A de facto setback for innovation

In recent years, South Korea has emerged as one of the most innovative economies in the world, topping the Bloomberg Innovation Index in 2014, which ranks countries based on six tangible metrics of innovation. One of the key metrics defined by Bloomberg as fundamental to innovativeness is the country’s ability to earn patents. Korea topped this list, with Samsung claiming the second biggest patent portfolio of any company in the world.  Lee Gyoo-hoPatents do have a critical role to play in prote

June 24, 2015

Tech firms jockey for position in mobile wallets

With more consumers willing to make purchases using smartphones, the nation’s top two search giants -- Naver and Daum Kakao -- are rushing to take the lead in the mobile payments market. Naver, the No. 1 search engine with more than 22 million mobile users, is set to unveil its new mobile payments app Naver Pay on Thursday, aiming to keep users within its website throughout the whole shopping process. With a single Naver ID, consumers can search and pay for the products, all the way through the

June 24, 2015

Samsung C&T CEOs have no plan to visit ISS

Samsung C&T dismissed as untrue reports that its co-CEOs planned to visit the Institutional Shareholder Services, an investment advisory service, to further explain about the legitimacy of its planned merger with Cheil Industries.A high-ranking Samsung C&T official was quoted by a Korean news outlet as saying, “The chief executives and top executives of C&T and Cheil Industries have no plan to visit the ISS.”It had been reported that Choi Chi-hoon and Kim Shin, co-CEOs of the construction and tr

June 24, 2015

LGE agrees to lower height of new HQs in New Jersey

Ending years of dispute, LG Electronics and U.S. conservation groups agreed Tuesday to lower the height of the Korean tech giant’s planned North American headquarters in New Jersey.The original plan for LG’s headquarters in the U.S. state included a 143-foot-tall building, which conservationists argued would obstruct the views of the New Jersey Palisades, a series of cliffs stretching along the Hudson River. LG, the world’s second-largest TV-maker, said the building would consist of a five-story

June 24, 2015

[Photo News] Prepping for summer

PREPPING FOR SUMMER -- Samsung Electronics service engineers install an outdoor unit of the firm’s Q9000 air conditioner at an apartment in Seoul on Wednesday. Samsung

June 24, 2015

[Photo News] Sony Summer Promotion

SONY SUMMER PROMOTION -- Sony Korea announced Tuesday a summer promotion through August in which the company will dole out gifts to buyers of the firm’s action camera lineups -- FDR-X1000V, HDR-AS200V and HDR-AZ1. The gifts during the event include extra batteries, SD cards and waterproof cases. Sony Korea

June 23, 2015

SKT, Ericsson demonstrate key 5G technology

Staffers from SK Telecom and Ericsson demonstrate next-generation small cell technology that reduces network interference between base stations in Stockholm, Tuesday. (SKT)South Korea’s leading mobile carrier SK Telecom and network equipment maker Ericsson gave a demonstration of an advanced small cell technology with super-low latency in Stockholm, Tuesday. The small cell base stations enable network operators to increase coverage more efficiently compared to macrocell base stations -- widely u

June 23, 2015

[Photo News] Smartphone Film Festival

SMARTPHONE FILM FESTIVAL -- South Korea’s top telecommunications firm KT has started accepting submissions for the 5th olleh International Smartphone Film Festival, an annual event for films shot with smartphones, from July 1-Aug. 17. The film festival, the biggest of its kind in the world, is slated to kick off on Sept. 9. KT SMARTPHONE FILM FESTIVAL -- Movie director Lee Joon-ik (left) and actress Bae Doo-na, both of whom will be on a judging panel for the fifth olleh International Smartphone

June 23, 2015

LG, Google join forces for OLED TV marketing

South Korean tech giant LG Electronics is ratcheting up its marketing efforts to foster its organic light emitting diode TV business with an aim to outpace rivals including Samsung Electronics in the world’s premium TV market.In line with this strategy, LG announced Tuesday that it would join hands with California-based Google to promote LG’s premium OLED TVs.“(Through the joint promotion) LG will have potential consumers experience the superb picture quality and true values of LG’s OLED TVs and

June 23, 2015

[Photo News] Summer Promotion

SUMMER PROMOTION -- South Korea’s leading mobile carrier KT said Monday it would start a summerlong membership event through which subscribers can receive up to 30 percent off their purchases at partner restaurants, convenient stores, movie theaters and theme parks. (KT)

June 23, 2015

Qualcomm invests in Korean restaurant discovery app

Seoul-based restaurant recommendation service MangoPlate said Monday it has secured 6.7 billion won ($6 million) in funding from a group of global investors led by Qualcomm Ventures, the investment arm of chipmaker Qualcomm.The consortium also includes Softbank Ventures Korea, and YJ Capital, the venture investment unit of Yahoo Japan.The staff of restaurant recommendation service MangoPlate (MangoPlate)With the latest investment, the total amount of funding received by MangoPlate so far has exc

June 22, 2015

[Newsmaker] Fitbit CEO raises pace with hot stock debut

With the hot stock debut of Fitbit, a maker of popular wearable fitness-tracking devices, the spotlight shone on its CEO and cofounder James Park, a 38-year-old Korean-American.In its first day of trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange, the company’s stock surged more than 50 percent to $30.40 a share from its initial price of $20 during regular trading hours. More than 40 million shares of Fitbit were traded, putting the company on track to rank among the top five stock market debuts o

June 21, 2015

[Photo News] 360-degree sound

Members of British DJ group Gorgon City talk with a Samsung Electronics staff member during the launch of the company’s new Wireless Audio 360 at London’s Victoria House on Saturday. The audio system, consisting of two speakers, delivers a surround-sound experience through the use of Samsung’s patented ring radiator technology. (Samsung Electronics)

June 21, 2015

Samsung, Elliott clash in first court hearing

Samsung C&T Corp. and Elliott Associates started their legal battle on Friday over the proposed merger between Samsung Group’s construction and trading subsidiary and the U.S. hedge fund.In the first hearing at the Seoul Central District Court on two injunctions the fund company filed last month to block the merger plan, the two sides reiterated their positions.Lawyers representing the U.S. fund claimed that the proposed merger between Cheil Industries, a theme park operator and Samsung’s de fac

June 19, 2015

SK Telecom to develop 5G-enabled robot

South Korea’s top mobile carrier SK Telecom is stepping up its efforts to develop future-oriented technologies utilizing the firm’s advanced telecommunications networks.As part of the initiatives to secure a new growth momentum, SKT signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday with Korean robot-maker Robobuilder to develop emergency response and life care robots that support the next-generation 5G telecommunications technology.The two companies agreed to develop remote control systems running o

June 18, 2015

LSIS stresses smart grid

LSIS CEO Koo Ja-kyun speaks at the Asia Clean Energy Forum in Manila, the Philippines, Wednesday. (LSIS)LSIS CEO Koo Ja-kyun stressed the importance of the implementation of the smart grid to cope with possible shortages of energy resources. Speaking at the Asia Clean Energy Forum in Manila, the Philippines, on Wednesday, he stressed the need to implement smart energy solutions such as smart grids as power efficiency becomes more important. In his keynote speech titled “Smart Grid: Futuring Smar

June 18, 2015