Samsung, LG make ‘3.5-generation’ phones

Korea has produced another world first in the high-tech area: Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics announced yesterday that they each have succeeded in producing a commercial-use 3.5 generation High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSPDPA) mobile phone. HSPDPA is expected to enter service commercially next year, not only in Korea but also in Europe and the United States. The “3.5-generation” technology provides data transfer speeds of up to 14Mbps (bits per second) ― seven times faster than the currently-used third-generation EV-DO service, and five times faster than the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access service. With HSPDPA, large-scale multimedia downloads and high-speed wireless Internet access is enabled, even when traveling on buses, subways and high-speed trains. Additionally, with HSPDPA technology, cellphone users can see real-time streaming images of the person they are talking to. Samsung Electronics said the company, had succeeded in developing the HSPDPA mobile phone and system, and will introduce its phone publicly during the world’s largest information technology exhibition, CeBIT 2005, in Hanover, Germany. Samsung Electronics plans to commercialize the HSPDPA mobile phone later this year. “We’re speeding up the commercializing of the phone, as the HSDPA era will dawn earlier than expected,” said Lee Ki-tae, president of Samsung Electronics’ telecommunication network business. “And we’re currently discussing supplying the service to Europe and China.” LG Electronics said it has succeeded in transferring high-speed data on its HSDPA mobile phone. The firm said it has downloaded DVD-type movies, interactive games and multimedia music. It added that it succeeded in its first trial in Europe recently. Although Samsung Electronics’ HSPDPA phone contains a company-designed chip, LG Electronics’ phone has a Qualcomm-developed MSM 6275 chip. “Major global mobile telecommunication companies have been asking us about our recently-developed HSDPA phone,” said Park Mun-hwa, president of LG Electronics’ cellphone division. by Lee Ho-jeong