Seoul, April 1 – US tech giant Apple has enhanced an emergency location-sharing feature on iPhones for South Korean users at the request of the Seoul government, officials said on Wednesday.
The extension of the service's duration, from the previous five minutes to 30 minutes, came at the request of the Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) to better help emergency responders accurately identify the locations of iPhone users in need of emergency assistance, reports Yonhap news agency.
The agreement was reached after a series of meetings among the KMCC, Apple, the National Police Agency, the National Fire Agency, and the Korea Internet & Security Agency.
"Samsung Electronics smartphones do not have such limitations as they operate based on a different mechanism," a KMCC official said, noting that Apple decided to offer the extension especially for South Korean users.
"We welcome Apple's decision and will continue to work with global companies and related organizations to improve the quality of location-sharing services to better protect people's lives and safety," KMCC Chair Kim Jong-cheol said in a release.
Meanwhile, the media watchdog chief on Wednesday called on Google to pursue shared growth in South Korea's application ecosystem as the U.S. tech giant moves to revamp its commission policy for its app market.
Kim Jong-cheol, chair of the Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC), met with Wilson White, vice president of global affairs at Google, in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, to discuss areas of cooperation ahead of the implementation of the new commission policy, the watchdog said.
In March, Google vowed to make major changes to its app store policy, including splitting its 30 percent commission into a 15-20 percent service fee and a 5 percent transaction fee while allowing third-party payment options.
"We expect the app market ecosystem to experience tangible changes following Google's positive steps," Kim was quoted as saying during the meeting while asking the U.S. company to implement the new pricing in South Korea earlier than scheduled in December.
Kim also called on Google to come up with measures to promote shared growth across the ecosystem, including small and medium-sized developers. "We ask for Google's continued attention and efforts to establish a fair and sustainable app ecosystem," Kim added.
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