World IT Show brings best of best

Visitors enjoy watching a 3D smart TV from Samsung Electronics at the company’s booth at the World IT Show which opened at the COEX in southern Seoul, Wednesday. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul By Yoon Ja-young The seventh World IT Show unveiled the latest technology and innovative smart devices on the first day of its four-day run at the COEX in southern Seoul, Wednesday. A number of visitors toured booths set up by Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, SK Telecom and KT as well as foreign IT firms, taking a look at 3D televisions and their special glasses, and trying out a virtual ride. There were a sizable number of foreigners throughout the convention center. Organizers expected the number of visitors to increase as the exhibition, called Korea’s version of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, heads toward the weekend. On the sidelines of the exhibition, IT experts from around the world gathered for the Korea communications conference to share their visions of a smart society. “The smart society has arrived following development in ICT technologies and media conversion,” said Korea Communications Commission (KCC) Chairman Choi See-joong, in a welcoming speech. The conference in which 45 experts from around the world are participating is being held at the COEX until today under the theme “Smart Big Bang: New Opportunities.” Choi said that the emergence of new devices such as smartphones, smart TVs and 3D TVs are making daily life more convenient. He added that “smart work” is liberating workers from the limitations of the office, and social network services such as Twitter and Facebook are playing roles in the media as well. “We are witnessing all these changes toward a smart society. I think coping quickly and smoothly with them equals grasping the chance for new development,” he added. At the exhibition, the country’s IT companies and mobile carriers, whose technologies are leaders in the global market, showed what smart life looks like. Samsung and LG showed off their latest smartphones, laptops and 3D TVs. Samsung attracted visitors with the biggest smart TV at the exhibition. On top of the gigantic size, its design maximizes immersion for viewers. The Galaxy S2, its latest smartphone, which is setting new sales records, stole a lot of the spotlight at the exhibition. LG bet on 3D at the exhibition. It presented a full lineup of its 3D products, from TVs and monitors to laptops and projectors, and got favorable reactions from visitors for its convenient 3D glasses. SK Telecom, the largest mobile carrier here, presented long-term evolution (LTE), which is expected to debut in July. KT showed how our life has become convenient with smartphone and cloud services based on diverse technologies such as near field communications. Kibot, the robot it recently released for kids, also caught the eyes of visitors.

chizpizza@koreatimes.co.kr