Netflix to expand presence in Korea

[THE INVESTOR] Netflix, the US-based streaming giant, is hiring Korean staff at its local unit to strengthen its presence in the market. The company recently posted four job openings on its own website and LinkedIn, including senior software engineer, partner marketing manager, integrated producer and business development director.The world’s largest video-streaming service with more than 70 million subscribers launched its Korean service in January this year. The Korean launch came as part of t

June 16, 2016

Kakao to shut online video service Daum TV Pot

[THE INVESTOR] Mobile messenger Kakao will end its video service Daum TV Pot and combine it with streaming video service KakaoTV in September.Daum TV Pot features around 270 channels, in collaboration with TV broadcasters, content firms and individuals who run their own online broadcasting channels.Users can share video content posted on KakaoTV on Kakao’s other social network services including KakaoTalk and KakaoStory.Free on-demand movies, Web dramas, and live-streaming videos are available o

June 15, 2016

Association demands swift decision on SKB-CJHV M&A

[THE INVESTOR] A group of cable TV operators on June 15 urged the government to make a swift decision on the merger and acquisition of IPTV firm SK Broadband and cable TV company CJ HelloVision.“Constant efforts should be made to restructure the broadcasting and communications market, and to attract new investment,” said the Korean Cable Television Association, asking state regulators to speed up the process of approving the M&A.The KCTA said the prolonged review sessions of the regulators are w

June 15, 2016

LINE skips dividend payout

[THE INVESTOR] LINE Corp., the messaging app arm of South Korea’s popular web portal Naver, has not been paying dividends to its shareholders and Seoul headquarters, according to documents on June 15. According to documents recently submitted to Tokyo’s main bourse operator, the Japan Exchange Group Inc. and the U.S.-based Securities and Exchange Commission, LINE has never issued dividends since it was launched in 2000. On the issue, the company elaborated about its dividend plans in the submitt

June 15, 2016

SKT commercializes next-gen streaming tech

[THE INVESTOR] Network operator SK Telecom has begun using the real-time mobile streaming technology “T Live Streaming” in its sports channel, in a bid to reduce latency, the company said on June 14.The T Live Streaming service is an improved model compared to other existing media transmission technologies such as “HTTP Live Streaming,” and “MPEG-2 Transport Streaming,” both of which have been widely-used standards for the past two decades.The next-generation streaming technology reduces latency

June 14, 2016

Naver, LINE execs likely to benefit most from IPO

[THE INVESTOR] The much-anticipated initial public offering of mobile messenger firm LINE Corp. will not only increase the corporate value of the firm, but also be a great financial boon for top executives of the mobile messenger firm, industry watchers said. Among stock options granted to the firm’s executives, since 2012, 25.6 million shares -- or 14.6 percent of entire shares -- have not been unexercised.Line chief global officer Shin Joong-ho. YonhapConsidering the anticipated offering price

June 14, 2016

Line’s IPO might burden Naver: analysts

[THE INVESTOR] July’s stock debut of Tokyo-based Line Corp., the mobile messenger platform owned by Korean portal Naver Corp., could be a burden for the tech giant initially, market watchers say, but it would likely benefit Naver’s share price down the road. Line on Friday announced that it is seeking to sell 35 million new shares through its initial public offering, raising as much as 113 billion yen ($1.06 billion). The new shares, which will be offered at 2,800 yen per share, will begin tradi

June 13, 2016

NHN’s Line to go public in Tokyo, New York

[THE INVESTOR] Line Corp., a Tokyo-based mobile messenger platform owned by Korean Internet giant NHN Corp., will go public on main stock markets in New York and Tokyo next month, the company said Friday. In a regulatory filing, the company said it will start trading its shares on the Tokyo stock market on July 14th and in New York on 15th.The logo of mobile messenger Line. (Naver)The company will issue 35 million new shares offered at 2,800 yen ($26.20) per share. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morga

June 10, 2016

Blizzard CEO bets on human in StarCraft match against AI

Following the historic Go match last month, which ended in a 4-1 victory for the artificial intelligence software AlphaGo, the AI software’s developer Google DeepMind has said that its next target could be real-time strategy game StarCraft.Over the past weeks, top officials from DeepMind, and Blizzard, the developer behind the online game, have met to have discussions for the possible return match between humanity and AI on a different battle field. Blizzard CEO Michael Morhaime. (Yonhap)During

June 10, 2016

KT teams up with China Mobile for 5G

Korea's leading network operator KT Corp. said April 1 that it would beef up its partnership with China Mobile for the next-generation network 5G and connected network services.“Global cooperation is especially important to have future telecom technologies in place,” said KT chief executive Hwang Chang-gyu at a workshop held at the head office of China Mobile on Thursday.Hwang met China Mobile‘s top executives, including chairman Shang Bing, to discuss 5G initiatives and other pending network is

June 10, 2016

Ericsson-LG demonstrates 5G network tech in Korea

Ericsson-LG demonstrated the next-generation network 5G on May 12 in Korea, marking the first time that the network equipment manufacturer had showcased the network in the nation. The 5G network equipment used for the demonstration offered a peak download speed of 26 gigabit per second, around 350 times faster than the current Long-Term Evolution network.  Ericsson-LG demonstrates the 5G network in Korea on May 12. (Ericsson-LG)“I feel proud of the Ericsson-LG researchers at the Anyang R&D cente

June 10, 2016

Samsung to counter-sue Huawei

Samsung Electronics on Wednesday hinted that it might file a counter-suit against Huawei, which has sued the Korean company in the U.S. and China for infringing its technology patents. “We will take countermeasures, including a lawsuit (against Huawei),” Ahn Seong-ho, head of Samsung’s intellectual property division, told reporters after a weekly meeting of Samsung CEOs in Seoul.  The head office of Samsung Group in Seoul. (Samsung Group)His comment came after the Chinese equipment giant filed p

June 10, 2016

'Huawei eyes Samsung's LTE patents'

Samsung Electronics and Huawei are bracing for a legal battle after the Chinese tech giant sued its Korean rival for infringing its mobile patents last week. In its two lawsuits filed in China and the U.S., Huawei claimed Samsung’s Galaxy S phones had infringed 11 of its 4G network patents. The company asked for compensation but did not request a sales ban of the affected handsets. The logo of Huawei. (AP-Yonhap)Samsung fought back immediately, saying it would counter-sue Huawei. “What Huawei re

June 10, 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 has

June 10, 2016

SKT to cement partnership with Google, Facebook

Mobile network operator SK Telecom said Thursday that it had joined a Google-led global initiative, dubbed OpenConfig, to improve network infrastructure around the world.SKT’s chief technology officer Choi Jin-sung delivers a presentation at the annual Open Compute Summit event Wednesday in San Jose, California. (SKT)OpenConfig, an informal working group of network operators, was founded in October 2014 with the aim of developing network systems and enhancing the efficiency of network infrastruc

March 10, 2016