Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Kheldar]

Just got a new HTC Desire and I'm pretty excited about it. I know there are a couple of posts already regarding the Desire and other Android based phones but I thought a new thread would be nice. First, it sucks that Korea/Google decided to block all games for the Android. For iPhone users, it's relatively simple: just create a U.S. iTunes account but not as simple for Android users. Looks like there are programs we can use that will install apps/games (torrents?) from a specific location (PC to SDcard). Anyone have any experience with this they would like to share? The apps are cool but I just want to play some games! Thanks!

[Senior]

I just got one as well. Basically, it's pretty awesome. The battery life is a complete joke though. I haven't worked out how to watch video clips on it yet either. It crushed youtube, which is awesome. The GPS is fun too. There are a few iPhone apps that I wish were available for Android. I'm sure there are alternatives.

If I could play Angry Birds on it, it would be a dream device.

[Slowmotion]

Blocked all games? Why did they do that?

[steveohan]

was it all preinstalled with korean?
how easy is it to change the language to english?

[Senior]

It came with Korean OS, but the store clerk changed it over to English. You can change it to whatever language you please. It's just like changing the language on any device. An option in the settings menu.

I understand they blocked the games because the K govt censors all games, but google weren't prepared to allow them to censor the Android store, so they just shut it down. I'm 100% sure there is a way around it. People always find a way of circumventing lame brained govt actions.

It's a great device in my opinion. It won't be superseded as fast as an iPhone either. It basically has the specs of a mid level laptop of 5 years ago. 500MB RAM, 1GHZ processor and can go up to 32GB of storage (it comes with an 8GB mini SD). I wish you could output the display to a monitor. It would basically replace my laptop.

The 2.2 firmware is out in the States, hopefully it will come here. It's meant to make the phone 5 times faster.

[Kheldar]

http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/04/06/google-to-pull-all-android-games-from-the-market-in-south-korea/


Apparently Korea has a law that requires game manufacturers to provide a rating system for games (violence, etc.). Google figured it was too much hassle to rate each game for compliance so they just prevent Android users from downloading them. Since Android basically requires you to use the phone to download apps/games, it makes difficult for us but I am sure there are ways around it.

Changing to English is pretty simple. Just find the language settings in the menu. You can even change the weather to Fahrenheit. The cool thing is it still allows you to use English or Korean keyboard when typing messages and email.

The video player is in the Photos program. When you select Albums, you can choose to view photos or videos. There are other video players you can download as well.

Some of things I really like is the way it groups text messages together by sender, the details it stores about each contact (picture, emails, text messages), barcode scanner that can be used to compare prices of products and even direct links to websites, flash support, multitasking, beautiful display, camera with flash, the quantity and quality of the free apps. I downloaded an app that keeps track of my data usage and another app that detects when the phone is near metal objects. So cool and definitely gets the iPhone users jealous. But still no easy way to download games! It looks like you can download the programs via torrents and there is software that allows for remote installation. There has to be someone who's tried it successfully.

A good discussion board about HTC Desire and other Android phones:


http://androidforums.com/htc-desire/

[Kheldar]

I installed HTC Sync on my PC. It is a self-extracting .exe on the sd card that came with the phone. Mount your phone as a drive when it prompts you after you plugging in the USB. After installing the program (it will install drivers as well), plug in the USB and, duh, on the menu it has an application installer that lets you install apps/games from your PC.

There's hundreds of games on torrents but many of them are old/not working, so it's hit and miss. Obviously, we won't have access to updates so it would be nice if someone shared a site that has the newest games available.

http://www.htc.com/europe/howto.aspx?id=676&type=1&p_id=312

[Johnwayne]

I am curious, how much are people paying for their HTC Desires?

I have been looking to get one recently and I have been quoted all sorts of prices ranging for 350,000 won to 600,000 won. They all seem a little high to me, but maybe that is usual?

If you got it much cheaper and it was in Seoul, please say where!

For reference, I was planning on signing up for the 45,000 won a month service plan.

[cj1976]

The HTC Evo 4G looks quite promising too, but it will probably be a while before we see it here. One feature that is very simple but utterly useful is the removable battery. These smartphones are so powerful that battery consumption will always be an issue, so having a spare battery in your pocket is pretty handy.

[Senior]

[Senior]

[cj1976]

I read an article somewhere about Korean Iphone users having the same issues getting games on their phones. Apparently, they simply circumvented this by going through the USA Apple stores. Maybe this would be a solution for the Android games problem.

[Senior]

There doesn't appear to be paid apps on the K Android store either.

[wuzza]

[Johnwayne]

If you are really bent on getting access to paid apps from the U.S. store, there are ways to do it depending on which phone you have. Aside from torrents.

Look into something called Marketenabler.