BARCELONA -- A slew of high-profile gadgets and solutions by Korean tech giants -- Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, SK Telecom and KT -- are ready to grab attention at the Mobile World Congress 2017, which kicks off Monday for a four-day run.

Samsung Electronics

The Galaxy S8 is not making an entrance at the event this time, as the company has decided to push back its launch to late March. Instead, Samsung is unveiling three premium tablets -- the Galaxy Tab S3 alongside two Galaxy Book models -- which come with the S Pen stylus.

Samsung is also showcasing its Gear VR with a handheld controller, a new device providing interactive virtual reality experiences. The ergonomically designed device provides a soft VR experience with a gyro sensor and an acceleration sensor, the company said. The Gear VR with the controller also allows users to play an interactive game with a handheld controller that recognizes motion.

Samsung has also set up a VR 4D Experience Zone to enable visitors to experience four dimensional 360-degree video. 

LG Electronics

In the absence of the Samsung Galaxy S8, LG’s new flagship smartphone G6 is likely to be the star of the event. The G6 has a 5.7-inch (14.5-centimeter) Quad HD liquid-crystal display panel with a ratio of 18:9. Its full-vision display realizes vivid and dynamic screens with 564 pixels per inch.

The new handset has wide-angle cameras both in front and behind, and its selfie snapper has a 100-degree field of view. On the back of the smartphone, the two cameras making up a dual arrangement come with 13-megapixel resolution.

LG is also unveiling the new device LG X power 2 that runs the Android 7.0 Nougat and has a fast-charging feature. The phone, which has a 4,500 milliamp per hour battery, allows 15 hours of continuous video playback or 18 hours of browsing the web, when fully charged. The LG X Power 2 also comes with 5.5-inch (14-cm) (1280×720 pixel) HD In-cell Touch display. 

KT

KT is exhibiting its latest technologies on 5G and Internet of Things technologies at GSMA Innovation City, along with AT&T, Cisco Jasper, Sierra Wireless and Huawei. The City was one of the most popular attractions in 2016, welcoming nearly 30,000 visitors.

The telecom carrier said it is showcasing diverse services based on the 5G network to be unveiled at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics for the first time in the world.

The services include Omni View, a multiview streaming service that allows users to see real-time video and game information of a time frame they want, and Time-Slice, which shows the diverse motions of an athlete from different angles. It also includes Sync View, which shows the viewpoint of an athlete participating in a game, and 360 VR, which allows users to enjoy games in a 360-degree video format by wearing a head-mounted display. 

SK Telecom

SK Telecom is showcasing NUGU, a voice-activated artificial intelligence platform that understands and processes the Korean language, as well as intelligent devices powered by NUGU. The company will also demonstrate how the NUGU speaker works with Aibril, a Watson-based AI service.

The telecom carrier already launched an intelligent personal assistant speaker based on NUGU in September. Since then, the company has been constantly upgrading the platform, while carrying out studies on AI devices powered by NUGU.

Visitors will be able to gain a first-hand experience of the NUGU speaker, including its “smart IoT hub” feature that enables voice control of diverse smart home devices such as Internet Protocol Television, air purifiers and gas valves. 


By Shin Ji-hye, Korea Herald correspondent (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)