We just finished recording a Podcast with Wes Tam of Magmic. The podcast was Diggnation style in the sense that we (Wes, Doug of BlackBerry Cool and I) sat on a couch chatting about things we like to chat about. I’m just editing the video now so expect it by tomorrow. In the podcast, we talk about Android vs iPhone vs BlackBerry mobile content distribution models and Magmic’s upcoming game Eagle Eye, based on the movie of course. Stay tuned!
Because I used to live in South Korea, I know my way around Seoul. After a nice dinner with the folks from the conference, everyone wanted to head out. Problem was, it was only 10pm and things don’t really get started that early in this city. Usually people are still eating and drinking at that hour and since we already ate, this wasn’t really an option. I told some of the guys I knew a good bar and word traveled fast. Before I knew it, I was leading a group of 30 people to my favorite bar. It’s a foreigner bar so it was open and good to go.
Continue reading this epic drinking adventure
One of my favorite speakers at the conference has been Mike Pearson who does corporate development for Google. During his speech he talked at length about the Google mentality and how it is incorporated into Android. He talked about how the Google founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, created Google from free, open source software, and how this should be the case for a mobile operating system.
Continue reading about what Mike Pearson had to say about Android
I’m here at X Media Lab in the Digital Media City. The DMC, according to the Korea government “was born as a result of a plan by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to form a world-class IT & Media complex.”
One of the benefits of this IT district is amazing WiFi! Full and free WiFi everywhere in the DMC. This makes covering a conference really easy. Not even CTIA in San Francisco had this. Although X Media isn’t focused on mobile, I’m mostly here killing time until Mobile Content 2008.
Click through to read more about this conference on virtual social networks
The supply of phones is absolutely astounding in South Korea. On virtually every corner there is a phone shop. The shops open relatively early and stay open very late. Some of them are branded by the telecom and others are just general phone stores. While here, I went over to a place called Yongsan Electronics Market to find the coolest phones possible. It’s the largest electronics market in Asia with over 5000 stores.
Click through to read more about this astounding market
I have been talking to some old Korean friends about the mobile web. I showed them my iPhone and gave them a quick demo of the mobile web experience on the iPhone. I told them it was the best mobile web experience the West has to offer and they reacted appropriately: “Where is the Flash?” they asked. They got me. There was no Flash.
My Western friends here have told me that the mobile web in Korea is virtually (no pun intended) useless. Although Koreans are very Internet savvy, and broadband penetration in this country is incredible, the mobile web I have seen has been fairly lackluster. Apparently, the web is highly state controlled, but this is something I will have to do more research about. Another reason I have heard, is that Korean websites are very Flash intensive, and Flash has not been ported to many Korean phones either.
Continue reading about the mobile web in South Korea
So I’ve been here in Korea for a couple of days now and it’s time to really get to work. The weekend has been really slow because I’ve been travelling and shopping around for a good “love motel”. If you’ve ever been to Korea, you know that hotels are for rich people and “love motels” are for the rest of us. The place I’m staying at right now has bed bugs but at least it’s only $40 a night. Also, at least I get my own room unlike CTIA where Doug and I shared a room with 4 other people. Today I spent the day checking out the best LG phones at one of the world’s largest technology markets. The video will take some time to edit but as soon as I get back it is a top priority. So stay tuned for some great insider footage.
I’m off to judge a mobile game awards at Mobile Content 2008. One of the things I learned from living in Korea, is that beards and facial hair are not that common. It was perfectly acceptable for me to walk around San Francisco with a beard and shaggy hair, but I’m not about to do that for Korea. For them, I’m breaking out a new look. Young professional meets chinless dork. I think I’ve perfected it.
Stay tuned on QuicklyBored because I’m leaving for Korea this Friday, September 19th. The content is going to be amazing!
I’ll be representing QuicklyBored in Korea as a judge for a mobile gaming contest called Mobile Content 2008. The show will be in Seoul and I’ll make sure to bring you the best in Korean mobile entertainment. The first thing I’ll have to do to prepare for the awards is shave and get a hair cut. After having lived in Korea, one thing I noticed is that Koreans get a little uncomfortable around shaggy foreigners. This became obvious to me when my employer in Korea told me that I was scaring some of my coworkers with my beard.
Although the consensus around CTIA this year was that the show was a little smaller than usual, we still had a blast. We met some great companies and attended some great parties (Glu!). Stay tuned to QuicklyBored.com because I’ll be flying to Korea in about a week and there will be great content on the site.