Go West... or East!

Wednesday 19 August

Who’s best for tech? The Far East or the West? There was only one way to find out. We sent Jon to Seoul – the capital of South Korea and centre of gadget development in the East – while I stayed in, ahem, sunny London to find out what the tech skinny is over here.

The first part of the East vs West test starts out at that most remarkable of things: the internet. Broadband speeds are on the rise in the UK, with super-fast broadband (hitting speeds of up to 100Mbps) rolling out to a suggested 100 million homes by 2012. So what does Seoul – touted as the most connected city in the world – boast in terms of speed? Well, I won’t ruin it for you. Just check out the video for the amazing answer!

Round 2 and we moved onto mobile phone technology. In the UK file sharing, such as Nokia’s Ovi service, allows you to access your home computer via your mobile from anywhere in the world – that means access to all the media on your home PC on your phone! In Seoul, meanwhile, almost half the mobiles come with integrated digital television! So who wins round 2?

The third and final round? The ultimate gadget! I pit the sWaP Watch – a watch that incorporates mobile phone, video and music player – against Jon’s choice… a toilet seat?! Let’s just say it’s very hi-tech!

So, who wins? East or West? Check out the video for the result!