GS Engineering and Construction said Tuesday it has deployed artificial intelligence-based robot Xibot to facilitate non-face-to-face show house tours of its new apartments. According to the Korean construction company, Xibots will give visitors show house tours of its new apartments that will on sale staring next month: DMC Art Foret Xi, DMC Fine City Xi and DMC Central Xi. Xibot is based on LG Electronics’ autonomous driving-based serve bot CLOi, which has ISO 13482 certification,

Industry July 28, 2020

Economics 101: price goes up when there’s more demand than supply. In the case of electric vehicle batteries, the current supply crunch is only to intensify, with the demand of 916 gigawatt-hours is to overtake the supply of 776 gigawatt-hours in 2023, according to SNE research. However, the prices have been going down 18 percent every year. Ironically, it’s the battery makers that are bringing down the price of their own products. “When battery prices fall to $100 per k

Industry July 27, 2020

LG Electronics said Monday it won’t quit its solar module business, denying rumors that it has been searching for a financial advisor since last year to sell off the business. In response to recent local media reports that it is considering to sell off its solar module business due to a lack of price competitiveness against cheaper Chinese modules, the home appliance giant said such claims are unsubstantiated. “LG Electronics is currently injecting tens of millions of dollars i

Industry July 27, 2020

Nexon on Friday announced the launch of its open-world MMORPG game V4 in 150 countries. Standing for “Victory For,” V4 is a mobile MMORPG made using Unreal Engine 4. It boasts high-end graphics, a vast virtual combat field and character customizing features. According to the South Korean game company, V4 supports six languages including English, German and Thai and is available in some 150 countries including in North America and Europe. As a “one-build” game, user

Industry July 24, 2020

Smilegate said Friday that its 36-episode drama series based on its first-person shooter game CrossFire has recorded 100 million views in China. According to the South Korean game company, the drama series, also named as CrossFire, recorded the milestone on China’s biggest over-the-top platform Tencent Video as of Thursday. ‘Though only two episodes have been broadcast, CrossFire enjoyed more than 100 million views on Tecent Video, ranking as the second-most popular drama series

Industry July 24, 2020

Kakao Games said Thursday its application for initial public offering has received the greenlight from the Korea Exchange (KRX), the nation’s sole bourse operator. According to the South Korean game company, the KRX approved Kakao Games’ application for preliminary qualification examination for listing on the second-tier Kosdaq. “As Kakao Games’ stocks are evaluated as blue chip stocks, the IPO will be fast-tracked, cutting the review period from 45 working days to 3

Industry July 24, 2020

S-Oil on Friday posted an operating loss 164.3 billion won ($136.7 million) in the second quarter this year, getting back on its feet after suffering its worst-ever operating loss of 1 trillion won in the previous quarter. According to regulatory filings, the Korean refiner witnessed its operating loss decline 84.6 percent to 164.3 billion won in the second quarter compared to an operating loss of 1 trillion won in the previous quarter. In the same period, its net loss dropped 92.4 percent t

Industry July 24, 2020

When NCSoft changed its corporate identity to “NC” at the start of the year, it had no idea what was coming. However, it couldn’t have chosen a better time to do so, as its new corporate identity serves as a compass to navigate the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. In January, the Korean game company dropped “Soft” and renewed its company logo to “NC.” The new logo represents the company’s three core philosophies of craftsmanship, enthusiasm and en

Industry July 23, 2020

Smilegate said Thursday that it has officially launched its mobile tank battle game Super Tank Blitz in 142 countries. According to the South Korean game maker, the casual sandbox game is the follow-up to Super Tank Rumble, launched in 2017, which scored more than 20 million downloads worldwide. In the game, users can make their own tanks with different parts and engage in battles with other users. They can also share the blueprints of their tanks. A sandbox game is a video game with a game

Industry July 23, 2020

Even the best of intentions can fall flat without full attention to vital details. The Korea Herald looks into flaws and shortcomings of Korea’s green policies. – Ed.  The definition of a government subsidy is simple: public funds granted to a domestic industry to maintain price competitiveness. However, the South Korean government’s renewable energy subsidy program launched in 2012 is doing just the opposite. Last month, the country’s largest solar power plan

Industry July 22, 2020

Hanwha Energy and Korea Midland Power (Komipo) said Wednesday they signed a deal in Nevada to supply electricity generated by solar power to 36,000 households. According to the energy affiliate of Hanwha Group and the state-run utility, they signed a solar power purchase agreement with a local public utility NV Energy. Under the deal, Hanwha Energy and Komipo will generate electricity from solar power plants of 128-megawatt capacity linked to an energy storage systems of 233-megawatt-hour

Industry July 22, 2020

Due to coronavirus setback, a game festival kicked off Wednesday in virtual space for the first time in South Korea. According to industry sources, “2020 Indie Craft K-Game Festival” will be held for five days until Sunday in a virtual space created by a game engine as holding the event offline was unviable due to concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak. Visitors can enter the virtual festival after creating their own 3D avatars. Then, they can visit booths, have conversations with

Industry July 22, 2020

Korea Aerospace Industries said Tuesday it signed an exclusive supply contract worth $754 million to supply wing parts to Boeing 787 aircraft from 2022 to 2038. South Korea’s sole aircraft manufacturer extended its exclusive supply contract with Japanese transportation conglomerate Subaru to supply wing parts called “center wing box” for the B787 aircraft. The contract will remain valid until Boeing stops making the aircraft, according to the company. A wing box is a stru

Industry July 21, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic is turning out to be a blessing in disguise for game companies who are staying resilient in South Korea, with Kakao Games’ market valuation soaring -- a blessing in disguise after its failed attempt for an initial public offering in 2018. According to over-the-counter trading platform Pstock, Kakao Games’ market value soared to 2.8 trillion won ($2.3 billion) as of Friday from 1.7 trillion on June 11, when it applied for a preliminary IPO examination on th

Industry July 20, 2020

Volvo Cars Korea said Monday it will no longer offer pure diesel or gasoline cars starting with its 2021 models and instead sell only hybrid cars. According to the automaker, Volvo cars will be available only in mild hybrid or plug-in hybrid vehicles starting with its 2021 models in Korea, as it aims to become carbon neutral by 2040. Korea will be the first country where Volvo won’t sell pure diesel cars at all, the company said. Volvo Cars Korea will replace D5, T4, T5 and T6 inte

Mobility July 20, 2020