TechnoKimchi

So again, one of the biggest reasons I might want to buy iPhone 4 is, obviously, it's sleek design. Apple has done it again. Now, the iPhone 4 vs Galaxy S is a hot topic in Korea and there's been many chatters online.

Now, to my surprise, there's been speculation that iPhone 4's design actually came from Korea. It probably makes you go "what?" But I must say "Haha, brilliant." to the claim. It's just funny; it's funny not because it's stupid, but because it's creative. Oh, how I love the creativity of the Korean Internet netizens.

Here's the evidence for the claim: a picture taken from the Korean subway station's entry gate:

DeathMatch: iPhone 4 vs Galaxy S!!!!

... or.. at least that's the title around which Samsung tried to create a buzz. Samsung's Galaxy S was officially introduced to public only 10 HRS after iPhone 4 was.

What a coincidence!

You search for "Galaxy S" on Naver news/blogs, pretty much every single article was written with the title "iPhone 4 vs Galaxy S." Now, somewhat sadly, iPhone creates a distinctly bigger buzz in Korea; so either you search for 'iPhone 4' or 'Galaxy S', you'll end up learning something about Galaxy S. I had a brief Twitter discussion with some other Korean twitterers, but many think the same. It seems like Samsung "used" iPhone for its own publicity. Especially, given the fact Samsung has a huge influence over any major media outlets in Korea and that Samsung probably sent out tons of press releases yesterday, it's quite apparent piggybacking was Samsung's strategy for Galaxy S debut.

Or Google's. Google's Andy Rubin, the father of Android, was also at the conference, calling Galaxy S "the best of the best."

One thing to notice: the iPhone 4 vs Galaxy S battle, in my opinion, doesn't count as a legit one because one is more about culture and content while the other is more about hardware. It's kind of like comparing a Korean bear against an American ferret. Yes, they'll be competing against each other in the market like a bear and a ferret would inside a zoo (for attention), but most of the articles miss the point. It's pointless to compare the two side by side because they don't give the same experience at all.

 I personally hope both do well; more "good" options, all the better for us. As for me, I'm probably sticking with Nexus One, set to come out in about 2 weeks. It's expected the phone is nearly zero-priced with 2-yr plan and will be priceless with its Mifi Hotspot feature, as I already own an iPod touch and in the midst of saving money up for an iPad.

Or should I wait and get iPhone 4 and a Samsung Galaxy Tab?

Too many choices; too much happiness; too much headache.

So, just to jump into the wild frenzy after WWDC 2010 and the introduction of iPhone 4, I checked out the official iPhone 4 introduction video here. Again, what an amazing phone! Gotta love Apple.

Except for one thing that caught my attention: the FaceTime feature. Basically, it's a video calling feature, using Wi-Fi connections (I'm sure telcos won't allow it on 3G networks) The video allows quite a bit of time to introducing the feature, almost making me think "is this the biggest leap this year?" Check out the background music; it sounds like Apple now wants to be a family commodity, giving me quite a bit of the Microsoft-ish chill.

Anyhow, the reason I'm talking about Facetime on TechnoKimchi is simple. We've been doing that for a very long time in Korea and it has not turned out what everyone had expected. Conclusion: not too many people use it; and when used, it's mostly for different purposes--that is a tool for honesty probing. Like when housewives want to make sure their husbands aren't actually cheating on them, when they tell them "I'm staying late at work today, honey" and the wives go, "yeah, let's have a video talk. Honey, I wanna see your face", which actually means "You're guilty until you're proven to be innocent with no girls around you through this very real-time video call!"

As much as family is supposed to be built around love and trust, we're living in a world where trust often fails. Parents call upon their children to make sure they're studying right. Husbands and wives. Oh, this one will hurt: bosses and employees. Ouch.

Here's the transcript of Scott Forstall talking about what kind of family value Facetime will bring about:

I'm not sure. Maybe video calling used for honesty probing might pertain only to the Korean market. I hope so. But, not only it feels strange to see Apple trying to project itself as such a Microsoft-ish family-friendly brand, but also it was quite interesting how it gave even more meaning to FaceTime than retina display.

All in all, it's Apple and everyone loves it. Can't wait to see iPhone come out next month in Korea. Yes, South Korea was on the list!

(Oh, by the way, the satire above was for a good joke. I was just having fun with it =)

I predicted back in February that Apple will soar in Korea while Google will not in 2010. If you read various reports, I was pretty right on the nail. Literally, Apple is still soaring while Google is not. Now a question: then, which global brands do well in Korea and which ones don't?

Louis Vuitton. BMW. Apple. Chanel. Starbucks. Nike. In Korea, they are wanted.

Google. Walmart. Colgate. Sorry, no room for you, Mr. global giants.

What's the difference? Why do some global brands do so well while others simply miserably fail? I just came across an article last week that Google barely claimed 2.5% search market share in Korea, happily surpassing Yahoo! Korea for the first time (Yahoo! Korea marked 2.4% market share) Walmart went out of business. The majority of people in Korea don't even know what brand "Colgate" is.

While this might be completely oversimplified, here's my answer to the question: the ones in the first group make you look g-o-o-d. When you wear them or consume their products/services, you feel g-o-o-d. You feel even upgraded. Especially, to other people.

In Korean culture, which gives lots of weight and value to interdependence as well as harmony with others, your relationships matter more than anything. Most of the time, people just wanna look good to others. It's not just outer appearance I'm talking about, but also your "social status." You want to look good only if you can actually look "BETTER" than others. It's rather difficult to find Korean native brands in this industry sector where Korean brands do tremendously well. Korean brands, somehow, can't exert as much "class" power to Korean consumers. Many Korean brands in these industries even try to hide that they're Korean companies.

What about Google, Walmart and Colgate? Replace them with Naver, Emart, and Perio. What's the difference? These are brands for your everyday life and actually living it. Now, Korean people have our our own ways of living life; food, apartments, cars, streets, grocery shopping experience, etc. After all, this is a country with 5000 years of history. It's pretty darn difficult for global brands to penetrate into the more "real" lifestyles of Korean people because their global edges can't be precisely customized just to fit Korean consumers' tastes. When it's about living life, people want something that's "just about right."

Now, the dichotomy on global brands brings up an interesting question to the tech world: How will Android phones fare in Korea? We all know how Apple has swept through the Korean smartphone market and has generated some wild wakeup calls across in the entire industry. Now, with Google mightily struggling, does Android have any chance at all?

Possibly yes because Samsung and SKT are behind. It was KT that launched iPhone in Korea; ever since then, SKT has formed a strategic alliance with Samsung (both no.1 in Korea) to start an Android-based smartphone war in Korea. Samsung has already come out with Galaxy A and is coming out wit Galaxy S soon.

A new chapter in history? We'll see. Samsung is one of the best localized brands in Korea while Google is not. How would the hybrid work? I don't know.

Actually, I'm open to discussion here. What do you guys think?

It was KT, the no.2 mobile carrier in Korea, that launched iPhone 2 months ago. Obviously, SKT needed counterpart smartphones of its own and decided to launch 15 Android phones in 2010 alone. The Asia-adapted model of Motorola's Droid, named MOTOROI, was the first Android phone introduced in Korea. Today, Samsung finally made an announcement about Korea's second Android phone.

Samsung had already launched 2 Android phones in the U.S last year: Galaxy and Behold 2. In the new model, Samsung completely localized the product for Korean consumers. What message do I get out of this? Samsung IS indeed very serious about the smartphone market. Samsung wants the smartphone phenomenon to happen in Korea.

Samsung's Omnia sold more than iPhone in January. Hey, does that mean Samsung easily beat Apple? Not so quick. According to an article published by Donga Daily, iPhone is far more popular than Omnia among smartphone users (link in Korean), but Samsung exerted more "local player" power on the retail side. The article even goes on to say Samsung knows such a move is nothing more than a bandaid. Samsung very much needs to start producing better smartphones.

Either way, I'm happy. As I keep saying, the Korean digital market has been dark, if not dead, for years. Now the wind of change is blowing strong and more competitions and even "confusion" are being spotted across the field. All the better for us consumers :)

Korea's two heavyweight mobile champions, Samsung and LG, will (have to) learn a lot this year, competing against Apple. It ain't just about technology no longer. It's about design, culture, ecosystem, and most importantly people.

The magical, but most obvious formula: Technology empowers and enables. Culture gives comfort. Design moves the hearts.

2009 was a dark age for both the digital Korea and my blogging career. Fortunately, it was only dark on the surface. Some significant progresses were made and we're seeing the fruits in 2010.

As for Korea, there's probably no bigger milestone than iPhone's invasion into the Korean market. It's been out only for 2 months now and it's literally changing everything in the digital landscape. How fundamental do I think the change is? The iPad news last week was reported by more than 500 Korean news entities, probably making the biggest IT/digital headline ever in Korea. SKTelecom says it has nearly 15 Android phones lined up for this year. How exciting! (For me, I am carrying around a 8G iPod Touch with Wibro Egg for now, which I'll cover more later)

As for myself, I learned a lot, especially about being a serious blogger and a businessman. As a blogger, I used to whine about  myself "not being in the field"; I always thought unless you've actually done some "real" stuff, being a blogger/journalist/analyst/consultant/critique/spectator always will have limitations. 2009 was all about execution, which took away the privilege of sleep from my life. Now I'm finally back, hopefully ready to roll again.

2010 is going to be a big year for both the digital Korea, (which is the main topic of this blog), as well as TechnoKimchi itself. After the Dark Age came Renaissance. There are many good signs that'll happen soon here as well.

Now, why didn't I start this on Jan 1st? I had followup tasks to finish for 2009 and things pretty much ended last week. Or should I say "the mental fiscal year for TechnoKimchi ends on Jan 31 of every year?" ;)

Digital Korea will soar again and TechnoKimchi will expand: those are my predictions for 2010. Thank God, I still got 334 days to prove that!