There's no need in reiterating, but South Korea has some drool-worthy handsets. Take the minty fresh Samsung SPH-W6050 for instance, with its magnificent 5-megapixel camera (with AutoFocus), OMNIA front design and 3-inch LCD with WVGA (800 x 480) resolution -- isn't that something worth grabbing a napkin over? Furthermore, it boasts a mobile TV tuner (DMB), haptic user interface and a microSD card slot. If only trips to Seoul were cheap and ₩800,000 ($575) was a drop in the bucket...

For fans of modishness, small and predictable, you'll find oodles to love about Motorola's latest drink specials. Er, phones -- we meant phones right there. Anywho, Moto's new VE70 Cocktail Mint and Cocktail Tropical only differ in color -- Mint is a mixture of chic black, fresh mint and pearl white while Tropical uses white, light green, violet and orange. Otherwise you'll find a 2.2-inch QVGA display, a built-in camera, 3G support and of course, a wine dictionary. Your guess is as good as ours when it comes to price / release information, but a few more images are waiting for you in the read link.

[Via UnwiredView]

LG's recently introduced SH470 has a lot in common with the KF510, but the Cyon branding and dark motif may be all that's necessary for the company to unveil it under a different model name in South Korea. The ultrathin slider checks in at just 10.9-millimeters thick and boasts a metal frame, 2.2-inch display, 2-megapixel camera and an ambient light sensor to automatically adjust brightness based on surrounding light conditions. Mum's the word on a price or an exact release date, but both of those tidbits could probably be uncovered if you're fluent in Korean.

[Via UnwiredView]

Like the i900 Omnia, eh? We sure did. Well here's its prettier, smarter cousin tagged the T*Omnia. For the most part, it's the same quad-band, WinMo 6.1 candybar with 7.2Mbps HSDPA data, WiFi, GPS, 5 megapixel cam, and nifty TouchWiz UI we've seen for months. But this hometown Korean version bumps the display to a WVGA, 800 x 480 pixels (up from 400 x 240) while slapping in a DMB digital television tuner to ensure it's non-Stateside status for eternity... at least with this specific configuration. Perhaps Verizon would be so kind as to make use of that display?

Pantech has a rich and storied history of showing off concept handsets from time to time, many of which don't look totally unreasonable for production. The latest batch, produced in cooperation with the company's 20-strong team of college design students, includes three totally reasonable phones that we'd like (nay, expect) to see serving SKT and KTF customers in the not-too-distant future, and one totally off-the-wall oddball -- aptly named "Softy Lofty" -- that was clearly mocked up while its designer was involved with some illicit substances. At any rate, we'll take all four with a helping of global LTE, please. [Warning: subscription required]

[Via Unwired View]

From around back, you'd never know that Samsung's W600 was a phone. Well, we mean, you might be able to piece it together, but you catch our drift. At any rate, the Anycall W600 was recently on display in South Korea, and aside from the wicked 5-megapixel camera and all-black motif, it was also boasting a 3-inch WVGA (800 x 480) touchscreen, T-DMB tuner, haptic UI and HSUPA support. Look for it to set locals back a stiff ₩800,000 ($600) or more depending on carrier when it ships next month.

[Via IntoMobile]

Like the IM-S300 before it, SKY's IM-S350 for the Korean market trades logic and any semblance of familiarity for a +1 on the fashion scorecard by sporting a crazy set of nav buttons that -- at a glance, anyway -- we can't figure out how you'd use. No bother, though; we're sure it's dead simple once you actually have your hands on it for a minute or two, and we guess you could look at it as an unusual form of theft deterrent. The 9.9mm, mostly aluminum beast features a QVGA display (if you can really call that a feature), DMB mobile TV, and a 2-megapixel camera, slotting it toward the lower end of what we'd expect out of Seoul. No word on pricing or availability here, but we imagine it won't drain the wallet.

[Via Unwired View]

That name -- yeah, don't ask us. We have to believe it has something more to do with the phone than the fact that the model's posing with one eye closed, but beyond that, your guess is as good as ours. Specs on SKY's latest Korea-only slider include a 2.6-inch wide QVGA display, HSDPA, GPS, FM radio, microSD slot, and a meager 1.3-megapixel cam; if we had to guess, it's being positioned as a fashion device, so we can give 'em a pass on the sensor if the price is right.

Sorry if we got your hopes up for a second there, AT&Ters; we're still not sure if this one's ever coming to the US, and today is most definitely not the day. Instead, the SCH-M480, which appears to be alternately known as the BlackJack III and Ultra Messaging 2, has been launched on Korea's own SK Telecom for something in the range of 600,000 won (about $592). The Windows Mobile 6 Professional handset is a dead ringer for the i780 that's been launched for a few months now, featuring a lovely 320 x 320 touchscreen, HSDPA, WiFi, and a 2 megapixel camera; not really a direct successor to the BlackJack II since the latter runs Standard, but we could still see a whole host of folks going for the upgrade -- if it ever comes to AT&T, that is.

Separately, Boy Genius Report is claiming that AT&T will be getting its very own BlackJack III come October of this year, albeit with a 3 megapixel camera, up from the 2 megapixel sensor seen here. With these fancy new pink and blue versions of the BlackJack II, though, who the heck needs it? We kid, we kid.

[Via Pocket PC Thoughts]

Read - Ultra Messaging II
Read - US BlackJack III in October?

Nice phone, but we have to admit, we're not blown away here. Pantech's diving headlong into the fashionable touch phone market with the SKY IM-R300 for its domestic market, featuring a DMB tuner, microSD slot, 260MB of internal storage, HSDPA, a 2.6-inch WQVGA display, and a relatively puny 2 megapixel camera. Oh, and what's with that gargantuan stylus there? Actually, how does that monster even fit inside the phone? We're guessing finger control doesn't play a particularly big role on this one, though the need for character recognition might make switching between the stylus and a fingertip too much trouble to bother anyway.

Or could it? As the colorful name suggests, the hallmark of Pantech's new IM-U300K flip for its domestic market is a front cover chock full of 49 LEDs that form images and messages depending on what's going on -- text messages, calls, alarms and the like. PC-based software allows users to make their own designs, which can later be exchanged between phones via infrared (totally rad right up until that last bit, which seems straight outta 2002). Other features of the phone include DMB reception, a document viewer, and global roaming, so if you see a nightmarishly bright light emanating from the pocket of an individual in your neck of the woods, you now know why.

[Via Unwired View]

Gone are the days of meticulously hand-cutting and pasting letters onto sheets of spiral bound lined notepad paper. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, criminals of all skill levels should be able to boil their carefully crafted ransom notes down to an SMS, which can be received and read by the victim at their convenience. We kid, we kid -- KTF's new "Font of Your Own" service isn't actually designed to support anonymous demands for cash as far as we can tell, but will allow any user of the free service to take pictures of 33 characters with their phone to create a custom font for use in messaging. A PC-based font editor app will also be available for those hardcore font connoisseurs looking to create that perfect typeface for their next mobile communique. And no, if you're outside South Korea, you can't have this, so don't even ask.

[Via Unwired View]

The world's top five manufacturers play an everlasting game of cat and mouse (and mouse, mouse, and mouse), jockeying for revenue dominance in a world where market share means everything. Nokia's been eating everyone's lunch lately -- and everyone's been eating Moto's lunch -- but LG's pretty proud of itself for recently passing Sony Ericsson to become the world's number four. Even as it kicks back and enjoys its magnum of bubbly, though, there's little time to relax. The company's veep for marketing strategy says that it's "carefully watching" Espoo to see what tactical moves it makes in the coming months, and will counter with "product portfolio" and "marketing strength." The paranoia originally stems from rumors that Nokia would be dropping its prices and making a grand re-entrance into the South Korean market later this year, and while that probably doesn't pose a short-term threat to Samsung and LG's local dominance, the decision of the top player in the world to suit up and check into the game is always a cause for concern.

[Via mocoNews]

For better or worse, the relentless barrage of RAZR 2 variants might only be getting started. Motorola's South Korean outpost has teamed up with SK Telecom to release the RAZR 2 Pink Silver, featuring an "espresso" hued keypad teamed with a light pink case for folks who want to whisper their fashion sense, not scream it -- or, in Motorola's words, for a "confident young generation." Look for it now in SKT retailers if you happen to be in the area.

[Via Unwired View]

For some, living in a country where BlackBerrys were outright banned would be a fate far, far worse than death -- you know who you are -- but for South Koreans, that nightmarish scenario is a reality. Weird rules and regulations in the country make it difficult for foreign manufacturers to gain the same foothold that domestic powerhouses like Samsung and LG enjoy, and RIM in particular has been a total no-show. Turns out CEO Jim Balsillie is paying a little visit to Seoul for the Organization on Economic Cooperation and Development's Ministerial Meeting on the Future Internet Economy next month though (goodness, what a mouthful), and the Korea Communications Commission felt just a little silly about his visit in light of a nationwide RIM ban, lifting it just enough to allow SK Telecom to start selling the mobile email maestros to companies. Individual sales, not so much -- but you've got to start somewhere, we suppose. If all goes well, devices should go on sale some time in July or August with service running some 26,000 won (about $25) per month.