Korean Job Discussion Forums

[toiletgod2000]

Thanks to some advice from this forum, I finally took the plunge and got a smartphone--Motoroi. I bought it Saturday night and left it at the store because apparently the registration site shuts down 8:30 Saturday until Monday. I was heading out for some soju and didn't want to risk an accident before the insurance took effect, so now I'm tortured at work counting down the four hours until I get to pick up my new toy.

So the reason for my post is in regard to apps. Has anyone found some fantastic apps? Although I'm interested in any great ones, here I was hoping to find out about Korea-specific apps. I've seen Google Goggles and that looks pretty cool. Is there anything that might have more about Korea? The English internet generally seems lacking about most things Korean. Any great apps for bus schedules/subway maps? I'd really like to get something that would plot an intercity bus itinerary including local buses and walking to my destination. It seems that google maps only uses subway, express, and local buses (neglecting 시외 "intercity" buses, the majority of the ones in my town). Great translation/Korean language study software would also be nice. Also, what's the best Skype app? Sype has pulled their official app, pending some kind of Verizon partnership, but apparently you can use fring...any recommendations?

[Slaps]

At the moment there is no paid app marketplace for android in Korea only the T store and free apps from the marketplace.

So basically the app situation is kinda terrible at the moment.

[Senior]

[toiletgod2000]

So I can download paid apps for free? How?

[Drew345]

[Senior]

[smogdonkey]

Don't know about Korea-specific stuff yet (will be back this summer), but check out droidforums.net for a lot of great Android advice.

I would assume others have been referring to rooting your device to gain access to other programs and capabilities (like tethering) than is commercially available. I've been tempted to do it with my Droid, but I'm holding out hope that 2.1 will be released soon for the Droid, with official Flash 10.1 support shortly thereafter...

The apps I use most are Advanced Task Killer (absolute must), Astrid, Aldiko, gStrings, Google Places Directory, Ringdroid, and Pandora (probably not available in Korea). Parallel Kingdom and Homerun Battle 3D are the best time-wasters I've found so far. Weatherbug is great for having the temp in the notification bar, and instant access to the forecast.

How is the Motoroi? Does it run Android 2.01 or 2.1?

[toiletgod2000]

Motoroi is on Android 2.0.1. Thanks for the recommendations...I haven't really gone through them too much yet though. Although I have nothing to compare it to, I'm happy with the Motoroi but it's not supported well in Korea yet. Google is great in the states, but the maps don't even give driving directions in Korea yet. They offer public transport routes, but they don't have most of the options available. The express bus terminal is about an hour from where I live by direct express bus, but maps told me to take a string of local buses that put me there in a mere 7 hours. There's a bus that goes directly from my apartment to my school, but Google doesn't know about it and tells me to walk for 30 minutes to another bus line. Salesmen also seem to be mistaken about a Korean Navi being built in.

With that said, there a lot of amazing apps and being able to forgo iTunes to put mp3s on the phone is nice. I hate itunes. The phone has a lot of cool features, but until google has a bigger Korean presence or daum or naver build some apps, there's a lot of potential being wasted.

[toiletgod2000]

I forgot to mention the skype dilemma: skype has no official app for android yet. They are apparently developing one, and releasing it with Verizon (?) in the states, so it should come out everywhere. There are other options though. Fring is supposed to let you make VoIP calls over skype, but I can't get it to work to make any kind of call. The only mention of the motoroi on their boards is a bug report with someone having the same problem as me. There are other VoIP services, but I'm pretty attached to my $3/month unlimited US and Canada plan.

If I had known about these skype problems, it would have been a deal breaker in favor of the iPhone. Using wireless at home and at work to talk over skype on my phone was one of the big pushes to get a smart phone. I don't like being stuck in front of my computer when some old friend or my mom calls with some ridiculous crisis. 3G skype access was just going to be an occasional indulgence, but an option I wanted to have.

[Senior]

That's lame. It isn't a deal breaker for me, but it would be nice to just have a handset to call my moms once a week. Instead of being glued to the computer.

I think I'm just going to get the iPhone. I love my ipod touch and the few issues there are with the iPhone, I know in advance, going in. It's a bit of a plunge with the Motoroi, as there is basically no english language info on it. Also I was surprised to hear it is Android 2.0. I think there is meant to be an upgrade in the future, but still weird.

[toiletgod2000]

[JS Subculture]

Motoroi 2.1 upgrade is now available

[toiletgod2000]

How do I get it? Is it just at the T Store?

The worthless T Store won't take my foreign name/ID number...funny how they'll sell me the phone but don't take what I can only imagine is a very simple step to accept roman-alphabet names. I guess the cell phone app store is just another case where a Korean friend has to help you do something really simple...

[Gaber]

LMGTFY: http://isohunt.com/torrents/?ihq=android+apps