2013년 10월 31일 목요일

Nexus5 spotted at one of Malaysia LG service center

Nexus 5 leaks are not going to stop anytime soon, this time the Nexus 5 has been spotted at LG Malaysia’s service center.
Google+ user, Lin Siong Soh posted that Nexus 5 spotted in one of the Malaysia LG service center.
one of his frequently go forum's forumer went to LG service center today noon (follow Malaysia time) and he spotted this.
This time the device is turned on. Even though we do not have a clear view of the UI we very well know it’s the Nexus 5.



2013년 10월 30일 수요일

"Empress Ki" comes in first despite issue of distorting the history

Title: 기황후 / Empress Ki
Chinese Title: 奇皇后
Previously Known as: 화투 / Hwatu (Battle of Flowers)
Genre: Historical, Politic, Romance, Melodrama
Episodes: 50 (To Be Confirmed)
Broadcast network: MBC
Broadcast period: 2013-Oct-28 to 2014-April-15
Air time: Monday & Tuesday 21:55


Synopsis

This drama is about the loves and battles of Empress Ki (Ha Ji Won) from Goryeo who exercises her influence in the Yuan Dynasty.


According to Nielsen Korea, the first episode of the MBC drama "Empress ki" rated 11.1%. and second episode went up to 13.6%.

Controversy towards its distortion of korean history might have attracted more attention from korean
viewers, i suppose.

Ki Seung-nyang's (Ha Ji-won) life story and coronation of empress was shown on this day. A short message was shown in the beginning saying this drama was a fixion, as if aware of the rumors of distortion of history.

This drama emphasized on the fact that the story of Ki Seung-nyang was fictional and Ha Ji-won appeared as a street gangster, dressed up like a man.

Meanwhile, "Suspicious Housekeeper" rated 9.3% and KBS 2TV "Marry Him If You Dare" rated 6.5%.

Source : www.newsen.com/news



New thriller “Accomplices” Takes No. 1 at Korean Box Office


New Korean thriller film “Accomplices” is on the brink of reaching one million moviegoers at korean box office this week.
This movie has created such buzz at the box office since its debut last week.
The Son Ye-jin and Kim Kap-soo starrer brought in some 919,273 moviegoers in its opening week from opening on October 24 to 29, the Korean Box Office Information System (KOBIS) showed on 30th oct.

Last week’s chart-topper “Gravity,” Hollywood SF film directed by film auteur Alfonso Cuaron, slid down to No. 2 with 580,000 ticket sales in its second week of running.

Yeo Jin-goo’s thriller film “Hwayi: A Monster Boy” also took one step down to number three after attracting 169,000 moviegoers, while true-story-turned-film “Wish” ranked at No. 4 with a ticket sales of 145,000 in the same time frame.

Rounding off the top five is U.S. action drama “Captain Phillips,” which climbed up four steps by grabbing 99,000 moviegoers over the weekend.

Other popular movies last weekend were actor Park Joong-hun’s directorial debut feature “Top Star,” idol group MBLAQ’s Lee Joon’s first major film “Rough Play,” actor Ha Jung-woo’s first self-directed comedy “Roller Coaster,” comedy film “Queen of Night” and Hollywood animation “Despicable Me 2.”

2013년 10월 29일 화요일

Samsung started various sports marketing activities across the globe




Korean baseball fans are enjoy a variety of marketing events and hands-on experiences at the GALAXY Note 3 + Gear experience zone built at the Jamsil Baseball Stadium where Game 3 of the Korean Series is set to take place on the 27th.
Samsung's commitment to sports marketing has continuously expanded to various sports events,like becoming official Wireless Communications Equipment provider of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, started marketing activities with only 100 days before Sochi winter olympics



2013년 10월 28일 월요일

Samsung Builds ‘Samsung Sharing Village’ in Africa

Samsung Electronics’ Sharing Village project is reaching out to underprivileged countries to build amenities, medical, and educational facilities while trying to resolve the chronic issues like poverty and diseases, supporting economic independence. As part of the project, Samsung will build solar powered medical centers, schools, lighting, and power plant in a small town located in South African Republic.

Ambassadors and dignitaries from across Africa were given a tour of Samsung’s first Digital Village – a collection of solar powered solutions – in South Africa on 23rd oct.

The solutions are designed to address key community needs in the unique African environment, and include Samsung’s new Solar Powered Generator, various solar powered mobile healthcare facilities and the Solar Powered Internet School.

Ambassadors and high ranking dignitaries from Uganda, Zambia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Botswana, Senegal, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan Cote d’Ivoire and Zimbabwe attended the event in Johannesburg, South Africa, to view the solutions.








Tragedy of South Korea - Mecca of plastic surgery

Remarkably, one in five South Korean women has had some form of cosmetic surgery, compared to around one in 20 in the U.S., according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.
Many Koreans believe having the right face makes the difference between success and failure and k-pop culture and its look have spread across East Asia and into the Asian community in the United States. This popularity -- and the value placed on the surgery behind the stars -- has meant that South Korea is now synonymous with medical tourism, and has established itself as an epicenter for all sorts of cosmetic surgery.

Plastic surgery rate is going up every year in south korea.
According to the International Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons of South Korea, total numbers of cosmetic sugery took place in korea reached 650,000 in 2011.
Thus rate of accident during cosmetic surgery is also rising rapidly.

A 22-year-old woman who had been in a coma for nine days after a cosmetic surgery procedure died Saturday, police in Busan said.

The college student only identified by her last name Kim received facial bone contouring surgery for more than five and a half hours on Oct.7,2013

She was found unconscious by a nurse in the hospital’s recovery room that evening and immediately moved to a nearby general hospital.

Along with double-jaw surgery, facial bone contouring surgery is one of the most popular, and potentially dangerous, operations Korean women undergo for a smoother and slimmer facial line.

facial bone contouring surgery

Early this month, 30-something-years old lady lost her left eyesight after the plastic surgery performed in gang nam district. She sued hospital and got 850 million won compensation.

Factors like the rise of manufactured K-Pop stars, employer preferences for attractive women, false media that obsessed with beauty and parental requests are pushing korean women to undergo potentially dangerous plastic surgery procedures every year.








2013년 10월 27일 일요일

Travel around Seoul #6 "Chungmuro", Korean equivalent of Hollywood in the past

Chungmuro was the Korean equivalent of Hollywood for past few decades

Today, the film studios and production companies are gone, and the area is just another block filled with print shops in downtown Seoul.

Chungmuro Street runs east to west in downtown Seoul, starting from Post Tower in Chungmuro 1-ga and ending at Toegyero 5-ga. It also is the name of a district under the jurisdiction of Jung-gu, Seoul.

A long time ago, Chungmuro was a chinatown in Seoul ,in 1885, diplomat Yuan Shikai of the Ch'ing Dynasty purchased the neighboring area to turn it into a Chinese town while he was staying in Korea for a decade. Overseas Chinese Primary Schools, restaurants run by Chinese merchants, and Chinese shops remain there to illustrate such history. After the Chino-Japanese War, the Japanese drove out the Chinese and made it a Japanese settlement called Bonjeongtong. The area finally came to be called “Chungmuro” when the Korean government changed all the Japanese names of districts back to Korean after liberation from Japanese rule. Chung-mu is the posthumous name of Korea’s naval commander Lee Sun-shin who was born in Mareunnaegol town in the vicinity. In front of Myeongbo Art Hall, you can see the monument stone indicating the house of Commander Lee’s birth.



Movie Theaters Are Out; Printing &Publication shops are In



When asked what strikes your mind first when you think of Chungmuro, 10 out of 10 korean would say “a street of movies.” at least for old korean like me that is.
In the vicinity of Chungmuro Station (Line 3 and 4), you may encounter Daehan Cinema


70mm Film on Mega-size Screen Just Became a Memory


Daehan theater in old glory days
Daehan Cinema was designed by the 20th Century Fox Corporation and opened in 1955. It was once known as the best movie theater with the most seats in Asia. When Daehan Cinema was transformed into a multiplex with 11 screens in December 2001, the emotional feelings and overwhelming sounds of 70 mm film projected on to a mega-size screen have disappeared, but it remains a theater of memory in the minds of middle-aged people. They cannot forget the overwhelming feeling after standing in a long line to buy tickets and watching “Dr. Zhivago” or “Lawrence of Arabia” on the big screen. When tickets are sold out, they regretfully had to turn their steps to Geukdong Cinema across the street. When Daehan Cinema was refurbished into a multiplex, Geukdong Cinema felt even more outdated but continued to put on double feature films before it was finally shut down 3 years ago. Myeongbo Cinema and Skara Theatre have all disappeared from the map.

Local movies are said to have started blossoming in 1955 when the movie “Chunhyangjeon (The Chunhyang Story)” featured at Skara (or Sudo) Cinema became a mega hit. Chungmuro began to develop into a street of movies since then. As motion picture-related businesses had mushroomed along Chungmuro 3-ga, Chungmuro had its heyday. But since the 1980s when movie-related organizations relocated to the Gangnam area (southern part of Hanggang river in Seoul), things have changed.

In alleyways where movie-related businesses once were located, all kinds of printing offices which produce stickers, business cards, and envelopes now flourish. The clicking noise of printing machines now fills the air. Contrary to general knowledge, small scale printing offices, stretching from the off-street alleyway by the old building of Meail Economic Newspaper through Myeongbo Art Hall, have been there since Chungmuro attained prominence as a street of movies. Thanks to those printing offices crammed along the narrow alleyway, we can send our wedding invitations, use envelopes, or hang beautiful calendars on the walls of our living rooms at the beginning of every year. However humble the alleyway may be, we cannot help but be appreciative of them. The long line of printing offices stretches to Euljiro road along the narrow alleyway.



Film Developing Shops, Photo Studios Are Still Up and Running



While the side street behind Maeil Economic Newspaper is brimming with printing offices, the street behind Geukdong Building is overflowing with photo-related businesses such as film developing and camera shops along with cheap food stalls scattered throughout. Walking along the way, I was so glad to encounter the signboard of Photopia. It was such a famous slide film developing shop that there was no professional or amateur photographer who did not know about it. It deals with both slide and digital films now. If there is anyone who doesn’t know where to develop old slide films, Phototopia is the place to go.




Chungmuro Is Still “the Street of Movies”

Since Chungmuro definitely is the street of movies in our hearts, we cannot talk about Chungmuro without talking about movies. But its heydays exist only in our memories now. Nevertheless, it will not be easy for us to forget the nostalgia and attachment for the good old days when Chungmuro was Korea's Mecca of movies. In this regard, making a brand new street of movies in Gangnam area makes no sense even if major movie productions are nestled there, for the name “Chungmuro” itself is a history and symbol as far as movies are concerned.

Office of Jung-gu district is making efforts to recover the reputation of Chungmuro, it might be “today” rather than “old days.” Jung-gu’s flagship projects are: the 180 meter long road from Jingogae restaurant via Skara Cinema site through Myeongbo Art Hall refurbished into the “Street of Movies”; and restoration of “Star Dabang (tea house)” which served as a meeting place for the people working in the movie industries. Besides these efforts, the area hosted the 8th Chungmuro International Film Festival in Seoul, on September 27th,2013. A total of 230 movies produced in 45 nations was put on the screens of Daehan Cinema, CGV Myeongdong, Megabox Dongdaemun and others. All in all, we need to wait and see if Chungmuro succeeds to recover its glory as “the street of movies”.


Daehan cinema in the old days(left) and now(right)






2013년 10월 26일 토요일

"IT fashion" or "fashion IT"


Gadgets and fashion are colliding as both Apple and Samsung are collaborating with high-end fashion brands to promote their latest devices.

Apple is touting a partnership with fashion brand Burberry that saw its recently released iPhone 5s used as a camera for a runway show in London days before the device goes on sale.

According to a press release from Apple, Burberry used the iphone 5s’s camera to record “runway and beauty looks, product details, and backstage moments.”

Samsung took a more participatory approach to the fashion industry when it showed up at New York Fashion Week in september and at seoul Fashion week in last week, oct. with its Galaxy Gear smartwatch and Galaxy Note 3 phablet. Fallon jewelry designer Dana Lorenz sent models down the runway with studded charms for the Galaxy Gear and fringe leather cases for the Galaxy Note 3.

At last year’s Fashion Week, Google partnered with fashion icon Diane von Fursternberg to use Google Glass units to film her runway show.

As the market for wearable devices ramps up, this kind of cooperation between tech brands and fashion designers will pick up. Samsung itself highlighted during its recent Galaxy Gear launch that it expects the device to become a “new fashion item around the world.”

Opinions about the Galaxy Gear’s aesthetics may be mixed, but Samsung is at least on the right track. Now that we’re starting to wear our gadgets, they are inextricably part of our fashion and style. With brands like Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors targeting the tech accessory market, the stylization of our gadgets is already well underway.





Japan Posts Dokdo Video on YouTube

The Japanese government posted a video claiming Dokdo as Japanese territory on the popular video website, YouTube, creating a stir in the diplomatic circle. The South Korean government responded strongly, immediately requesting the Japanese government to delete the video and calling in the minister at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul to protest.

Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs uploaded a video (1' 27" long) which began with the narration, "Do you know Takeshima (Japanese name for Dokdo)?" on YouTube on October 16 in the name of the ministry's video promotion channel. The video was titled, "A Video on Takeshima" and it was also linked to a page on Dokdo in the ministry's website.

The video included the Japanese argument that Japan established dominium over Dokdo in the 17th century and reconfirmed sovereignty over the islets through a cabinet decision in 1905. It also claimed that Korea drew the Rhee Syng-man line in 1952 and illegally occupied Dokdo violating international law. The video goes on to mention how Japan had suggested referring the case to the International Court of Justice, but that South Korea had refused. Towards the end of the video, it included a statement claiming Japan would continue to resolve territorial issues with South Korea through peaceful means. As of 4 p.m. on October 23, the video had been viewed over 13,000 times. The NHK reported that the Japanese government planned to continue posting this video after translating it into 10 languages including Korean. Japan's foreign ministry also posted a video titled, "Do You Know the Senakaku Islands?" on YouTube and linked the video to a page on China-Japan relations in the ministry's website.


Cho Tae-young, spokesperson for South Korea's foreign ministry released a comment and said, "We strongly protest the attempt by the Japanese foreign ministry to undermine our sovereignty over Dokdo by producing a video with false claims on Dokdo and distributing this video on the Internet," and requested Japan to immediately delete the video. He added, "The South Korean government urges the Japanese government to give up its useless claims of dominium over Dokdo. We will strengthen our efforts for the international community to firmly realize our sovereignty over the Dokdo islets." This day, Park Joon-yong, director of Northeast Asian Affairs at the foreign ministry called in Takashi Kurai, minister at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul and firmly protested Japan's latest action

2013년 10월 25일 금요일

Samsung’s Fashion Marketing for GALAXY Note 3 and Gear at Seoul Fashion Week

During Seoul Fashion Week from Oct 18 to 23, Samsung Electronics unfolds its fashion marketing to promote its flagship GALAXY Note 3 and GALAXY Gear at the VIP Lounge on the 54th fl of Yeouido IFC Mall for customers to enjoy hands-on experiences of the latest smart devices. On the 19th, ‘GALAXY Note 3 + Gear’ Flash Mob Fashion Show took place in 'BLEECKER', the contemporary multi-shop brand of Cheil Industries Inc., and in Itaewon district,seoul. The models drew public attention wearing GALAXY Gear and holding GALAXY Note 3.



Samsung Note 3 and Gear Hit the Runway at Seoul Fashion Week

Samsung Electronics hosted ‘Fashion Wearable Device GALAXY Note 3 + Gear Fashion Show’ at Yeouido IFC Mall on the 23rd, the final day of 2014 S/S Seoul Fashion Week. GALAXY Note 3 and Gear presented dynamic styling options to complete unique yet sophisticated casual and business looks with practicality and sensible design.


2013년 10월 24일 목요일

LG Electronics mobile business in crisis again ?


LG Electronics missed Q3 estimates on losses in phone business
LG reported its lowest quarterly profit for 2013 on Thursday as its mobile phone business slipped into the red due to marketing costs surrounding its latest smartphone G2 launch in August.
Third-quarter operating profit rose to 218 billion won, below a consensus forecast of 306 billion won by Thomson Reuters. The profit compared with 171 billion won a year ago and 479 billion won in the second quarter.
LG, the world’s third biggest smartphone maker, said its handset operation made an 80 billion won loss, versus a 4 billion won loss a year ago and a 61 billion won profit in the second quarter.
LG is among a slew of global minnows which are struggling to compete against Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd and Apple Inc., the smartphone leaders that account for almost all the industry’s profits.

han hyo joo with jodie foster at the event held by Ferragamo


South Korean actress Han Hyo Joo donned a black low cut gown.


The Scene at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Inaugural Gala held Thursday evening in Beverly Hills, California.


Han Hyo Joo is the only Korean artist to be invited to this event .


Korean actress posed in front of camera with the famous hollywood actress Jodie Foster . The event also has a lot of Hollywood stars such as Demi Moore , Jodie Foster , Charlize Theron , Courtney Cox ...





2013년 10월 23일 수요일

Nude beach in korea?

Gangwon-do Province wants to open the country’s first nudist beach by 2017, which it believes will be a tourist magnet.

It bears further watching whether the idea becomes a reality. The province already failed in its efforts to open a clothing-optional beach in 2005 due to a public outcry and Jeju Island went through the same debacle in 2009.

Gangwon has yet to decide on how it will determine the location of the nudist beach, although it will likely require some form of bidding. For now, the beach is expected to open in 2017 after installing facilities to prevent trespassing.

''As vacation cultures diversify, the interest in conventional beaches is decreasing. We believe a nudist beach could spark interest. This is part of our plans to create beaches with specific purpose, like a beach for families, a beach for couples, a beach for pets, and yes, a nude beach,’’ said an official from the municipality’s Pan-East Sea Division, which unveiled the plans for the beach in a seminar Tuesday.

''Of course, we don’t have a detailed plan yet. We will proceed with the project carefully and in consideration of public sentiment.’’

According to the regional government, about 25.67 million travelers visited Gangwon beaches this summer, up by 30 percent from last year’s numbers. A province struggling with debt and the lack of job-creating industries, Gangwon is desperate to milk its tourist sector.

Officials admit that the local resistance against a nudist beach continues to be strong. Their solution? Try it on foreigners first as they would probably be happier to strip off.

''We are considering a trial operation of the nude beach for foreign travelers only, before widening access to Koreans,’’ said the official.

Sheep farm, Sea train trip in Gangwon-do


one of my favorite things about Korea is its mountains, and Gangwon-do has no shortage of those.
Gangwon-do is in the East of Seoul and would take around 2-3 hours by car (depending on which part of Gangwon-do you are heading to).
Among many things to do and attraction to visit, i went up to sheep farm in the Gangwon Province.
It was a lot of fun to walk up the trail that would reach the top of the hill. Even thogh it was little foggy and cloudy in the morning that day, I enjoyed feeding the sheep and people all enjoyed walking and running on the gravel path. It takes about 3 hours to look around if you take your time,








After weather cleared up little bit, i headed to take sea train
It is a train which runs along the eastern coast of South Korea, from Gangneung to Samcheok. The whole journey from one end to the other is 58km and it takes approximately 80 mins.

It’s special because all the seats face the same direction!! -> the sea!


My last stop was chuam beach
I got off at daonghae station to look around beach , which is harmonious with heavenly cliffs and fantastic rocks and stones, is famous for “Chottaebawi,” a tall rock shaped like a candle.