Koreans prominent at Spain cell congress

BARCELONA ― The 3GSM World Congress 2006, a gathering showcasing the latest technology in mobile telecommunications, opens today in Barcelona, Spain, with more than 960 mobile phone makers and service providers on hand to showcase their latest products and technologies. GSM, which stands for global system for mobile communication, is a digital cellular system widely used in Europe and Asia. Two leading Korean manufacturers, Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. will display their latest models. At the annual congress, mobile communication service providers select handsets to use in their services, making the event critical for manufacturers. Samsung Electronics, Asia’s largest mobile phone maker, will demonstrate its high-speed downlink packet access, or Hsdpa technology, and wireless broadband, or WiBro, technology that offers fast Internet connections on the move via handheld devices. Also on display will be its super-slim cell phones featuring third-generation, wideband code-division multiple access technology. (Add Wcdma to the alphabet soup.) The key product for Samsung will be the Z560, its first Hsdpa phone, which will go on the market in Europe later this year. Boasting data transmission up to 10 times higher than the current third-generation standard, the phone also features a 2-megapixel digital camera and Bluetooth wireless technology. In late December, Samsung teamed up with Qualcomm to have the U.S.-based company offer that technology for Samsung’s handsets. That service is yet to be used in Europe, where GSM dominates. Samsung Electronics is also the lone Korean company to be nominated for several GSM Association Awards. Its SGH-i300 model, which the association says is the world’s first “smart phone” equipped with a 3-gigabyte hard disk drive, and the SGH-D600 are up for Best GSM Handset or Device award, and will compete against phones from Nokia and Sony Ericsson. In the Best 3GSM Handset or Device category, Samsung’s SGH-Z510 model, the world’s slimmest third-generation phone at 14.9 millimeters (0.6 inches), according to the association, is up against products from Nokia, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson. Samsung’s SGH-D500 was awarded Best GSM Handset last year. LG Electronics will also introduce its own Hsdpa phones, as well as handsets with digital multimedia broadcasting functions. The company will demonstrate high-speed data transfer by its Hsdpa cell phones, and a new model designed by the Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavelli. “We will continue to come up with creative designs and unique functions that will cater to European markets,” said Park Mun-hwa, president of LG Electronics. He will give a keynote speech on the future of third-generation mobile communication on Thursday. by Lee Hee-sung