SKT to spin off mobility business, build joint venture with Uber

SK Telecom announced Friday that the company would spin off its mobility platform and start a new joint venture with US ride-hailing company Uber Technologies. SKT plans to spin off the unit by Dec. 29, according to the regulatory filing. The company’s shareholders would vote on the plan at a general meeting scheduled on Nov. 26. In the spinoff, tentatively named T map Mobility, Uber will invest around $50 million, according to the telecommunications firm. The South Korean telecommunic

Oct. 16, 2020

SK Telecom partners with Uber in mobility biz spinoff

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest mobile carrier, said Friday it will spin off its mobility platform business into a separate entity as it partners with US ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc. in a move to strengthen its focus in the connected mobility sector. The business -- tentatively called T map Mobility Co. -- will be wholly owned by SK Telecom and become a separate company on Dec. 29, the mobile carrier said in a regulatory filing. In a joint statement with Uber, SK Telecom s

Oct. 16, 2020

LG CNS launches web-based platform for AI services

LG CNS has rolled out an online platform that provides artificial intelligence services, through which users can select AI services and pay based on the level of use, the company said Thursday. The new platform by LG CNS includes 10 different types of AI engines that can process both verbal and visual information. The company’s computer vision service, for instance allows manufacturers to detect potential defects in their production lines. LG Chem is currently using the computer vision

Oct. 15, 2020

LG Uplus opens 7-story product showroom targeting Gen Z

South Korean telecom giant LG Uplus Corp. said Thursday it opened a seven-story product showroom in southern Seoul by partnering with local popular establishments as part of its broader efforts to capture young customers. The seven-story building, including its underground floor, in the posh southern district of Gangnam houses a cafe, a bookstore and a photo studio popular among South Korean millenials and the younger Generation Z, or those born after the mid-90s. LG Uplus said the store allow

Oct. 15, 2020

LG Innotek develops advanced ferrite for slimmer TVs, lighter EVs

LG Innotek, the high-tech parts making unit of LG Group, said Wednesday the company has developed a “highly efficient” ferrite material to be used for ultra slim TVs and vehicles. Ferrite, made of iron oxide power, is used to change voltage in power modules for TVs and on board chargers in vehicles. As home appliances including TVs and electric vehicles go slimmer and lighter, the ferrite has become a viable material. LG’s ferrite can make power modules for TVs as thin as

Oct. 14, 2020

Samsung heir meets ASML head to enhance cooperation

Samsung Electronic Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong met top executives of Dutch semiconductor equipment provider ASML, the company said Wednesday. Lee held a meeting with Peter Wennink, ASML’s chief executive officer, and Martin van den Brink, chief technology officer, in which they discussed supply and operation plans for extreme ultraviolet equipment that is needed for production of chips on 7-nanometer processes and below. They also talked about increasing cooperation on next-generation

Oct. 14, 2020

Air quality improves in Korea during China lockdown: lawmaker

South Korea saw a 25 percent decline in airborne nitrogen dioxide levels between January and May from the previous three-year average, a lawmaker said Wednesday, attributing the decline to coronavirus lockdowns in China. Rep. Jang Chul-min of the Democratic Party cited Korea Environment Corp. data available on AirKorea that showed Korea’s average concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, a key air pollutant, during the first five months of this year reached 0.017 parts per million, 25.4 percen

Oct. 14, 2020

SK Telecom to develop 5G-based smart ports

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest mobile carrier, said Wednesday it will develop smart ports using 5G network services by partnering with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Busan Port Terminal Corp. Under the memorandum of understanding signed between the three parties, they will develop a test bed for a smart port that uses 5G-powered services. A smart port refers to ports that use Internet of Things (IoT) devices to track and analyze the movement of cargo and workers to improve

Oct. 14, 2020

‘Seoul needs more global talents to become a tech hub’

Wcoding, which provides coding education in English, says that Seoul needs to bring in more global talents and businesses to turn the metropolitan city into a regional tech hub. “We believe Seoul is an ideal place for tech-related ventures in Asia, and that’s why we’re helping our students find their true potential and also help them realize their dream.” said Kim Kyung-dong, co-founder of Wcoding.   “To bridge Korea and the rest of the world and become a ste

Oct. 14, 2020

S. Koreans spent record on Netflix in Sept.: data

South Koreans' card payments to Netflix reached a fresh high of 46.2 billion won ($40.2 million) last month, data showed Tuesday, a nearly twofold jump from a year earlier. An estimated 3.36 million people here spent the record amount in September on the popular video streaming platform, according to app tracker WiseApp's data based on local payments made through credit and debit cards on Netflix. Last month's figure marks a jump from the 24.1 billion won spent in September last year by an est

Oct. 13, 2020

KT's webcomic unit to spend W10b on content creation

Storywiz Co., a webcomic unit of South Korean telecom giant KT Corp., said Tuesday it will spend 10 billion won ($8.7 million) on content creation, heating up competition in the growing local web fiction market. Storywiz, established in February this year after KT spun off its web fiction business, specializes in publishing online serial novels and comics. Its web novel platform Blice competes with larger local rivals, such as KakaoPage of the country's top messenger operator, Kakao Corp. KT's

Oct. 13, 2020

Kakao launches live commerce service on its messenger app

  South Korean mobile messenger giant Kakao has officially launched live commerce service “Kakao Shopping Live“ on its messenger application, the company announced Monday. The new service embedded in KakaoTalk allows sellers to promote their products via live streaming on the messenger application. Customers could directly engage with vendors through the livestream and make purchases on the messenger, the company explained. Kakao said the company plans to air at least one li

Oct. 12, 2020

SKT launches AI-powered voice call application

SK Telecom, South Korea‘s top mobile carrier, has launched an artificial intelligence-powered voice call application, the company announced Monday. The company’s new voice call application has integrated the company‘s existing voice-activated assistant Nugu, which was previously used in its AI speaker of the same name. SKT’s new application will allows its 1.2 monthly active users to use a wide range of features powered by the telecommunications firm’s AI engine

Oct. 12, 2020

[From the Scene] National Institute of Ecology out to consolidate research, conservation goals in COVID-19 era

SEOCHEON, South Chungcheong Province - The year 2020 has been tough for the National Institute of Ecology, with the number of visitors and exhibition opportunities plummeting from the coronavirus outbreak. The wildlife center in Seocheon, South Chungcheong Province, attracted 994,966 visitors on its first full year of opening and stayed relatively popular, with 823,826 visitors last year, but for the first 9 months of 2020, the NIE welcomed just 161,834 visitors. And when The Korea Herald visi

Oct. 11, 2020

Samsung, LG announce Q3 earnings surprise upon pent-up demand amid COVID-19

Samsung Electronics on Thursday announced an earnings surprise for the third quarter of this year, posting the largest operating profit in two years. The South Korean tech giant said in its preliminary earnings report that it would register 66 trillion won ($57.01 billion) in revenue and 12.3 trillion won in operating profit for the July to September period. It was a surprise, since the financial market’s profit forecasts hovered around 10 trillion won. If confirmed, the Q3 revenue

Oct. 8, 2020

[Herald Interview] Hyundai’s self-driving tech partner robust on robotaxis

The demand for robotaxis, or self-driving cabs, could grow in the era of pandemics and social distancing as more people try to avoid getting in a vehicle with strangers. A number of startups and established automakers are racing to release test versions of fully driverless cars within this year. Boston Consulting Group recently suggested that the autonomous mobility and robotaxi industry would be worth $40 billion by 2030. In a bid to get a head start in the race, Hyundai Motor Group and US

Oct. 8, 2020

S. Koreans spent nearly 30 hours on YouTube in Sept.: data

South Koreans are estimated to have spent nearly 30 hours on YouTube in September, a report showed Thursday, far surpassing other popular social media apps. South Korean users spent an average of 29.5 hours on Google's video-sharing app last month, compared with 12 hours on KakaoTalk, the country's top messenger app, according to data from local market tracker IGAWorks. Local users spent an average of 11.7 hours on global social media app Facebook, followed by 10.2 hours on Naver, South Korea'

Oct. 8, 2020

Nobel Prize for chemistry awarded to Charpentier and Doudna

REUTERS -- Scientists Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of a method for genome editing, the award-giving body said on Wednesday. “Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna have discovered one of gene technology’s sharpest tools: the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement on awarding the 10 million Swedish crown ($1.1 million) prize. “This technology

Oct. 7, 2020

More than half a million 5G network users returned to 4G: report

The number of 5G network users who returned to 4G network services has surpassed half a million, according to data released by a local lawmaker, Wednesday. The figure -- 562,656 users who downgraded from their 5G subscriptions -- accounts for 6.5 percent of the total 5G network subscribers in South Korea, according to the report by Rep. Hong Jung-min, who belongs to the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee at the National Assembly. The number of 5G network users as of end-

Oct. 7, 2020

Former Daewoo Electronics renamed as Winia Electronics

Winia Daewoo announced on Wednesday that the company has renamed itself Winia Electronics as part of its strategy to reinforce its business at home and abroad. Winia Daewoo is the home appliance unit of Daeyu Winia Group, which was launched in 2018 as the result of Daeyu’s acquisition of Dongbu Daewoo Electronics. The company provides mid-range home appliances, including refrigerators, air conditioners and electronic rice cookers. The rebranding comes after the overseas trademark li

Oct. 7, 2020