KT launches air quality monitoring app

KT is launching a mobile application that tracks fine dust levels over the Korean Peninsula, where worsening air quality in recent years has become a national emergency. The app, called Air Map Korea, allows users to access a real-time big data analysis of fine dust concentrations for a particular region, the South Korean telecom firm said Monday. (Yonhap)Other features include instant updates on dust warnings and daily activity recommendations based on dust levels -- such as whether it’s advisa

Feb. 18, 2019

SK Telecom to introduce media upscaling solution at MWC

SK Telecom Co. said Monday it will unveil its media upscaling solution, based on its artificial intelligence (AI) technology, in Barcelona next week. South Korea's top mobile carrier said it will show off Supernova, which improves quality of image and sound source based on the AI's deep learning algorithms, at the upcoming MWC 2019. (Yonhap)The MWC is the world's largest mobile show and will run from Feb. 25-28 in the Mediterranean city.Supernova can analyze images from camera, media files and i

Feb. 18, 2019

Korean mobile carriers to bring 5G to life at MWC 2019

In just one week, the world will witness how the fifth-generation telecommunications network will be realized across various industries and change individual users’ lives at the world’s biggest mobile industry show in Barcelona, Spain, according to industry sources Sunday. And South Korea’s three telecom giants will be taking center stage at Mobile World Congress 2019, which kicks off Feb. 25 for a four-day run, demonstrating their commercial 5G services they say will transcend time and space fo

Feb. 17, 2019

Samsung to launch Galaxy S10 on March 8

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. will release its new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S10, on March 8 in the United States, its website said Friday. Samsung's US website opened a preorder page for the much-hyped premium phone ahead of an Unpacked event slated for Feb. 20 in San Francisco. (Yonhap)In the US, Samsung offered buyers up to US$550 off a Galaxy S10 in a trade-in program for previously released devices.The Galaxy S10 will hit the Korean market on March 8, while those who

Feb. 15, 2019

Samsung loses out to Chinese players in Thailand, India

After being defeated by Chinese rival Xiaomi in India, Samsung Electronics again was deprived of its No. 1 title in smartphone shipments to Thailand in the final quarter of last year, losing the top position to Chinese firm Oppo, a market researcher’s report showed Thursday. The South Korean tech giant sold over 1 million phones in the October to December period in Thailand, accounting for 21.1 percent of the second-largest market in Southeast Asia, according to Singapore-based tech industry tra

Feb. 14, 2019

[Exclusive] Chey open to SK hynix‘ non-memory chip business

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won on Thursday hinted its semiconductor business could expand into the non-memory semiconductor market in order to diversify profits and raise future competitiveness in the fourth industrial revolution era. “We don’t yet have any set plan but we will have to do something this year,” said Chey in response to The Korea Herald’s question about SK hynix’s preparations for the system-on-chip market, in a similar move by Samsung Electronics.  SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won

Feb. 14, 2019

Korean chipmakers no longer ‘playing chicken’

In response to the state of the semiconductor market after the end of the super-cycle last year, South Korean chipmakers are refusing to restart the “game of chicken” of the 1990s, instead opting to prepare for another big leap, according to industry officials Wednesday. Concerns have been raised by some market watchers ahead of the completion of two NAND flash chip plants by Samsung Electronics this year that such aggressive preparation by the world’s biggest memory provider could further aggra

Feb. 13, 2019

Samsung heir meets UAE crown prince

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of South Korea’s top conglomerate, Samsung Group, met recently in Abu Dhabi with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan to discuss cooperation between Samsung and UAE companies, according to industry sources on Tuesday. The meeting between the Samsung heir and the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates was held Monday, a day after World Government Summit 2019 kicked off in Dubai. Lee did not officially participate in the su

Feb. 12, 2019

‘Rather than fancy AI, Dyson focuses on practical problem solving’

UK-based technology company Dyson spent over two years coming up with its latest lighting product, the Dyson Lightcycle Task. And this new development started from thinking about how a light contributes to users’ wellness. In an interview with The Korea Herald held after the company’s unveiling of its first lighting product in South Korea, Simon Cross, who led the design and development of Task Light together with Jake Dyson, explained the time and effort over 90 engineers at Dyson spent on maki

Feb. 12, 2019

Samsung Display remains cautious over investments in QD OLED

Persistent rumors have been circulating over South Korea’s leading display panel manufacturer pursuing a new investment in large quantum dot organic light-emitting diode panels. Samsung Display, however, has refused to confirm the speculation, seemingly cautious over potentially overstepping the business strategy of Samsung Electronics. The rumors spread from the financial market to the display industry on there being some concrete signs that Samsung Display could turn its eighth-generation liqu

Feb. 11, 2019

BlackRock becomes 3rd-largest shareholder of Samsung Electronics

BlackRock, the world’s biggest fund management company based in New York, has become the third-largest shareholder of South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics, according to the industry Friday.The US fund operator reported in a regulatory filing that it had purchased an additional 0.04 percent stake or 2,108,161 shares, in Samsung on Jan. 28, raising its ownership from 4.99 percent to 5.03 percent, worth around 14 trillion won ($12 billion). With the purchase, BlackRock has become the third-l

Feb. 8, 2019

Korea’s share of EV battery market shrinks amid Chinese expansion

Korean battery makers’ share of the global electric vehicle battery market shrank last year amid ongoing expansion by Chinese rivals, a report showed Friday. According to the report by SNE Research, Korea’s biggest battery manufacturer LG Chem’s market share for electric vehicle batteries declined from 8.5 percent in 2017 to 7.6 percent last year, staying in fourth place behind CATL, Panasonic and BYD. Despite seeing 46.8 percent on-year growth in total battery volume actually used by customers

Feb. 8, 2019

LG adopts German 3D sensor for upcoming G8 ThinQ phone

LG Electronics announced Thursday its upcoming flagship smartphone G8 ThinQ model will adopt a three-dimensional sensor Time of Flight, known as ToF, to provide face identity authentication and a better front-facing camera quality. The ToF sensor will be supplied by German semiconductor solutions provider Infinion Technologies, the Korean tech giant said. Infinion, which posted sales of 9.7 trillion ($8.63 billion) won last year, is a leader in the sensor solutions market for digital security. T

Feb. 7, 2019

Govt. to ease rule on recharging credit at mobile payment platforms

The government plans to ease a rule on recharging credit at mobile payment platforms as it seeks to promote the financial technology sector, an official said Thursday. Currently, people in South Korea can recharge up to 2 million won ($1,782) at a mobile payment platform, such as Kakao Pay or Naver Pay, meaning they are unable to buy goods worth more than 2 million won through the one-click payment system.  (Yonhap)The decade-old regulation is aimed at protecting consumers in the case of bankrup

Feb. 7, 2019

Samsung chief visits Xian seeking new memory strategy

Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, de facto chief of chip giant Samsung Electronics, spent the Lunar New Year holidays in China as part of efforts to seek new strategies in the company’s memory chip business for this year, according to the company on Wednesday. Lee left Seoul for Xian, the capital of Shaanxi province in central China on Monday, a day before China’s New Year Spring Festival began, to check on Samsung’s memory plants in the city. Samsung has been operating a NAND flash plant in Xian sinc

Feb. 6, 2019

Netflix attributes popularity of ‘Kingdom’ to technological innovation

Without Netflix’s innovative technologies, period drama “Kingdom” might have been tough for foreign viewers to understand, as the series set in 17th century Korea features a wide range of historical and cultural elements as well as forms of language used by different social classes. But visual and voice technologies developed by Netflix have made the drama accessible to global audiences, according to the company. “We are a double helix -- both a technology company and an entertainment company,”

Feb. 6, 2019

Naver's net down 17.4% in 2018 on increased costs

South Korea's top Internet portal operator Naver Corp. said Thursday that its profit dropped 17.4 percent in 2018 from a year earlier due to heavy outlays in new business sectors.Net profit reached 636.4 billion won ($568.9 million) last year, compared with 770.1 billion won tallied in the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing. (Yonhap)Operating income reached 942.5 billion won for the whole of 2018, marking a decrease of 20.1 percent from the year before.Sales totaled 5.59 tril

Jan. 31, 2019

Samsung’s chip windfall unlikely to last in 2019

The so-called “super cycle” in the semiconductor market in the past two years helped Samsung Electronics seal a new record in annual operating profit for the entire 2018 for the second straight year. But it may not be easy for the tech mogul to make it three in a row because of worsening market conditions this year. In an earnings announcement on Thursday, Samsung said it posted 243.77 trillion won ($219 billion) in sales and 58.89 trillion won in operating profit last year, recording the highes

Jan. 31, 2019

SK Telecom’s T Map to help Grab drivers in Singapore navigate

SK Telecom’s navigation system T Map will run on vehicles of Singapore’s biggest car-sharing service provider Grab within the first quarter of the year, the South Korean mobile carrier said Wednesday. SKT and Grab have signed an agreement to set up the joint venture Grab Geo Holdings in Singapore, co-led by Grab’s service head Jerald Singh as chief executive officer and SKT’s navigation development chief Kim Jae-soon as chief technology officer. SKT CEO Park Jung-ho met with Grab co-founder and

Jan. 30, 2019

Smart bands not very reliable, tests show

Recent tests conducted by the Korea Consumer Agency indicated that smart bands fell short on accuracy when it came to collecting data.Smart bands are digitized fitness trackers that collect health data including the user’s heart rate, number of steps and calories burned. The accuracy of the data was tested for six of the smart bands currently on the market: the Things SmartBand 2, Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro, Xiaomi Mi Band 3, InBody BAND 2, COA Korea CK COLOR and FitBit Alta HR.  (Yonhap)In tests mea

Jan. 29, 2019