About four out of every five smartphones shipped globally in the third quarter ran on Google Inc.'s Android platform, data showed Friday, further cementing its dominance over other operating systems (OS).Shipments of Android-powered smartphones totaled a record 204 million units in the July-September period, according to the data by Strategy Analytics.That translates into the Android platform powering 81.3 percent of smartphones shipped during the cited period, also a record high, the data showe

Nov. 1, 2013

Lee Soon-nam, director of Ewha Womans University Medical Center, urged the government to reconsider its health care insurance policy, saying it would keep hospital earnings low and hold back innovation the medical services industry.“The government’s health care reform is in the right direction, in terms of strengthening social security. But the government should consider raising insurance premium fees and medical service fees. Otherwise, hospitals will end up with the burden of providing even mo

Oct. 31, 2013

A rare solar eclipse will sweep across parts of Africa, Europe and the United States on Sunday as the moon blocks the sun either fully or partially, depending on the location. The round shape of the Earth explains why some viewers in west Africa will see a total eclipse, while others in the United States and Europe will only see the sun partly obscured.Regardless, experts said people should not look directly at the sun during the unusual hybrid eclipse unless they use special welder’s glass or v

Oct. 31, 2013

NEW YORK (AP) ― Doctors may one day be able to control a patient’s HIV infection in a new way: injecting swarms of germ-fighting antibodies, two new studies suggest.In monkeys, that strategy sharply reduced blood levels of a cousin of HIV. The results also gave tantalizing hints that someday the tactic might help destroy the AIDS virus in its hiding places in the body, something current drugs cannot do.The study results “could revolutionize efforts to cure HIV” if the approach is found to work i

Oct. 31, 2013

Google chairman Eric Schmidt said in Seoul on Wednesday that his discussions with Samsung Electronics executives about cooperation in IT were “good.” He declined to elaborate on what they discussed and whether he met Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jay-yong at the company’s Seocho office in southern Seoul. But he answered affirmatively to questions on whether he discussed ways for strengthening software competitiveness.John Lagerling, Google’s director of Android Global Partnerships, added

Oct. 30, 2013

WESTFORD, Vermont (AP) ― A new cyber tool that helps map crops and monitor irrigation systems came to life after a University of Vermont researcher realized farmers just weren’t very good at keeping records.“They would guess a lot,” said Heather Darby, an agronomist from the University of Vermont Extension. “Or they’d write it down on little scrap pieces of paper or cigarette packs, like anything they had laying around they’d write it on, and then they’d show up for class, and we’d try to deciph

Oct. 29, 2013

Ever wonder why snakes inspire such fear? A new study on monkeys out Monday says the brain has specific cells that fire off rapid warnings when confronted with slithery danger.Certain neurons respond “selectively” to images of snakes, and they outpace comparable neurons that react to visuals of faces, hands or geometric shapes, the researchers said.The report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences offers new evidence to support the notion that primates evolved keen vision skills

Oct. 29, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Meteorologists may have found a way to predict some killer heat waves up to three weeks in advance. Now, the best they can do is about 10 days.An earlier warning would help cities prepare for the heat wave, arrange to open up cooling centers and check on the elderly, said Gerald Meehl, co-author of a study that describes the forecasting clue.“It gives you a little bit of a heads up of what’s coming,” he said.The key may be a certain pattern of high and low pressure spots across

Oct. 29, 2013

The world’s mobile market in the July to September period was led by two Korean electronics firms ― Samsung and LG ― according to a report. Samsung shipped 120 million units, the largest number of mobile phones in the third quarter, which accounts for 28.7 percent of the entire market, according to a report released by leading market research institute Strategy Analytics.The sales figure is twice that of mobile firm Nokia, which sold 65 million units, and four times larger than that of Californi

Oct. 29, 2013

Samsung Group celebrated the 20th anniversary of the company‘s “New Management Initiative” with a dinner at Shilla Hotel on Monday.In 1993, Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee proclaimed the initiative during a tour to European cities including Frankfurt in Germany, calling for the complete reform of Samsung and its employees to become a truly global brand. Around 350 executives of Samsung’s subsidiaries and partners participated in Monday’s event, where Lee discussed the future direction o

Oct. 28, 2013