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Staff Reporter
Nothing sells better than fear, and mobile telephony operators feel they just might as well cash in.
SK Telecom, the country's biggest wireless carrier, is about to release a new handset by Samsung Electronics that comes with a fake incoming call ring-tone and an alarm to help users when threatened.
The touch-screen phone, the SCH-750 which is Samsung's latest phone in its popular ``Haptic'' series, is already gathering a buzz among young consumers for being used by one of the characters in ``Boys Before Flowers,'' one of the country's most popular television shows.
When approached by suspicious strangers, users can mimic a telephone call by pushing a button on the handset to make their phone ring, or just set off the alarm. The phone is expected to be priced around 600,000 won (about $396), some 10,000 won to 20,000 won less expensive than previous Haptic models.
SK Telecom said it is planning to release more phones with similar safety features, including an LG Electronics handset in April.
``Most Koreans always have their mobile phones with them nearly all the time when they are out, so it makes sense to add these features,'' said an SK Telecom spokesman.
``We are expecting significant demand from women and teenage customers, and the recent popularity of our location-based information services backs our reasoning.''
KTF, the No. 2 carrier, doesn't intend to be outdone by its bitter industry rival. The company is also preparing a Samsung handset, the SPH-W7100, a digital version of a rape whistle.
The phone, though not as fancy as SK Telecom's, seems to have been designed with a hostage crisis in mind. By pulling a ring connected to the top of the handset, the user sets off an alarm that hits 100 decibels (dB), equivalent to the sound of a container truck and perceivable from as far away as 70 meters away, KTF said.
The phone will also automatically send text messages to friends or family members to alert recipients of the sender's location and will prove to be useful even when the batteries run out, as selected phones will receive text messages indicating location.
Since last month's arrest of serial murder suspect Kang Ho-soon, who allegedly raped and killed at least eight women, including his former wife and mother-in-law, there have been numerous reports of women and children feeling more insecure when out of the home.
thkim@koreatimes.co.kr
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