Tag: Apple

This sounds like a way for the Korean government to reduce Apple’s marketshare in Korea by imposing this ban because any smartphone is a possible recording device not just Apple phones:

South Korea’s military is considering a comprehensive ban on iPhones in military buildings due to increasing concerns about possible leaks of sensitive information through voice recordings, according to multiple military sources on Tuesday.

The sources, a group of ranking officers who wished to speak on condition of anonymity, said that the Air Force headquarters released an internal announcement on the military’s intranet server on April 11, instructing a complete prohibition on any device capable of voice recording and which do not permit third-party apps to control inherent functions, effective June 1, with “iPhones” cited as items subject to the ban.

According to the document, the decision to ban iPhones in the military came from joint meetings held by the headquarters of the Army, Navy and Air Force, located at Gyeryongdae in South Chungcheong Province.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

People must have a lot of money to waste to spend up $1,800 over the current asking price for the Vision Pro just to get it earlier than when it is officially released in South Korea:

A customer uses Apple’s Vision Pro headset at the Apple Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan in New York City, U.S., February 2, 2024. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Apple’s Vision Pro is being sold at a premium of as much as 2.4 million won ($1,800) in Korea as the new wearable is not officially available in the country. 
  
Some are even paying to experience the device for a couple of hours.

Apple’s MR (mixed reality) headset, the Vision Pro, launched in the United States on Feb. 1 to better-than-expected popularity despite a hefty price tag of $3,500 for the cheapest 256-gigabyte storage option. An estimated 180,000 units or more have been sold, selling out the pre-order quantity.

Major secondhand marketplaces in Korea have dozens of posts reselling the device at an inflated price. Mostly purchased in the U.S., these devices are listed with a price 1 million won to 2 million won over the official price tag.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but has any ROK Heads try this headset out yet? Is it anywhere near being worth the price currently listed for it?

For people that own iPhones in Korea, Apple Pay appears to finally be on its way and Apple has Hyundai to thank for it:

Despite earlier market expectations that Apple Pay would be launched in Korea from Nov. 30, it is estimated that the starting date of the payment service in the country will be delayed to sometime around December.

Hyundai Card, which is a key partner in bringing Apple Pay to be available in Korea, remained tight-lipped about the matter, in a phone conversation with The Korea Times on Wednesday. 

“As of now, we cannot confirm any matters regarding Apple Pay,” an official from Hyundai Card told The Korea Times. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Its finally over:

The patent war between the two biggest smartphone rivals has finally ended.

Samsung Electronics and Apple have settled a seven-year legal dispute over each other’s design patents. Neither disclosed the amount of the settlement.

The two giants informed the district court in San Jose, California, “they have agreed to drop and settle their remaining claims and counterclaims in this matter,” according to an order signed by Judge Lucy Koh of the Northern District of California. The settlement means all suits will be dismissed and no further case will be filed on the same claim.

“We can only say that we have settled with Apple and cannot offer any comment,” said a Samsung spokesman.

The dramatic turn of the lengthy legal battle came a month after retrial jurors in the Northern District of California handed Apple $538.6 million in damages for Samsung violating design and utility (technical) patents that included the infamous “rounded corner” patent. Samsung at the time vowed to consider its options including another appeal.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read much more at the link.

This photo shows an iPhone shop in Seoul. According to the local law firm Hwimyung on Dec. 28, 2017, some 20 iPhone users plan to submit a class suit against Apple Korea for slowing down older iPhone models early next year. (Yonhap)

A customer places a preorder for U.S. tech giant Apple Inc.’s latest iPhone X smartphone at a branch of mobile carrier KT in Seoul on Nov. 17, 2017. South Korea’s mobile carriers said their first preorder batch of iPhone X smartphones were sold out within a few minutes after being launched, apparently due to supply shortages. (Yonhap)

For people in Korea interested in purchasing the new iPhone X you may have to wait awhile because Apple is not prioritizing getting the phone to the Republic of Samsung any time soon:

Apple fans in Korea watched the company’s unveiling of its new devices Wednesday morning and got their first glimpses of the highly-anticipated 10th anniversary iPhone X, and successors to the iPhone 7, the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.

But if they plan on buying those new Apple phones, they might have to wait – possibly until January for the special-edition iPhone X.

The iPhone 8 models and the iPhone X won’t be released at the same time. Apple is set to accept orders for 4.7-inch iPhone 8 and its bigger sibling, the 5.5-inch 8 Plus, on Friday and will begin shipping on Sept. 22. The first batch of countries to receive deliveries on Sept. 22 total 29 and Korea is excluded. The second batch, also totaling 29, will see the phones delivered on Sept. 29. Korea is not in that group.

Orders and deliveries for the 5.8-inch iPhone X will be later, a confirmation of rumors that Apple is having trouble with its supply of key components including OLED displays.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

Apple confirms South Korea store plans, challenging Samsung at home https://t.co/6Z1dxyYMGD via @WSJ

— KimcheeGI (@KimcheeGI) January 6, 2017