Samsung Electronics unveils new tablet PCs

Samsung Electronics on Thursday unveiled two new tablet PCs including the Galaxy Tab S4, its new flagship premium tablet that works as both an ordinary tablet and a desktop PC.　“With the Galaxy Tab S4, we’re introducing a premium tablet, equipped with Samsung DeX that helps consumers perform their absolute best wherever they go,” Koh Dong-jin, president and CEO of Samsung Electronics, said in a statement.It is the first Samsung tablet PC to support connection to Samsung DeX, a desktop extension

Aug. 2, 2018

[Herald Interview] Wanted aims to disrupt Asia’s hiring paradigm with referral-based recruitment

In the world of human resources, recruiting experienced hires has long operated in two ways: Companies blindly advertise new openings through third-party job listing sites, or pay high fees to headhunting firms to seek out viable candidates for a particular position.But one South Korean startup has set out to disrupt this paradigm by introducing a new mode of recruiting with a proven track record of success -- hiring through personal referrals. Wanted has built a recruitment platform that relies

Aug. 1, 2018

Samsung’s Q2 operating profit growth slows after seven quarters

Samsung Electronics reported a 4.9 percent decrease in operating profit in the April-June period from the previous quarter, largely due to a decline in sales and profit from the smartphone business, according to the company’s earnings announcement on Tuesday.It puts an end to the South Korean tech giant‘s longest-ever streak of all-time-high profits -- six quarters -- but the figure is still an increase on the second quarter operating profit of 2017. Samsung posted 58.48 trillion won ($52.2 bill

July 31, 2018

Samsung SDI achieves whopping 27-fold growth in Q2

Samsung SDI’s second-quarter operating profit jumped nearly 27-fold compared to a year earlier, showing a solid recovery trend after the battery explosion crisis in 2016, according to the company’s earnings announcement Monday. The battery maker posted 2.25 trillion won in sales and 152.8 billion won in operating profit for the April to June period, the company said in a regulatory filing. The operating profit skyrocketed from 5.5 billion won in the second quarter of last year, when the company

July 30, 2018

Half of smartphones to have AI assistant in 2018: report

Half of smartphones sold globally this year will have an artificial intelligence assistant, a report by an industry consulting firm showed Sunday.According to Strategy Analytics Inc., 47.7 percent of smartphones sold on the global market will be equipped with some kind of on-device AI assistant, up from 36.6 percent last year. (Yonhap)The report further finds that on-device AI is growing fast among smartphone vendors and by 2023, 89.9 percent of smartphones will have a built-in AI assistant.In 2

July 29, 2018

Samsung heir back in control of group

SUWON, Gyeonggi Province -- Around 1,600 middle school students on Friday enrolled in summer camps opened simultaneously at six universities across the country. The Dream Class camp, in its seventh year being run by Samsung Electronics, is one of the pet projects of Samsung Group heir Lee Jae-yong, who seems officially back at the helm of the biggest South Korean conglomerate. Lee made surprise visits to the camps in 2015 and 2016 with reportedly deep interest in the educational outreach program

July 29, 2018

Korea moves to enlarge warning images on cigarette packs

The health ministry is pushing to enlarge the size of graphic warning images on cigarette packs, officials said Sunday, a move aimed at discouraging people from smoking.The Ministry of Health and Welfare said it plans to announce the measure in September or October to send a stronger message to smokers by expanding the size of the warning images from the current 50 percent of the package's exterior to 70 percent.Currently, the size of the warning photos must cover more than 30 percent of both si

July 29, 2018

To repair reputation, Twitter, Facebook incur investor wrath

Two of the biggest social media platforms lost nearly one-fifth of their market value after reporting disappointing user growth. Twitter's stock plunged Friday after it reported a decline in its monthly users and warned that the number could fall further in the coming months. The 20.5 percent plunge came one day after Facebook lost 19 percent of its value in a single day. Twitter says it's putting the long-term stability of its platform above user growth. That leaves investors seemingly unable t

July 28, 2018

Naver under FTC investigation for alleged abuse of power in online video market

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission is reportedly investigating local internet giant Naver on allegations that the company abused its status as the country’s most-used portal website to engage in unfair practices in the online video market.The FTC’s Anti-Monopoly Bureau on Thursday conducted an on-site investigation of Naver’s headquarters in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, to look into the allegations, according to local news reports.  (Yonhap)The recent investigation appears to be an extension of t

July 27, 2018

SK hynix to construct W3.5tr memory plant in Icheon

SK hynix, South Korea’s second-largest chipmaker, said Friday the company will construct a new semiconductor fabrication plant at its headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, in response to growing demand for memory chips. The announcement was made a day after the company reported all-time high earnings in the second quarter. Construction will begin at the end of this year on a 53,000-square-meter site on the company’s Icheon campus with a schedule to be completed by October 2020.  SK hynix's

July 27, 2018

SK hynix achieves record-high Q2 profit on strong DRAM, NAND growth

SK hynix, South Korea’s second-largest memory chip provider, achieved the largest-ever second-quarter profit this year, owing to unwavering growth of demand for memory chips. The firm is forecast to continue benefiting from favorable market conditions in the second half of the year, according to its earnings announcement Thursday. The Korean memory chip maker posted 10.37 trillion won ($9.25 billion) in sales and 5.57 trillion won in operating profit for the April-June period, jumping 55 percent

July 26, 2018

[Weekender] What blood types are really about

In some East Asian countries, a person’s blood type is believed to determine personality traits including temperament and compatibility with others. However, the scientific community dismisses the blood type personality theory, citing a lack of evidence. They say blood types are maintained as a classification system for safe transfusions of blood in emergency situations.Known as the ABO blood group system, different blood types were first discovered by Austrian Physician Karl Landsteiner in 1900

July 26, 2018

Naver’s Q2 operating profit falls 12.1% on expanded tech investment

South Korean internet giant Naver said Thursday that its operating profit in the second quarter fell 12.1 percent on-year to 250.6 billion won ($224 million) due to a slowdown in the growth of its mobile and online business and increased investment in new technology innovation.Meanwhile, revenue in the April-June period reached 1.36 trillion won, up 20.7 percent from the same period in the previous year. Net profit also grew 83.1 percent on-year to 314 billion won, the company said.Despite the r

July 26, 2018

Samsung takes down Xiaomi in India in Q2

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics has beaten China’s Xiaomi in the Indian smartphone market share in the second quarter of this year, according to a research firm Wednesday. Samsung accounted for 29 percent in terms of smartphone shipments in the Indian market during the April-une period, slightly outpacing Xiaomi at 28 percent, showed data by Counterpoint Research. The Korean smartphone maker ceded its leading position in the market to the Chinese player in the fourth quarter of last year for t

July 25, 2018

NCSoft to incorporate AI in business

South Korea’s leading game developer NCSoft said Tuesday it is working to incorporate artificial intelligence technologies into diverse business areas.The firm’s research and development pivoting on AI began after a relevant team was launched by NC West CEO Yoon Song-yee in 2011.Currently, a total of five relevant teams along with a 100-strong workforce are operated under company's CEO Kim Taek-jin, categorized under the AI center and Natural Language Processing center. They include the game AI

July 24, 2018

KT unveils world’s first blockchain-powered commercial network

South Korea’s leading mobile carrier KT unveiled what it called the world’s first blockchain-based commercial network on Tuesday, and announced its aim to create the most trusted network for individual users and businesses. In telecommunications, blockchain technology can be used for efficient and secure data distribution and transactions, said Seo Young-il, head of the KT Blockchain Center at KT’s Institute of Convergence Technology, who has been working for more than three years to develop suc

July 24, 2018

Korea to invest W42b in next-gen medical devices powered by AI, robotics

The South Korean government on Tuesday kicked off a new joint initiative to speed up the development of next-generation medical devices powered by artificial intelligence and robotics, launched as part of the country's “bio economy” drive, the Science Ministry said.　As part of the initiative, the Ministry of Science and ICT, together with the Ministry of Trade Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, will be allocating 42 billion won ($36.

July 24, 2018

Upcoming Samsung products to be more conversable with Bixby 2.0

Samsung Electronics is focusing on making the second edition of the digital assistant Bixby more conversable on upcoming flagship products ranging from wearables and smartphones to TV and other home appliances in the second half of the year, according to the industry on Monday. Anticipations are high on the expected unveiling of Bixby 2.0 with the Galaxy Note 9 on Aug. 9, as Samsung spent nearly one year and six months on improving the artificial intelligence platform’s accuracy in voice recogni

July 23, 2018

Samsung consents to conclusive arbitration on leukemia victims’ dispute

Samsung Electronics and South Korean labor advocacy group SHARPS have agreed to unconditionally accept a mediation body’s proposed compensation plan for those who contracted serious illnesses, including leukemia, while working at Samsung’s semiconductor and display production sites.Samsung Electronics said Sunday that the two sides have agreed to accept without objection an “arbitration plan” to be proposed by a state-appointed legal body, and effectively end an 11-year-old dispute over occupati

July 22, 2018

[From the Scene] Samsung ready for mass production of micro LED displays

SUWON, Gyeonggi Province -- On the second floor of the R4 building on the Samsung Digital City campus in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, a room is filled with prototypes of micro light-emitting diode displays set for market release in the coming months. The lineup of exhibited prototypes includes The Wall, first unveiled at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in January, which is the next generation of smart displays using micro LED technology. Micro LED displays consist of arrays of microscopic LEDs f

July 22, 2018