LG pushes for autonomous driving solutions

LG Electronics appears to be on course to ramp up its drive for the development of autonomous driving with an aim to debut its first artificial intelligence-based self-driving solution at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show, according to the industry on Thursday. The South Korean electronics manufacturer’s Chief Technology Officer Park Il-pyung will deliver a keynote speech at CES about the newest technologies under development by LG, which includes its AI-powered navigation system, according to

Oct. 18, 2018

Samsung introduces new 7-nanometer process utilizing EUV tech

Samsung Electronics Co. on Thursday announced that it has started the production of foundry chips using the 7-nanometer Low Power Plus process that utilizes the extreme ultraviolet lithography technology for the first time in the industry."The commercialization of its newest process node, 7LPP gives customers the ability to build a full range of exciting new products that will push the boundaries of applications, such as 5G, artificial intelligence, enterprise and hyperscale data center, IoT, au

Oct. 18, 2018

[Graphic News] S. Korea's ratio of doctors lowest among OECD countries

　The overall number of hospital beds and medical equipment in South Korea exceeded other major economies, while the number of doctors was lowest, data has showed.　South Korea had an average of 12 beds per every 1,000 people in 2016, compared with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average of 4.7, according to data provided by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Health Insurance Service.　On the other hand, Korea had just 2.3 doctors per every 1,000 people in

Oct. 17, 2018

Lee Jae-yong in Stuttgart seeks auto parts business expansion

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is currently in Stuttgart, Germany, to seek partnerships with German carmakers, The Korea Herald confirmed Wednesday, suggesting the tech giant is making aggressive moves to expand its automotive parts business.Stuttgart is home to some of the world’s biggest premium automakers, including Daimler-Benz, Porsche and auto parts maker Bosch. “Vice Chairman is currently on a business trip to Canada and Europe, meeting with talents for new businesses, mai

Oct. 17, 2018

Kakao Navi app gets AI makeover with upgraded voice commands

Kakao Navi, the mobile navigation app from South Korean mobile messaging giant Kakao, now offers upgraded voice command features following the adoption of the firm’s artificial intelligence engine Kakao I, the company said Wednesday. With the change, Kakao Navi users can access key features of Kakao Navi as well as those offered by Kakao’s AI speaker Kakao Mini via voice. To activate, users simply need to say “Hey Kakao,” click the voice command button or make hand gestures near the phone. Kakao

Oct. 17, 2018

Korea’s ICT Ministry, World Bank co-host Digital Development Partnership workshop

South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT said Wednesday that it co-hosted the Digital Development Partnership workshop with the World Bank, sharing Korea’s experience in building a digital economy with high-level representatives from low-income countries. Held from Oct. 15-19, the DDP workshop brought representatives from countries ranging from Angola to Indonesia and Uzbekistan to learn from Korea’s digital development experience across both the public and private sectors.  Boutheina Guermazi,

Oct. 17, 2018

Samsung opens 7th AI center in Montreal

Samsung Electronics Co. plans to open its seventh artificial intelligence research center in Montreal in line with efforts to bolster its capabilities in the field, industry sources said Wednesday.The new center will become Samsung's second AI center in Canada, along with one in Toronto.(Yonhap)Samsung Electronics has AI research centers in South Korea, Britain and Russia, as well as in the United States, where it has a center in Silicon Valley and another in New York.The upcoming center in Mont

Oct. 17, 2018

SK Telecom, Samsung announce successful 5G first call

South Korea’s biggest network operator SK Telecom announced Monday the company had succeeded in the first call in a test bed using commercial fifth-generation equipment by Samsung Electronics. To reach the goal of commercializing the world’s first 5G services through mobile routers as early as in December, the two Korean mobile operator and equipment manufacturer are speeding up technological preparations for the launch.The first call refers to the final procedure of testing smooth data transfer

Oct. 15, 2018

Around 35,000 Korean Facebook accounts affected by security breach: KCC

South Korea’s media regulator said Sunday that around 35,000 Korean Facebook accounts had been compromised in the latest security breach at the social networking site, pledging to continue investigating the matter and to take action as needed.The Korea Communications Commission said Facebook had informed the regulator that an estimated 34,891 accounts had been compromised Sept. 14-25, exposing sensitive information such as names, email addresses, phone numbers and other information visible on us

Oct. 14, 2018

SK Telecom’s LTE/5G network-aggregation tech approved by 3GPP

A network-aggregation technology standard that grants users simultaneous access to today’s Long Term Evolution network and the next-generation 5G network has gained official approval from the telecommunications standardization body 3GPP.South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom said Thursday that its dual-connectivity technology, which allows data to be sent over the 5G and LTE networks at the same time, was accepted as an official standard at last week’s 3GPP conference in Chengdu, China.As a resu

Oct. 14, 2018

LG’s V40 ThinQ smartphone to be priced at W1.04m

LG Electronics Inc. said Sunday that its latest V40 ThinQ flagship smartphone will come with a price tag of 1.04 million won ($917) in the domestic market.　The company said it will take preorders from Wednesday through Oct. 23 with the device to reach customers starting Oct. 24.　The company said to get people to order their phones in advance, it will offer to replace both the 6.4-inch display and rear panel free of charge within a year of the purchase. It said in the case of the back panel, user

Oct. 14, 2018

[Newsmaker] How to check what Facebook hackers accessed in your account

NEW YORK (AP) -- Could hackers have been able to see the last person you cyberstalked, or that party photo you were tagged in? According to Facebook, the unfortunate answer is “yes.”On Friday, the social network said fewer users were affected in a security breach it disclosed two weeks ago than originally estimated -- nearly 30 million, down from 50 million. In additional good news, the company said hackers weren‘t able to access more sensitive information like your password or financial informa

Oct. 14, 2018

KT to provide special offer on top-up SIM card

KT Corp., South Korea's leading wireless and fixed-line services provider, said Friday it will provide a special offer for foreigners purchasing its new top-up SIM card, which can be recharged for calls and texts.The telecom giant released South Korea's first top-up SIM card last month. Compared with other products in the local market, users can add more messages and calls on the original plan. Models pose with KT Corp.`s top-up SIM card in this photo provided by the company on Oct. 12, 2018. (Y

Oct. 12, 2018

Samsung launches Galaxy A9 with rear quad camera

Samsung Electronics on Thursday unveiled the world’s first smartphone with four rear cameras, packed with new features to capture moments more effectively. The Galaxy A9 debuted at a launch event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, highlighting the first rear quad camera built for a world driven by visual communication.  Samsung CEO Koh Dong-jin introduces the Galaxy A9 in Malaysia on Thursday. (Samsung Electronics)“Building on our legacy in smartphone camera development, we’re introducing next-gene

Oct. 11, 2018

Naver unveils cutting-edge location tech for smarter mobility in real world

From indoor navigation using augmented reality to ultra-high definition mapping technology for autonomous driving, South Korean internet giant Naver is developing a range of location-tracking technologies it believes will form the backbone of new offline services in the future. Some of these technologies were unveiled Thursday at Naver’s annual developer’s conference Deview 2018 held in Seoul, organized to showcase the Korean portal site operator’s future tech development direction each year. St

Oct. 11, 2018

Estonia touts e-Residency as tool to expedite Korean business entry in EU

President of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid said Wednesday its e-Residency program has the potential to expedite Korean business entry into the European Union by encouraging applications for the nation’s program that offers foreigners a digitally encrypted and protected identification system.E-Residency refers to a digital identification system that involves blockchain technology without the use of cryptocurrency, so people in and out of Estonia can apply for it regardless of citizenship or location.

Oct. 10, 2018

Minister mulls pan-government tax probe into foreign ICT companies

South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT will consider launching a joint government investigation into the tax and network usage fee arrangements of foreign information and communication technology companies such as Google and Facebook. 　During the ministry’s parliamentary audit held at the Gwacheon Government Complex on Wednesday, Science and ICT Minister Yoo Young-min said that it would work with multiple ministries to determine the exact amount of taxes foreign ICT firms pay in Korea, and th

Oct. 10, 2018

[Photo News] Naver mobile start page to be simplified to ‘search bar’

NAVER MOBILE REVAMP — Naver CEO Han Seong-sook speaks during the Naver Connect 2019 conference held in Seoul, Wednesday. During the event, Naver officially announced a series of changes to its mobile site, including changing its starting page to include only a search bar, similar to Google’s website. The news section can be accessed by sliding to the right, where articles curated by artificial intelligence engines will appear. (Yonhap)

Oct. 10, 2018

LG Electronics launches laptop optimized for games

LG Electronics Inc. on Wednesday released a new laptop optimized for gaming content.The South Korean tech giant said the 15.6-inch laptop, the 15G880, comes with a 144Hz monitor and runs high-quality games more smoothly and without interruptions. LG said the new computer is especially helpful in playing shooting games since it can process up to 144 frames per second. (Yonhap)The laptop utilizes Nvidia Corp.'s G-Sync technology, which reduces screen-tearing during games. It is also equipped with

Oct. 10, 2018

YouTube driving global consumption of music

If you are listening to music, chances are you're on YouTube.A music consumer report by the industry's global body IFPI published on Tuesday found that 86 percent of us listen to music through on-demand streaming.And nearly half that time, 47 percent is spent on YouTube.Video as a whole accounted for 52 percent of the time we spent streaming music, posing challenges to such subscription services as Spotify and SoundCloud.But while Spotify's estimated annual revenue per user was $20, YouTube's wa

Oct. 9, 2018