The Korea Herald

Samsung supplies 40% of handsets with Android, Gartner says

Samsung Electronics Co. sold more than 40 percent of all Android mobile phones in the first quarter as the South Korean manufacturer became the world’s largest handset maker, research company Gartner Inc. said. Global handset sales declined 2 percent to 419 million, dragged down by a drop in low-end handsets, Stamford, Connecticut-based Gartner said on Thursday in a report. Smartphone sales rose 45 percent, the researcher said. Samsung, which also makes screens and other hardware used in smartph

TechnologyMay 17, 2012

U.S. economy picks up after early spring slump

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Maybe the U.S. economy’s strength this winter wasn’t just weather-related after all.Home construction is near a three-year high. And factory output has risen in three of the year’s first four months.The data released Wednesday suggest growth in the April-June quarter is off to a good start, helped by falling gas prices and solid hiring gains. Fears of a spring slump are easing.“It’s all very encouraging,” said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics. “Things lo

May 17, 2012

U.S. economy picks up after early spring slump

Fed: Several members could support further easing

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Federal Reserve policymakers are open to further efforts to stimulate the U.S. economy if growth falters or threats escalate.Minutes of the central bank’s April 24-25 meeting released Wednesday stated that “several members” thought additional Fed support could be needed if the recovery lost momentum or if the risks to the economy became great enough.The minutes did not spell out what circumstances would trigger further Fed efforts to lower interest rates to boost the economy. B

May 17, 2012

Greek turmoil spreads pessimism across markets

NEW YORK (AP) ― The unending turmoil in Greece spread fallout across the financial markets Wednesday. The Dow Jones industrial average fell for the ninth day out of 10, and gold, oil, and the euro all dropped to multi-month lows.Greece called a new round of elections for June 17 after coalition talks to form a government fell apart. The president said depositors were pulling hundreds of millions of euros out of banks, weakening the country’s strained financial system.The main cause for investor

May 17, 2012

Greek turmoil spreads pessimism across markets

Lee Won-chang to head new KOBACO

Lee Won-chang, head of the Korea Broadcast Advertising Corp. or KOBACO, was named the new CEO of the soon-to-be-inaugurated organization that will succeed KOBACO.According to a revision approved by the National Assembly in February, the new KOBACO will be inaugurated on May 23. KOBACO’s executive board approved the appointment after evaluating and recommending candidates following an open call for the position, according to the Korea Communications Commission. The 69-year-old Lee is a graduate o

May 17, 2012

Bicyclists are preparing for another season

DETROIT ― When Don and Darla Daley dine at restaurants near their Royal Oak, Michigan, home, they no longer drive their car.It’s the same with quick trips to the store or nearby Royal Oak Farmers Market. They hop on the bicycles they bought two years ago ― their favorite form of recreation and exercise.The Daleys are discovering what many people are getting to know. Bicycling is a great route to fun and fitness for people of all ages.In the two years since the Daleys purchased their bikes, Darla

TechnologyMay 17, 2012

Bicyclists are preparing for another season

Seonam Hospital to provide free smoking cessation program

Seonam Hospital is holding a free clinic to help people quit smoking from May 24 through June 28. The program consists of nicotine-dependence measurement; free provision of nicotine patches, gum and candies; once-a-week face-to-face consultation; and regular educational sessions.After the program wraps up, the hospital plans to stay in touch with the patients through SMS messages for another six months to keep them focused on the goal. “Smoking is more than a habit. It is a disease. Seeking prof

TechnologyMay 17, 2012

All hospitals to display patents’ rights on site

From August all medical institutions should post patients’ rights and responsibilities on a wall or on LED panels inside their main building, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Tuesday. According to a relevant law revision that will come to effect from Aug. 2, rights and responsibilities should be exhibited on the walls of reception sections, emergency rooms and websites. The patients have the right to be treated, notified and decide their own treatments; to have their personal information

TechnologyMay 17, 2012

Mechanism of delirium identified

A group of medical doctors here said they have identified the mechanism causing delirium, or sudden severe confusion and rapid changes in brain function that occur in physical or mental illness, a first internationally.According to professor Kim Jae-jin and his team at Gangnam Severance Hospital, one of the main mechanisms causing the mental disease is the incongruity of the basal ganglion of the cerebrum and the midbrain. Lack of congruity allows only one of them to operate actively to cause th

TechnologyMay 17, 2012

Flesh-eating germ rare, especially for the healthy

ATLANTA (AP) ― Aimee Copeland, a Georgia grad student, is fighting for her life because of the flesh-eating bacteria that infected her after she gashed her leg in a river two weeks ago. One of her legs was amputated and her fingers will be too, her father says, because of the spreading infection.She has a rare condition, called necrotizing fasciitis, in which marauding bacteria run rampant through tissue. Affected areas sometimes have to be surgically removed to save the patient’s life.● How oft

TechnologyMay 17, 2012

Watch out for preeclampsia during pregnancy

In the year of the black dragon many people are planning to have babies with “good fortune.”However, pregnancy takes caution as well as enthusiasm. One thing expectant mothers should bear in mind ― especially those older than 35 ― is preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is when a pregnant woman develops high blood pressure and protein in the urine after the 20th week, which is in the middle of the second trimester of pregnancy.The U.S. National Institute of Health says the main symptoms of preeclampsia ar

TechnologyMay 17, 2012

Watch out for preeclampsia during pregnancy

LG Display receives recognition for W-OLED technology

Executive of OLED Development Group gets bronze medal for technologyLG Display’s technology for making large organic light-emitting diode displays has been recognized ahead of Invention Day with one of its executives scheduled to win the bronze medal on Friday.The Korea Invention Promotion Association will give the industrial bronze medal to LG Display’s senior vice president Ahn Byung-chul of the OLED Development Group for coming up with the firm’s proprietary White-OLED technology for 55-inch

IndustryMay 17, 2012

LG Display receives recognition for W-OLED technology

Business calls for stricter regulation of troubled savings banks: survey

Most businessmen and economic experts demand that regulations on insolvent savings banks’ restructuring be made stricter, according to a survey released by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday.In the poll of about 150 businessmen and analysts, 47.1 percent of the respondents said that previous regulations failed to prevent the savings banks’ risky management. About 34 percent demanded more measures to aid victims. Such sentiments come after Solomon, Mirae II, Hanju and Korea sa

May 17, 2012

Shares gain on technical rebound

South Korean stocks gained 0.26 percent Thursday on a modest technical rebound from the previous session’s tumble triggered by mounting Greek and eurozone woes, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index picked up 4.71 points to 1,845.24, after falling for six straight sessions. Trading volume was light at 434 million shares worth 5.58 trillion won ($4.78 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 449 to 382.“The bourse recovered b

May 17, 2012

Korea unveils new high-speed train

Traveling time from Seoul to Busan to be cut to one-and-a-half hours by 2015CHANGWON, South Gyeongsang Province ― Korea’s new high-speed train HEMU-430X showed its long, navy nose to the public for the first time in this southeastern city of Changwon on Wednesday. The faster and bigger successor to the KTX-Sancheon is the nation’s second bullet train developed with local technologies and its production has been carried out in the city by Hyundai Rotem, the train maker. The HEMU, short for High-s

IndustryMay 17, 2012

Facebook contributes to rise of ‘dumb’ crimes

Recent Facebook-related crimes are exposing a number of less-than-intelligent criminals who use the social networking service.Such was the case of two men in Colombia who recently robbed an Internet cafe. They waited until the time was ripe, held the owner at gunpoint, took the cash and made a clean getaway on a motorcycle.They did everything right except for one thing; forgetting to log out of a Facebook account that had detailed information about one of the culprits, allowing police to simply

TechnologyMay 17, 2012

Facebook contributes to rise of ‘dumb’ crimes

Video shows massive cat enjoying good vacuum

An online video clip on Thursday showed a massive cat letting his owner give him a vacuuming.Normally, cats hate the loud sound of a vacuum cleaner and hide under the couch once the vacuum starts up.However, the YouTube video showed that the cat lying on the floor even rolls over onto his back to let the owner give him a thorough vacuuming. One comment said the cat would have run away if it had no

TechnologyMay 17, 2012

Video shows massive cat enjoying good vacuum

Coffee buzz: Study finds java drinkers live longer

One of life's simple pleasures just got a little sweeter. After years of waffling research on coffee and health, even some fear that java might raise the risk of heart disease, a big study finds the opposite: Coffee drinkers are a little more likely to live longer. Regular or decaf doesn't matter.The study of 400,000 people is the largest ever done on the issue, and the results should reassure an

TechnologyMay 17, 2012

S. Korea's fundamentals remain strong despite Greek shock: official

South Korea's economic fundamentals remain strong despite global financial market uncertainty triggered by worries Greece will exit the eurozone, a government policymaker said Thursday. Vice Finance Minister Shin Je-yoon said in an economic review meeting that political turmoil in Greece following anti-austerity election results have fueled overall market woes and affected global stock markets

May 17, 2012

Survey counts Earth-threatening asteroids

A NASA space telescope has completed the best assessment yet of our solar system's population of potentially hazardous asteroids, the space agency said.(MCT)Observations from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) have revealed new information about the total numbers, origins and the possible dangers the asteroids may pose, NASA reported Wednesday.Potentially hazardous asteroids, or PHAs,

TechnologyMay 17, 2012

Survey counts Earth-threatening asteroids