What exactly does the equivalent of roughly $830 buy you in Pantech's home market these days? Well, it'll apparently get you signed up for the priciest device South Korea's third-largest handset manufacturer has ever made, the Dupont from subsidiary SKY. As far as we can tell, this thing is more show than go, thanks largely to a weakling 3-inch WQVGA display and 3 megapixel camera -- but then again, it's hard to argue with designer tie-ins and questionably tasteful gold accents, isn't it? Look for this one on local carrier SKT, and for once, we're totally fine with the fact that Pantech is concentrating on low-end messaging devices over on AT&T.

[Via Unwired View]

The Jet ushered in a new era of highly stylized directional pads for Samsung, and its latest midrange full-touch handset for its domestic market is no exception. The B900 features a sort of shield design down below the screen that looks like it might not be so fun to use, but the specs aren't bad for a stylish midrange unit: EV-DO, 3-inch WQVGA display, a 3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and T-DMB mobile TV tuning (which you'll find on virtually all phones destined for South Korea). If you're feeling it, you'll have to be on (or willing to switch to) SKT -- otherwise, the odds of getting your hands on this one are very, very low indeed.

There's a lot of Kumbaya going around in South Korea this morning with the announcement that Samsung and LG -- normally the most bitter of archrivals -- will start working together to develop the next generation of chips for digital TVs and phones. Also being pulled into the love fest is domestic carrier SK Telecom, South Korea's largest, who will be working specifically on designing wireless systems-on-chip for use in handsets. Interestingly, it seems Sammy will be left out of the loop on actual design; that'll be left to LG and others, while Samsung will be responsible for manufacturing and testing the goods. For its part, the government seems to like what it sees here -- it's pumping some 19.5 billion won (about $15.7 million) into the project, though there's no word on when we'll see the fruits of the labor in a retail product.

It's taken a little longer than they'd hoped, but RIM and SK Telecom will finally begin offering a localized version of the venerable BlackBerry Bold to South Korean customers this week. The move follows last year's scrapping of policies that all but banned foreign handsets from being offered by local carriers, which could theoretically be a boon to manufacturers in one of the world's most advanced mobile markets -- assuming anyone's able to crash through the stranglehold that local favorites Samsung, LG, and Pantech have. It's unclear how big of a deal a device with an English QWERTY keyboard could really be in Seoul, but hey, options are always a good thing, right?

Korea Telecom really wants to get you on the WiBro tip. The aptly-named (if a wee bit uninspired) Egg is essentially a router for connecting WiFi devices (such as the Nintendo DS or iPod Touch) to the company's wireless broadband network. According to the Korea Times, both KT and SK Telecom (the country's two main WiBro operators) have mere 170,000 WiBro customers total, "making a mockery" of its "most wired nation" aspirations -- so they can certainly stand to expand their customer base a little bit. Subscribers to the company's flat-rate data plan will get the device for free (trust us, they've paid enough). Or you can pick one up for yourself at the Apple store in Samseong-dong or Myeong-dong, the next time you're in Seoul. This guy should be hitting the shelves sometime in May for ₩220,000 (that's about $163).

[Thanks, Stafford]

Mark this day down folks, 'cause it ain't often that you see a handset released in the US of A months ahead of South Korea / Japan / elsewhere in Asia. LG's Incite -- the same one loosed on AT&T's network in November of 2008 -- just got official alongside the new Arena today in South Korea. As expected, it's launching with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, a full touchscreen, WiFi, a multimedia player and that all-important 3.5 millimeter headphone jack. It'll be made available in both black and wine red, and if all goes well, it should hit SK Telecom and KTF in the near future for next to nothing.

[Via UnwiredView]

If our hunches are correct, Samsung's snazzy little SCH-W690 flip phone is actually destined for arrival in the US as well, but at least for now, we're forced to be content with a South Korean debut. Reportedly, the handset packs a swank 2.6-inch AMOLED display (320 x 240) underneath the classic black (or silver) exterior, and it also touts GSM / HSDPA connectivity, GPS, a 1.5-inch external OLED, multimedia player, Bluetooth, a 2-megapixel camera and an 800mAh battery. There's no mention of price just yet, but we'd expect to pay a small premium for the pixels.

It's a good day to be in South Korea. While your evil neighbor to the north has likely been importing BlackBerrys of all flavors for years now, it has remained essentially impossible to own anything other than an LG or Samsung handset in your own nation. Today, that changes. RIM and SK Telecom have finally come together to launch the BlackBerry Bold, with sales expected to begin before the end of the year. There is a catch, however: as of now, "only corporate customers will be allowed to sign up for service." Thankfully, the rule requiring cellular devices to "carry special software adapted to South Korea's wireless internet platform" will be axed on April 1st of next year (no joke!), which should open things up quite nicely for mere mortals. Dare we say it's party time?

What do an old-school paper day planner and a phone with a 3-inch OLED have in common? If you answered "absolutely nothing," you'd be correct -- but LG apparently didn't get the memo, because they've decided to grace their latest domestic superphone, the SU100, with the rather unusual Franklin Planner branding. Besides the presumably gorgeous display, other totally un-Franklin features include a 3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and an S-DMB TV tuner, which should all make for a nice, smooth transition for anyone still committing appointments and contacts to paper in the year 2008. The SU100's launching on South Korea's SKT for about 700,000 won ($475) with a white version following on next month.

We've been hearing about a possible SK Telecom-Sprint tie-up since July of 2007, but if either firm ever hoped to actually tie the proverbial knot -- well, let's just say that ship has sailed. Given the weakening economy and the general tendency to resist taking risks right about now, the Korean giant has dropped its plans to partner with Sprint in any form or fashion. In related news, Sprint is looking to hop on the quickly expanding layoff bandwagon, but given its humongous Q3 loss, we suppose that's not totally illogical. We're told that the carrier is offering "voluntary buyout packages" to an unspecified number of employees, which is far more awesome than the "thanks, now get the hell out of here" line that's being handed down by so many other firms. Crazy times, we tell you.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

Hey, who says everyone loses during tough times? After Virgin Mobile USA crawled through a miserable Q2, things are looking up for the recent acquirer of Helio. The outfit reported 821,491 gross additions to its subscriber list, which marks a respectable 8% year-over-year increase. Furthermore, the company somehow managed to amass a Q3 net profit of $4.1 million, which contrasts starkly with the $7.4 million loss that it posted a year ago. The only down news of the day was that its average revenue per user in the third quarter fell 2% from a year earlier to $20.19, but given that its Q4 forecast shows it notching a revenue increase from 6% to 9%, we suppose it's all good in the neighborhood.

[Via RCRWireless]

We know, the little possibility that the whole deal could fall apart has been keeping you wide awake for months, but at long last, you can push aside your anxiety and hit the sack. Virgin Mobile USA announced today that it had "completed its acquisition of Helio," and all of the terms put forth on June 27th were used in the final close. Aside from garnering all the necessary regulatory approvals, Helio shareholders SK Telecom and EarthLink have received 13 million shares of Virgin Mobile USA Class A common stock, with a value of around $38 million. It's also noted that both SK Telecom and Virgin Group will each invest a cool $25 million in Virgin Mobile USA for preferred shares. And then, there was one.

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?

Some particularly juicy rumors die hard, and this one certainly qualifies: CNBC is reporting that SK Telecom is looking to hook up with some private equity firms to buy out Sprint Nextel, though a deal is "not imminent." This one's been making the rounds since last year, though it's possible that SKT sees some new impetus for making a break into the US market now that it's sold off its share in Helio -- and buying the third largest carrier in the country would certainly qualify as "making a break." It's claimed that SKT's only interested in completing a friendly deal -- no crazy hostile takeovers here -- and some of Sprint's board members aren't keen on the idea at this point, so it's definitely a hit-or-miss proposition. If this all means we can get even half of Korea's domestic hardware on US airwaves, then hey, no complaints on this end.

Update: The Wall Street Journal is now suggesting that Sprint and SKT are investigating some sort of joint venture -- not a full-on acquisition -- that would see the lovebirds work together on handsets and services. Possible, but we're curious to know what exactly Sprint brings to the table in that equation. Thanks to everyone who sent this in!