Samsung introduces EXO cover for Galaxy S8

Samsung Electronics has collaborated with K-pop group EXO for its latest smartphone Galaxy S8. In a press event held by the company Thursday, Samsung unveiled the EXO Smart Cover, the first product of the Samsung Galaxy Friends series, which consists of mobile accessories compatible with the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus.(Yonhap)Both devices can automatically detect the cover and show users multimedia content related to EXO. The smartphone’s wallpaper and icons for applications can also be change

April 13, 2017

Korean companies jump into global markets via Amazon

Small consumer goods and media content companies in South Korea are seeking to diversify their global targets, and global e-commerce platform Amazon has been fast to pick up on the trend, offering promotions to attract such businesses.Both sides are enjoying a boost, as the companies gain easier entry into unchartered markets while the online market giant secures stable sources of sales.As China has been pursuing economic retaliation to protest Seoul’s decision to deploy an American missile defe

April 13, 2017

Dongbu Daewoo adopts micro bubble washing tech

Dongbu Daewoo Electronics has launched a washer that uses a micro bubble washing technology, in a first for the industry, it said Thursday. The South Korean electronics maker, which mainly provides home appliances, said it adopted a technology that uses 0.05 millimeters of micro bubbles that wash laundry with high frequency pressures, improving washing by 11 percent, while using 24 percent less water and 10 percent less detergent.  Air Bubble 4D Micro (Dongbu Daewoo Electronics)Named Air Bubble

April 13, 2017

Samsung recruits ex-CIO of US Department Defense

[THE INVESTOR] Tech giant Samsung Electronics said on April 13 that it has hired former US Department of Defense Chief Information Officer Terry Halvorsen as executive vice president for its mobile business.“Halvorsen will serve as an advisor to Shin Jong-kyun, CEO of Samsung’ IT and Mobile Communication division,” an industry source said. The former DoD official, who retired in February this year, used to provide advice and guidance on information technology strategies and policies. (Terry Halv

April 13, 2017

Preorders of Galaxy S8 hit 700,000 units in Korea

Preorders of Samsung Electronics’ flagship smartphone Galaxy S8 have hit 700,000 units here since beginning last Friday, the company said Thursday. “The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus reached 728,000 units, as of Wednesday, in Korea. We are aiming to sell 1 million units before officially launching the smartphone,” said Samsung’s mobile business chief Koh Dong-jin at a media conference at its Seocho office building in Seoul. As for preorders in the US, Koh said, “Although we are not able to disclo

April 13, 2017

Study on lactic acid bacteria from kimchi sheds light on treatment of atopic dermatitis

Researchers said Wednesday they have found that lactic acid bacteria in kimchi, a traditional Korean fermented vegetable dish, is potentially effective in treating atopic dermatitis, a chronic inflammatory skin disease. The team, led by Choi Hak-jong, a senior researcher at the government-funded World Institute of Kimchi, said it has confirmed that the bacteria, known as "Weissella cibaria WIKIM28," helped improve a case of atopic dermatitis in an experiment with a mouse. Lactic acid bacteria fr

April 12, 2017

[Monitor] Korea slow to embrace new web tech

South Korea remains behind in embracing the new web framework HTML5, despite its rapid adoption overseas, the Korea Internet Security Agency said.HTML5 is the latest standard of web programming language developed by the World Wide Web Consortium. By analyzing browsers used by internet users on whether these properly support services made from HTML5, the level of preparedness reached 54.1 percent.KISA said the older versions of Internet Explorer widely used by Koreans tend not to follow HTML5 sta

April 12, 2017

[Photo News] Samsung Electronics promotes Galaxy S8 through a sculpture

Samsung Electronics sets up a Galaxy S8 sculpture, which is seven meters high and three meters wide, in St Ives, the UK, as part of its marketing activities to promote the new flagship smartphone. (Samsung Electronics)

April 12, 2017

Samsung resumes world’s top smartphone maker status

Samsung Electronics reclaimed the No. 1 position in the global smartphone market for the first three months of 2017, a market report showed Wednesday. According to market researcher TrendForce, Samsung won back the top spot with a 26.1 percent market share for the January-March period, gaining from 18.5 percent in the final quarter of 2016. Apple, the archrival of the South Korean smartphone maker, slid to the second highest with 16.9 percent. “Samsung’s sales results for its high-end smartphone

April 12, 2017

KT introduces battery-saving network tech

South Korea’s mobile carrier KT announced Wednesday it has developed technology to extend the battery life of the latest smartphones by up to 45 percent, and will apply it nationwide for the first time in the country.The telecom firm unveiled its connected mode discontinuous reception technology, abbreviated as C-DRX, which will be applied to its Long Term Evolution network. The C-DRX technology puts smartphones on low power mode on a regular basis while the devices are connected to the KT netwo

April 12, 2017

Preorders for Galaxy S8 top 600,000 units in Korea

Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday that preorders for its new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S8, has surpassed a whopping 600,000 units in just five days, heralding a big hit for the company.The Galaxy S8 smartphones feature high resolution displays that bend on both ends, and come with various innovative technologies such as iris and face recognition scanners and a smart voice assistance program dubbed Bixby.(Yonhap)After showcasing the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus late last month, Samsu

April 11, 2017

Korea first to use graphene to make OLED panel

South Korea’s Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute said Tuesday it has developed transparent electrodes for organic light-emitting diode displays out of graphene in cooperation with Hanwha Techwin. Graphene is considered the thinnest, most flexible and fastest in transferring heat and electricity among exiting materials. As display panels become thinner and lighter, ways to utilize graphene are being studied by many research groups. ETRI and Hanwha said their joint research team

April 11, 2017

LG OLED TV rated as 'Best Overall 4K TV' by Consumer Reports

An LG Electronics Inc.'s organic light-emitting diode (OLED) television has been chosen as the best 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) television, a US consumer agency said Tuesday.The LG OLED65G6P, a 65-inch 4K OLED UHD TV in LG's flagship Signature G6 series "has excellent high-definition picture and excellent UHD performance, and like all OLED TVs, it has an unlimited viewing angle," Consumer Reports said on its website in designating the product as the "Best Overall 4K TV."A file photo of LG Ele

April 11, 2017

Japan's Ricoh tops global market for 360-degree cameras

Japan's Ricoh topped the global market for 360-degree cameras last year, industry data showed Tuesday, followed by South Korean tech giants in the second and third spots.According to the data compiled by industry tracker Strategy Analytics, Ricoh sold 160,000 units of its Theta camera in 2016.The market researcher said the company is expected to retain its top player status this year as well by selling 260,000 units.Samsung Electronics Co., which has been making efforts to expand its presence in

April 11, 2017

Samsung could be forced to pay additional taxes for accounting

Samsung Electronics Co. could be required to pay additional corporate taxes due to an accounting error, industry sources here said Monday.The total that the tech giant may be ordered to pay has not been announced but sources said it could be a sizable sum. (Yonhap)National Tax Service (NTS) had been conducting its regular audit on the world‘s leading smartphone and memory chipmaker and found differences in the way Samsung viewed its corporate expenses, which are exempt from taxation. Industry in

April 10, 2017

[News Focus] US FDA opens doors to genetic tests to predict disease risk

The US Food and Drug Administration recently granted approval for the first time ever to a genetic-testing startup to directly sell its tests that can predict a person’s risk for various diseases, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.The FDA’s landmark decision, made Thursday, is expected to pave the way for other genetic sequencing companies and startups worldwide to commercialize their own direct-to-consumer genetic tests for disease risks in the US.　　The US health regulator has permitted gen

April 10, 2017

UberEats eyes debut in Korea this year: report

UberEats, a food delivery service by US-based ride-hailing company Uber, is reportedly planning to debut in South Korea within this year.The on-demand delivery app will be available here by no later than the end of this year, according to Yonhap News Agency on Monday, citing sources familiar with the matter. This came about a week after Priscilla Baek, public policy lead for Asia at Uber, told The Investor on Wednesday that it was “reviewing whether UberEats will be introduced in Korea” and has

April 10, 2017

Kakao joins hands with scholars to develop AI tech

South Korea‘s top mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp. said Monday it has joined forces with scholars to develop Artificial Intelligence technology as part of a broader effort to tap deeper into the prospective market.Under an agreement with Seoul National University, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and Asan Medical Center, Kakao will develop core AI technology such as deep learning.Rim Ji-hoon, CEO of Kakao Corp., (right) shakes hands with Park Jong-hun of Seoul National Un

April 10, 2017

Google may invest W1tr in LG's OLED

Google has reportedly proposed to LG Display an investment of at least 1 trillion won ($876 million) in the production of flexible OLED panels, according to news reports Monday. The US internet firm’s proposal is interpreted as an attempt to adopt flexible organic light-emitting diode panels in its next-generation smartphone Pixel. With the investment of 1 trillion won, LG Display could produce flexible OLED panels for around 3 million smartphones monthly. If the deal is confirmed, Google, which

April 10, 2017

SK hynix develops world’s highest NAND Flash so far

SK hynix has developed a 72-layer 256-gigabit 3-D NAND Flash, the industry’s highest, and plans to start mass production of the chips in the second half of the year, the company announced Monday. It took less than a year for the South Korean chipmaker to complete the development of the fourth-generation 3-D NAND chip, since it began supplying 36-layer 128-gigabit NAND chips last April and 48-layer 256-gigabit chips in November. A single 256-gigabit NAND Flash chip can represent 32-Gigabyte stora

April 10, 2017