all vanished a few years later.

“I think we will have a few that survive, and others will go by the wayside,” said mobile industry analyst Iain Gillott, founder of iGillott Research. “We already have a lot of people going after that high-income, high-tech, comfortable-with-gadgets group.”

What may help set Helio apart from the crowd, despite its new brand name, is the alliance with SK Telecom. That company has dominated the South Korean market, which is already one of the most advanced wireless regions in the world, introducing high-speed data, gaming, streaming music and other services long before peers elsewhere in the world.

Part of Helios’ draw will be to introduce advanced Korean phones into the U.S. market, which has generally been a year or two behind Asian markets in terms of handset capabilities and design, Dayton said. The phones will use the high-speed data networks, called EV-DO, operated by Sprint and Verizon.

That won’t come cheaply, of course. Helio is clear about who it’s not targeting–bargain shoppers, pre-paid customers and older subscribers, for instance–and executives say they have closely studied the consuming and lifestyle habits of tech-savvy late teens and twenty-somethings.

“They have great resources, and they are going after a target segment that I think will be profitable for them,” said Julie Ask, an analyst at Jupiter Research.

Much will lie in the details of the company’s service, which is slated to launch in spring 2006, however. For now, Dayton said only that Helio would be based around simple, easy-to-understand plans, and was aiming to fit more fully into high-tech lifestyles than the average phone does today.

The i-Kids Service helps parents protect the safety of their children through the Global Positioning System(GPS) and Cellular Network. You will be able to identify the current location of your children and their movements when an emergency situation occurs. You are also allowed to use the ‘Safety Zone’ service that immediately gives you a warning message if our children leave the safety zone set by you.

General Functions (Call and Text Messaging)

Children are allowed to have conversations with people by pressing four emergency number buttons on their cellular phone (text messages can be received only)

GPS Location Tracking Function

Lets you find the current location of your children through the Location Tracking service via an advanced satellite.

Simultaneous Emergency Call

When an emergency situation occurs, this service allows children to have simultaneous conversations with designated people by pressing the emergency button on their cellular phone. In addition, you can receive their current location information in a text message (You need to designate and register the phone number previously).

Children Finding

The current location of children can be identified by using their parents’ cellular phone, or through http://i.nate.com. When you search for their location via GPS, the exact location can be found. If you search through base stations, an accidental error can occur in finding the location of children.

Safety Zone

If you designate the allowed movement area for your children as a Safety Zone, you are automatically informed if your children leave the safety zone.

• When your children leave the safety zone, Safety Zone service transmits a text message to you twice at an interval of ten minutes. When your children leave the safety zone further than 1Km, the service informs you through ARS.
• If you subscribe to the ‘Automatic Location Information Service’, the service informs you of the location of your children eight times, at one hour intervals, everyday (Monday through Friday).

Movement Route Detection

You can identify your children’s movement routes for 48 hours. However, the service is not automatically available during weekends.

Automatic Location Display

When your children make calls through an i-Kids phone to your cellular phone, their location is displayed on your cellular phone (This service displays the location based on village and town through a base station).

Features include: tri-mode, color display, voice and text messaging, speaker phone, and voice activated dialing.

EarthLink Wireless is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO). MVNOs are wireless companies that have their own brand, marketing, retail outlets, and phone offerings, but use another operator’s infrastructure (towers and network) instead of building and operating their own.

For the Treo 650, the providing network carrier is Sprint, but the service provider is EarthLink Wireless. In other words, the coverage map is the same as Sprint, but EarthLink Wireless handles all the billing and customer support.

Some sites are offering the Treo 650 with these plans at $69 after rebate.

You can make a call or send instant messages while watching DMB. It also enables you to watch DMB with TV screen with TV output. It has MP3 play buttons on the outside of the device, so you don’t’ need to open the folder.

Innovative horizontal LCD

Samsung introduced its innovative horizontal LCD design last year with the Samsung V500 and is expanding this design trend for mobile phones, especially DMB phones. With the B250, users can make phone calls or send and receive text messages even while watching TV. The DMB broadcast received by the phone can also be relayed to a regular TV. The Samsung B250 phone has external buttons that allow users to play MP3 files without opening the phone. The 128-polyphonic sound chip has been built in to provide exquisite ring tones.

Samsung B250 phone - 2 megapixel camera

The Samsung B250 is also equipped with a 2 megapixel camera and the photo editing function has been upgraded. This allows the user to change facial expressions on photos such as turning a smiling face into one showing anger. Various other effects are also possible such as changing the picture frame design. The File Viewer function provides access to Microsoft Office or PDF files, and a 330,000-word dictionary is included in the software. The Samsung B250 also supports external memory of 256MB, IrDA, and mobile banking capabilities for user convenience. The phone is available in Korea at around USD 700.

About Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2004 parent company sales of US$55.2 billion and net income of US$10.3 billion. Employing approximately 113,000 people in over 90 offices in 48 countries, the company consists of five main business units: Digital Appliance Business, Digital Media Business, LCD Business, Semiconductor Business and Telecommunication Network Business. Recognized as one of the fastest growing brands, Samsung Electronics is the world’s largest producer of color monitors, color TVs, memory chips and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit the samsung website.