LG opens pop-up shops to promote V30

LG Electronics Inc. on Wednesday said it kicked off full-fledged marketing in South Korea for its new flagship, the LG V30, ahead of its release slated for later this month.The South Korean tech giant said it displayed the LG V30 at 3,000 retail shops throughout the country, along with 13 exclusive pop-up shops at five major cities, including Seoul, Busan and Daegu.Showcased last month, the LG V30 features the V series' first organic light-emitting diode display and top-notch camera. (Yonhap)The

Sept. 6, 2017

Galaxy Note 8 to be equipped with Korean document app

Hancom Inc., a South Korean software developer, said Wednesday that Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy Note 8 smartphones to be sold in the United States will adopt its document-editing program.The company said the app, named Hancom Office S, will be installed on Samsung's latest phablet. The program allows users to edit not only PDF files but also those made in MS Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint. (Yonhap)The company also provided the Hancom Office S application for the Galaxy S8 smartphones rel

Sept. 6, 2017

[Photo News] Bayer kicks off health care startup acceleration program

BAYER KICKS OFF STARTUP PROGRAM -- German pharmaceutical giant Bayer kicked off Tuesday its Grants4Apps Accelerator program, which aims to support innovative digital health care startups worldwide. This year, the company selected four startups to receive 50,000 euros ($59,400) in funding and mentorship from the Bayer headquarters on business development and strategizing. This included South Korea’s Sky Labs, which developed a heart rhythm detection wearable device to monitor signs of atrial fibr

Sept. 5, 2017

Samsung SDI technician to join international off-road motor race

A technician at South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI will join an international motorcycle race slated for early summer next year. Kim Sun-ho, assistant manager at a battery production line, is one of the three players in Team South Korea and one of 60 competitors from 20 countries who will take part in the International GS Trophy 2018 in Mongolia sponsored by BMW Motorrad. The nine-day challenge involves a 2,000-kilometer off-road motorcycle race for seven days,  Samsung SDI battery technicia

Sept. 5, 2017

Samsung SDS launches conversational AI platform for businesses

Samsung SDS, the internet technology solutions arm of South Korea’s Samsung Group, on Tuesday launched its new artificial intelligence platform for enterprises Brity, joining the global race to develop AI-powered solutions to enhance workflow efficiency.Brity is a conversational AI assistant, or a chatbot solution, which understands and processes natural language. It can converse with users in both written and spoken form to respond to different requests as needed. 　Powered by deep learning algo

Sept. 5, 2017

Kakao to launch smart speaker this month

South Korea's top mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp. on Tuesday showcased its smart speaker, Kakao Mini, which will officially hit shelves later this month.Kakao, which also holds the country's No. 2 portal Daum under its wing, said the Kakao Mini will come with its artificial intelligence platform, Kakao I, along with voice recognition and software that can understand natural languages.The Kakao Mini is equipped with four high-end microphones to accurately capture users' speech. As the devic

Sept. 5, 2017

Koreans' awareness of mobile payment high: poll

South Koreans' awareness of mobile payment services ranks high among major advanced and emerging countries, a poll showed Tuesday, as many tech-savvy consumers turn to their smartphones for settlements.According to the survey of 18,180 consumers in 23 countries by global opinion research firm Ipsos, 64 percent of South Korean respondents said they are aware of a mobile payment service that they can use immediately.It is the fourth-highest figure among the surveyed countries. China tops the list

Sept. 5, 2017

[Newsmaker] Naver regretful of FTC’s designation of founder Lee Hae-jin as ‘owner’

Naver expressed regrets Monday over the South Korean antitrust watchdog’s decision to add the company as well as its founder Lee Hae-jin to a new corporate watch list, citing plans to review legal actions to challenge the FTC’s interpretation. 　South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission on Sunday designated Korea’s biggest portal website operator Naver as a “large corporation” with founder Lee as its effective owner, a move which requires the Korean internet giant and Lee to follow new antitrust regula

Sept. 4, 2017

Galaxy Note 8 may fetch over W1m in Korea

Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy Note 8 is expected to come with a price tag of 1.09 million won ($962) here, industry sources said Monday, hovering above that of the device's predecessor.According to the sources, the 64 GB Galaxy Note 8 is expected to come with a factory price of 1.09 million won here, while that of the 256-GB edition is expected to be priced at 1.25 million won. The ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 with a 64GB capacity came with a tag of 989,800 won.Samsung Electronics said it has not

Sept. 4, 2017

Flagship smartphones to compete over high-end cameras

Global tech giants are set to release flagship smartphones equipped with high-end cameras in the second half, industry watchers said Monday, with the technological focus switching to dual lenses instead of megapixels.Industry watchers said key giants are set to release smartphones with dual-lens cameras, helping users take quality photos.Samsung Electronics Co. showcased the Galaxy Note 8 last month, which marked its first flagship to introduce a dual-lens camera on the back. The Galaxy Note 8 h

Sept. 4, 2017

[IFA 2017] IFA paints picture of new lifestyle with IoT, AI tech

BERLIN -- Appliances that improve convenience and save time using the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence seemed no longer to be the stuff of vague imagination at the IFA 2017 tech show in the German capital.As the biggest tech show in Europe nears the end of its six-day run, one of the main trends that emerged is that IoT has become a basic component of both large and small home appliances, while AI is being added as an extra feature to those connected products.Another noticeable cha

Sept. 3, 2017

[Exclusive] Harman CEO: Samsung will outdo Google, Amazon with AI speaker

BERLIN -- Closer cooperation with Harman International, a new Samsung Electronics affiliate, looks to be crucial for the tech giant to launch an “unbeatable” artificial intelligence device next year, with the chiefs of the two firms holding a closed-door meeting at the IFA 2017 in Berlin.On Friday, Yoon Boo-keun, president and CEO of the consumer electronics business at Samsung Electronics, held a confidential meeting with Harman CEO Paliwal at a private venue set up by Harman exclusively for di

Sept. 3, 2017

[IFA 2017] LG moving to acquire AI business

BERLIN -- As part of efforts to expand its smart home business, LG Electronics will double its investment by 2020 including mergers and acquisitions of promising artificial intelligence tech firms, said Song Dae-hyun, head of the company’s home appliance and air solutions division Saturday. At a press conference held at a hotel in Berlin, Song said LG would spare no efforts to boost its smart home business and continue investing to acquire AI and Internet of Things technologies.  Song Dae-hyun,

Sept. 3, 2017

[IFA 2017] 'Leadership vacuum deals serious blow to Samsung'

BERLIN -- Amid mounting uncertainty over the future of Samsung, with its de facto leader Lee Jae-yong in jail, the world’s largest chip and handset maker has recently lost a business opportunity to acquire an artificial intelligence technology company, said one of the top brass of the company late Thursday. In a rare speech, Yoon Boo-keun, president and CEO of the consumer electronics division of Samsung Electronics, expressed concerns about the unprecedented leadership vacuum within the tech gi

Sept. 1, 2017

[Weekender] Plugging in

Beats, melodies, or words flow into your ears uninterrupted, and no one can touch what you picture with the sounds. Earphones and headphones divide a solitude space among multitudes on a busy street, mass transit or in a room full of people. With the ability to escape unwanted noise, earphones have long become a natural necessity in modern everyday life.(123rf)Portable devices like the Walkman began to nurture the culture of earphones in South Korea in the 1980s. For decades, the compact devices

Sept. 1, 2017

Merck features textile facade based on OPV, OLED tech at Seoul Biennale

German display materials maker Merck on Friday unveiled a new textile facade concept combining organic photovoltaics and organic light-emitting diodes technologies at the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism. The facade concept was prepared by Merck in partnership with OledWorks, OPVIUS and South Korean chemicals company Kolon. German architects Nikolaus Hirsch and Michel Muller as well as New York-based Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija designed the work as part of their ongoing project cal

Sept. 1, 2017

Galaxy Note 8 price to hover above 1 million won: Samsung

The head of Samsung Electronics Co.'s mobile business said Friday the price of the newly introduced Galaxy Note 8 phablet is likely to hover above 1 million won ($887).During a meeting with reporters in Berlin, Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung Electronics' mobile business, said it will be "extremely difficult" to keep the price lower than 1 million won in South Korea, expressing an apology over his earlier statement.The price tag on the 64-GB Galaxy Note 7 was $850 in the United States and 988

Sept. 1, 2017

LG Electronics promote AI solutions at IFA

LG Electronics Inc. on Friday said it promoted its latest achievements in the field of artificial intelligence technology at this year's Berlin consumer electronics trade show, introducing its vision to home appliances and smartphones.The South Korean tech giant said at Internationale Funkausstellung that it plans to apply the AI technology to more products and services, and expand its partnerships with Amazon.com and Google Inc. to expand the ecosystem.In detail, LG Electronics demonstrated how

Sept. 1, 2017

Refurbished Galaxy Note 7 sold out in Korea

Refurbished editions of the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7, named the Galaxy Note FE, were sold out in the Korean market two months after its debut, industry sources said Friday.According to the sources, around 400,000 units of the Galaxy Note FE were sold in the country after the Korean tech giant announced the relaunch of the phablet in July. The Galaxy Note FE utilizes parts from the Galaxy Note 7, whose production was suspended last year on battery safety issues.The price tag for the Galaxy Note FE

Sept. 1, 2017

73% of mobile gamers not bothered by in-app ads: report

A majority of those who play free mobile games turned out to be indifferent to in-app adds in the form of banners or videos, considering the benefits earned in exchange of watching them, according to an industry report.Around 73 percent of gamers are happy with the ad-funded model of mobile app games, according to the “Mobile Games Research 2017” report from London-based market research firm 2VC, commissioned by the Facebook Audience Network.The report was based on more than 6,000 online intervi

Aug. 31, 2017