Samsung gets patent on design of disc-shaped drone

Samsung Electronics Co. has been granted a patent on the design of a disc-shaped drone, hinting that the electronics giant may make inroads into the booming market for commercial drones, according to South Korea's patent authority Friday. The patent was filed in April this year and formally registered earlier this month, the Korean Intellectual Property Office said.  This photo captured from a website of the Korean Intellectual Property Office shows a design of Samsung's disc-shaped drone. (Yonh

Dec. 9, 2016

Kakao Games eyes IPO: sources

Kakao Games Corp., a game company under Kakao Corp. which operates South Korea's most-used mobile messenger KakaoTalk, is pushing to go public, industry sources said Friday, as part of efforts to boost its competitiveness and aggressively go abroad. Kakao Games sent out a request for proposals for the initial public offering (IPO) to several local investment banks and will soon select one to seek a listing on the tech-heavy KOSDAQ, they said. This photo captured from a website of the Korean Inte

Dec. 9, 2016

Samsung SDI’s deal with Lucid Motors estimated at $520m

Korean battery maker Samsung SDI confirmed Thursday its latest supply deal with the US electric vehicle startup Lucid Motors, which industry watchers estimated to be $520 million.Samsung SDI is slated to provide its cylindrical batteries to the California-based EV maker.Lucid Motors, which aims to compete with Tesla and other luxury EV brands, announced last week to build a $700 million auto factory in Arizona. It plans to launch high-end sports electric vehicles, which run more than 644 kilomet

Dec. 8, 2016

NCSoft releases mobile RPG ‘Lineage Red Knights’

South Korean game developer NCSoft officially released its new mobile role-playing game “Lineage Red Knights” in 12 countries on Thursday, aiming to capture longtime fans of the original “Lineage” online game as well as new mobile gamers.The new mobile RPG is based on “Lineage,” a pioneering multiplayer online role-playing game introduced in 1998 that rocketed NCSoft to stardom and made the firm one of Korea’s biggest game developers.“Lineage Red Knights” is the first ever mobile RPG introduced

Dec. 8, 2016

LG's fridges, washing machines picked best products of year in Europe

Premium refrigerators and washing machines manufactured by South Korean consumer appliance maker LG Electronics Inc. have been recently named the best products of 2016 by online consumer magazines for home appliances in Europe, the company said Thursday. British online magazine Trusted Reviews picked LG's front-loading washing machine with the model name FH4A8FDH2N, which delivers cleaning and drying in one continuous cycle, as the best home appliance of this year, LG said in a statement.The was

Dec. 8, 2016

US court sides with Samsung over patent battle with Apple

The US Supreme Court sided with Samsung Electronics in a patent dispute with Apple, sending back the ruling that the Korean tech giant pay $399 million for infringing on Apple’s iPhone design patent.The court returned the case to the lower court Tuesday, saying the damages should be computed based on the profit Samsung gained from specific infringing parts of the phones, not necessarily based on the entire product. The $399 million in penalty -- equivalent to the total profit Samsung gained from

Dec. 7, 2016

Money transfer app ‘Toss’ wins 2016 Google Play App Awards

Toss, a simplified mobile money transfer app developed by South Korean fintech startup Viva Republica, won the top prize at this year’s Google Play App Awards for the Korean market.　Every year, Google’s mobile app store operator recognizes outstanding apps in various categories ranging from lifestyle and commerce to finance and games. Google Korea holds the 2016 Google Play App Awards in Seoul on Tuesday evening. (Google Korea)Among the 34 games and 40 other apps selected by Korea’s Google Play

Dec. 7, 2016

LG CNS sees e-government system exports top $200m

LG CNS, the IT solutions unit of LG Group, said Tuesday that its cumulative export volume has surpassed $200 million, led by its success in deploying its flagship e-government system technologies to countries around the world.E-government, which stands for “electronic government,” refers to the use of information and communications technologies to improve the activities of public sector organizations, including those in the tax, real estate and administrative services.LG CNS said that it has sco

Dec. 6, 2016

Google launches ad-free YouTube subscription service in Korea

Google launched YouTube Red, a new ad-free subscription service for its flagship video-sharing platform YouTube, in South Korea on Tuesday, offering a range of exclusive viewing options for paying subscribers.Available at 7,900 won ($6.75) a month, YouTube Red lets users watch ad-free videos, save and access videos in offline settings and continue playing videos in the background while other apps are running or the screen is turned off on a mobile phone. Subscribers also gain access to new video

Dec. 6, 2016

Korean TV shares drop to below 5% in China

The market shares of televisions made by Korean electronics makers in China have dropped below 5 percent due to strong sales of the appliances made by Chinese companies, according to research firm IHS on Monday. IHS data showed the market shares of TVs made by Chinese firms have steadily risen from 76.6 percent in 2014 to 81.9 percent in 2015. The figure increased to 84.3 percent this year through September. (Herald DB)Meanwhile, the portion of Korean TV makers, including Samsung Electronics and

Dec. 5, 2016

Lenovo rolls out augmented reality smartphone in Korea

Chinese tech company Lenonvo announced Monday that it is rolling out its augmented reality smartphone Phab 2 Pro in the Korean market on Tuesday.The Phab 2 Pro is the world’s first smartphone to include Tango -- a new technology from Google that enables augmented reality gaming and utilities. The technology allows users to place virtual objects over the real world through 3-D. For instance, a user can install an app to see how new furniture would look in their home, while raising virtual pets an

Dec. 5, 2016

Kakao’s contents business unit secures W125b investment

Kakao, the operator of South Korea’s top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, on Monday said its contents business unit Podotree has secured a 125 billion won ($106.6 million) investment from a consortium led by Anchor Equity Partners.Established in 2010, Podotree is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kakao which operates the Korean mobile giant’s two contents platforms — Daum Webtoon and Kakao Page.(Kakao)Under the investment deal, Podotree will issue new common shares which will be purchased by the Asian pri

Dec. 5, 2016

Competition heats up on 5G technology

Korean electronics and telecom carriers are fiercely competing to take the leadership in 5th-generation mobile networks, or 5G, viewing it as the next-generation technology. Transmitting data 20 times faster than 4G, 5G is expected to be a platform enabling growth in information technology, automobiles, entertainment and manufacturing industries.LG Electronics said Sunday it demonstrated Full Duplex Radio, or FDR, for the first time in the world in partnership with Yonsei University. FDR is a st

Dec. 4, 2016

Samsung says Note 7 compensation is enough

Samsung Electronics recently hired a law firm to respond to a series of lawsuits over the Galaxy Note 7, which were discontinued due to explosion cases, according to local news reports Sunday. The news reports said the Korean tech giant hired Lee & Ko in response to the class-action lawsuit filed by 2,400 local consumers and to lawsuits filed by five individuals. The five claimed they suffered physical damages including burns and respiratory diseases due to the explosions of Note 7. “We gave eno

Dec. 4, 2016

LG Electronics names home appliances head as CEO

LG Electronics on Thursday named Jo Seong-jin, the head of its home appliances division, as its new CEO, putting the tech giant’s operation under a one-man leadership system for speedy decision making amid fierce market competition.The South Korean electronics manufacturer had been led by three executives since its former CEO and Vice Chairman Koo Bon-joon’s departure to LG Corp., the holding company of LG Group last year.The board’s decision grants Jo full leadership of LG Electronics’ overall

Dec. 1, 2016

S. Korea's first Apple Store may open in late 2017

The first Apple Store in South Korea is expected to open in late 2017, potentially putting an end to the poor services received by iPhone users here. According to local news reports Thursday, citing mobile and architecture sources, an Apple Store is currently under construction in Garosugil, a shopping district in southern Seoul, and is expected to be completed in November 2017.The store is designed by London-based architecture firm Foster and Partners, the news reports said citing papers submit

Dec. 1, 2016

Samsung reports steady rise in retrieval rate of Galaxy Note 7s

Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday it has retrieved about 67 percent of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones sold in South Korea about three months after it conducted a global recall of the smartphones over a safety risk. Taking into consideration that some owners of the Note 7 had applied to swap their Note 7s for other smartphones via online reservations, the return rate could be 83 percent as of Wednesday, said an official at Samsung.Samsung started selling the Note 7 in South Korea on Aug. 19, but h

Dec. 1, 2016