[News Focus] Will Samsung’s Bixby make good?

Analysts have mixed views about Samsung Electronics’ ambitious artificial intelligence assistant Bixby, ahead of the company’s flagship smartphone Galaxy S8 debut this week. Bixby is Samsung’s new Al assistant following its acquisition of the US tech startup Viv Labs. Samsung plans to integrate Bixby with its home appliances and it also plans to open the platform to third-party developers in the future to allow them to easily make their applications and services Bixby-enabled.The hardware giant

March 27, 2017

Scientists develop anti-counterfeit film

A state-funded chemical institute said Monday that it has developed a new anti-counterfeit film that changes color when it comes in contact with a person's breath, a finding that can be applied to various products like cigarettes and cosmetics.The Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology said it has successfully developed a transparent film which shows different colors such as blue and red if it has been breathed upon. (Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology)If companies use this

March 27, 2017

NCSoft signs ‘Lineage M’ publishing deal with Taiwan’s Gamania

South Korean game company NCSoft said Monday that it has signed a publishing deal with Taiwanese game company Gamania Digital Entertainment Co. for “Lineage M,” a mobile rendition of NCSoft’s hit online PC game Lineage. 　Developed by NCSoft, “Lineage M” is a massive multiplayer online role playing game for mobile devices. It aims to recreate the original PC game’s gameplay and elements in a mobile setting as closely as possible, the company said.Under the new publishing deal, Gamania will releas

March 27, 2017

LG Electronics opens premium shop in Qatar

PREMIUM LG -- Customers check out home appliances at an LG Electronics Premium Brand Shop which opened on Monday in the Mall of Qatar, the biggest shopping mall in the country. LG said it aims to solidify its leadership in the premium home appliance market in Middle East by offering local customers the company’s latest premium products. (LG Electronics)

March 27, 2017

Mobile carriers partner with builders to introduce AI, IoT home

Increasing numbers of partnerships are forming among South Korean mobile carriers and construction firms to build smart homes featuring artificial intelligence and Internet of Thing technologies. In the latest move, SK Telecom said Monday the company signed a partnership with Hyundai Development Company and its home network affiliate HDC I-Controls to apply SKT’s AI and IoT technologies to HDC’s flagship I-Park apartments. Under the agreement, SKT will provide I-Park residents with the company’s

March 27, 2017

SKT CEO sets up control tower for AI business

South Korea’s largest mobile carrier SK Telecom announced Monday it has created a division for new artificial intelligence businesses to be masterminded by its CEO Park Jung-ho.The company said the new AI Business Division will be in charge of development of AI technologies and related services, products and businesses, directly commanded by the chief.(Yonhap)Such organizational restructuring comes amid Park’s plan to boost AI as a future growth engine for the mobile carrier, relying less on the

March 27, 2017

Scientists develop thermoelectric graphene

A group of South Korean scientists has developed a graphene with enhanced thermoelectric capabilities, a state-run science laboratory said Monday, a discovery that could be used for wearable technologies such as bendable electronic devices.Graphene is an atomically thin two-dimensional allotrope of carbon materials in which one atom forms each vertex. It is about 200 times stronger than the strongest steel and has applications in semiconductors and various electronic devices. (Korea Institute of

March 27, 2017

Blizzard to release remastered ‘Starcraft’ this summer

Blizzard Entertainment on Sunday said it would release “StarCraft: Remastered,” a high-definition remake of its megahit PC strategy game Starcraft, this summer.As its title suggests, the upcoming edition will feature 4K ultrahigh-definition graphics and a refreshed soundtrack, while preserving the original gameplay of Starcraft. It will include the classic Starcraft game as well as the Brood War expansion pack, the US game giant said.Blizzard Entertainment co-founder and CEO Mike Morhaime announ

March 26, 2017

[From the Scene] Rolling out 50,000 G6s daily, LG puts safety first

A 9.1 kilogram weight drops 61 meters onto a battery placed on an iron rod. When the weight hits with a dull thud, the battery is crushed but doesn't catch fire or explode. Various battery and smartphone tests are carried out at 640,000-square-meter LG Digital Park, workplace for around 10,000 employees manufacturing the company’s products from smartphones to home appliances and auto components.“We are testing the quality of the G6 more rigorously, as consumers’ concern about safety is on the ri

March 26, 2017

[Health-tech Korea] Welt smart belt monitors wearers’ health without intrusion

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles highlighting South Korea’s promising start-ups in the emerging sectors of digital health care and next-generation medical devices. This is the sixth installment. – Ed.When it comes to wearables, the immediate image that comes to mind is usually a smartwatch or a fitness tracking band worn on the wrist by an early adopter of new technology.　Looking to overturn this image, a South Korean startup spun off from Samsung’s in-house venture program Cr

March 26, 2017

Korean submarines to use Samsung SDI lithium battery

Samsung SDI’s lithium batteries will be used for 3,000-ton submarines that are to be developed with Korean technologies for the first time, according to the state arms procurement agency. South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration said it had a critical design meeting Thursday to review whether lithium batteries are suitable for the submarines Chang Bogo-III and Batch-II. The critical design review is a meeting to determine whether making a prototype is feasible.  (Yonhap)Chang Bog

March 24, 2017

Samsung SDS has ‘no plans to spin off logistics business this year’

Samsung SDS, the internet technology solutions unit of South Korea’s Samsung Group, said Friday that it does not plan to spin off its logistics business this year, defying market expectations that the move would be made in the near future.　“We have no plans to spin off our Business Process Outsourcing unit (which provides global logistics services) this year,” Samsung SDS CEO Chung Yoo-sung announced during a shareholder meeting held in Seoul on Friday.Samsung SDS officially announced in June 20

March 24, 2017

KT to supply home AI devices to apartment

KT Corp., South Korea's biggest Internet service provider, said Friday it will provide its artificial intelligence home assistant platform to an apartment complex in the southern port city of Busan.GiGA Genie is an advanced voice recognition butler service that allows users to control home appliances and listen to music using voice commands. It is the world's first IPTV service featuring AI, the company said. (Yonhap)KT said the deep learning platform will be adopted at the Lotte Castle apartmen

March 24, 2017

Hot flashes possible among young people

Hot flashes, a well-known symptom of menopause, can even occur among women and men in their 20s and 30s, data showed Friday, indicating that the condition can be triggered by a variety of factors, including stress.According to the data by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of people who visited hospitals for the condition steadily increased from 5,190 in 2014 and 5,475 in 2015 to 5,719 in 2016.(Yonhap)In 2016, 4,289 women and 1,430 men received treatment for the condi

March 24, 2017

Asians with Type 2 diabetes at higher risk of cancer

Type 2 diabetes is closely associated with cancer among Asians, with those suffering from the disease more likely to die from malignant cell growth, a study showed Thursday.People with diabetes, which is linked to certain lifestyle habits such as diet, were 26 percent more likely to die from any form of cancer, according to the study by Yoo Geun-young from Seoul National University College of Medicine. (Yonhap)"It was confirmed that Type 2 diabetes is one of the cancer risk factors for the Asian

March 23, 2017

TB infection rate remains high in 2016

The number of South Koreans who were newly diagnosed with tuberculosis last year inched down, but its infection rate remained high compared with other advanced countries, a government report showed Thursday.According to the report by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a total of 30,892 people were newly diagnosed with TB in 2016, slightly down from the previous year's 32,181.The 2016 figure means that 60.4 out of every 100,000 South Korea

March 23, 2017

Korea confirms 19th Zika virus infection

South Korea has confirmed another case of the Zika virus infection, raising the number of people infected with the virus here to 19, health authorities said Thursday.A 55-year-old Korean man was confirmed to have been infected with the mosquito-borne virus after visiting Bolivia, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Yonhap)He is presumed to have been bitten by a mosquito during his stay in the South American nation earlier this month, the authorities said.The man,

March 23, 2017

Galaxy S8 may come with smaller battery than Note 7

Samsung Electronics Co.'s upcoming flagship smartphones are expected to come with a smaller battery than the one in its defunct predecessor Galaxy Note 7 to improve the product's safety, industry sources said Thursday.According to the photo leaked by industry tracker Slashleaks, the presumed Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus are anticipated to come with batteries that are 3,000 milliamp hour and 3,500mAh, respectively. A teaser poster of the presumed Galaxy S8 (Yonhap)Samsung had released the Galaxy

March 23, 2017

ICT ministry to offer data platform for small businesses

The South Korean government will establish a data platform that artificial intelligence can learn from and open it to small enterprises and startups, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said Thursday. According to the ministry’s plan, it will start building this year the data platform for legal, patent and general knowledge and continue expanding it to further areas for the next five years. The data on legal knowledge will include information and tips to help citizens with legal iss

March 23, 2017

Scientists develop nanochannel with super-fast ion transportation

A group of South Korean scientists discovered that a nanochannel smaller than 5 nanometers can act as a better transporter of ion, the science ministry said Thursday, expanding new horizons for the nanotechnology sector as a whole.The team led by Han Chang-soo of Korea University successfully manufactured a 3.6-nanometer high graphene nanochannel that has 115 times greater ionic conductivity than conventional nanochannels, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said.(Ministry of Scienc

March 23, 2017