‘Disaster broadcasts unable to reach most of Korea’s underground subways, tunnels’

Amid persistent military tension on the Korean Peninsula, a survey suggested that South Korea is ill-prepared to deliver radio broadcasts to key underground locations including subway stations and road tunnels during disasters and emergencies. A report released Tuesday by Rep. Shin Kyumg-min of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea found there was poor radio connectivity in 88 percent of South Korea’s road tunnels and subway stations. The survey was compiled by the state-run Korea Communications

Oct. 10, 2017

LG Uplus tests UHD IPTV on 5G platform

LG Uplus Corp., South Korea's No. 3 mobile carrier, said Monday it has successfully tested an ultra high-definition quality TV service in a 5G network environment.LG Uplus said it used 5G equipment by Chinese networking giant Huawei to send data to an internet protocol television from its Sangam office building in western Seoul.  (Yonhap)The company used fixed wireless access technology at 28 GHz spectrum to provide internet access to homes to demonstrate 5G network's capacity in a data intensiv

Oct. 9, 2017

IoT exhibition to be held in Seoul

More than 200 South Korean firms are poised to showcase various Internet of Things application services and products at an international exhibition in Seoul slated for later this week as Internet connections are penetrating deeper into everyday lives, organizers for the event said Monday.The IoT Korea Exhibition 2017, part of IoT Week Korea 2017, will kick off Tuesday at the Convention and Exhibition Center in southern Seoul for a four-day run. The event, the fourth of its kind, is hosted by the

Oct. 9, 2017

Samsung Electronics to launch smart building IoT system

Samsung Electronics Co. will launch an Internet of Things system that can incorporate artificial intelligence into the management of buildings, industry sources said Monday.Business insiders said the South Korean tech giant will unveil its smart building the system at its headquarters in southern Seoul on Oct. 18.The so-called b.IoT can be used to automatically control the temperature and lighting of buildings by using various sensors and other information provided by closed-circuit TVs.IoT is a

Oct. 9, 2017

[Herald Interview] Bayer eyes Korea’s ‘deep tech’ startups for digital health care push

In the age of “digital health care,” high-tech wearables, cutting-edge medical devices and integrated apps combined with major breakthroughs in data computing and analytics capabilities are set to pave new frontiers in the health care sector.　And in the global race to take over this emerging industry, South Korea’s innovative tech startups with an expertise in so-called “deep tech” involving complex engineering skills and software expertise could gain an upper hand, according to the founding chi

Oct. 8, 2017

Gov't, firms to discuss countermeasures over US finding on Korean washers

The South Korean government and tech giants Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. plan to discuss ways next week to counter a possible safeguard action by the US against their washing machines, industry sources said Saturday.The move comes as the US International Trade Commission (ITC) said Thursday that imports of Samsung and LG's washing machines made in foreign countries were harming the US industry following its four-month probe prompted by a safeguard petition filed by Whirlpool C

Oct. 7, 2017

Subsidies for budget phones start to rise

Following the lifting of an upper cap on smartphone subsidies provided by mobile carriers effective as of Monday, the amount of grants offered by the firms and handset makers have started to rise, although just gradually, according to the telecom industry. The South Korean government has decided to remove the upper limit of 330,000 won ($289) for the subsidies as part of the efforts to lessen the telecommunication cost burden on consumers and to make subsidies’ packages more transparent. The lim

Oct. 2, 2017

Energy firms to increase investment in renewable energy

South Korean energy firms are pushing to increase their investment in renewable energy to overhaul the country's energy mix, which is currently dominated by nuclear and coal power, an opposition party lawmaker said Monday.The Korea Electric Corp. is considering pouring 54 trillion won (US$47 billion) into generating 13.5 gigawatts of electricity through renewable means by 2030, according to Lee Che-ik, of the conservative Liberty Korea Party.South Korea is seeking to increase the ratio of renewa

Oct. 2, 2017

Line hosts Developer Day to highlight Clova, Line API

Line Corp. on Thursday hosted Line Developer Day 2017 in Tokyo for engineers to discuss the company’s technology-related advances, strategies and future plans, the company said Sunday.The annual tech conference consisted of 39 sessions on topics including the Line messenger app, the Clova cloud artificial intelligence platform, the LINE Messaging application programming interface, LINE API Expert accreditation system, and the new Line Kyoto “developer base” expected to be launched in spring next

Oct. 1, 2017

[Herald Interview] China’s Ecovacs vows to provide Koreans with smaller, quieter robots

Like other fast-growing tech companies in China rapidly chasing and surpassing global leaders, Ecovacs of China is confident that it can provide robot vacuum cleaners that better suit households here than those by strong Korean competitors Samsung and LG.“According to our study, Samsung and LG products are bigger and louder than ours, which are more perfect for European and US households than Asian,” said David Qian, president of the international business unit at Ecovacs, expressing his confide

Oct. 1, 2017

US semiconductor packaging firm files lawsuit against Samsung Electronics

A US-based semiconductor technology company filed a lawsuit against Samsung Electronics Co. claiming patent infringement, industry sources said Friday.According to the sources, Tessera Technologies Inc. and its affiliates claimed Samsung Electronics made use of some 24 patented items, covering a wide range of semiconductor processing, bonding and packaging technologies. (Yonhap)The Samsung products involved in the alleged infringements include the Galaxy S6, S7 and S8 smartphones, as well as the

Sept. 29, 2017

Korean researchers develop sensor to detect drug intake from single drop of sweat

South Korean researchers have developed a portable wireless sensor which is able to detect a person’s intake of amphetamine-based drugs like Adderall, Ecstasy and Crystal Meth using just a drop of sweat, saliva or urine.　The sensor was co-developed by Korea’s Institute for Basic Science and Pohang University of Science and Technology. Their work was published Friday in Chem, a sister journal to the physical sciences journal Cell.Right now, drug testing involves using complex diagnostics devices

Sept. 29, 2017

Mobile purchases continue to break new records in Aug.

Purchases made through mobile devices in South Korea continued to break new records last month as a growing number of people spend more time with their handsets, government data showed Friday.Mobile transactions through smartphones and tablets reached an all-time high of 4.04 trillion won ($3.5 billion) in August, up 29.5 percent from a year earlier, according to data from Statistics Korea. (Yonhap)The total amount of mobile transactions accounted for 61.9 percent of all online purchases made du

Sept. 29, 2017

SKT to fully own ICT solution subsidiary amid restructuring speculations

SK Telecom, the No.1 mobile carrier by subscriber numbers in South Korea, announced Friday it will fully own SK Telink, a total ICT solution providing subsidiary, widely seen as a move by the telecom giant to turn itself into a mid-level holdings firm.At a board meeting on Thursday, SKT’s board of directors made a decision to acquire a 14.14 percent stake in Telink, in addition to the 85.86 percent already owned by the telecom business, for 270,583 won ($236.2) per share. Telink, at the same tim

Sept. 29, 2017

IKEA Korea to launch mobile app ahead of second store opening

The local unit of global furniture giant IKEA said Friday it will launch an augmented reality technology-based mobile application next week to provide a better chance for customers to shop for its products, with its second outlet set to open in October.IKEA Place, where people can virtually place furniture in their homes or offices using the AR technology, will be available on the Apple's App Store starting Thursday, the company said. This photo provided by IKEA Korea on Sept. 29, 2017, shows it

Sept. 29, 2017

LG to release V30 in US next week

LG Electronics Inc. said Friday it plans to release its new flagship smartphone, the LG V30, in the United States next week, kicking off fully fledged global sales of the device.The South Korean tech giant said the LG V30 will be released through major US mobile carriers starting Thursday.While the price will vary on depending on the carrier, industry watchers say it will not be much different from the local price of 949,300 won ($826.90). (Yonhap)Consumers preordering the device will be provide

Sept. 29, 2017

Samsung, SKT stream live video with 4G, 5G

South Korean tech leaders SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics announced Thursday their completion of the world’s first end-to-end network interworking trial of fourth- and fifth-generation networks, which will allow consumers to enjoy immersive media content while driving in the early stages of the commercialization of 5G. The trial took place in the Euljiro area of central Seoul, where SKT is headquartered. A 360-degree virtual reality video clip was streamed live between a user in a traveling c

Sept. 28, 2017

[ITU 2017] ITU Telecom World ends with 5G in focus

BUSAN -- ITU Telecom World on Thursday wrapped up its four days of exchanges on opportunities and risks stemming from the emergence of new technologies. Thousands of ICT ministers, government officials and business leaders visited the southern port city of Busan to attend the event.The participants of the UN-backed ICT conference also discussed ways to address challenges in the global ICT segment, including the digital divide and the adoption of standards for next-generation networks.At this yea

Sept. 28, 2017

SK hynix to build W200b R&D center for NAND, future techs

South Korean memory chipmaker SK hynix announced Thursday it will invest more than 200 billion won to build a research and development center for its emerging cash cow NAND in the company’s headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. When completed in September 2019, dispersed R&D crews across the Icheon campus will move in to the new center, including researchers and developers of the company’s flagship 3-D NAND chips and future technologies. The new R&D center will break ground next month on ab

Sept. 28, 2017

[ITU 2017] Meet Musio, the AI social robot that understands humans

BUSAN — Artificial intelligence has recently begun to step closer into our lives — primarily in the form of voice-activated smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Home or digital assistant software built into smartphones like Apple’s Siri or Samsung’s Bixby.　These devices all claim to be the so-called “chatbots,” but their ability to converse mostly stops at providing answers to one-ended inquiries or carrying out specific tasks commanded by humans.Seeking to create a more personable AI,

Sept. 28, 2017