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Korea in the digital vanguard

by Kevin (Kilmo) Kang, Korea

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Korean portals ready for map services battle now

Oct 24, 2008 12:20

Google launched Street View which is based on real pictures of whole streets. It was a really impressive trial and I know it's great based on all those map-related applications and services via the Web or mobile services. Unfortunately, Google didn't get a chance to have Korean map or Street View of Korean streets since by law those information cannot be released out of Korea. (Google's server is located in the US).

However, Google is still expanding its Street View service to many countries now and we've seen the company taking pictures in Singapore a few weeks ago. (Check out the Crave on this).

For this reason, Korean major portal sites have started to expand their content service to online map services like Google did. Giant portal Naver is doing a map service based on satellite and air-taken pictures, which is similar to Google Map service at the beginning.

The second-largest portal Daum is also preparing its online map service which is very similar to Street View. But it is a latecomer to this, so many backup plans and points to differentiate with Google's Street View.

Daum is focusing on creating real Street Views online and requires high-quality pictures for the whole of Korea. It even uses a Segway to take pictures of parks and other areas where cars are not allowed. Daum reports that its Street View resolution is two to three times better than Google's and four times better than a Full-HD image. Wow!

Daum's Street View service will be open to the public from next month. Once it's available I will report again here what the advanced features are compared with Google and what kind of services can be expected with its map service.

Another local portal site Paran is also servicing an online map service like Naver and is expanding its service areas to all over Korea now. So about three local internet portal sites have entered the online map service, but all three have their own style which cannot be mixed. Customers need to choose one and the companies also need to select which map will be better for their program or product. These will determine which service survives ultimately.

Meanwhile, Yahoo Korea has started a mobile map service that's available for the iPod touch since the iPhone isn't available in Korea. And Yahoo is the only company which has many databases of restaurants and other street information for mobile users. It has been gathering this database for many years. It has been Web-based but is now launched for mobile users.

By the way, some of you may know that the Korean navigation companies (GPS) have also released 3D GPS map products here in my country.

It seems the 2D sector is slowly making way for 3D and its realized technologies.

All those online map services are targeting the mobile markets, and it's one way of sightseeing from your desk. Too high a resolution may be hard to fit on mobile devices as well. So maybe Tegra can adopt its graphics strategy.

I just wonder, since the iPhone isn't available in Korea and the smart phone market is really small here, should those online map services be targeting the smart phone market? The Windows Mobile OS may not have much merit compared with the Google Android or iPhone.

I heard that Google may launch the Google Android phone in Korea in 2009. This is what those three local portal companies should focus on now. They should start developing online map services which can be run on the Google Android platform to get an edge!

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Guwahati

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Guwahati says...
Growing up watching Superman and then James Bond movies and still being chased by Mission Impossible, Bourne series, Transformers etc. I was still at awe when I could locate my residence through Google maps on my Nokia handset for the very first time.
So its too good to hear that now Google is moving one step further by putting real life image of street level pictures through their map service.
Whenever i go on tour i always carry a tourist map, but as experience has shown, the paper map is not useful unless we already have a fair idea about the place beforehand. And due to size and print limitations thers hardly is enough information as required.
Therefor for todays travelers, services like the ones offered by Google maps are a must for any visit to a new place and at times our own city of residence to pin point directions to a particular office/restaurent/bank etc.It would be unfair for local Governments to put restrictions on such services as for people who want to use it in a negative way, there are always other alternatives available.
Hopefully, we would be able to see real time street level pictures of any place in the world on our hand held device anywhere without any restrictions.

Oct 29, 2008 22:30

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kalmo

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kalmo says...
Yes, you are right and agree on that.
But, Google Streetview isn't available in Korea so, you should check out the above local portal site's similar map services when you visit Korea. :)

Oct 30, 2008 10:01

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Guwahati

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Guwahati says...
Yes ofcourse, our people are very much in love with Korea, thanks to free flow of Korean movie dvds and KBS & Arirang channels.

Oct 30, 2008 13:40

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About Kevin (Kilmo) Kang

Kevin (Kilmo) Kang is a self-professed IT-savvy guy who's been having the time of his life making tech deals with new business partners in the Asia-Pacific areas. Like every Korean, he's gadget-crazy and is glad he lives in a country with one of the fastest-growing tech markets in the world. His taste for international work, however, arose from a nine-year stay in New Zealand where he fortunately made more friends than there are sheep.