Tech2 goes around the World IT Show 2012, Seoul

Tech2 was part of an entourage that was invited for the Korea IT Show and the 8th Korean Communications Conference held at the COEX Convention Centre in the heart of Seoul, South Korea. After Monday evening’s press meet that was held at the same location, we were given a glimpse of what was going to be shown off at the main show the following morning. The pre-event press party was just a teaser of what was in store.

The expo was split into sections, each one positioned in a different hall in the large COEX Convention centre that spanned several floors. Each floor had a rough theme to it. For example, there was one for security- related solutions and another one for 3D and consumer electronics. This was the one that particularly interested us. The biggest attractions by far were of course, the two Korean technology giants - Samsung and LG. 

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LG

LG had a massive set-up positioned, right next to Samsung. The emphasis was clearly 3D - large experience stations were set up offering audiences the chance to check out everything from notebooks to TVs to even phones. We were greeted by large tables holding LG’s passive 3D glasses. 

Close competition

One of the interesting demonstration stations was one where there were three displays connected together and a force feedback steering wheel, along with a force feedback enabled seat. Of course, the displays were based on LG’s IPS panels and were 3D-enabled. 

Need for Speed running on a fully souped up system

One of the displays on show was touch-enabled, which allowed an artist to draw sketches using tools available onscreen. The display seemed pretty responsive and we can see this kind of technology - propelling high-resolution displays in the future, as more than just a place for entertainment. They could be the future electronic blackboards offering collaborative features. Another display allowed two users using different glasses to view different content on the same display.

LG’s UD TV on display

Another cool display of the future was LG’s ultra-definition television. Externally it looked like any other LCD panel, but you could see it was denser, especially when you stood close to it. It appeared noticeably smoother overall. 4K displays are still a long way off from becoming mainstream, but LG’s making a point - it may be a while, before it’s here, but it’s inevitable. 

LG also had a bunch of phones, most of which were LTE ready. Of course, we’re unlikely to get the LTE versions of these devices, but we can expect some of the other hardware to stay more or less constant. The less spoken of star, was of course LG’s Optimus LTE II, until recently.

Competition to Samsung’s Galaxy S III

The device is very close to launch and it sports of course, an IPS panel and it’s powered by Qualcomm’s MSM8960 SoC. It has Bluetooth 4.0, ICS and something really impressive - 2GB of RAM, which should really help speed things up as far as responsiveness of the phone and apps are concerned. We’re not sure when the device will hit Indian markets and what it’s likely to be called.

LG showing some of its printing solutions, something we don’t see in India

LG also showed off things we don’t normally see in India - printers, scanners and multi-function copiers. There were also some Ultrabooks on display, one of which was the XNote Z330. It weighs some 1.21kg and 14.7mm at its thickest point.

Samsung

Samsung’s set-up at the World IT Show 2012 was also quite impressive. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the newly announced Galaxy S III, which was a disappointment, considering LG was showing off their LG LTE Optimus II openly. There were however, Ultrabooks and tablets on display. Samsung’s new Series 9 tablets and their Series 7 Slate PCs were present too.

The Ultrabooks looked slim, while the only thick area of the notebooks were where the connectors were present. The Series 9 Ultrabooks on display sported an impressive 13.3-inch HD Plus display, Intel’s Core i7 processor, a 256GB SSD and a weight of 1.16kg. 

Samsung’s Series 9 Ultrabook on show

A slightly thicker, less impressive looking Series 7 Chronos notebook was also present, of course with more connectivity options and the standard chiclet-style keys and layout. Set up with a 15.6-inch display, it comes with high-end models with Core i7 processors, too, and NVIDIA’s new GT640M GPU based on the new Kepler architecture, something we are yet to see in the market.

Samsung Series 7 Chronos

The Series 7 Slate PC with 4G WiBro support wasn’t a low-performance device. Compact, sleek and bundled with a wireless keyboard, it has a 11.6-inch screen, an Intel Core i5 processor inside, along with a 128GB of storage - way more than what you get on a mainstream tablet these days. Samsung also showed off some all-in-one PCs, which quite honestly are pretty impressive when it comes to styling and size. 

Intel powered, WiBro capable - Samsung Series 7 Slate PC

The entire show spanned several halls and there were so many things to look and it was hard to choose which ones to to cover. There were a few nifty things we did see, such as the mybud by a company called Accupix. The mybud as they’re called are displays in the form of glasses. There are two displays for each eye - you adjust the position and you’re able to view content on them. The source can be anything from a mobile phone, a gaming console or even a PC.

3D capable glasses for smartphones, consoles and PCs from Accupix

They even have a touchpad controller that lets you work on a tablet, while wearing them. They’re sleek, light and stylish to look at. They were supposed to be priced in the $400 - $500 range, which is a tad much, but the ability to watch movies or play games while travelling, for example is hard to resist. We hope to see the technology mature and hope that prices for products such as these drop.

We’ll also be putting up the coverage of the 8th Korean Communications Conference, where Nokia-Siemens’ CEO, Rajeev Suri and Korea Telecom’s Lee Suk-Chae spoke on the future of broadband in Korea, and the rest of the world.