Korean technology firms to use Olympics to promote products

Korea’s representative technology firms such as Samsung and LG Electronics are eager to use the upcoming London Olympics opening on July 27 as a chance to showcase their tech prowess.

LG Electronics said Thursday that it will provide a live broadcast as well as the highlights of the Summer Olympic Games throughout the event when consumers of its Cinema 3-D Smart televisions get connected through a TV app. The London Olympics ends on Aug. 12.

“Not only will people be able to see the Games live in 3-D format, it will also allow them to replay the games that they have missed,” said an LG official.

The company will also hold various promotion activities with a focus on its 3-D TVs, offering cruise journey tickets, small 3-D TVs as well as the X-box 360. To win, people must send in pictures of themselves cheering for the Korean team while watching the game on LG’s 3-D TV sets. The winners will be selected from that pool.

On a related note, it will also hand out a bundle of prizes if the Korean team wins 10 gold medals or records at least an overall 13th place.

LG’s rival Samsung Electronics, on the other hand, held an event called “2012 London Olympics Samsung Galaxy Supporters” starting on Thursday at the COEX Convention Center in southern Seoul.

The event, which will select supporters who will be going to the Olympics in London until July 6, will require its participants to take part in quizzes and missions involving the features of the new Galaxy S3, company officials said.

“This event has been launched not only for people to experience the user-friendly, high-tech and well-designed handset, but also to give people an opportunity to visit the Olympics as one of the main sponsors for the 2012 London Olympics,” said a Samsung official.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)