DONATE

Category: Cellular

  • Twitter’s Periscope live streaming reaches Pyongyang

    Martyn Williams

    ·

    Twitter’s Periscope live streaming reaches Pyongyang

    It’s probably the first use of Periscope, Twitter’s new video live streaming tool, from Pyongyang. Coleen Baik, a designer who previously worked at Twitter, is in North Korea at the moment as part of the Women Cross DMZ movement. The group are in the headlines for their plan to cross from North Korea to South…

    , ,
  • Smartphone imports from China said to have hit record in 2014

    Martyn Williams

    ·

    Smartphone imports from China said to have hit record in 2014

    Imports of smartphones from China into North Korea hit a record in 2014, according to a report by Yonhap News. The South Korean news agency said North Korea bought smartphones worth US$82.8 million from China last year, according to figures from the Seoul-based Korea International Trade Association (KITA). That’s almost double the 2013 number and in…

    ,
  • New Arirang smartphone caught on camera

    Martyn Williams

    ·

    New Arirang smartphone caught on camera

    North Korea’s Arirang smartphone has been upgraded. Recent photos of one of the phones show a new model that features an updated version of Google’s Android operating system. The phone was spotted by Aram Pan, a Singapore-based photographer who has made several trips to North Korea. He first posted them on his DPRK 360 Facebook…

    ,
  • Sawiris takes charge of Koryolink parent

    Martyn Williams

    ·

    Sawiris takes charge of Koryolink parent

    Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris has taken over as CEO of the parent company of Cheo Technology, which runs North Korea’s Koryolink 3G cellular telephone network. Sawiris assumed the top job at Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT) after the former CEO, Ahmed Abou Doma, stepped down for personal reasons. He had been CEO for less than a…

    ,
  • North Korean malware hit thousands of phones, says Seoul

    Martyn Williams

    ·

    North Korean malware hit thousands of phones, says Seoul

    Malicious software disguised as a computer game could have infected around 20,000 smartphones in South Korea, according to South Korean media reports quoting the country’s spy agency. The games were offered through South Korean sites between May 19 and September 16 this year, the National Intelligence Service said in a report to parliament. The apps have since been removed…

    , , , ,
  • Koryolink subscriptions hit 2.4 million

    Martyn Williams

    ·

    Koryolink subscriptions hit 2.4 million

    Subscriptions to Koryolink, North Korea’s only 3G mobile phone network, have just passed the 2.4 million mark, according to the latest figures from the operator. The figure represents a significant slowdown in growth in the last year over the previous year and points to the first big spurt in subscriptions being over. The carrier might have…

    ,
  • Chinese shops offer cheap cellphones to North Koreans

    Martyn Williams

    ·

    Chinese shops offer cheap cellphones to North Koreans

    Shops in cities on the Chinese side of the border are attempting to tempt North Koreans with cheap cellphones for use on their country’s mobile phone network, according to a report by Radio Free Asia. The phones are on sale for about half the price they would fetch in North Korea, but are attracting few…

    ,

  • Martyn Williams

    ·

    Inside North Korea’s cell phone use

    North Koreans used cell phone messaging to independently organize a soccer group, surprising authorities, according to a new report on cell phone usage in the country. The soccer club was apparently organized by a group at Kim Chaek University of Technology in Pyongyang, and could be one of the reasons that pushed authorities to launch a…

    ,
  • Lost phone found in Pyongyang?

    Martyn Williams

    ·

    Lost phone found in Pyongyang?

    A smartphone that was lost in South Korea has apparently surfaced in Pyongyang. A South Korean Internet used posted a screenshot from Google’s Android Device Manager that shows the phone on Sungri Street (????) in Pyongyang. The page says the location accuracy is 75 meters. Curtis Melvin, author of North Korea Economy Watch and authority…

    ,
  • Orascom has $422 million in cash in North Korea

    Martyn Williams

    ·

    Orascom has $422 million in cash in North Korea

    Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT), the Egyptian company that owns a 75 percent stake in North Korea’s on 3G cellular network operator, has apparently been doing very well in the North Korean market. A recent audit report by Deloitte says the company’s assets in North Korea stand at US2 million, of which 2 million…

    ,