Just a quick follow-up here from something that broke in late September. The last we heard, South Korea’s telecommunications regulator gave the thumbs up to Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and the iPhone… clearing the way for the iPhone 3GS to make its way to South Korean shores by the end of November. According to the Korea Communications Commission, the iPhone ‘can be launched at any time’.

Interestingly enough, both carriers have been surprisingly quiet on the issue. No confirmation that either carrier will or will not carry the device has come down the tube yet, so we’ll just have to keep our eyes peeled to KT Corp and SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM) to see what kind of move they end up making.

If memory serves me right, we could end up seeing the iPhone in South Korea as early as November 28th (on KT). That’s the expected launch date I’ve heard before… But, we’ll see.

‘We will try to release the iPhone as soon as possible’ noted Yeom Woo-jong, spokesman for KT.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed for an iPhone 3GS debut in South Korea at the end of the month.

Here’s an interesting little concept charger/stand for the iPhone. Designer Mac Funamizu has put together what he calls the ‘iPetals’ iPhone charger. As you can clearly see, the charger unit connects directly to your iPhone, and fans out to expose multiple solar panels, used to charge up your device. But the kinda cool thing I like about this one is its double purpose. Note in the shot below, it doubles as a stand. Smart thinking. Of course, I can’t tell you if this product will ever make its way to the shelves, but I give a solid *tip of the cap* to Mac for his creativity and ingenuity.

[Via: Petitinvention]

iVIP Black is touted as the “first Millionaires iPhone app” and in that sense the price of a thousand bucks ($999.99) doesn’t come as a surprise. But not everyone can use it – before you start enjoying the service iVIP offers (more about that in a minute), users are required to complete a High Net Worth Individual certification, restricting use of the app to millionaires, only.

So why would a millionaire waste his or her time/money on such application? The press releases says that it “provides access to an exclusive network of privileges and benefits across a range of luxury partners including private islands, a concierge, supercar club, private jets, theatres, members’ clubs, butlers, and much more.” It is also suggested that additional cost is associated with using many of the benefits.

However, there’s a custom treatment involved, which includes a private “Lifestyle Consultation” where iVIP is sculpted to the individual user.

Finally, it’s important to add there’s also a more affordable version of the app (price is $449.99) called iVIP Blue that is made for those who are not yet in the millionaires bracket, and which gives access to the same partners and privileges but without the personalization or consultation.

I’m interested to hear your thoughts on this one? Can this fly or not?

AppStore links are here: iVIP Black and iVIP Blue.

AdMob is introducing a new service for iPhone that allows folks viewing videos to launch into related content, such as web, iTunes, and other videos through links along the bottom. This Interactive Video Ad Unit, of course, hinges on end-users actually sitting through video ads. Apps supported by these kinds of ads likely won’t last long if it takes any discernable amount of time or data to buffer the video before launching into the app proper, although a click-to-play option would leave some of that choice in the users’ hands. Podcasts preloaded with Video Ad Unit could potentially take advantage of the interactivity, since passive listeners might be looking for something to do anyway, and wouldn’t have to wait for videos to load up wirelessly. Mobile advertising is still a bit of a crap-shoot, but bringing multimedia into the mix may very well change that. Looking at how desktop YouTube videos have become monetized with iTunes links, it shouldn’t take long for AdMob to get this system in place for various mobile YouTube apps (since Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is a common owner).

[via AdMob]

Snaffle, an iPhone application created by lastminute.com labs, is one of those ridiculously awesome programs that makes you slap your forehead and make you wonder why no one else has done this before. Load it up, it uses the iPhone’s GPS to find out where you are, and then it displays shops around you that have a special promotion running. Unlike previous attempts at location based coupons, where you get a text or a request to turn on your Bluetooth if you walk past a certain area, this application actually makes a lot of sense. It’s on when you’re in the mood to spend money, off when it isn’t. It would be nice to “subscribe” or favorite a shop and be alerted to future promotions, and it would be cool if it worked in other parts of the world, so here is hoping lastminute.com labs is already hard at work on the next version.

[Hat tip to @DanLane]

Belgium, one of the few countries in the world that sell the iPhone without a SIM lock, is now home to one of the most elaborate thefts of Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) products ever recorded. A hole was cut in the ceiling of a warehouse owned by Ceva Logistics, a hole that was over the exact location where between 3,000 and 4,000 iPhones were being stored. While the IMEI numbers of the stolen iPhones can be blocked from working in Belgium, the thieves can just sell them in another country where such a ban would be useless. There are some disagreements as to whether the number of iPhones stolen is closer to 3,000 or 4,000, but both sources reporting on this story (De Standaard and Gazet van Antwerpen) claim that roughly 2 million EUR worth of goods was stolen.

[Via: Apple 2.0]

The developer of digital HD Radio Technology iBiquity Digital Corporation is bringing HD radio FM broadcasts to all the iPhone and iPod Touch users. The trick is in the hardware-software combo – Gigaware Navigation Control HD Radio Receiver and Gigaware HD Radio application.

iBiquity takes advantage of the iPhone OS 3.0 and newer, which allows applications to control external accessories. As a result, users can take their HD radio experience with them, tuning into HD2 and HD3 multicast channels while on the go.

Alternatively, for the majority of us who are not audiophiles and who don’t want to pay $79.99 for the Gigaware HD Radio accessory, there are “good enough” apps like Pandora and FlyCast…

If you’re not living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about the upcoming movie – Avatar. Not surprisingly it will get a video game for various platforms, iPhone included. Gameloft scored the licence and they’re preparing to release the game on December 15th, few days before the movie hits theaters.

We’re hearing Avatar for iPhone doesn’t follow the film’s plot — instead, it’s a prequel to the movie tale. Whether it will succeed remains to be seen. In the meantime, we have a trailer to share. Here it comes, ready or not.

[Via: PocketGamer.co.uk]

Google Earth fans will be pleased to know that the application has been updated to version 2.0 for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Some new features have been added, including the ability to view maps you create your your computer from your iPhone. If you save a map on your Mac or PC, simply login to your Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Maps account on your iPhone, and you’ll be able to easily pull up the map right there and then. Cool!

Browsing businesses, photos and places has also been made easier in the update. Whenever you touch an icon, a small ‘glow’ appears under your finger to let you know which icon you’ve picked. Tap on to view photos, Wikipedia info, or any other information that is available for the selected location.

Finally, new language support has been added in 2.0. 31 languages are now supported… a big jump from the original 18. I’m not going to list them all here… So if you want to know more, head on over to The Official Google Mobile Blog.

No one likes poring over spreadsheets, especially on the iPhone’s relatively small display. It would be nice if there were some way to break down spreadsheet information into visual representations that actually make sense.  Thankfully, there’s an iPhone app for that. Roambi Visualizer turns your iPhone into a handy spreadsheet cheat-sheet that converts your information into simple-yet-informative charts and graphs that look as good as they are helpful.

To use Roambi Visualizer, you’ll first have to sign up for a Roambi account on the company’s website. Then, simply upload your data-packed spreadsheet through the web-based interface and choose the type of chart/graph you’d like to use to display your data – from sales reports to employee profiles to demographic data, Roambi will probably have a graph to fit your needs. Then, when you’re satisfied with Roambi’s analysis of the data, you can push the eye-catching charts and graphs to your iPhone.

Roambi Visualizer is an incredibly useful app if you deal with spreadsheets often. If you deal with obscure or ridiculously complex data, don’t expect Roambi to turn all that noise into pretty graphs, but most people probably won’t run into that problem. Best of all, the app is free on the iPhone AppStore.

Roambi Visualizer [iTunes link]
Roambi website