By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
Posdata, an IT subsidiary of steel maker POSCO, has shown a portable gaming console that is capable of downloading and playing video games on the Mobile WiMax network, aka WiBro.
It is the world's first gaming device that is operational on the Mobile WiMax network, a powerful but still immature wireless Internet technology. Posdata aims to sell the G100 gadget in the United States and Korea from later this year.
``We're proud to introduce this cool Mobile WiMax gaming platform on the market, and it will revolutionize the way people enjoy online games and connect to the Internet on the move,'' said Shin Joon-il, senior vice president of Posdata, in a release.
The G100 has a four-inch, touch-screen LCD display with a sliding-style game pad hidden beneath. The product supports various wireless networks, such as Mobile WiMAX, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, allowing users to select the most appropriate network depending on the situation. Web browsing is also possible using the touch-screen interface, the firms said.
Mobile WiMax is a next-generation wireless Internet technology which is faster than mobile telephone network and covers greater distance than Wi-Fi wireless Internet. It has yet to strike commercial success due to the high cost of the building network and lack of compatible devices.
Korean firms such as Samsung Electronics and Korea Telecom are leading members of the WiMax platform, along with other industry giants such as Intel and Motorola of the United States. Samsung is to provide equipment and facilities to the Mobile WiMax network to be built on the eastern part of the United States from next year. The government is also an enthusiast of the Mobile WiMax, providing legal and institutional support to the Korean firms.
Posdata is a relative newcomer in the field. The company's main business is providing IT hardware, software and maintenance services to public and private firms including POSCO, its mother company. But as the IT outsourcing business has become less and less profitable due to oversupply, the firm has announced that the wireless Internet business would be its next-generation growth engine and has made considerable investment in the field.
The G100 player is the latest of such efforts. It was developed by Posbro, a subsidiary acquired in January from MP3 player manufacturer Reigncom, at 3.1 billion won.
Before being purchased by Posdata, Posbro had manufactured a game player named G10. The most notable improvements of the G100 from the G10 are its WiMax capability and touch-screen, the company said.
A company spokesman said that game software for the G100 device is about ``80 percent completed.''