Apple’s iPhone 7 and LG Electronics’ V20 have taken a sizable portion of the Korean smartphone market since their recent launches, which came on the heels of Samsung’s production halt of the Galaxy Note 7.The market is expected to see a continuous inflow of undecided customers as Samsung Electronics plans to urge remaining Note 7 owners to change their fire-prone devices.Since the iPhone 7 was first rolled out on Friday, around 62,000 consumers changed their telecom operators, according to the K

Oct. 23, 2016

Sales of Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus began in South Korea on Friday, amid high expectations that the US tech giant could reap added success here in the absence of Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Note 7. 　　Apple officially launched its latest iPhone series through Korea’s three major mobile carriers SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus as well as local Apple retailer Frisbee, with sales starting from 8 a.m. on Friday.　Korea has long been a tough market for Apple, as Samsung has maintained its undispute

Oct. 21, 2016

The South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety released improved guidelines for 3-D printed medical devices Friday, with aims to spur the growth of the emerging business segment.　The ministry’s new guidelines establish more concrete and detailed regulatory standards for conducting product efficacy, safety and biocompatibility testing for 3-D printed implants for bone fixtures and dental surgery.The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (Yonhap)In improving its guidelines, the ministry aims to enco

Oct. 21, 2016

Three-dimensional printers have long been used to make plastic figurines and industrial parts, but soon, another material might become available through printing technology -- silk protein.South Korea’s Rural Development Administration said that it has successfully developed a new 3-D printing technology that uses protein extracted from silkworms -- a 25:75 combination of sericin and fibroin -- to print out customized surgical bone plates, screws and clips used to fix bone fractures.Silk protein

Oct. 20, 2016

South Korean tech company Suncore said Thursday that Prince Khaled bin al-Waleed, the son of Saudi Arabian business magnate al-Waleed bin Talal, has become the largest shareholder of the company in its regulatory filing.Suncore said Prince al-Waleed has invested around $10 million in the company to take a 5.6 percent stake. The prince’s father, Saudi Arabian business tycoon al-Waleed bin Talal, is a member of the Saudi royal family, Citigroup’s largest individual shareholder and chief of Saudi c

Oct. 20, 2016

Samsung Electronics Co. has rolled out the semiconductor industry's first 8-gigabyte mobile DRAM package for smartphones, based on its advanced 10-nanometer production technology, the company said Thursday. The new package of mobile chips is expected to significantly improve mobile user experiences for those using high-definition, large-screen devices, Samsung said in a statement.  Samsung Electronics' chips (Yonhap file photo)Choi Joo-sun, executive vice president of Samsung, said in the statem

Oct. 20, 2016

Information Technology solutions provider Samsung SDS launched a new mobile banking solution to target the global financial market, the company said Wednesday. The company launched the Mobile Voice Recording Solution, or MVRS, which enables mobile devices to automatically record and manage phone calls between customers and call-center employees as well as customers and financial company employees.(Samsung SDS)The new solution is expected to make it more convenient for customers, who have to make

Oct. 19, 2016

Samsung Electronics, still reeling from the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, is now facing class action lawsuits over the recall of the smartphone in South Korea and the US, according to sources and news reports on Wednesday. In Korea, around 60 local consumers so far are preparing to file a class action suit and the number is expected to rise, according to Seoul-based Harvest Law Office representing the plaintiffs. “We will gather more plaintiffs by Friday and submit a petition to the Seoul Central Distri

Oct. 19, 2016

Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday it will pay full compensation to suppliers of Galaxy Note 7 components. The move is a part of its efforts to help about 70 suppliers that are grappling with the discontinuation of the Note 7 over safety concerns.  Users of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones receive free rental phones before boarding at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Oct. 16, 2016. Galaxy Note 7s are banned on almost all airplanes due to the danger of fire. (Yonhap)In a statement, Sam

Oct. 18, 2016

South Korea and the United States will spend a combined $6 million on a joint research project to develop robotic technologies for disaster response over the next three years, the trade ministry here said Tuesday.Officials from the two governments, including South Korea's Director General Kim Jeong-hwan and US Assistant Secretary of Defense Stephen Welby, held a kick-off meeting in Seoul on the Korea-US collaborative program sponsored by the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry of Energy and

Oct. 18, 2016

Samsung Electronics said Monday it had begun the mass production of 10-nanometer application processors for the first time in the global semiconductor industry, and would apply them into new mobile devices to be launched early next year.The South Korean tech giant said its 10-nanometer APs had 27 percent better performance, saved 40 percent more energy and increased the number of chips per wafer 30 percent compared to the 14-nanometer APs that made up the previous generation. Samsung will be unv

Oct. 17, 2016

K Cube Ventures, a startup investment fund owned by South Korean internet giant Kakao, announced Monday it has invested 405 million won ($356,000) in Jubilee Works, the developer of mobile scheduling app “Jubilee TimeTree.”　The Kakao unit made the investment alongside a number of other local and global investors, including Seibu Shinkin Capital, SMBC Capital Markets, Plantree Partners and Toei Animation. Together, these companies invested a total of 2.3 billion won into Jubilee Works.Founded in

Oct. 17, 2016

Samsung Electronics Co.'s unprecedented global recall and halt in production of its Galaxy Note 7 may cause changes in the shipments of major smartphone brands, but the discontinuation of Note 7 sales will not affect the upward price trends for key smartphone components, a report said Monday.According to the report compiled by market researcher TrendForce, Samsung has produced about 4 million Note 7s since its sales earlier this year. The original production volume forecast of the device for all

Oct. 17, 2016

More homes in South Korea have installed solar panels in the past few years to reduce the cost of electricity, data showed Monday.According to the data compiled by Korea Electric Power Corp., some 165,449 homes had rooftop solar panels as of June this year to make up part of their electricity demand.The comparable figures were 139,393 in 2015, 95,718 in 2014 and 28,374 in 2011, according to KEPCO.Over the cited period, the amount of electricity generated by these rooftop solar panels increased t

Oct. 17, 2016

South Korean startup Anyractive announced on Oct. 10 that it has exceeded its Kickstarter crowdfunding goal of $30,000 for its independently developed digital whiteboard GoTouch. It had accumulated $80,000 as of Oct. 9 and the crowdfunding period will be end on Oct. 27.  GoTouch, a digital whiteboard developed by AnyractiveGoTouch, a smart communications solution consisting of the GoTouch device and mobile application, transfers content from display devices -- such as mobile devices, TVs, comput

Oct. 17, 2016