[News Focus] Mobile operators speed up 5G commercialization after allocation

South Korea’s three mobile operators are speeding up their plans to commercialize fifth-generation network services after the completion of the auction for 5G frequency bands. According to the plans, the mobile carriers are preparing to select equipment vendors in the third quarter and start building 5G stations in the fourth quarter. “Some are expecting the vendor selection to be completed by early July,” said an industry official. “Now with the frequency auction being completed, each company w

June 19, 2018

[Photo News] Game industry trade show kicks off in Seoul

DISCUSSING GAME EXPORTS -- Business meetings are held at the “2018 ITS GAME” game industry trade show, which kicked off at Coex in Seoul on Tuesday. In its ninth edition, the event has the participation of 110 game publishers and buyers from 14 countries including the US and China. Yonhap

June 19, 2018

WHO says game addiction is mental disorder in final disease classification draft

The World Health Organization has recognized game addiction as a mental disorder in its latest version of the revised 11th International Classification of Diseases released Monday, drawing backlash from the gaming industry and medical professionals worldwide, including Korea’s.Though technically a draft, the ICD-11 in its present state is the final copy that will be considered for official endorsement upon discussion by the WHO’s decision-making body, the World Health Assembly, in May 2019.The I

June 19, 2018

Koreans spend more time on Instagram, less on Facebook

South Koreans appear to be spending more time on Instagram and less on Facebook compared to a year ago, according to new data tracking the amount of time locals spend on social networking sites, released Tuesday.Data from local app analytics firm WiseApp showed that Koreans spent 1.5 billion minutes on Instagram in May this year, marking a 36 percent increase from 1.1 billion minutes recorded in May 2017.Instagram’s jump in popularity was led mainly by women in their 20s and 30s, with those in t

June 19, 2018

Mobile carriers secure 5G frequencies at W3.6tr

South Korean mobile carriers on Monday secured frequency spectrums for the upcoming fifth-generation network in an auction at a total of 3.6 trillion won ($3.26 billion), the Ministry of Science and ICT said. The auction ended on its second day, and the total winning price was higher than the government’s asking price of 3.3 trillion won.  An official at the Ministry of Science and ICT speaks at a press conference about the result of 5th-generation network auction at the Government Complex Gwach

June 18, 2018

Samsung’s global sales grow alongside increased risks

Samsung Electronics is logging sturdy business growth in the global markets, but is also facing equally increasing risks overseas causing top officials to become cautious, according to the industry on Monday. According to a report on sustainable growth released by Samsung on Monday, the tech titan raised nearly 90 percent of its total sales outside of the country last year, continuing to expanding its global presence. The South Korean firm raised 208 trillion won ($188 billion) in overseas marke

June 18, 2018

Cyber attacks caused $72b losses for Korea firms in 2017: Microsoft

The South Korean branch of US tech giant Microsoft Corp. released a report on Monday which claimed cyber attacks caused direct and indirect losses of $72 billion last year for local companies.The report announced by Microsoft Korea and Frost & Sullivan claimed that around 90 percent of such losses were indirect fallouts brought on by the loss of clients and damage to companies' reputations.Microsoft said around 29 percent of South Korean firms surveyed were not aware of cyber attacks, and claime

June 18, 2018

Developer of Korea’s top fintech app Toss raises $40m from GIG, Sequoia China

South Korean fintech startup Viva Republic, the maker of money transfer app Toss, said Monday that it has newly raised $40 million in funding from Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and venture investor Sequoia China. The deal marks the first investment in a Korean startup by GIG and Sequoia China. It also brings Viva Republica’s total investment raised to $116 million, the company said. Launched in 2015, Toss is best known as a peer-to-peer money transfer app that allows users to wire money

June 18, 2018

Naver challenges YouTube with video-strong blogs, but hurdles persist

In South Korea, Naver dominates the internet technology space. Here, the Naver portal website serves as a mainstream hub for just about every web-based activity, ranging from searches and shopping to blogs, news and maps.　However, Naver is outpaced by its foreign rival Google in one key area — videos. Google-owned YouTube is currently Korea’s longest-used app and the primary tool used to share and watch online videos, according to Seoul-based app analytics firm WiseApp. 　With YouTube’s presence

June 17, 2018

Samsung ordered to pay $400m to KAIST over semiconductor tech patent infringement

Samsung Electronics has reportedly been ordered to pay $400 million to the licensing arm of South Korea’s top science and research university KAIST over infringing a patent related to key semiconductor technology.　A US federal jury in Texas ruled that the Korean tech giant infringed KAIST’s patent related FinFet -- a key transistor technology used to produce processors for mobile phones -- and should pay a fine, according to a Bloomberg report Saturday.Chipmakers Qualcomm and GlobalFoundries wer

June 17, 2018

Global smartphone shipments to grow 1.4% in 2018: report

Global shipments of smartphones are expected to grow 1.4 percent in 2018 compared to the year before, with numbers likely to rise at a faster clip from 2019 onwards once the real-world 5G network is introduced, a report by an industry consulting firm showed Sunday.According to Strategy Analytics, total smartphone shipments are expected to reach a little over 1.49 billion units, up from 1.47 billion in 2017. The poor showing is a repeat of numbers for 2016 and 2017 when annual growth was tallied

June 17, 2018

Auction for 5G frequencies kicks off under heavy guard

BUNDANG, Gyeonggi Province – An auction for frequency spectrums for the upcoming fifth-generation telecom services kicked off on Friday at the heavily guarded headquarters of Telecommunications Technology Association in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, with participation from executives of the country’s three mobile carriers determined to secure high-quality and efficient frequencies. At around 8:15 a.m., KT’s senior vice president Kim Soon-yong appeared in the lobby of the TTA building vowing to sec

June 15, 2018

Naver adopts AI function in blog service

South Korea's top portal operator, Naver Corp., said Friday that it has adopted an artificial intelligence supported function that automatically edits bloggers' content.The service, called "auto transformation," edits images and videos automatically in context with the posts written by bloggers."More content is expected to be created as the bloggers can write anytime, anywhere without worrying about editing," the company said in a press release. (Yonhap)Naver said it has also added AI-supported

June 15, 2018

Kakao acquires kids’ smartwatch maker Kiwi Plus

Kakao, the operator of South Korea’s dominant mobile messenger KakaoTalk, said Thursday that it has acquired a 51 percent stake in Kiwi Plus, a local kids’ smartwatch and smartphone manufacturer.　The Korean mobile technology giant plans to invest around 10 billion won ($9.23 million) in making the acquisition, aimed at strengthening Kakao’s portfolio of hardware and internet of things technologies. Kakao Kid's Smartphone (Kiwi Plus)Founded in 2013, Kiwi Plus is a hardware manufacturer best-known

June 14, 2018

Samsung NEXT launches Q Fund for next generation of AI startups

Samsung NEXT, which focuses on entrepreneurs based in Mountain View, California, said Thursday it has launched a new fund to help enable startups with early-stage artificial intelligence technologies to develop their capabilities further. Q Fund will provide Seed and Series A financing to startups solving AI problems, as well as those using AI to solve computer science problems. Differing from traditional venture capital approaches, Q Fund will have the flexibility to invest in non-obvious, forw

June 14, 2018

Samsung aims to expand renewable energy use globally by 2020

Samsung Electronics said Thursday it will expand production and usage of renewable energy at its workplaces in South Korea and a further plan for global expansion by 2020 as part of its ongoing efforts to demonstrate its commitment to environmental responsibility. In Korea, the tech titan will install approximately 42,000 square meters of solar panels in its headquarters dubbed “Samsung Digital City” in Suwon this year. The company will add about 21,000 square meters of solar arrays and geotherm

June 14, 2018

Samsung likely to unveil Galaxy Note 9 on Aug. 9: source

The Galaxy Note 9, another premium flagship product by South Korean tech titan Samsung Electronics, is likely to be unveiled on Aug. 9, two weeks earlier than its eighth edition, with some changes in its exterior, according to the industry on Wednesday. Amid the circulating rumors about the upcoming Samsung phone’s debut in early August, an industry source told The Korea Herald that Aug. 9 is a likely date for the ninth edition of the Galaxy Note series. Some other rumors said the unpacked event

June 13, 2018

[Herald Interview] Redefining manufacturing with machine intelligence

MakinaRocks, a fresh startup spun out from South Korea’s No.1 mobile carrier SK Telecom, has a bold ambition as its name: To shake the manufacturing world with machine intelligence.  “We are applying artificial intelligence to the high-tech manufacturing sector with a mission to make manufacturing more productive by harnessing the power of data and AI,” Andre. S. Yoon, a co-founder of MakinaRocks told The Korea Herald on Tuesday.   Among many in the broad manufacturing industry, the Korean start

June 13, 2018

Food delivery apps thrive in Korea, where 7 in 10 order via mobile

South Koreans are big on food delivery. With just a phone call, food like fried chicken and jjajangmyeon, or Chinese black bean noodles, can be brought to one’s doorstep. 　While much of this dynamic still stands, Korea’s food delivery market is quickly changing and expanding in scope, mainly riding on demographic shifts and going mobile.　Food deliveries are becoming more popular than ever, fueled by single-person households who prefer food deliveries to eating out alone. Smartphones have also st

June 13, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Twitter launches ‘high-five’ emoji for US-North Korea summit, draws backlash

Social media giant Twitter has launched a special emoji to mark the historic US-North Korea summit taking place in Singapore, on projections of an upturn in social media traffic.　Ahead of the historic meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Twitter encouraged users following the event to use a series of hashtags to activate a new special emoji.“US President @realdonaldtrump will meet North Korea Chairman Kim Jong-un on 12 June in Singapore,” said a tweet fr

June 12, 2018