Re: WATPA: FW: Internet TV to Debut in October (The Korea Times) and other matters

From: Maurice J. Freedman <mitchjf@gmail.com>
Date: Mon Aug 21 2006 - 23:11:49 EDT

Norm,

Funny you mention this today--I am sitting at a PC at the American Library
Association booth at the annual IFLA conference in Seoul. (IFLA--Int'l
Federation of Library Associations & Institutions.)

fyi My supposedly int'l Cingular phone will not work in Japan or Korea (my
first stop was Tokyo.) Cingular said that the networks here are too
sophisticated for Cingular's phones. Interestingly the phone I rented here
in Seoul took my Cingular SIM card. Now the Korean phone has my cell phone
number and works beautifully.

I wanted to buy a phone here, but they apparently are in the range of $550 -
$600 (anecdotally from Korean friends). The phone plays video, has the
Seoul subway map on it, and all kinds of options I have yet to explore. I
took a bunch of photos--the phone has a flash you can turn on or off--and
it can play them back as a slide show. You pick from about half-a-dozen
different dissolves or leave it at no dissolve.

If any of you haven't been to Korea I recommend it strongly. The growth
here is unbelievable. And of course the technology utilization is great.

Lastly, at the electronic shopping centers in Tokyo (Akihabara) and Seoul
(forgot the name) the price of equipment is the same as or more expensive
than the same equipment in the U.S. I fell in love with a new SONY
11.x" notebook
(under 3 lbs. with a DVD burner, 80GB disk & 1GB memory). It cost more in
Tokyo & Seoul than it does in the U.S. Also the new Canon HD digicam
reviewed a couple of weeks ago in the NY Times isn't available in Tokyo or
Seoul.

A Danish librarian mentioned to a colleague that in Denmark they were going
to make the public library available via cell phone. My guess is that some
or all of the functionality of the library's web site will be accessible via
the mobile service. I will try to learn more about this--it could be a
pretty exciting idea, especially one that would establish another strong tie
between the public library and the public's technology utilization.

And so it goes from the Asian front.

mitch
Maurice J. Freedman, MLS, PhD
Library Consultant
Publisher, The U*N*A*B*A*S*H*E*D Librarian,
the 'how I run my library good' letter
Past-President, American Library Association
www.mjfreedman.org
www.unabashedlibrarian.com

25-312 Barker Street
Mount Kisco NY 10549
mitchjf@gmail.com
http://www.mjfreedman.org
1-914-241-3451 (voice)
1-914-471-5850 (cell)
1-914-244-0941 (fax)
**********************************************************
"I'll be seeing you, in all the old familiar places..."

On 8/21/06, Norm Jacknis <norm@jacknis.com> wrote:
>
> A little taste of things to come here?
>
> ----------------------------
>
> *Internet TV to Debut in October*
>
> By Kim Tae-gyu
> Staff Reporter, Korea Times, 8/16/06
>
> South Koreans will be able to get the glimpse of Internet protocol (IP) TV
> soon as a trial run of the Web-based audio, visual services are due in
> October. Wrapping up a long-standing turf war, the Ministry of Information
> and Communication Wednesday agreed with the Korean Broadcasting Commission
> to jointly start IP TV late this year.
>
> ``We aim to designate consortiums that will take charge of the trial by
> the end of next month. Then the pilot run will possibly begin in early
> October,'' said Kim Woo-seok, an official at the broadcasting commission.
> ``For the early take-up of potential-rich IPTV, we decided to hook up with
> the information ministry. We will check technical viability of the services
> through the envisioned trial,'' Kim said. Multiple consortiums, which will
> provide the Internet-based TV at hundreds of households each, are expected
> to be chosen to be part of the pilot run.
>
> IPTV refers to packet-based real-time broadcasting on the Internet, which
> promises much more possibilities for end users compared to traditional video
> services. For example, IPTV has no channel limitations as long as the
> network doesn't suffer overloads and it enjoys global coverage.
>
> In quest of new growth phase, Korea's high-speed Internet carriers like KT
> and Hanaro Telecom has pulled out all the stops to launch the Web TV
> services. Wary of the big-sized telecom companies' undercutting their
> profits, however, broadcasters claimed they must undertake the promising
> IPTV and the row has held back from the compelling offerings.
>
> ``We welcome the agreement. We will take part in the test run and offer
> new features that TV watchers could not enjoy in the past,'' KT vice
> president Shim Ju-kyo said. ``We hope regulatory issues will be addressed
> this year and we will be able to commercially launch IPTV early next year,''
> Shim said.
>
> http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200608/kt2006081617322210230.htm
>
>

-- 
mitch
Maurice J. Freedman, MLS, PhD
Library Consultant
Publisher, The U*N*A*B*A*S*H*E*D Librarian,
the 'how I run my library good' letter
Past-President, American Library Association
www.mjfreedman.org
www.unabashedlibrarian.com
25-312 Barker Street
Mount Kisco NY 10549
mitchjf@gmail.com
http://www.mjfreedman.org
1-914-241-3451 (voice)
1-914-471-5850 (cell)
1-914-244-0941 (fax)
**********************************************************
"I'll be seeing you, in all the old familiar places..."
Received on Mon Aug 21 23:16:25 2006

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