toclair@ittimes.co.kr
The country's biggest telecom service provider KT announced on Thursday that it is set to unveil two new kinds of ultra mobile PCs (UMPCs) in cooperation with local electronics makers. These new UMPC models will include full WiBro support. WiBro refers to wireless broadband, which allows people on the road to use high-speed Internet at speeds of the present fixed-line broadband.
Heo Gun, KT spokesman, added: "We are on target to launch a WiBro terminal that is equipped with a seven-inch display in November, and it will be manufactured by Samsung Electronics." According to him, KT is also negotiating with Raon Digital, a start-up venture, on the subject of introducing Raon Digital's own WiBro-enabled UMPC model later this year.
The two models will feature a regular QWERTY keyboard. KT expects to attract more subscribers by releasing various types of WiBro gadgets along with UMPC terminals. It's been a year since KT successfully launched a commercial WiBro service within Seoul. KT hopes to increase the user pool by 300,000 by the end of this year with the new device.