Samsung SDI in talks with Tesla over battery supply

 Samsung SDI, a battery business arm of Samsung Group, is reportedly in talks with U.S. electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors over a battery supply deal, according to news reports.Freights containing 120 tons of Samsung SDI battery cells arrived at the Oakland port in April and recently at Tesla’s factory in California, the reports said. The batteries, called the Samsung SDI 18650, are cylindrical ones measuring 18 millimeters in diameter and 65 mm in height.The quantity, which is excessive if

June 6, 2016

Samsung SDS may face lawsuit over split-off

A group of investors are planning to take collective action against information technology solutions developer Samsung SDS in protest over the firm’s plan to divide its businesses.The group of investors said it would pay a visit to the head office of Samsung SDS in Seoul on Tuesday in a bid to express their objection to the company’s plan to split its solutions business for logistics and merge it with Samsung C&T, the construction and trading business arm of Samsung Group.The headquarters of Sam

June 6, 2016

LG to bring rollable TVs to mass market

GUMI, North Gyeongsang Province – The loud rattling and fizzing noises of conveyor belts ferrying TV displays along four assembly lines hailed a group of reporters on a visit to tech giant LG Electronics’ A3 factory in Gumi City, North Gyeongsang Province on Friday. In the middle of the 140-meter long conveyer belts, automated robotic arms were tightening screws and assembling the displays -- organic light-emitting diode, light-emitting diode and liquid crystal displays --with circuit boards and

June 5, 2016

Samsung unveils 2 new fitness wearables

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. on Thursday unveiled two new fitness wearables -- the fitness tracker Gear Fit2 and wireless earbuds Gear IconX -- as part of efforts to grab a large slice in the fast-growing wearable device market.The Gear Fit 2, a follow-up to the original Gear Fit smartwatch released in 2014, comes with GPS sensors for more accurate measuring of distance and heart rates. The model with a price tag of $180 has a wider touch screen with a 1.55-inch super active m

June 3, 2016

Samsung Pay launches in Europe

Tech giant Samsung Electronics’ mobile payment solution Samsung Pay has hit the Spanish market, the company said Friday.The contactless payment solution, which works with traditional payment terminals as well as on near-field-communication-based terminals, is already available in South Korea, the United States and China.  A consumer uses Samsung Electronics’ mobile payment solution Samsung Pay. (Yonhap)The launch of the contactless payment solution in Spain marks the first in Europe. “Our goal w

June 3, 2016

LGE runs cash-back promotion for OLED TVs

Tech giant LG Electronics said Wednesday that it will run a cash-back event for its organic light-emitting diode TV in Korea this month.During the event, LGE will provide 500,000 won ($421) of cash back for purchasers of its 55-inch OLED TV models, which will bring down its price to 3.8 million won.With the cash back scheme, 55-inch and 65-inch curved screen OLED TVs will also be available at 4 million won and 7.9 million won, respectively.Ultra-high definition TVs, fitted with liquid crystal di

June 2, 2016

Korean, Brazilian researchers develop easy-to-use Zika test kit

A group of researchers from Korea and Brazil have developed a kit that can diagnose the Zika virus with just one or two drops of blood, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning on Wednesday. The Zika virus, which can be spread by the Aedes mosquito, has swept through large parts of Latin America in recent months. It is blamed for severe birth defects. The BioNano Health Guard Research Center, a health care research organization under the Science Ministry, health care firm Ge

June 2, 2016

SK C&C aims to lead digital transformation

SK Holdings C&C, an information technology services firm, said it plans to accelerate its push to transform into a data service company that provides tailored IT services by utilizing up-to-date artificial intelligence and big data technologies.“The emergence of new technology is accelerating digital transformation and disruption across a wide range of industries,” said Lee Ho-soo, chief technology officer of SK Holdings C&C, at a press meeting in Seoul on Wednesday. SK Holdings C&C’s head offic

June 2, 2016

Gov't in campaign for digital theme park

The South Korean government said Thursday it will open a virtual reality experience center this week in Pangyo, the nation's mecca for the high-tech industry.The move is part of efforts to create a boom for indoor digital theme parks, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.The ministry is tasked with implementing President Park Geun-hye's "creative economy" drive to foster start-ups and promote a new growth model based on innovation and entrepreneurship.It plans to open th

June 2, 2016

[Newsmaker] Cheil, Publicis hold unsuccessful merger talks

Merger talks between Cheil Worldwide, the advertising unit of Samsung Group, and Publicis Groupe, the French ad giant, seem to have failed to reach a breakthrough, news reports said Thursday. Samsung declined to confirm the breakdown. The nation's largest conglomerate has sold off less profitable businesses ahead of its leadership transfer to a new generation. “It may be too early to say the talks have failed, but they haven’t narrowed differences in deal pricing and other conditions,” said an i

June 2, 2016

KT taps into global market with partners

Telecommunications network operator KT has been trying to bring homegrown network technologies to the global market.In line with such efforts, the Seoul-based telecom firm participated in CommunicAsia 2016, a telecom trade show held through Friday in Singapore, along with some of its partner companies. Jung Seok-keun (first from right), chief executive of Korea Optron, poses with Benjamin Ong, CEO of fiber optic products company Masstron, after signing a contract at the CommunicAsia trade show i

June 2, 2016

Samsung holds Ho-Am award ceremony

The award ceremony for the Ho-Am Prize, often referred to as the Korean equivalent of the Nobel Prize, was held at the Ho-Am Art Hall in Seoul on Wednesday. Named after the penname of Samsung Group’s late founder Lee Byung-chull, the annual event has honored a group of Koreans and foreign nationals for their contribution to enhancing science, culture and welfare of mankind. This year’s six recipients include: Kim Myung-sik, professor at Imperial College of London; Oh Joon-ho, professor at Korea

June 1, 2016

Naver, telecom carriers to take on Google, Apple with new app store

Internet giant Naver and the nation’s top three telecom carriers -- SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus -- have teamed up to create a mega app store, called One Store, with more than 30 million users.The new app store has combined their own four different platforms for Android-based smartphones and other mobile devices. Users can upgrade one of the apps to use One Store. One Store’s mobile pages (One Store)One Store Corp., an affiliate of SK Telecom, will be responsible for the operation, while Naver ha

June 1, 2016

Tech firms seek to entice consumers with design

Korean electronics-makers are trying to remain competitive in the cutthroat competition of the global electronics sector by rolling out products with unique and user-friendly designs.Dongbu Daewoo Electronics, the nation’s third-largest electronics-maker, has made some progress in infiltrating the global market with its Classe front-load washing machine.A model poses with Dongbu Daewoo Electronics’ Classe washer machine. (Dongbu Daewoo Electronics)The washer features what the company calls an “e

June 1, 2016

[Photo News] LG Stylus 2 Plus global debut

The LG Stylus 2 Plus, the larger-screen version of LG Electronics’ Stylus smartphone, went on sale globally Wednesday, starting in Taiwan. The new phone will hit other markets in Asia, South America, Europe and North America in the coming weeks. (LG Electronics)

June 1, 2016

Korean cyber networks vulnerable to ransomware attacks

South Korea has become a main target of various types of ransomware attacks but it is struggling to find effective countermeasures, industry officials here said Wednesday.Local computer users are increasingly susceptible to such malware, some even using the Korean language.The Korean-language cryptXXX file, which seeks bitcoin, was reported last week and is a more sophisticated scam than the Korean versions of CryptoLocker and Radamant ransomware that infected a number of PCs in 2015.Ransomware,

June 1, 2016

Samsung C&T to appeal share buyback price ruling

An appeal court on Tuesday ordered Samsung C&T, the fashion and trading unit of Samsung Group, to increase the stock buyback price proposed to shareholders who opposed its merger with Cheil Industries last year. Samsung C&T, the merged entity and de facto holding company of the nation’s largest conglomerate, said it would appeal the ruling overturning a lower court’s decision.  Samsung C&T headquarters in Seoul (Yonhap)“After a thorough review of the court’s ruling, we plan to file an appeal wit

May 31, 2016

[Photo News] LG supports community in Ethiopia

LG Electronics’ top executives, including CEO Cho Seong-jin, visit an Ethiopian village, 60 kilometers away from Addis Ababa, as part of the firm’s global corporate social responsibility programs last week. The tech firm has run the support program LG Hope Community there since 2012, helping villagers improve infrastructure and cultivate land.　(LGE)

May 31, 2016

Samsung rolls out storage product smaller than coin

Tech giant Samsung Electronics said Tuesday that it has started mass producing a compact solid-state drive that is three times faster -- but much smaller in size -- than the average SSD product.The new storage product, dubbed the Nonvolatile Memory Express PCle SSD, or NVMe SSD for short, features an extremely compact package containing all essential SSD components, including NAND flash memory, DRAM and controller, while delivering outstanding performance, according to the tech firm.The compact

May 31, 2016

Kakao launches chauffeur service in Korea

Mobile messenger operator Kakao started its chauffeur service, KakaoDriver, in Korea on Tuesday.Through the KakaoDriver mobile application, subscribers are able to use the chauffeur service, including requesting for the service as well as payment, according to the Korean company. Mobile messenger firm Kakao rolls out chauffeur service KakaoDriver in Korea on Tuesday. (Kakao)Smartphone users can use the service after they accept some terms and conditions and register their credit cards on the app

May 31, 2016