Models pose at SK Telecom's booth, designed for attendees to experience its metaverse services, at the Mobile World Congress tech show in Barcelona, Sunday. Courtesy of SK Telecom

Samsung Electronics to unveil new Galaxy lap top

By Baek Byung-yeul

SK Telecom, KT, LG Uplus, Samsung Electronics and other Korean companies will promote their latest technologies such as the metaverse, robots, artificial intelligence (AI) and other services at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) tech show, which will be held in Barcelona from Monday to Thursday.

The MWC event is the biggest annual gathering of the global mobile communication industry. The event, which was canceled in 2020 and held online in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will return to its normal schedule this year and will be held offline for the first time in three years.

Around 110 Korean companies including big ones as well as startups will take part in the show to market their technologies to the global market, especially for European consumers.

To seek more business opportunities, CEOs from Korea's three mobile carriers ― SK, KT and LG ― will attend the show. SK Telecom will focus on promoting its metaverse technology, which has emerged as key trend for mobile carriers. KT, which is transforming itself into a digital platform company, has put its focus on AI and robots while LG Uplus seeks to export its virtual reality content.

SK said it decorated its exhibition booth with a metaverse concept, enabling visitors to experience real and virtual convergence. The company is betting big on its metaverse or virtual meeting platform known as ifland, using the event as a chance to export it to other countries.

"Since the world's first 5G commercialization in 2019, ifland has been recognized as a successful case of a 5G service launched by a mobile carrier. Many leading global companies have been inquiring about the ifland service and we expect the service can enter the global market through this year's MWC," the company said.

Models pose with KT's AI and robot services at the Mobile World Congress tech show in Barcelona, Sunday. Courtesy of KT

KT plans to introduce its AI and robot-related services. Its AI secretary service has been evaluated to have contributed greatly to reducing the workload of small business owners by offering a consultancy service, receiving preorders and informing potential customers about business hours or location.

In the robot zone, an AI quarantine robot that can measure indoor air pollution levels in real time and purify air will be also be introduced

LG Uplus will operate a demonstration zone, displaying its virtual reality content and 5G service for buyers. The company will introduce various content such as virtual reality and augmented reality-based movies and art performances as well as travel, online comics, games and education based content.

Samsung Electronics' models pose with the company's Galaxy S22 smartphones at its booth during the Mobile World Congress tech show in Barcelona, Sunday. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics will also display its latest mobile devices at the event. The company said Sunday that visitors to its booth will be able to experience its latest premium smartphone Galaxy S22 and tablet PC Galaxy Tab S8 and smartwatch Galaxy Watch 4 as well as the latest edition of its Galaxy Book laptop.

"Samsung Electronics reflected new education and working culture trends such as remote classes and work from home in the exhibition booth. Visitors can experience the smooth connectivity, productivity and innovation of the Galaxy ecosystem that can be used in various places and spaces in everyday life," the company said.

The tech giant will promote not only its gadgets but also its efforts to make the global environment greener. The company said visitors can see how it developed a new smartphone material using ocean plastics such as discarded fishing nets. These materials are used in the Galaxy S22 smartphones.