[PyeongChang 2018] Alibaba out to improve Olympic operations with cloud, starting with PyeongChang

Alibaba Group Holdings, the official cloud services and e-commerce partner for the Olympics until 2028, said Tuesday that it wants to leverage its cloud-based technologies to make Olympic operations more efficient and cost effective.　And its vision will start with next month’s Winter Games in PyeongChang, which Alibaba believes will become a critical learning ground for figuring out what it can do to improve its cloud technologies so that it can do a better job at the next Olympics.“In PyeongCha

Jan. 30, 2018

Roundup: Galaxy S9 series rumored to feature ‘Intelligent Scan,’ variable apertures

Rumors about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus peaked Tuesday due to a leaked image of rendering and a release date as well as a possible price range, about a month ahead of the smartphones’ debut. The upcoming Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus smartphones are expected to look similar to the previous S8 series phones as they are highly likely to come with the same curved display as their predecessors, featuring 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch Super AMOLED panels with QHD+ resolution and an 18.5:9 aspect rati

Jan. 30, 2018

[PyeongChang 2018] Korean robots to add high-tech spin to Olympic Winter Games

Athletes, staff and spectators making their way to PyeongChang this winter will have plenty to see in between the Olympic Games, with the latest robots from South Korea roaming the grounds to offer guidance, travel support and entertainment.　　Olympic observers got their first taste of the technology that will be on show at the Winter Games with the torch relay, which featured the world’s first sight of two robots carrying the iconic flame in Daejeon.　Thousands of spectators gathered in the city

Jan. 30, 2018

[Newsmaker] Korea to host world’s first robot ski tournament on sidelines of Olympic Winter Games

At the upcoming Winter Games in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, human athletes are not going to be the only ones vying for gold in the much-anticipated alpine skiing events.Humanoid robot skiers are going to be hitting the slopes of PyeongChang, as Korea is slated to host the world’s first robot ski tournament on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics. Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement have organized a ski tournament in which self-

Jan. 30, 2018

Will Apple's first Korean store bring market impact?

Apple‘s long-awaited first brick-and-mortar store in Korea opened to much fanfare on Saturday, with hundreds of Apple fans braving the biting cold overnight to be one of the first to enter.On Monday afternoon, the store was still packed with visitors, testing out phones and tablets or trying on various smartphone watch straps. The air was abuzz with excitement, with more than a dozen employees in matching navy shirts wandering around the store to help customers with questions and purchases.While

Jan. 29, 2018

[Herald Interview] Beyond health care, hospitals becoming central part of biopharma business ecosystem

As strides in biotechnology propel the development of new therapeutics, big hospitals have become new hubs for R&D and clinical trial partners to aspiring drug developers, stepping up as important stakeholders in the biopharma business ecosystem.　Eyeing this integration, a South Korean medical doctor-entrepreneur with more than 20 years of hospital operations under his belt, has set out to capitalize on the hospital-pharma business ties and synergies to make new drug R&D a faster and more effici

Jan. 28, 2018

LG Electronics strengthens V30 phone lineup to increase sales

LG Electronics Co., South Korea's second-biggest electronics company by sales, added a new color to its V30 smartphone lineup Sunday to help boost sales of handsets.In a promotion ahead of Valentine's Day next month, LG Electronics has launched its V30 phone in "raspberry rose" and will select 30 customers to receive another V30 phone on top of the one they bought, the company said in a statement. Those who want to participate in the event are required to buy the raspberry rose V30 phone and pos

Jan. 28, 2018

[Newsmaker] Apple opens its first store in S. Korea with fanfare

Hundreds of South Koreans braved bitterly cold weather Saturday as they waited hours for the opening of Apple Korea's first store in southern Seoul.About 300 people lined up to be among the first in the country to get inside Apple Garosugil in the affluent southern district of Gangnam.Choi Ji-eon, an 18-year-old who is preparing to study abroad, said he arrived in front of the new store around 3 p.m. on Friday and later waited in a sleeping bag as he was shivering with cold at night."I would lik

Jan. 28, 2018

Sluggish iPhone X sales rumors hurting earnings forecast for parts suppliers

Sluggish iPhone X sales rumors are adversely affecting earnings forecasts for South Korean electronic parts suppliers, market watchers said Sunday.Local stock market and industry watchers said earnings estimates for chipmakers SK hynix Inc. and Samsung Display, as well as LG Display and LG Innotek, have been downgraded for this year.They said the concerns come as sales figures for the latest iteration of Apple Inc.'s flagship smartphone may not be meeting initial expectations. The iPhone X with

Jan. 28, 2018

[PyeongChang 2018] Intel to host ‘StarCraft II’ tournament in lead-up to Olympics

Intel will host an international “StarCraft II” tournament in South Korea’s eastern county of PyeongChang in the lead up to the 2018 Winter Olympics that kicks off in the region next month.The Intel Extreme Masters PyeongChang tournament for Blizzard Entertainment’s real-time strategy game will take place Feb. 5-7 at the Olympic Village in PyeongChang. Intel has yet to confirm a venue. A total of 18 StarCraft II players who have passed the online qualifiers compete in the main tournament for a c

Jan. 26, 2018

[Monitor] Ready-made rice consumption increases

Consumption of rice increased notably last year, particularly on the popularity of ready-made meals in South Korea, data from Statistics Korea showed.From Nov. 1, 2016 to Oct. 31, 2017, 114,341 metric tons of rice was consumed, up 14.1 percent on-year. Rice tallied here included that used in various food products such as kimbap, prepackaged meals and instant rice sold at convenience stores and large retailers. Rice used at restaurants, however, was tallied separately.Meanwhile, rice consumption

Jan. 26, 2018

S. Korea’s electronics industry No. 3 by production

South Korea’s electronics industry ranked third in terms of production last year, while being the fifth-largest market in consumption, a report showed Friday. According to CEO Report by the Korea Electronics Association, the Korean electronics industry recorded $121.7 billion in production volume in 2017, growing 10.3 percent from the previous year. The growth propelled the country to become the third-largest producer of electronics in the world, trailing only China and the US and accounting for

Jan. 26, 2018

Samsung sends invitations for ‘Galaxy S9 Unpacked’ event in Barcelona

Samsung Electronics said Thursday it has sent invitations for an event to mark the launch of its flagship Galaxy S9 smartphone to journalists and partners around the world. Samsung will showcase the Galaxy S9 at Fira Montjuic in Barcelona at 6 p.m. on Feb. 25, one day before the opening of the Mobile World Congress. (Yonhap)In the invitation, Samsung said, “If a picture is worth a thousand words, the latest member of the Galaxy family has a lot to say,” hinting that the upcoming device would hav

Jan. 25, 2018

[Video] LG Uplus showcases drone management service in Busan

BUSAN -- LG Uplus, one of the largest mobile carriers in South Korea, announced an outline of its upcoming drone managing service and showed off key technologies at a press showcase held at Bexco in Busan, Thursday.In a bid to take the lead in the fast-evolving drone business, LG Uplus said it has developed a full-fledged drone management service, dubbed the “Uplus smart drone total service package.” The package consists of four key services, including customized drones, a management service, cl

Jan. 25, 2018

Netflix to push boundaries of Korean media content

Global content streaming service Netflix is ready to step up as a platform that introduces South Korean TV dramas and films to new audiences worldwide as well as help Korea push the boundaries of its content genres, Netflix executives said at a press conference in Seoul on Thursday.　Netflix, which officially launched here in January 2016, offers an eclectic pool of films and TV shows from around the world, including those from Korea, to some 117 million subscribers in 190 countries worldwide. 　T

Jan. 25, 2018

Nexon launches open-world MMORPG 'Durango: Wild Land'

South Korea's top game publisher Nexon Korea Co. on Thursday rolled out its highly anticipated massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) "Durango: Wild Land."The open world sandbox MMORPG -- based in a primitive universe dominated by dinosaurs -- is officially available on both Android and iOS, the company said. (Nexon)The company said the game drew more than 2.5 million preorders in the five-week preregistration period.Players are placed in the world of Durango due to an unknown a

Jan. 25, 2018

[PyeongChang 2018] Alternative apps to Google Maps for Winter Olympics

In most parts of the world, Google Maps is the go-to source for travelers in foreign countries, as it offers easy public transportation guidance as well as directions for driving, biking and walking.　However, South Korea is one of the few countries in the world where Google Maps is not offered in its full capacity, with critical features like driving navigation unavailable due to security restrictions.South Korea, still technically at war with North Korea, prohibits companies from exporting the

Jan. 25, 2018

Google launches AI-based audiobook service

Google said Wednesday it has rolled out an audiobook service supported by artificial intelligence (AI) in 45 countries, including South Korea. 　The service is initially available in Korean, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Russian and Japanese, the company said in a press release.　“It is meaningful that South Korea was included among the first batch for the launch as the country‘s audiobook market is small compared to countries that speak English,” Kwon Jae-hee, a Google of

Jan. 24, 2018

KCC slaps telecom firms with largest fines since 2014 for illegal subsidies

Korea Communications Commission voted to fine a total of 50.6 billion won ($47.3 million) on the country’s three mobile carriers for doling out illegal subsidies to attract new subscribers, the commission said Wednesday. The amount of the fines mark the largest since October 2014 when the government implemented a upper cap on subsidies that were excessively offered by the telecom firms and device manufacturers to attract more customers. The restriction, however, was abolished last September.  Lo

Jan. 24, 2018

Seoul vows to cut mobile bills, unveils investment plans for science, blockchain

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced cutting mobile bills by an average of 18 percent and abolishing the uniformly used digital signature certificates system as major policy goals for this year at a government policy briefing session in Sejong on Wednesday. As the control tower for scientific research and development projects, the ministry said it will inject a total of 1.42 trillion won ($1.33 billion) for R&D of basic science this year, 10 billion won for artificial intelligence and 4.2 b

Jan. 24, 2018