The Korea Herald

Samsung said near purchase of German screen firm Novaled

Samsung Group is nearing an agreement to acquire Novaled AG, a German maker of materials used to light up smartphone and television screens, two people with knowledge of the matter said.“We are internally reviewing plans to acquire Novaled, but no details have been set yet,” said Lee Tae-hun, a spokesman for Cheil Industries Inc., the chemical and electronic materials unit of South Korea’s largest conglomerate, in a telephone interview.A deal to buy Novaled for more than $200 million may come as

July 31, 2013

Samsung SDS out to capture new opportunities

Alfred Koh, one of the few Korean-American IT experts among the top Samsung brass, wants to take the next step forward --and so does his company, Samsung SDS.The first step the company recently took toward the future was, albeit at the urgings of the government, to shift its focus to the overseas markets. The firm was basically edged out of all the financial and government systems integration work on the home turf.But SDS appeared to be prepared, since the move was immediately followed up by a c

July 31, 2013

Samsung SDS out to capture new opportunities

Are pigs smart like dogs?

NEW YORK (AP) ― There’s extensive evidence that pigs are as smart and sociable as dogs. Yet one species is afforded affection and respect; the other faces mass slaughter en route to becoming bacon, ham and pork chops.Seeking to capitalize on that discrepancy, animal-welfare advocates are launching a campaign called the Someone Project that aims to highlight research depicting pigs, chickens, cows and other farm animals as more intelligent and emotionally complex than commonly believed. The hope

July 31, 2013

Debates loom over how to handle digital legacy

As South Koreans are generating more digital footprints thanks to the country’s powerful digital infrastructure, managing one’s online legacy following death is becoming a thorny issue for family members and online service providers. Digital legacy refers to personal data including texts, pictures and video clips that a user leaves behind in cyberspace. “We remove a deceased user’s ID on request of a bereaved family but the surviving members cannot access other personal data including passwords,

July 30, 2013

Samsung is said to be near purchase of Germany's Novaled

Samsung Group, the world's largest smartphone maker, is close to an agreement to acquire Novaled AG, a German maker of materials used to light up smartphone and television screens, said two people familiar with the transaction. An agreement for the South Korean company to buy Novaled for more than $200 million may come as soon as this week, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Novaled is ased in Dresden, Germany. The neg

July 30, 2013

[Graphic News] Korea has priciest phones

According to Strategy Analytics, South Korea’s average sale price for mobile phones was $415 per handset last year, becoming the most expensive in the world. It attributed the high price to the high proportion of sales taken up by premium-level smartphones.

July 29, 2013

[Graphic News] Korea has priciest phones

Samsung topples Apple as most profitable phone maker

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest smartphone maker, dethroned Apple Inc. as the most profitable phone maker by posting the biggest operating income during the second quarter, also becoming the sector’s most profitable vendor, industry data showed on Monday.According to the latest data by Strategy Analytics, Samsung became the world’s most profitable handset vendor in the second quarter of the year with $5.2 billion in operating profit for its handset division.Apple, on the other hand,

July 29, 2013

Mobile phone prices in S. Korea most expensive

Mobile handsets sold in South Korea were more expensive than anywhere else last year as high-priced smartphones accounted for a larger portion of mobile devices sold in the country, data showed on Monday.The average selling price of a mobile phone stood at US$415 in the country last year, compared with the world average of $166, and marked the highest among countries surveyed, according to the data compiled by research firm Strategy Analytics.The average selling price of a mobile phone in Japan

July 29, 2013

Samsung topples Apple as world's most profitable phone maker

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest smartphone maker, dethroned Apple Inc. as the most profitable phone maker by posting the biggest operating income during the second quarter, also becoming the sector's most profitable vendor, industry data showed on Monday.According to the latest data by Strategy Analytics, Samsung became the world's most profitable handset vendor in the second quarter of the year with US$5.2 billion in operating profit for its handset division.Apple, on the other han

July 29, 2013

[Photo News] Phone DIY

July 28, 2013

Samsung clinches one-third of all smartphone volumes worldwide in Q2

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest smartphone maker, posted a record shipments in the second quarter of the year, data showed on Friday.According to the data compiled by research firm Strategy Analytics, Samsung Electronics shipped a record 76 million smartphones in the second quarter, compared with 69.4 million in the previous quarter.The South Korean smartphone maker also continued to dominate the global smartphone market in terms of market share, with its stake in the April-June per

July 26, 2013

SK Innovation swings to black in Q2

SK Innovation Co., the holding company of South Korea's top refiner SK Energy Co., said Friday that it has returned to profit in the second quarter from a year earlier thanks to good performance by its refinery unit.Net income came to 271 billion won (US$243.6 million) in the April-June period, compared with a net loss of 238.4 billion won a year ago, SK Innovation said in a regulatory filing.Sales, however, fell 10.7 percent to 16.85 trillion won in the period, while the company posted an opera

July 26, 2013

T&I develops pillow for treatment

For those having trouble sleeping at night, a local pillow manufacturer has applied acupressure methods to its new product. T&I said it combined the therapeutic effects of the memory foam pillow and a still point inducer to support one’s cervical spine and improve circulation of cerebrospinal fluid at the same time. While the head is resting on the pillow, raised bumps apply gentle pressure to the atlanto-occipital joint to enhance the flow of cerebrospinal fluid. A substance in cerebrospinal fl

July 25, 2013

Ewha Medical Center appoints new director

Ewha Womans University Medical Center, one of the major general hospitals in Seoul, appointed renowned hemato-oncologist Lee Soon-nam as its new director on Wednesday, officials said. Lee replaces Suh Hyun-suk, who served as the center’s director for the last six years. Lee, a medical expert on lung cancer, melanoma and hospice care, has served as chairwoman of the Korean Society for Hospice and Palliative Care and the Korean Association of Clinical Oncology, and served as the executive board di

July 25, 2013

Ewha Medical Center appoints new director

Diabetic kidney disease

With an aging society and increase in obesity, the number of diabetes patients is increasing each year. This is associated with an increase in chronic complications of diabetes. Diabetic kidney disease is the most common cause of end-stage renal disease, and is the most serious complication of diabetic patients. Therefore, the presence of diabetic kidney disease is an important prognostic factor for diabetic patients. Here, I will discuss the risks, prevention and management of diabetic kidney d

July 25, 2013

LG to launch G2 in NYC

LG Electronics will be holding a global launching ceremony for its G2 smartphones in New York City.LG’s latest brainchild will be on display on Aug. 7 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City near Central Park, the company said, with invites sent out to more than 500 media outlets. “We decided the importance of the North American market and the strength of the American carriers were good enough reasons for us to decide on New York,” said Ken Hong, a spokesperson for LG Electronics.LG reportedl

July 24, 2013

LGE registers stellar performance in Q2

LG Electronics seemed to be headed toward a solid recovery, with second quarter sales brightening significantly on the back of strong performances in air conditioners and mobile handsets.Sales for the company based on consolidated statements rose 10 percent from last year and 8 percent from the previous quarter, while operating profit surged 37 percent compared to the first quarter, the electronics heavyweight said in a regulatory filing. “It was a difficult year, with the business environment f

July 24, 2013

Adopting a smarter commerce strategy

Smarter commerce recognizes that the sale is just one aspect of the experience. As with traditional commerce, the customer is at the center of all operations. The term “chief executive customer” comes to mind. More and more customers are using social networks, mobile devices, websites and influencers to make their buying decisions. There’s a digital explosion out there, and there’s no turning back. This is a $130 billion-plus market opportunity.Marketers today continue to be confronted by a dail

July 24, 2013

Huge dinosaur tail discovered

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) ― A team of archaeologists have discovered the fossilized remains of a 72 million-year-old dinosaur tail in a desert in northern Mexico, the country’s National Institute for Anthropology and History said.Apart from being unusually well preserved, the 5-meter tail was the first ever found in Mexico, said Francisco Aguilar, INAH’s director in the border state of Coahuila.The team, made up of archaeologists and students from INAH and the National Autonomous University of Mexic

July 24, 2013

Scientists make microchips that can mimic the brain

Researchers in Switzerland say they have made microchips that imitate the way our brains process information, unlocking some of the mystery around how the world’s most efficient computer functions.Scientists at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, together with colleagues in Germany and the United States, created electronic systems comparable to a human brain both in size, speed and energy consumption, the university said in a statement.Just like the brain, their so-called neuromorphic chips

July 24, 2013