Samsung’s design center testing new experiences on foldable phone

SAN FRANCISCO -- Jackson Square is a neighborhood in San Francisco inhabited by companies brimming with ideas of integrating designs into new technologies born in Silicon Valley. At the center of this design-centric area is Samsung Design Innovation Center, which is responsible for the designs of Samsung Electronics’ new products and services. The center was relocated from nearby Palo Alto in Silicon Valley in 1994 to Los Angeles in 2008, then back up to San Francisco in 2012. Federico Casalegno

Jan. 15, 2019

LG, Samsung make list of top brands in Britain

South Korean tech giants LG Electronics Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. have made the list of top 2018 brands in a British consumer survey, industry sources said Tuesday.The LG organic light-emitting diode TV was named the best brand of 2018 among 170 products made by Samsung and other global TV makers, according to the survey by Which? magazine published by Britain's Consumers' Association.  (Yonhap)Samsung was named the best brand in the smartphone and tablet PC categories, outperforming arch

Jan. 15, 2019

Samsung’s AI strategy focuses on user trust, empowerment: Larry Heck

SILICON VALLEY, California -- Larry Heck is a renowned figure in Silicon Valley, spending 27 years working with the world’s leading tech moguls on bringing forward the era of artificial intelligence. After introducing AI services at Yahoo, Microsoft and Google, Heck joined Samsung in November 2017 to improve its fledgling AI platform Bixby, as the South Korean IT hardware manufacturer kick-started its drive for AI. “Despite the last five to seven years of progress, we are still very early in thi

Jan. 14, 2019

No more games on TV: Streaming services replacing TVs in sports broadcasts

When South Korea secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Kyrgyzstan at the Asian Cup Games in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, Korean soccer fans did not rely on traditional broadcasters to watch the match. 　In fact, there were no live broadcasts from the country’s three media giants -- KBS, MBC and SBS. Only JTBC, a cable network owned by a local media group, broadcast Korea’s second match at the Asian Cup.　As more viewers have begun to shift from traditional broadcasters to streaming services f

Jan. 14, 2019

Samsung likely to open new AI centers in Switzerland, Germany this year

Amid its strong drive for artificial intelligence, Samsung Electronics is preparing to open new AI research centers, likely in Switzerland and Germany, this year, in addition to seven existing centers across the continents, according to the company’s high-ranking officials on Monday. “Samsung will open additional AI centers this year to attract more AI experts, and the places under consideration include Switzerland and Germany,” a Samsung official told The Korea Herald. The comment was made in r

Jan. 14, 2019

LG Uplus teams up with Google for VR content

LG Uplus Corp., South Korea's smallest mobile carrier, said Friday that it will set up a fund with U.S. tech giant Google Inc. to invest in virtual reality content.The agreement, made during the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, is aimed at investing in the development of VR content during the first half of the year, LG Uplus said.  (Yonhap)The content will be viewed through LG Uplus platforms, such as apps and global video streaming service YouTube under Google, LG Uplus said.LG Up

Jan. 11, 2019

[CES 2019] From health wearables to sleep aids, digital health widens presence

LAS VEGAS -- Digital health care is growing at a rapid pace, as innovative technologies and solutions are revolutionizing the health management and treatment paradigm.Signaling widening interest in the convergence of technology and health care, mobile health devices, wearables and wellness gadgets are a major part of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.Alongside big names in conventional electronics, 521 digital health, 631 wearables and 151 fitness exhibitors have arrived at the

Jan. 10, 2019

[CES 2019] Despite China’s growth, Korean display makers still driving innovation: Merck KGaA CEO

LAS VEGAS -- Despite China’s fast-growing presence in the global display business, South Korean display makers remain undisputed leaders when it comes to future innovation, according to the chief of Merck KGaA’s performance materials division on Wednesday.　“Indeed, China has been putting lots of emphasis on driving the growth of the display technology. But if you look at large companies, you can see that the Korean companies are still very strong in innovation,” CEO Kai Beckmann said in an inter

Jan. 10, 2019

Sudden heart problems kill 3.6 times more people than car crashes

More than 18,000 people died from sudden cardiac arrest without previous symptoms or warning signs in 2017 -- making it a bigger cause of death than lung cancer, at 17,980, and road traffic accidents, which killed 5,028 in the same year.According to data released by the Korea Centers for Disease Control Wednesday, 25,859 people died from sudden cardiac arrest in 2017. Excluding accidental and suicidal deaths, 18,261 died without warning.Korea Centers for Disease Control and PreventionMinistry of

Jan. 10, 2019

Samsung to unpack Galaxy S10 series in San Francisco in mid-Feb

LAS VEGAS –- Samsung Electronics will hold the GalaxyS10 Series Unpacked event in San Francisco in mid-February, according to the industry Wednesday. Sources told The Korea Herald that the 10th edition of Galaxy S phones will be unveiled in the US city -- home to world’s most innovative tech firms –- one week ahead of the Mobile World Congress 2019 that kicks off in Barcelona, Spain on Feb. 28. Samsung was widely expected to announce the S10 series at MWC 2019 in Barcelona as it did for the pred

Jan. 10, 2019

[CES 2019] Samsung CEO doubts marketability of rollable TV

LAS VEGAS -- Samsung Electronics will not immediately join the new market for rollable TVs that surprised the world this week at the Consumer Electronics Show 2019, according to the company’s chief of consumer electronics division, raising doubt as to the “economic efficiency.”During a press conference held Tuesday, Kim Hyun-suk pointed out, “The problem of rollable TVs is economics.” The comment was made after Samsung’s archrival LG Electronics impressed the world with the industry’s first roll

Jan. 9, 2019

SK hynix developing non-memory chips for vehicles: SK Telecom CEO

LAS VEGAS -- SK hynix, the world’s No. 2 memory chip provider, may ultimately expand into the non-memory semiconductor market by tapping into an emerging market for a variety of system-on-chips for autonomous driving, Park Jung-ho, chief executive officer of parent company SK Telecom said Tuesday. “SK hynix is (confidentially) conducting research and developing non-memory chips for vehicles,” Park told The Korea Herald after attending a press conference on SKT’s vision for future businesses in t

Jan. 9, 2019

[CES 2019] From AI to foldable phones, world’s biggest gadget show lines up latest tech triumphs

LAS VEGAS -- The Consumer Electronics Show, the world’s biggest technology showcase, officially kicked off in Las Vegas on Tuesday, showcasing the latest technology innovations from big companies and startups across diverse product categories.This year’s event features more than 4,500 exhibiting companies, including a record 1,200 startups, while more than 20,000 products are being launched on the show’s floor, according to the Consumer Technology Association, the organizer of CES.From high-end

Jan. 9, 2019

[CES 2019] SKT CEO vows to establish intermediary financial holding company in 2019

LAS VEGAS -- Park Jung-ho, chief executive officer of South Korea’s No. 1 mobile carrier SK Telecom, on Tuesday expressed determination to create an intermediary financial holding company this year. During a press conference in Las Vegas to announce the company’s vision for the fifth-generation network business, Park stressed, “We will carry out the plan (to create the intermediary) without fail this year.” After setting up the intermediary holding company, “SK Telecom will turn into an operatin

Jan. 9, 2019

[CES 2019] Samsung Electronics exclusively showcases foldable phone to customers at CES 2019

LAS VEGAS -- Samsung Electronics showcased its foldable phone prototype to customers in a closed-door meeting at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday, offering a glimpse into what the South Korean tech giant’s folding phone would look like when completed.According to a high-level executive from a customer of Samsung, the electronics maker is currently finishing up optimization processes for its foldable phone’s hardware and software.“When unfolded, Samsung’s foldable phone does

Jan. 9, 2019

[CES 2019] SK hynix CEO out to win carmakers as major customers

LAS VEGAS -- Lee Seok-hee, the newly installed chief executive officer of the world’s second-biggest memory chip provider, SK hynix, expressed his determination to expand into an emerging market for automotive memory chips on Monday. Upon his arrival in Las Vegas to attend Consumer Electronics Show 2019, which kicked off on Tuesday, Lee told The Korea Herald that his company had its eye on the growth potential of the automotive semiconductor business and planned to expand its involvement in that

Jan. 8, 2019

[CES 2019] Samsung speeding up development of AI-powered robots

LAS VEGAS -- Samsung Electronics is accelerating the development of multiple types of robots that support various tasks, powered by the company’s artificial intelligence platform, according to the company on Monday. During a global conference held at Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, a day before the opening of the Consumer Electronics Show 2019, Samsung unveiled for the first time three kinds of AI-based robots branded as Samsung Bot, and three other wearable robots -- known as gait-enhancing an

Jan. 8, 2019

Samsung 4Q profit suffers from declining chip sales

Samsung Electronics saw its operating profits nose-dive by nearly 40 percent in the fourth quarter last year, mainly on weakening market demand for memory chips, the biggest source of its profits, the company said Tuesday.In a regulatory filing, the world’s largest manufacturer of chips and smartphones posted 10.8 trillion won in operating profits in the past three months, a 38.5 percent decrease from 15.1 trillion won posted for the previous quarter. It is the lowest operating profit figure sin

Jan. 8, 2019

[CES 2019] Future mobility to the max: ‘flying cars’ inch closer to reality at CES 2019

LAS VEGAS — When it comes to future mobility, autonomous vehicles typically take the spotlight, as global automakers and tech companies compete to bring self-driving cars into the mainstream.　Further stretching the limits of transport, another mobility technology once considered the realm of science fiction is inching closer to reality: flying cars. A number of flying car prototypes and designs will be featured at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that kicks off on Tuesday. Airborne veh

Jan. 8, 2019

[CES 2019] LG Electronics wows world with industry’s first rollable OLED TV

LAS VEGAS -- Hearty cheers and camera flashes filled the venue of LG Electronics’ press conference as the tech giant’s 65-inch OLED TV screen gracefully slid down into a sound speaker box. It is a television that one has never seen before. A day before the opening of the Consumer Electronics Show 2019, LG Electronics unveiled the world’s first rollable organic light-emitting diode TV, with a plan to commercialize it in the second half of the year. The Korean TV maker presented its 65-inch

Jan. 8, 2019