Tech-Savvy Korea Sets Eye on BT, Spearheading Versatile 4th-Generation Cell Phone Creation A model demonstrates health-care cell phones from LG Electronics. South Korean cell phone makers are aiming to be world leaders in next-generation cell phones by dictating two technological mega-trends: digital convergence and biotechnology (BT). Digital convergence has already created feature-rich handsets equipped with builtin, high-resolution cameras and MP3 players, to name just two. BT is expected to dominate the coming years as it blends with the burgeoning "well-being" movement. At a press meeting last year, James Champy, who created the concept of business reengineering, predicted the merger of the two trends. "In five years we will put all applications into cell phones. What is next I think biological and health-related features will be future technologies," Champy said. "Companies should understand how the new fields will impact industries." Led by the nation's two iconic handset manufacturers _ Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics _ Korea aims to dominate the market with the new trends. Both companies are cocktailing features into their cell phones and nimbly embracing the BT wave. Digital Convergence In Korea, it is difficult to find a new mobile phone without an MP3 player or a mega-pixel camera. "Although incorporated cameras and music players are a must in cell phones here, that is not the case in other nations. Even a handset with a low-quality camera is regarded as a top-tier model overseas," Kim Kyung-mo, an analyst at Mirae Asset, said. Samsung Electronics, the world's thirdlargest cell phone maker, is preempting the convergence craze. The cash cow of the Samsung Group, Korea's biggest conglomerate, unveiled the world's first 5-megapixel camera phone, SCH-S250, last November. The model was a hit with customers snapping up about 70,000 of the high-end gadgets despite its initially hefty price tag of 980,000 won ($939). The price is currently 797,500 won. The company caught the world by surprise this March by unveiling a 7-megapixel camera phone at the CeBit 2005, the annual high-tech fair held in Hanover, Germany. The dual-face, bar-type SCH-V770 model hit the shops in June with a 16-million- color liquid crystal display screen and a 32-megabyte external memory. Price is 990,000 won. "If the market wants higher resolution from camera-embedded handsets, we will continue to develop models with more advanced camera modules," Samsung spokesman Kim Hyun-min said. Samsung's cross-town rival LG Electronics, the world's fourth-largest handset maker, followed suit by revealing a 5-megapixel camera phone in May, the super-slim SV550 with a thickness of 18 millimeters. LG plans to catch up with Samsung in the pixel count competition and is currently checking the viability of 7-megapixel camera phones. BT potential in mobile phones During the Fourth-Generation (4G) Forum held in Cheju Island in August, Samsung president Lee Ki-tae said BT is the next big thing in cell phones. "With the enhanced capacity of nextgeneration phones like high-volume data transmission, 4G will embrace both BT and NT (nanotechnology) in a full-fledged manner," Lee said. The nanotechnology refers to technology that creates objects with new functions that cannot be created in bulk, such as molecular electronic devices made from atoms or molecules. Some biotechnologies are already slipping into mobile gizmos although they are just at an embryonic stage. LG Electronics last year debuted a diabetes phone, the LG-KP8400, for the first time in the world through a business alliance with Healthpia, a health-related venture start-up. After inserting a microchip into the phone, users can measure their glucose levels. The phone then delivers the data to doctors. Early this year, LG also took the wraps off the LG-KP3400, which can gauge fat levels and stress using an inserted service pack. "With these phones, the mobile healthcare era has dawned. We plan to continue to use BT in cell phones to keep in tune with the well-being movement," LG Electronics spokesman Lee Hyoung-keun said. Sky Teletech, a handset maker recently acquired by the Pantech Group, has silvernano phones, which are coated with silver to prevent the spread of germs. Samsung Electronics is also jumping onto the BT bandwagon by releasing a silver- nano model and phones that can measure fat levels.