SK Telecom rolls out new mobile plan for foreigners

Targeting the growing number of foreign residents in Korea, wireless carrier SK Telecom launched a new mobile plan for foreigners Thursday.SKT’s new mobile scheme, dubbed the Band Data Global Pack, allows foreign subscribers to make unlimited domestic calls to both mobile and landline phones as well as free international calls -- for either 150 minutes or 400 minutes -- with mobile apps for international calling, including SK Freecall, OTO and NINHAO.  An SK Telecom employee and a foreign custom

Dec. 17, 2015

Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation actively supporting startups ⑤ NexSys

NexSys specializes in IoT-based wearable devices, and based on the potential of its LTE-based image solution technology, the young company was chosen to join the startup incubation program at the Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation last October.The first product launched by NexSys is the “Smart Helmet,” which is a helmet equipped with an HD camera on the front that transmits image data via the LTE network. The transmitted image is then analyzed by a control center and stored on a s

Dec. 17, 2015

Gray areas hinder medical tech innovation

After losing his father to a stroke and watching two uncles give up on expensive treatment for the same thing, engineer Ban Ho-young sought to create a disruptive technology that would make rehabilitation easy and affordable for any patient.He and cofounder Choi Young launched Neofect to create a smart rehabilitation glove that helps doctors analyze patients’ progress while keeping stroke patients motivated by helping them regain their arm and hand skills through activity games. After four years

Dec. 17, 2015

[Photo News] LG unveils new monitor lineup

  SAMSUNG RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE IN DESIGN -- Samsung Electronics said Wednesday its high-end SUHD TV 82S9W lineup has won the highest presidential award at the Good Design Selection 2015, a design award in Korea. The tech firm’s eight other products got awards, including the Chef Collection fridge RV8000, and the smart UX apps and widgets for the Galaxy S6 Edge Avengers Special Edition. (Samsung)

Dec. 16, 2015

[Photo News] Samsung sweeps design awards

SAMSUNG RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE IN DESIGN -- Samsung Electronics said Wednesday its high-end SUHD TV 82S9W lineup has won the highest presidential award at the Good Design Selection 2015, a design award in Korea. The tech firm’s eight other products got awards, including the Chef Collection fridge RV8000, and the smart UX apps and widgets for the Galaxy S6 Edge Avengers Special Edition. (Samsung) SAMSUNG RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE IN DESIGN -- Samsung Electronics said Wednesday its high-end SUH

Dec. 16, 2015

Leading academic in battery sector visits Samsung SDI

Tony Seba, a lecturer in entrepreneurship at Stanford University, paid a visit to the battery manufacturing campus of Samsung SDI in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province on Tuesday.The Stanford University lecturer who teaches entrepreneurship, disruption and clean energy is also the author of “Clean Disruption of Energy and Transportation,” in which he claims that electric cars coupled with the advancement of energy technology will cause a paradigm shift in the automotive sector. Tony Seba, a lec

Dec. 16, 2015

KakaoTaxi draws 50m requests

Mobile messenger Kakao has made strides in its taxi-hailing business as the number of requests for KakaoTaxi crossed 50 million as of Sunday, the firm said Wednesday. 　Demand for the taxi-hailing app has boomed since its launch in March, seeing 1 million ride requests in less than two months. 　The number of taxis registered for the KakaoTaxi service has also been on the rise, with more than 190,000, or around 70 percent of all taxis nationwide, now partnering with Kakao.(KakaoTaxi)　“Even though

Dec. 16, 2015

LG Chem gains upper hand in lithium battery race

Battery-maker LG Chem said Wednesday that it has inked a deal with the world’s largest energy storage system company AES Energy to supply its lithium-ion battery modules. The ESS is considered a lucrative business and the battery units of Samsung and LG groups are fiercely seeking to gain an upper hand in the global market. LG Chem’s battery module for the energy storage system. (LG Chem)LG’s latest supply deal is the biggest of its kind in terms of its scale. The maximum battery capacity, accor

Dec. 16, 2015

Samsung convenes regional heads for strategy meeting

Samsung Electronics on Wednesday started its annual global strategy meeting, with some 600 executives and heads of regional operations around the world in attendance. Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong is also scheduled to join the meeting --the first this year. The one planned in the first half of this year was canceled due to the outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome.  The mobile and home appliance divisions are holding a three-day meeting through Friday at the Suwon campus

Dec. 16, 2015

Samsung CEOs to pitch to carmakers

Samsung Electronics, which has recently renewed its push for automotive parts especially for self-driving cars, plans to appeal to global carmakers at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, in Las Vegas next month. The Korean tech giant announced last week it would set up a new team dedicated to car parts for futuristic vehicles like driverless cars. Even though Samsung has long produced batteries and chips for cars, it is the first time that it is entering the car business again with s

Dec. 15, 2015

SK hynix CEO wins best industrial award

SK hynix CEO Park Sung-wook on Tuesday received a Gold Tower, also known as the Order of Industrial Service Merit, the country’s highest decoration for a businessperson, for contributing to the semiconductor industry and creating new jobs. Park, who took office in 2012, was especially honored for his continued efforts to hire talented people without considering their educational background. Of the new employees hired this year, more than 33 percent were high school or vocational college graduate

Dec. 15, 2015

[Photo News] SKT joins hands with Dongbu Daewoo Electronics for smart home tech

COLLABORATION FOR SMART HOME -- Cho Young-hoon (left), head of SK Telecom‘s smart home TF, and Kim Hyeog-pyo, vice president of Dongbu Daewoo Electronics, pose at the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding in Seoul on Tuesday. The mobile carrier and the electronics maker will work together to launch home appliances which can be remotely controlled by SKT’s smartphone apps. (SKT)

Dec. 15, 2015

[Photo News] Samsung smartwatch hits shelves

  cap-SKT Samsung GearSAMSUNG SMARTWATCH HITS SHELVES -- Korea’s No. 1 mobile carrier SK Telecom said Monday it has exclusively launched Samsung Electronics’ Gear S2 Band Classic, a standalone smartwatch that enables users to send text messages and make calls without being paired to a handset. (SKT)

Dec. 14, 2015

[Photo News] LG oven range recognized for innovation

LG OVEN RANGE RECOGNIZED FOR INNOVATION --LG Electronics said Monday its premium oven range, dubbed the LG Studio, had been picked as the 2015 Product of the Year in the kitchen and bath category by leading U.S. monthly magazine Architectural Record. (LGE)

Dec. 14, 2015

Instagram posts fastest growth in Korea

　The number of subscribers for Facebook-owned social-networking service Instagram in Korea grew at the fastest pace in the world this year, according to Facebook Korea on Monday. 　Benjamin Joe, the country manager of Facebook Korea, announced this during a press meeting at the firm’s head office in Seoul. 　Although he refused to reveal the exact number of users here, he said the entire number of users worldwide crossed 400 million and is on the rise. Facebook Korea country manager Benjamin Joe s

Dec. 14, 2015

Telecom carriers to see drop in revenue

South Korea’s big three telecom carriers ― SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus ― are expected to see an unprecedented drop in their combined revenue this year amid rapid market saturation. According to market analyst FnGuide, their combined revenue is set to fall to 49.6 trillion won ($42 billion) this year, about 4 percent down from last year’s 51.5 trillion won.  KT would see the largest drop to 21.8 trillion won from 23.4 trillion won, while SK Telecom expects a fall to 17.1 trillion won from 17.8 tr

Dec. 13, 2015