Samsung Electronics Co and rival South Korean cellphone makers will have to install an audible warning on handsets equipped with digital cameras to prevent illicit photographs being taken and spread on the Internet.
South Korea, the world's fastest growing market for mobile-phone Internet access, will require handset manufacturers to install an alarm emitting a 65 decibel sound every time a picture or video is taken, to warn people who may not know they are being photographed, the Ministry of Information and Communication said in a press release.
The alarm, which would be as loud as a normal conversation, according to technology Web site Techweb.com, was chosen after the ministry considered several measures to ensure what it termed "healthy" use of the popular new technology. The combination of high-speed Internet access and cameras built into small cellphones means photographs can be taken and spread quickly and easily onto the Internet.
Internet-connected camera phones are common in South Korea and Japan.
NTT DoCoMo Inc, Japan's biggest cellphone services company, sold more than 10 million camera-equipped cell phones by April 30, eleven months after introducing the service. Vodafone Plc's Japan unit also claims 10 million users of its cellphone-camera service.
Introduction of faster cellphone Internet access in other markets means global camera-phone shipments are expected to increase by 64 percent next year to 100 million units, market researcher IDC said in a report in September.
South Korea's Samsung Electronics is the world's third largest maker of cellphones by shipments behind Nokia Oyj and Motorola Inc. Its local competitor, LG Electronics Inc, climbed the ranks from tenth to sixth last year.
SK Telecom Co and other local cell-phone service providers have installed networks that allow their users to download data at up to 2.4 megabytes per second, making it possible to transmit a digital picture to another phone or upload it to the Internet within seconds.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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