LG Electronics Inc., South Korea's No. 2 smartphone company, said Thursday it will showcase its latest smartwatch upgraded with the long-term evolution network at the Mobile World Congress in Spain opening early next month.   The LG Watch Urbane LTE touts a fast voice communication and data transmission between the caller and recipient, enabling users to speak through the wearable device without their smartphones present, a feature absent in the same model released early last week, the company s

Feb. 26, 2015

South Korea's LG Display Co. was the No. 1 provider of Ultra HD panels in the fourth quarter of 2014, data showed Thursday, emerging as the top player in the sector for the first time.  LG Display took up 27.9 percent of the global UHD TV panel market by volume over the cited period by shipping 1.86 million units, the data compiled by market tracker DisplaySearch showed, beating its Taiwan-based rival Innolux Corp.  Innolux garnered 26.3 percent of the market in the October-December period by sh

Feb. 26, 2015

Uber Korea, the local unit of ride-booking app creator Uber Technologies Inc., said Wednesday it will make its  ride-sharing service UberX free of charge, in an apparent move to counteract the Seoul city government's ban on the disputed mobile platform.   The decision by Uber, effective from Wednesday, is to "reduce the negative impact on its drivers and their partners and to protect them from an anti-ridesharing ordinance by the city," the company said in a statement.   The Uber apps, including

Feb. 25, 2015

Hiking is South Koreans' favorite pastime, with dogs chosen as their most beloved pet, a poll showed Wednesday.  According to the survey of 1,700 South Koreans aged 13 and older, taken by Gallup Korea, 14 percent of the respondents said their favorite hobby is hiking.   Listening to music is the second most popular pastime activity at 8 percent, followed by exercise and video games tied at 5 percent.  By age group, those in their 40s preferred hiking most, while teenagers and 20-somethings were

Feb. 25, 2015

Daily usage of mobile banking in South Korea spiked 45.5 percent from a year earlier in 2014 as a growing number of elderly users started using their smartphones for bank transactions, central bank data showed Wednesday.  The volume of daily transactions processed via smartphones averaged at 31 million last year, compared with 21 million in 2013, according to the Bank of Korea.  While the figure continues to post a double-digit growth, it marks a slowdown compared with recent years when transact

Feb. 25, 2015

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's top mobile carrier, said Wednesday it will roll out a smart shopping platform and its related devices at the Mobile World Congress to be held in Spain early next month, as it seeks to tap deeper into the online-to-offline payment business.   The Seoul-based telecom company will showcase Smart Shopper, a shopping platform that mainly allows users to make cart-free purchases at retail stores, during the four-day exhibition set to kick off March 2 (Spain time) in Barce

Feb. 25, 2015

LG Electronics Inc., South Korea's No. 2 smartphone maker, said Wednesday it will launch its latest curved-design handset in overseas markets from March, starting in the United States.   The G Flex 2, debuted locally in late January, is the upgraded version of LG's premium lineup in curved smartphones whose display bends inward. It comes in a smaller 5.5-inch size compared with the 6-inch predecessor.  The new handset will be available from March 1 in the U.S. through Sprint Corp. before hitting

Feb. 25, 2015

LG Electronics Inc. unveiled Tuesday its latest organic light-emitting diode and new quantum dot TVs for this year, vowing to expand its global presence with the two-pronged lineup strategy.   The company, ranked No. 2 at home and a rival to Samsung Electronics Co. in home appliances, said it plans to release 10 OLED models in 2015, twice the number it had rolled out last year.    The Ultra OLED TV has integrated both the color accuracy and a high resolution -- two key elements found in existing

Feb. 24, 2015

South Korea's top smartphone maker Samsung Electronics Co. and leading mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. said Tuesday they will jointly promote the fifth-generation network that runs on high-frequency bands at the Mobile World Congress, which kicks off in Spain next month.  Samsung and SK Telecom will showcase the so-called millimeter wave technology, which boasts a speed of 7.55 gigabit-per-second on the 30-300 GHz band. Current communications networks use bands of below 6GHz.  The speed will mark

Feb. 24, 2015

The combined market share of flat TVs made by South Korean companies reached 62.4 percent in Europe in 2014, far surpassing their combined global share, backed by high demand for premium lineups in the region, data showed Tuesday.   Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. saw its market share stand at 39.7 percent in Europe at the end of December, with that of its smaller rival LG Electronics Inc. reaching 22.7 percent in the same period, according to the data compiled by market tracker DisplaySearch

Feb. 24, 2015

Samsung SDI, a leading energy solutions firm, said Monday that it had agreed to acquire the battery pack business of Magna International, a global automotive supplier.The acquisition is expected to enhance Samsung SDI’s capabilities in batteries for electric vehicles by combining its established leadership in battery cells and modules with Magna’s expertise in battery packs.Magna’s advanced technology for battery packs will also help Samsung SDI expand its customer base in the fast-growing autom

Feb. 23, 2015