Samsung unveils sneak peek of its first foldable smartphone

Samsung Electronics on Thursday revealed technological details of its first foldable display for next-generation smartphones at a conference in San Francisco for technology developers from around the world.The South Korean tech titan unveiled a prototype of a foldable smartphone featuring the Infinity Flex Display during the two-day Samsung Developer Conference. When it is unfolded, the as-of-yet-unnamed smartphone is 7.3 inches, and 4.58 inches when folded in half. The prototype looked as if tw

Nov. 8, 2018

NCSoft unveils 5 new mobile games

South Korean online gamemaker NCSoft Corp. on Thursday unveiled five new massively multiplayer online role-playing games for the mobile platform.Among the much anticipated lineup is "Lineage 2M," a follow-up to the mega-hit mobile game "Lineage M" that is slated to be launched during the first half of 2019, NCSoft said."Lineage M," which brings the original "Lineage" title to the mobile platform, has become the most popular app both on the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store since its launch

Nov. 8, 2018

Samsung unveils upcoming foldable smartphone

SAN FRANCISCO -- Samsung Electronics Co. on Wednesday showcased its upcoming smartphone with a foldable display slated to be released in the early part of 2019.At the Samsung Developer Conference 2018 held in San Francisco, the South Korean tech giant outlined some specs of its much-anticipated Infinity Flex Display technology, calling it the next big breakthrough. The infinity display is expected to be employed on the company's upcoming high-end smartphones. At the gathering, Samsung took the w

Nov. 8, 2018

Kakao Q3 operating income falls 35%

Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea's top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, said Thursday its third-quarter operating profit fell 35 percent from a year earlier, due to increased costs from its new businesses.Operating income reached 30.7 billion won ($27.3 million) in the July-September period from 47.4 billion won a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales, however, rose 16 percent on-year to a quarterly record high of 599.3 billion won, the company said. (Yonhap)Kakao said its

Nov. 8, 2018

Samsung chief meets Microsoft CEO on forging deeper cloud, AI partnership

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong met Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in Seoul to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation in areas including artificial intelligence and cloud-computing technology, according to industry sources Wednesday.During the meeting, the two agreed to expand their partnership in technologies critical to future growth, including AI, cloud-computing services, data-center operations, 5G networks and software development, Samsung Electronics said. Microsoft Korea decli

Nov. 7, 2018

[Graphic News] S. Koreans rank No. 1 in OECD in hospital visits

　South Koreans rank first among major economies in terms of visits made to hospitals in 2016, government data showed.　According to the data by the National Health Insurance Service, South Koreans visited the doctor's office an average of 17 times in 2016, much higher than the average of 6.9 times by citizens of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries.　Japan came in second with 12.8 visits, with Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Germany rounding out the top

Nov. 6, 2018

Google improves forecasts of earthquake aftershocks with AI technology

Google Inc. could greatly improve the prediction of earthquake aftershocks by using machine learning, a type of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, a scientist from the company said Tuesday.In earthquakes, an initial mainshock is typically followed by a series of smaller aftershocks. Forecasting the locations of these aftershocks has become important as they can significantly hamper recovery efforts.Martin Wattenberg, a senior staff research scientist at Google's People + AI Research initia

Nov. 6, 2018

Samsung to unveil latest technologies at developers' forum

Samsung Electronics Co. is set to hold its developers' conference this week in the United States, where the company plans to unveil its latest technologies, potentially including details of an upcoming foldable smartphone, industry watchers said Tuesday.The South Korean tech giant will hold the Samsung Developer Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday and Thursday.The upcoming event is significant as the company hinted it may unveil details of a new smartphone with a foldable display. Earlier t

Nov. 6, 2018

LG to develop smart shopping cart robot with E-mart

LG Electronics Inc. said Monday it inked an agreement with E-mart Inc., a retail giant in South Korea, to develop a new type of service robot that can assist shoppers at supermarkets.Under the agreement, the two companies will develop what they call a smart-cart robot that can automatically identify obstacles and follow shoppers as they walk through aisles. LG said the new robot will free visitors from the hassle of pushing heavy carts by themselves. Shown in the picture released by LG Electroni

Nov. 5, 2018

SK hynix develops world’s first 4D NAND flash

SK hynix has developed the world’s first 4D NAND flash memory using both Charge Trap Flash and Peri Under Cell technologies, with a plan to start mass production this year, according to the chipmaker on Sunday. SK hynix said it developed 96-layer 512-gigabit NAND flash, named CTF-based 4D NAND Flash to distinguish it from current 3D NAND flash technologies.SK Hynix’s 96-layer 512-gigabit NAND flash (SK hynix)The NAND flash memory chip is widely used for the storage of mobile devices and data cen

Nov. 4, 2018

Tech startups in tough position in Korea’s ecosystem: Naver CTO

Despite the strong overall growth of South Korea’s startup sector, local tech startups developing proprietary technology-based products for the market are in the toughest position to succeed, said Naver Chief Technology Officer Song Chang-hyun on Friday.“Among the 99 local startups which procured more than 3 billion won ($2.65 million) in investment in 2017, only eight, or less than 10 percent, were tech-based startups. This signals that Korea’s startup ecosystem is particularly tough for tech s

Nov. 2, 2018

[Video] Koreans line up overnight for Apple’s most expensive phones

More than 200 people had lined up in front of the Apple Store in Garosu-gil, Seoul, as of 7 a.m. on Friday -- the day of the iPhone XR, XS, XS Max and Apple Watch Series 4’s launch in South Korea. Some had come to queue from the night before. Hours later, at 10 a.m., the line showed no signs of shrinking. The new models are by far the most expensive of Apple Inc.’s smartphone creations, with a storage capacity of up to 512 GB. The iPhone XS Max 512 GB is the priciest of the selection this time,

Nov. 2, 2018

[Newsmaker] Newest iPhones to hit Korea’s Apple Store on Nov. 2

The first and only Apple Store in Korea will introduce the latest Apple smartphones on Friday: Get ready for the iPhones XR, XS and XS Max. Presales through local carriers SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus closed Thursday, and -- despite hefty price tags starting at 1 million won ($880) -- the new phones have set a record that slightly surpasses the presales volume of previous iPhones 8 and X. iPhone XS (Yonhap)The Korea Herald will visit the store early Friday morning to see how the ultra-expensive n

Nov. 1, 2018

Samsung to provide up to W150m in compensation for victims of work-related diseases

The mediation committee for the dispute between Samsung Electronics Co. and its former employees suffering from work-related illnesses announced the finalized settlement for the two parties, with the plan including compensation of up to 150 million won ($132,000) per illness.The announcement came as South Korea's top chipmaker and an advocacy group representing victims of work-related diseases, the Supporters for the Health and Rights of People in the Semiconductor Industry, inked an agreement i

Nov. 1, 2018

LG converges home appliances with furniture

LG Electronics has created another category for home appliances combined with furniture by launching a new brand Objet on Thursday, which the company defined as being premium and private.The LG Objet brand lineup consists of four items -- refrigerator, air purifier, audio and TV -- designed for consumers who want to put them in their private spaces like their bedrooms.To introduce the brand as one for converging electronics with furniture, the company adopted wood and steel as the main materials

Nov. 1, 2018

[Weekender] Traditional Korean medicine a game changer in medical tourism industry

It has been a decade since South Korea started issuing short-term visas for foreigners seeking medical treatment here as part of measures to boost medical tourism.Since then, the medical tourism market has expanded rapidly, with the number of annual foreign visitors for medical treatment here rising 52.2 percent in the four years through 2017 to some 321,600, according to data compiled by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute.However, the number dropped by 11.7 percent on-year in 2017

Nov. 1, 2018

Samsung heir heads to Hanoi with prospects of new investment

Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong departs for Hanoi at Seoul Gimpo International Airport on Tuesday. (By Song Su-hyun / The Korea Herald)Lee Jae-yong, heir and vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, on Tuesday left for Hanoi with a scheduled meeting with the Vietnamese prime minister, possibly on making new investments in the country. The Samsung heir’s two-day visit to Vietnam is expected to serve as a critical chance for the tech titan to mainly revise its smartphone business, the competitiveness of wh

Oct. 30, 2018

[Health-tech Korea] Blood pressure readings at your fingertips

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles highlighting South Korea’s promising startups in the emerging sectors of digital health care and next-generation medical devices. This is the 22nd installment. - Ed.Most people have undergone a health checkup where a nurse puts on a cuff on your upper arm that tightens and releases, to measure your blood pressure. You’re most likely to be doing this at a hospital.　However, this dynamic may soon change with new advances in digital health technol

Oct. 30, 2018

Increase in work hours reduces pregnancy chance: report

An increase in working hours among women reduces the chance of them getting pregnant, a report showed Tuesday.According to the report by the National Assembly Budget Office, the chance of conceiving a baby is reduced by 0.34 percentage point for every additional hour a married woman works per week.The report was based on five sets of surveys conducted on women between 2007 and 2014 about working conditions and their decisions on pregnancy and marriage. (Yonhap)Long working hours have been cited

Oct. 30, 2018

[Tech Brunch] LG Chem aims to apply membrane technology to air, cars

Tech Brunch breaks down how complex technologies work. -- Ed.DAEJEON -- In search of technologies beneficial for mankind, the nation’s fourth-biggest conglomerate LG Group has focused its research and development capabilities since 2010 on improving water, energy and air. And LG Chem, the group’s battery and petrochemicals unit, has been a crucial part of that mission. “Back then, LG came up with a whole new business out of the mission to improve the quality of water by using its technological p

Oct. 28, 2018