iPhone in Korea

I’ve been shopping around for a new phone for a while now. My current contract ends in August, and though I love it (really I do), windows mobile sucks. Really.

The hardware is wonderful. I’ve got GPS, Wi-Fi, a decent camera, and a QWERTY keyboard.

The software lets me do twitter, facebook, e-mail, internet,skype,  and all the usual phone things. Actually, looking at that Windows Mobile isn’t so bad..

The problem is really what I pay for the privilege of doing all this.

10,000 Won for 33Mb of data. Its a good thing the phone has Wi-Fi.

So I’ve been looking at my options..LG telecom will let me use 1Gb of data for 6,000 Won. But I can’t use my current phone on their network. In fact, there are currently no smart phones on their network. Bugger, huh? They do have some very nice phones though..just nothing quite going as far as I would like.

Now, the new iPhone was launched last week and there has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth in the Republic due to the lack of a release date here. Apparently SK Telecom and KTF have been negotiating with Apple since the first version came out 2 years ago..and yet the ‘most connected’ country on earth has yet to see a release. Forgive me if I don’t hold my breath for the newest iteration to arrive..

So I’ve been looking at alternatives. Samsung and LG have both released good looking touch screen smart phones in the last few months – in Europe. They’ve just started to arrive in Korea but it appears they are missing some features. Nothing major..just things like GPS and Wi-Fi. Things which the Iphone also has.

I’m getting a theory developed here..

Assuming the network operators decide what features to include on the phone, it must be them deciding these are features they don’t like or want..
I wonder if the iPhone fell victim to the same approach?

I’ve mentioned that SK Telecom and KTF have been the front runners forcarrying  the Iphone..but looking at what LG Telecom has been doing (with their data plans and phones) I’d like to see them carry it. It makes sense..

To me, at least.