Samsung launches latest Android-powered camera

South Korean tech behemoth Samsung Electronics Co. on Thursday launched its latest Android camera at home, expanding its portfolio of electronic gadgets that operate on mobile networks.The Galaxy Camera 2, which came two years after Samsung released its first Galaxy camera in 2012, can be directly connected to Wi-Fi, allowing users to upload pictures on social media such as Twitter and Facebook.Samsung said the latest "smart camera" is also equipped with the near-field communication (NFC) techno

Feb. 20, 2014

China tells N. Korea: 'Will never allow war or chaos'

China has told North Korea that it will "never allow war or chaos" on the Korean Peninsula, in a clear warning against the North's unpredictable leadership and pursuit of nuclear weapons, while Pyongyang reiterated that denuclearization of the peninsula was a "dying wish" of its late leader Kim Jong-il. China's Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin, who has been on a four-day visit to North Korea since Monday, and the North's top diplomats, including Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun and top nuclear envo

Feb. 20, 2014

Brokerage houses suffer massive losses in Q4

South Korean brokeragie houses suffered big losses in the fourth quarter of last year, largely due to a fall in commission income and increased costs, data showed on Thursday.The combined losses by 62 brokerage firms came to 206 billion won ($193 million) during the October-December period, widening from losses of 23.3 billion won in the third quarter of last year.The fourth-quarter figure also compares with a profit of 119 billion won in the second quarter of last year, according to the data co

Feb. 20, 2014

Google fast catching up to S. Korean rivals in ad sales

U.S. Internet giant Google Inc., which has been relatively slow in expanding market presence in South Korea, was fast catching up to local rivals in advertisement sales last year, industry sources said Thursday.According to the sources who have access to internal data, Google raked in some 100 billion won ($93.8 million) in revenue from its online display adverts in South Korea last year, a significant improvement from the 40 billion won posted a year earlier.Google's robust performance raised 

Feb. 20, 2014

LG, Warner Bros. strike deal on 3-D content

South Korea’s No. 2 tech giant LG Electronics Inc. said Wednesday it has clinched a deal with U.S. entertainment company Warner Bros. to carry 3-D movies on its smart TV lineup.LG said Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. will supply 30 movies in 3-D to “3D World,” a content market launched for LG’s smart TV models.The blockbusters will include “Gravity,” “Man of Steel” and “Pacific Rim,” and the service will be provided in seven countries including the U.S., U.K., Germany, Russia and South Korea.The

Feb. 19, 2014

S. Korea's mobile ad market nearly doubles in 2013

The local market for mobile advertisement nearly doubled on-year in 2013, a government report showed Tuesday, amid soaring number of smartphone users in the country.The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said the size of South Korea's mobile advert market was estimated at 416 billion won ($392 million) last year, a leap from the 215.9 billion won in 2012.Last year's figure accounted for 4 percent of the entire advertisement market in the country, a twofold growth from 2 percent tallied

Feb. 18, 2014

Samsung rolls out simpler 3G smartphone

South Korea's tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday it has rolled out a more basic version of its Galaxy smartphone, apparently targeting elderly users.Samsung's Galaxy Core Advance, powered by Android's Jelly Bean, carries an "easy mode" system with simplified menus, larger images and three buttons on the lower part of the display, making it more comfortable for older users who are used to keypad-based 2G phones."The Galaxy Core Advance is suitable for users who are using smartphones f

Feb. 17, 2014

China's booming LTE market offers chance for S. Korean firms

China's market size for the long term evolution mobile network is poised to jump overfive-fold in 2014 on-year, data showed Monday, giving South Korean tech players a rare opportunity in the increasingly saturated global market.The number of LTE smartphones in China is estimated to reach 135 million units this year, up 547 percent from 2013, according to the data compiled by market researcher Strategy Analytics.LTE smartphones seized 6 percent of the country's handset market in the first month a

Feb. 17, 2014

Human lung created in lab for first time

Scientists have reportedly created human lungs in a lab for the first time but the advance is unlikely to help patients for many years. CNN reported that researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston took lungs from two children who had died from trauma and stripped one of all damaged tissue, leaving scaffolding made of collagen and elastin. They then took cells from the other lung and put them on the scaffolding, immersed them in a liquid filled with nutrients to support ce

Feb. 16, 2014

Samsung sues Dyson over patent for vacuum cleaner

Samsung Electronics Co. has filed a lawsuit seeking 10 billion won ($9.43 million) in compensation from British manufacturer Dyson in a patent row over a vacuum cleaner mechanism, industry sources informed of the legal proceeding said Sunday.Samsung's suit is a counteraction against Dyson, which earlier had accused the South Korean company of violating its patents on the mechanism used in its vacuum cleaners that allows for swift change of direction without flipping or snagging. The British firm

Feb. 16, 2014

Dongbu Daewoo to sell Spain asset

Dongbu Daewoo Electronics is moving to liquidate its manufacturing plant in Spain as a part of its efforts to boost and realign its production concentration in Korea, China and Mexico, a company official said.The planned sell-off, which was “under consideration for some time,” is in part due to high labor costs in the region. Also, the latest debt crisis that affected the eurozone including Spain had made it move forward with the plan, the official said.Daewoo Electronics’ Spain manufacturing pl

Feb. 15, 2014

Korea's public sector debt totals 821.1tr won in 2012

South Korea's public sector debt amounted to more than 820 trillion won ($768.9 billion) in 2012, government data showed Friday, renewing worries over the financial health of public organizations. According to the data provided by the finance ministry, the public sector debt owed by central and provincial governments and non-financial state-run enterprises came to 821.1 trillion won as of end-2012. The amount represents 64.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product.No comparison figures w

Feb. 14, 2014