[Exclusive] Samsung invests in Chinese AI chipset startup DeePhi Tech: sources

Memory chip giant Samsung Electronics has invested in a Chinese artificial intelligence technology developer as part of its efforts to catch up in the intensifying global race for AI platforms and devices, according to sources Sunday. In August, Samsung made a significant investment in DeePhi Tech, a Tsinghua-based startup with deep learning technologies, a source told The Korea Herald. “Samsung made quite a large investment in DeePhi Tech, which a group of Korean developers who met the startup’

Oct. 22, 2017

Samsung Electronics to seek successor to CEO Kwon Oh-hyun this week

Samsung Electronics Co. may pick a successor to its CEO and Vice Chairman Kwon Oh-hyun, as early as this week, after the top executive announced plans to retire, corporate sources said Sunday.Insiders familiar with the world's largest computer chip and smartphone manufacturer said there could be a move to appoint a new chief to head the device salutation and display business area that Kwon is in charge of.The vice chairman announced on Oct. 13 that he plans to step down in early 2018. Kwon Oh-hy

Oct. 22, 2017

[News Focus] Naver faces growing calls to become more transparent news platform

Naver, which operates South Korea’s largest portal website, is facing growing calls to heighten transparency after it was found to have removed a negative news article upon request by the involved organization.　Naver admitted on Friday that it had taken down a news article criticizing the actions of the K League from the main page of the portal’s sports tab in October 2016. The confirmation came after allegations were raised by a local media outlet.It is the first confirmed case of media meddlin

Oct. 22, 2017

[Photo News] KT, WEF to leverage ICT for infectious disease control

ICT IN DISEASE CONTROL -- South Korean mobile carrier KT said Sunday that it has partnered with the World Economic Forum to leverage its internet and communication technologies to help the WEF’s project to fight the global spread of infectious diseases. World Economic Forum’s Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab (second from left) and KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu (second from right) shake hands after signing the partnership agreement at the WEF headquarters in Geneva on Friday. (KT)

Oct. 22, 2017

Korea's 5G market to reach W35tr in 2025

The market of fifth-generation network services in South Korea will reach some 35 trillion won ($31 billion) in 2025, as the faster network technology is anticipated to be used in many areas from mobile phone networks to smart homes and connected cars, industry data showed Sunday.According to the data compiled by Digieco, a research center run by South Korea's mobile carrier KT Corp., the country's 5G network technology market is expected to hit 3.1 trillion won in 2020 but swell to 34.7 trillio

Oct. 22, 2017

35% of smartphones to be shipped with AI by 2020: report

More than one in three smartphones in 2020 will be shipped with an artificial intelligence chipset capable of real-time translation and malware detection, giving health care advice and recognizing user behavior, a report said Friday.The ratio of AI chipset-equipped smartphones is expected to rise to 35 percent or more than 500 million units in the cited years from just three percent in 2017.Numbers are forecast to move up to 16 percent in 2018 and 26 percent in 2019, according to the report of C

Oct. 20, 2017

Self-taught, 'superhuman' AI now even smarter: makers

The computer that stunned humanity by beating the best mortal players at a strategy board game requiring "intuition" has become even smarter, its makers said Wednesday.Even more startling, the updated version of AlphaGo is entirely self-taught -- a major step towards the rise of machines that achieve superhuman abilities "with no human input", they reported in the science journal Nature.  (DeepMind-Yonhap)Dubbed AlphaGo Zero, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) system learnt by itself, within days,

Oct. 19, 2017

Korean washers top US product evaluation reports amid moves toward protectionism

South Korean washers topped product reviews by major US consumer evaluators, industry watchers said Thursday, as Washington's trade commission moves to take protectionist steps.Earlier this month, the US International Trade Commission determined that products made by Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. are exerting an adverse impact on the domestic industry. The announcement was made after a safeguard petition was proposed by US-based Whirlpool Corp. (Yonhap)Samsung and LG, along wit

Oct. 19, 2017

Google uses AI to make email smarter

Google Inc. is applying its artificial intelligence technology to not only prevent spam emails but also as an email reply tool for users, a company engineer said Wednesday. Google said its machine learning model can ferret out spam and phishing messages with 99.9 percent accuracy, even spam that are carefully crafted to deceive people, "Our goal is to make Gmail the most productive email in the world," said Paul Lambert, Google's product manager. Paul Lambert, an engineer from Google Inc., talks

Oct. 18, 2017

Naver, YG Entertainment begin work on new global music service platform

South Korean internet giant Naver and YG Entertainment said Wednesday that they would begin preparations to jointly build a new global music service platform by pooling their technologies, resources and global influence.The move came seven months after Naver, Korea’s largest portal website operator, invested 100 billion won ($88.52 million) into YG Entertainment, which is home to big-name K-pop artists like Psy and Big Bang, seeking to tap YG’s strength in content. Under the partnership, Naver a

Oct. 18, 2017

[Graphic News] 1 out of 6 Korean youths are obese

　According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 1 out of 6 South Korean children and youths (elementary, middle school, and high school students) are obese with the rate increasing every year. 　The obesity rate increased from 11.2 percent in 2008 to 14.3 percent in 2010, 14.7 percent in 2012, 15 percent in 2014 and moved up to 16.5 percent in 2016, the data showed.　Also, the data showed that 77.1 percent of children and teens drink soft drinks at least once a week, up from 74.2 percent in 2014

Oct. 17, 2017

Samsung CEO’s resignation viewed as ‘unfortunate’ by semiconductor industry

Samsung Electronics CEO Kwon Oh-hyun’s resignation will inevitably impact the semiconductor business of the world’s largest memory chip provider in the short run, industry watchers said at a semiconductor tradeshow Tuesday. “It is unfortunate, since he has done a good job to build the company,” said Len Jelinek, director and chief analyst at IHS Markit. “His resignation would impact the company in the short term, but I don’t think Samsung will fall from the No. 1 position to (say) No.5.” He also

Oct. 17, 2017

North Korea’s once-touted AI tech hits development ceiling: report

Though it may come as a surprise, North Korea has been pursuing the development of artificial intelligence technologies since the 1990s through its series of state-run tech software research agencies.　Once recognized as a relative leader in AI computing, North Korea’s AI development is expected to hit hurdles due to strained resources, suggests a new report released Tuesday by KDB Research.The economic think tank under the state-run Korea Development Bank said that North Korea’s AI development w

Oct. 17, 2017

Naver unveils new AI speakers with character designs

South Korean internet giant Naver on Tuesday unveiled a new artificial intelligence voice assistant speaker designed in the shape of two main characters from its mobile messenger Line.　Dubbed “Friends,” the smart speaker comes in two versions, each resembling Line messenger’s Brown, a brown bear, and Sally, a yellow chick. Naver's Friends smart speaker (Naver)The speaker runs on Clova, the AI-powered voice assistant platform co-developed by Naver and Line. Friends is designed to be portable unli

Oct. 17, 2017

Samsung, LG in bottom tier for eco-friendly performance: Greenpeace

Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. were among the least environment-friendly IT companies worldwide in terms of their use of renewable energy and harmful chemicals, a report by Greenpeace showed Tuesday.The two South Korean electronics companies each scored a "D-" and a "D+" in overall grades for their environmental performance, the global non-governmental organization revealed in its 2017 Guidelines on electronics products. Google Inc. of the United States, Japan's Sony Corp. and H

Oct. 17, 2017

LG Electronics donates voice-command washers to visually impaired

South Korea's major home appliances maker LG Electronics Inc. said Tuesday it donated washers equipped with voice-recognition systems to the visually impaired.Under the agreement with the Korea Blind Union, LG said its high-tech washers were installed at 15 welfare centers for the blind across the country.The donation comes in line with the international White Cane Safety Day, which falls on Oct. 15 every year, to raise social awareness of the rights of the visually impaired, LG added. An image

Oct. 17, 2017

Koreans rank 8th in mobile data usage among OECD member states: report

South Koreans used an average 3.83 gigabytes of data with their smartphones per month last year to rank eighth among member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a report showed TuesdayAccording to the OECD report, Finland was No. 1 with the monthly data usage by smartphones standing at 10.95 GB in 2016, followed by Latvia with 8.21 GB, Austria with 6.28 GB, Sweden with 4.38 GB, Denmark with 4.37 GB, Estonia with 4.13 GB and Iceland with 3.92 GB.Among the surveyed

Oct. 17, 2017

New iPhones to reach Korean market on Nov. 3

US tech giant Apple Inc. plans to start sales of the iPhone 8 in South Korea on Nov. 3, industry sources said Monday, with preorders kicking off later this month.According to the sources, South Korea's three mobile carriers plan to start preorders for the iPhone 8 on Oct. 27.Apple earlier started sales of the new smartphones in the United States, Japan and China last month.While the local price has not been released yet, industry watchers said the 64 GB iPhone 8 is expected to come with a price

Oct. 16, 2017

Crucial chance for Samsung to acquire tech breakthrough

(Samsung Electronics Newsroom)The Samsung Developer Conference scheduled for this Wednesday in San Francisco is drawing more attention than ever from industry observers with questions about how the hardware-oriented tech titan will break through current technological limits in the face of a sudden leadership change. This will be also the first major global event for the tech giant since its Vice Chairman Kwon Oh-hyun announced his surprise resignation Friday, citing the firm’s need to break from

Oct. 16, 2017

Human-aiding robotics take center stage at Naver conference

From an autonomous robot that collects books displaced by customers from bookstore shelves to cable-based robotic arms with humanlike flexibility and control, cutting-edge robotics technologies took center stage at Naver Corp.’s annual developer’s conference Deview 2017 which kicked off in Seoul on Monday.　Naver, which dominates Korea’s mobile and internet scene as the operator of Korea’s biggest portal website, has been looking to transform itself into a tech platform company that develops and

Oct. 16, 2017