Perhaps the market should have seen it coming that one day people of this country would see Samsung boss Lee Kun-hee in hospital and either bid him farewell or hope that he recovers.Thankfully, Samsung said the 73-year-old chairman is doing okay and is no longer on life support after an emergency procedure on his heart and arteries in the wee hours on Sunday.His health will be back to normal in 24 hours, by Tuesday, and Samsung is operating as usual, the group said. No need to panic.But Korea wa

May 12, 2014

South Korea’s nominal gross domestic product per capita surpassed $24,000 last year, which was the 33rd highest in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund. This is up from 34th in 2012 and 41st in 2008.The country’s per capita nominal GDP came to $24,329 last year, up from $22,590 in 2012, according to the IMF data compiled by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.Luxembourg topped the list with $110,423, followed by Norway and Qatar with $100,318 and $100,260, respectively. Switz

May 12, 2014

Google said Monday that the Korean market would continue to play a critical role in the growth of its Google Play platform. “Korea is one of the most important markets, as it is in (the)top five nations with the largest number of developers for Google Play,” Jamie Rosenberg, vice president of Google’s digital content, said at its first Google Play event for partners and media in Seoul. The vice president added that the number of Koreans developing apps on Google Play had tripled during the past

May 12, 2014

Dongbu Daewoo Electronics CEO Choi Jin-kyunDongbu Daewoo Electronics, a local consumer electronics maker, said Monday that it has appointed Choi Jin-kyun, a former Samsung Electronics executive, as its new CEO. Before joining Dongbu, Choi had served as vice president of Samsung Electronics’ consumer electronics unit for three years since 2006. “We have gained a foothold in the consumer electronics market since acquiring Daewoo Electronics last February. With the new CEO, we aim to take our curre

May 12, 2014

LG G Pad. (LG Electronics)LG Electronics, South Korea’s No. 2 tech giant, said Monday it plans to expand its tablet PC lineup to cover various sizes and also give better connectivity with smartphones.The company said it will add 7-inch, 8-inch and 10.1-inch sizes to its flagship G Pad, without elaborating on key features or the release date. The showcase will be held in June, it said.LG had introduced its first G Pad in October last year, an 8.3-inch model.LG said the new models will be equipped

May 12, 2014

After electricity was discovered, it took about 200 years for light bulbs and lamps, and other electrical products, to hit the market.The Web was created in the 1990s following the invention of the ARPANET system in the 1970s through a collaboration between the Pentagon, scientists and businesses that aimed to reduce inefficiency by sharing resources via network connections.A new market in which all sorts of physical objects ― ranging from home appliances and streetlights to roads and cars ― can

May 9, 2014

As was seen in the dot-com industry, venture entrepreneurship has been the key to creating not only new technologies but also new industries and values that can forever reshape conventional markets.Start-ups will be called upon again to develop an entirely new market where every physical object can connect to the Internet.With the Internet of Things gaining momentum, ventures such as Bitfinder and SinglePet are seeking to come out with their own connected innovative products and services that ho

May 9, 2014

An Oracle yacht that uses IoT technology (Oracle)A man walks into a clothing store and sees customized advertisements based on his shopping data as soon as he gets his eyes scanned.This scene is from Hollywood blockbuster “Minority Report” but a similar situation could soon become reality thanks to the Internet of Things.Cisco Systems, the U.S. networking equipment giant, said people can already get a similar experience.“If you use, for example, Cisco’s Connected Mobile Experience, what happens

May 9, 2014

As an example of the potential for the Internet of Things, take for instance the mousetrap. It has been a very long time since anyone has built a genuinely better mousetrap.But with the ubiquity of device connectivity these days, it is now possible for the janitorial staff in a commercial warehouse to be notified via smartphone when a mouse has been caught in some dark corner of the building ― and subsequently inform the end-user that it is time to set another trap. In short, IoT can improve eff

May 9, 2014

Not so long ago, automakers were all about competing to produce and market vehicles with better horsepower and fuel-efficiency.With the Internet of Things coming around the corner, automakers’ focus has shifted from not only introducing cars with powerful engines that consume less gas, but also to dashboards with in-car networks.Automakers are revving up to form an alliance either with Apple, Google or both, following the introductions of their in-car platforms that can be linked with drivers’ i

May 9, 2014

A Samsung Electronics worker inspects a photomask engraved with chip patterns at the firm’s new chip plant in Xian, China, which started operations Friday. (Samsung Electronics)Samsung Electronics was named the third most preferred employer in the world, according to a Dutch research firm Friday. In an announcement for the Randstad Award 2014 report, which ranks the most attractive companies among job seekers, Randstad said Samsung came third among the eligible 50 firms, following German carmake

May 9, 2014