Computer Hardware
Review: Samjiyon tablet
Aug 1st
North Korea, like the rest of the world, is getting hooked on tablet computers. In the last year, state media has highlighted three different tablet computers that are now, according to the reports, available in the country.
The latest of these, the Samjiyon (삼지연), is also on sale to foreigners and one of the tablets was recently purchased by a tech-savvy tourist. The tourist, Michael, doesn’t want to use his surname, but I’ve spoken extensively with him via e-mail, phone and Skype video chat about the tablet and how it performs.
The Samjiyon first appeared to the world at the 8th Pyongyang Autumn International Trade More >
North Korea’s Android-based Achim tablet on video
Jun 4th
North Korea’s Achim (Morning) tablet PC will soon become a year old. The tablet, which runs the Android operating system, was first unveiled in July 2012 as a computer to help education.
It was the second tablet PC unveiled by the country. The first came from the Korea Computer Center and a third, called Samjiyon, was unveiled later in the year.
Since it has appeared, the DPRK’s state media has carried several stories about the success of the Achim tablet PC in the teaching and learning markets. It’s said to contain reference books, foreign-language dictionaries and scientific data. KCNA reported it weighs about More >
Spring Trade Fair wraps up
May 21st
The 16th Pyongyang Spring International Trade Fair wrapped up at the end of last week. I‘ve taken a look through some of the footage from Korean national television and KCNA and spotted a few companies that were exhibiting.
At last year’s trade fair, the Korea Computer Center debuted a new tablet PC. This year didn’t see any major launches of new IT equipment, at least according to the media coverage, but there were tablet computers on show.
One of the companies highlighted in the national TV coverage was Achim Panda Computer JV, also known as Morning Panda Computer. The company was established More >
Spring International Trade Fair set for next week
May 6th
Pyongyang’s Spring International Trade Fair is due to open next week, the state-run Korea Central News Agency reported Monday.
This year’s event will run from May 13 to 16 and will bring together companies from Germany, Malaysia, Mongolia, Switzerland, Singapore, Australia, Italy, Indonesia, China, Poland and Taiwan, KCNA said.
Vendors will show machines, electric and electronic products, light industrial goods, foodstuffs, medical instruments, medicines, building materials, chemical goods and vehicles, the report said.
Last year’s event saw the debut of a tablet computer said to have been developed by the Korea Computer Center image, right).
The number of Chinese companies attending the event has been growing in More >
The importance of data security
May 1st
When South Korean workers began leaving the Kaesong Industrial Zone a couple of weeks ago, they returned across the border in cars and trucks laden with as much finished merchandise as possible.
Plastic-wrapped packages and boxes didn’t just fill the interior of cars but were stacked high on the roof, sometimes even covering the car’s bonnet and hanging off the back. After all, getting those goods to market was the prime concern at the time when people thought Kaesong operations might be suspended for a few days or weeks.
Now it’s looking like the shutdown will last longer and there are new concerns More >
Noul industrial computer touted
Mar 15th
North Korea’s KCNA news agency carried some images on Thursday of what it claims is North Korea’s latest computer.
The machine, called “Noul” (노을), was developed by Noul Technology Joint Venture and it targeted at industrial applications, KCNA said. It’s available in two models: one with a 5.7-inch screen and one with a 10.4-inch screen.
The KCNA report said it’s already in use at Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex, Huichon Power Station, Pyongyang Cornstarch Factory and other facilites. Its life it twice that of a conventional PC in an industrial environment because it’s shielded from temperature, humidity, rays and vibration, reported KCNA.
The daily Rodong Shimun More >
DPRK tablet PC can receive TV broadcasts
Jan 14th
North Korea’s main evening news featured a minute-long report on the tablet computers on Thursday night.
The report, which focused on the Samjiyon tablet, interviewed a man identified as the chief engineer of the tablet from the Multimedia Technology Research Institute of the Korea Computer Center.
The tablet first made an appearance in September at the Pyongyang Autumn International Trade Fair, and the television news report revealed that the tablet can receive television broadcasts.
There were several shots of the tablet showing images from Korea Central Television.
The report appeared to show several different computers, including a laptop with a detachable screen that could be used More >
More from the Pyongyang trade fair
Sep 29th
Earlier I wrote about a new Android tablet computer called Samjiyon that was on show at the 8th Pyongyang Autumn International Trade Fair. Some of the images came from a KCNA video that also included some other highlights from the fair, including other pieces of technology.
The fair lasted from Monday to Thursday and including, according to KCNA, “more than 210 companies and entities from 10 odd countries and regions, including the DPRK, China, Netherlands and Germany.”
Here’s some screen grabs from the report (click the images for a larger version).
First refrigerators from what appears to be China’s Shangling Electric Appliances. One of More >
Samjiyon Android tablet debuts at Pyongyang trade fair
Sep 28th
A North Korean company says it has developed a tablet computer based on Google’s Android operating system, according to reports from the 8th Pyongyang Autumn International Trade Fair currently taking place.
There’s little actual information on the tablet computer, which was shown in photo coverage by the Associated Press and North Korean state TV. It’s made by a company called “Chosun Computer,” which doesn’t appear to have received any previous coverage in western or North Korean media.
You can see the AP photo on The Wall Street Journal’s Korea Realtime blog, which also talks about the computer. The AP didn’t run a story from More >
WIPO tech exports didn’t violate rules finds UN committee
Sep 25th
A United Nations committee has concluded the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) technical assistance program didn’t violate U.N. Security Council resolutions.
In question were exports of computer equipment by WIPO intended to help North Korea upgrade its patent office IT system. The exports were first reported by Fox News Channel in April, which published internal WIPO documents that showed reservations over the exports were expressed within WIPO.
In a letter to WIPO, Jose Filipe Moraes Cabral, chairman of the UN Security Council Committee, wrote:
Resolution 1718 (2006) and 1874 (2009) expressly prohibit the supply, sale or transfer to the DPRK of nuclear, missile More >
