Crevel Korea signs business agreement for toy blocks with large Chinese distributor

Startup Crevel Korea announced on Thursday that it entered into a business agreement with the large Chinese baby goods store Cheerbb for the use of Crevel’s trademarks and trademark rights and technology transfers related to its products. Crevel produces innovative toy blocks designed to nurture the creativity of infants and children.The most prominent feature of Crevel’s toy blocks is that they are made from a flexible material, unlike the typical rigid and sharply angled products of other comp

May 19, 2017

Radsone to launch Kickstarter campaign for high-definition Bluetooth receiver

Startup Radsone announced Thursday that it will be launching a campaign on Kickstarter, the American crowdfunding platform, for its high-definition Bluetooth receiver EarStudio on May 31. A Radsone spokesperson explained the product, saying, “EarStudio uses dithering to eliminate the noise that is present in most digital audio signals, allowing for the reproduction of sound that is both natural and sharp. We will be selling EarStudio on Kickstarter to early-bird customers at the discount price o

May 19, 2017

LG targets US premium home appliance market with Google AI

LG Electronics announced Thursday it will apply Google’s voice recognizing artificial intelligence to its premium home appliance lineup under the LG Signature brand for the US market starting this month. The South Korean home electronics provider said it demonstrated Google Home-equipped LG home appliances at the Google I/O developer conference held in Mountain View, California on Wednesday. Google Home is an AI-based speaker, powered by Google Assistant. LG showcased talking to an LG Signature

May 18, 2017

Computer coding education becoming increasingly

Joo Jae-un, a college student in Seoul, stayed in the nation's top science technology school in Daejeon for a month last summer to attend an intensive training course on computer programming.The 25-year-old business major took classes for three to four hours every weekday at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in the city, some 150 kilometers south of the capital.In this photo taken on Dec. 14, 2016, a member of the nonprofit foundation Like Lion teaches kids basic coding at a kid

May 18, 2017

AI to penetrate financial sectors from June

It looks to be a matter of time before artificial intelligence spills into the financial sector as South Korea’s two leading companies in telecommunication and finance have announced a joint measure to start a voice-based account service.South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom and leading financial group KEB Hana Bank said Wednesday the two will work together on AI-based voice recognizing bank services in June, and expand the services to securities, insurance and credit card firms in the second h

May 17, 2017

Samsung Group eyes jump in Vietnam sales

South Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group expects sales of Samsung Electronics Co. and three other units in Vietnam to spike more than 30 percent on-year in 2017 on its strong smartphone business, sources said Wednesday.Samsung Electronics, Samsung Display Co., Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. and Samsung SDI Co. are targeting to post combined sales of $60 billion in the Southeast Asian country this year, up 33 percent from the previous year. This undated file photo shows workers at a Samsung El

May 17, 2017

Koreans glued to smartphones while ‘multitasking’

Even while watching television or reading books, 1 in 4 Koreans cannot seem to put down their smartphones, a recent survey by the Korea Information Society Development Institute showed Wednesday.The study examined 9,788 smartphone users’ activities in depth by analyzing their “media diaries,” a daily record of an individual’s media usage every 15 minutes. (Yonhap)It was revealed that 27.7 percent of smartphone users were using other forms of media with a smartphone in hand.Of those tallied, most

May 17, 2017

[Exclusive] Samsung shifts focus to US, Europe for hotel technology business

Samsung Electronics is spurring efforts to apply its hospitality management technology in hotels overseas, including those in the United States and Europe, temporarily shifting its focus away from domestic hotels, sources familiar with the matter told The Korea Herald.According to the sources from the hotel industry, Samsung tested its Lynk Hospitality Management Solution at the Grand Ambassador Seoul and Novotel Ambassador Suwon last October, but application of the system was held back. (Yonhap

May 17, 2017

Samsung to release Galaxy S8 in China this month

Samsung Electronics Co. is set to release the flagship Galaxy S8 in China this month, industry sources said Wednesday, amid hope that the device will help revitalize its brand reputation tainted by the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 in Asia's No. 1 smartphone market.Industry watchers said the South Korean tech giant will hold an event to showcase the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus in China on Thursday. The official release is presumed to be slated for May 25. (Yonhap)The flagship devices already went

May 17, 2017

Samsung may beat Intel in Q2: sources

Samsung Electronics Co. may emerge as the world's No. 1 player in the chip industry by beating its archrival Intel Corp. in the second quarter, industry watchers said Wednesday.The rise of the South Korean tech giant is significant as the US firm has been the leading player in the chip industry since 1991.  (Yonhap)According to industry tracker IC Insights, Samsung may post sales of $14.9 billion in the second quarter, up 7.5 percent on-year. The figure would hover above the estimated $14.4 bill

May 17, 2017

Number of atopic patients peaks in May

The number of atopic dermatitis patients in South Korea tends to peak in May partly due to fine and yellow dust, a state-run health agency said Tuesday.According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of people who visited hospital for atopic eczema was the highest in May as of 2015, at about 150,000 patients. The figure is 27 percent higher than November, the month with the fewest atopic patients. (123RF)Various factors such as dry weather, pollen, fine dust and yello

May 16, 2017

Koreans with hypertension top 7.5 mln in 2016

The number of South Koreans with high blood pressure topped the 7.5 million mark last year, data showed Tuesday, According to the data by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, a total of 7.52 million people either visited hospitals for hypertension or received medical aid for the condition in 2016, up 6.4 percent from 7.07 million tallied in 2014. (Yonhap)Hypertension is diagnosed when blood pressure is persistently at or above the maximum 140 and minimum 90 millimeters of mercury

May 16, 2017

LG Chem spurs China business with cutting-edge materials

LG Chem will ramp up its business in China by introducing high-value added cutting-edge materials to Chinese customers, the company said Monday. The leading South Korean petrochemical manufacturer, who is the front-runner in the race for electric vehicle batteries, will bring about 90 kinds of new materials to the Chinese market by unveiling them at the biggest material exhibition in Asia, Chinaplas 2017, which runs from Tuesday through Friday.  LG Chem’s booth at the Chinaplas 2017 (LG Chem)LG

May 15, 2017

Analogue Plus launches Kickstarter campaign for helmet communication device

Startup Analogue Plus announced Monday plans to launch a campaign on Kickstarter, the world’s largest crowdfunding platform, for its smart communication device, Ahead, on May 31. Ahead is a Bluetooth-based communication product that can be attached to any kind of helmet, such as a bicycle helmet, to enable the user to listen to music, make/take phone calls and use a voice navigation service. CEO Marco Park said, “Having received positive responses in January and February at some of the world’s t

May 15, 2017

LG Innotek mass produces thermoelectric modules for wine cellars

LG Innotek said Sunday it had begun mass production of thermoelectric modules for wine cellars, enabling production of smaller and lighter wine storage units that control temperatures without vibrations that often oxidize the wines.The thermoelectric module is an electronic cooling and heating component that controls temperatures by supplying electricity to a semiconductor element. It uses the “Peltier effect” in which, when electricity flows to metals of different properties, one side is heated

May 14, 2017

Schaffengott to release two IoT-based car products in H2

A domestic hardware startup is set to release two IoT-enabled products for cars – a parking sensor and a smoke detector -- in response to tougher legislation on parking lot accidents and fire safety.Schaffengott said May 4 that, in the second half of the year, it will be releasing Door Edge Protection System 2, an upgraded version of the company’s independently developed ding prevention product, following the completion of product testing. Image of DEPS, the door ding prevention product develope

May 14, 2017

Controversies linger as Samsung plans on selling refurbished Galaxy Note 7s

While Samsung Electronics Co. plans to sell refurbished models of the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 smartphone in the near future, controversies surrounding the troubled model still linger, especially in terms of safety requirements, according to market watchers Saturday.   The South Korean tech giant said in March that it plans to sell refurbished Galaxy Note 7s. The production of the device was short-lived last year after some devices caught fire while charging due to battery problems. When and wher

May 13, 2017

Naver introduces AI voice assistant app

South Korean internet giant Naver released a new mobile app running on its artificial intelligence voice assistant platform Clova on Friday, officially joining the global race to develop new AI-powered services for the public.　The new app, called “Naver Clova” and currently offered in a beta version, is available for download on the Google Play app store. It is unavailable on the Apple App Store currently.(Naver)Naver Clova runs on the AI-powered voice assistant platform Clova, short for “cloud

May 12, 2017