Its official. South Korea is now the world’s most wired – and wireless – nation. The have, for example, over 76,000 subscribers to mobile phone TV streaming already. They’re spending billions of dollars on R&D, and have a stated aim of being the world’s leading IT/electronics hub. And it looks as if they are starting to be just that.
A report in the BusinessWeek (18 July, 2005), highlighted some of the innovations they’re looking at, and I thought I’d share one of the sexier ones with you. RFID’s are a key component of many of the innovations they’re looking. Little radio tags that can be embedded in anything from paper to clothing, and motor cars to human beings. They’re readable and writeable, and can perform a myriad functions.
“Here’s how it might work: Strolling down a street in Seoul, you notice a billboard advertising flower delivery, and you remember it’s your girlfriend’s birthday. The billboard is equipped with an embedded radio chip. You whip out your mobile phone and press a “hot” key that connects with the chip and calls up information from the advertised flower shop on your phone’s display. You select a bouquet of daffodils, and a query pops up asking if you want to include a song. You pick a ditty dedicated to daffodils, and click “send” to place your order, which is billed to the phone. The shop delivers the flowers, with a radio chip attached to the wrapping paper. Your girlfriend clicks the hot key on her phone, and it plays the song. She is happy you remembered; SK Telecom is delighted because it gets traffic and earns money from selling the music as well.
RFID is just one of a dozen new digital technologies under development in South Korea’s bustling laboratories, part of a government-led campaign to ensure that the country doesn’t lose its leading role as an innovator in information technology and telecommunications.”
Quote from – Business Week, Honing Its Digital Game (premium content).
RFID tags on steroids
