IoT for Daily Lives: SK Telecom Paves the Way with ‘Lifeware’

The Era of the Internet of T hings (IoT) has arrived. Through decades of experience in mobile services, telecommunications companies have secured an advantage in powering seamless connectivity as well as knowledge in what consumers really want and need. SK Telecom, Korea’s largest telecommunications service provider, is set to lead the new IoT market with products and services that help enhance people’s quality of lives. 

A New Consumer centric Engine for Growth

SK Telecom is setting new business models for telecommunications companies around the world with its consumer centric IoT devices. Named ‘Lifeware (Life + Hardware•Software),’ these devices hold the power to deliver unprecedented value and convenience to consumers, and is expected to become a new growth engine for the company to expand its presence in the global market.  

Bringing Smart Innovations through Lifeware

At this year’s Mobile World Congress, SK Telecom presents a wide range of new and innovative Lifeware designed to improve people’s daily lives. The lineup includes everything from entertainment to environmental and safety devices. The ‘Smart Beam HD,’ for instance, is a laser pico projector that can be wirelessly connected to a variety of devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops to create an image up to 100” diagonally on any flat, white surface. Built with laser technology, Smart Beam HD offers three times higher image quality than its former version Smart Beam and even provides a focus free feature. The cube shaped projector is ultraportable, making it ideal for presentations and movies both indoors and outdoors. 

Also, ‘Linkage’ will be on display. It is a smart Wi-Fi audio capable of providing features and quality that are incomparable to the existing Bluetooth speakers. It plays Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) music files by accessing diverse sources, including the user’s SD card, Internet radio stations and music streaming services. Another portable device SK Telecom will unveil at MWC 2015 is ‘Smart Band,’ a chic-looking yet highly functional wearable. Smart Band not only notifies the user of incoming calls, SMS•MMS, emails and SNS updates, but also promotes the user’s health through activity tracking and motivation-enhancing features.

Life Changing Devices for an Enriched Future

SK Telecom will introduce Smart Hearing Aid, a Bluetooth earset developed to allow people with hearing loss to use hearing aids more conveniently at affordable cost. It offers a specialized hearing aid fitting procedure via a smartphone app, after which users can enjoy high definition voice calling and listen to music stored in their music library.

The company has developed T Kids Phone JooN, a standalone, cute wearable phone developed to ensure a child’s safety through voice call and location information services. Children can simply make a call by choosing a photo from the contact list and pre-registered family members can view the child’s accurate location on their mobile phones. JooN also comes with an ’SOS button’ on its left side. Once pressed, it sends out emergency alert text messages and location information to all pre-registered family members; and places an automatic phone call to the main contact person. 

Moreover, in response to the growing concerns on environmental pollution, SK Telecom has launched Air Cube, a portable air monitoring device that measures air quality – i.e. fine dust level, CO2 level, etc. – anywhere, anytime, and suggests timely and appropriate a ctions at emergencies via a designated application on user’s smartphone. Air Cube not only protects those who are more vulnerable to poor air quality like the elderly, pregnant women and children, but also enables those who spend a large amount of time in close spaces to block negative effects of contaminated air by activating air purification or ventilation system.  

Armed with a global leading network infrastructure and powerful set of open IoT platforms, SK Telecom will create limitless opportunities in the era of IoT with consumer centric devices capable of improving people’s health, wellbeing and safety.