Expectations are running high in the technology sector with the upcoming battle between a human Go champion and a computer program. Go is a board game in which two players place black and white stones on empty intersections or points of a board that is lined with a 19-by-19 grid. Google’s artificial-intelligence program AlphaGo garnered media attention after defeating a professional Go player in October for the first time in an even match.(123rf)It has been about six months since that first vict

Technology March 4, 2016

IOT PARTNERSHIP -- Network operator LG Uplus teamed up with Samsung Electronics to release a refrigerator that can be operated by mobile devices. The two firms plan to release more connected home appliances in the future, including air conditioners, air purifiers and robotic vacuum cleaners. (LG Uplus)

Technology March 3, 2016

SAMSUNG ATTRACTS CHINESE CONSUMERS -- Tech giant Samsung Electronics holds a showcase event to introduce its new product lineups, including for TVs, refrigerators and washers during the Samsung China Forum that opened in Shanghai on Wednesday. (Samsung Electronics)

Technology March 3, 2016

KT’S NEW MOBILE PLAN -- Mobile carrier KT on Wednesday rolled out a mobile plan for those aged 24 and under, who consume a large amount of mobile data for multimedia services. The mobile plan, dubbed Y24, offers subscribers 2GB of bonus data for three hours every day and a 50 percent discount for music and video streaming services. The monthly fees range from 29,900 won ($24) to 59,900 won depending on data allowance. (KT)

Technology March 2, 2016

Anticipation is growing as the showdown between top Korean Go player Lee Se-dol and artificial intelligence software AlphaGo will take place in Seoul early next month. The Go match, consisting of five games scheduled between March 9 and 15, has been garnering attention from the public, enthusiasts of the game and the technology sector.Jung Jae-seung, a bio and brain engineering professor of KAIST, said, “The match between Lee Se-dol and AlphaGo is more than just a challenge posed by an AI progra

Technology Feb. 23, 2016

GIFTS FOR ADOPTEES -- LG Uplus’ employees participate in a corporate social responsibility program in which they make dolls for babies who have been put up for adoption, at the company’s head office in Seoul on Thursday.　(LG Uplus)

Technology Feb. 11, 2016

SMART COVER FOR LG G5 -- LG Electronics unveils a touch-enabled case, dubbed the Quick Cover, for its upcoming flagship smartphone G5 in Seoul on Thursday. The semitransparent smartphone cover allows users to take calls and control alarm functions by touching the front of the cover.　(LGE)

Technology Feb. 11, 2016

Struggling to find growth momentum in the mobile gaming segment, NCSoft saw its net income drop 27 percent in 2015, compared to a year earlier, according to the company’s regulatory filing Thursday.The company posted 166.4 billion won ($139.3 million) in net income while its operating profit stood at 237.5 billion won, down 15 percent compared to a year prior. Kim Taek-jin, CEO of NCSoft (Yonhap)The company earned 838.3 billion won in revenue, slightly down from 838.7 billion won in 2014.The com

Technology Feb. 11, 2016

Camera-maker Olympus Korea unveiled the PEN-F, a mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera, in Seoul on Monday.The new camera was made in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the firm’s camera business. Olympus, which started as a microscope manufacturer in Japan in 1919, released its first camera in 1936. Models pose at the unveiling event of Olympus Korea’s PEN-F mirrorless camera. (Olympus)The Tokyo-headquartered firm started rolling out the PEN camera lineup in 1959, garnering popularity than

Technology Feb. 1, 2016

Semiconductor manufacturer SK hynix said Monday it would launch a men’s handball team in a bid to contribute to the growth of the sport in the country.Since signing a sponsorship deal with the Korea Handball Federation, an umbrella association for handball, in 2007, SK Group, the parent firm of the chip company, has been supporting the sport in Korea. SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won　(Yonhap)SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won has served as the chief of the handball organization since 2009.The conglome

Technology Feb. 1, 2016

SAMSUNG’S NEW GALAXY -- Samsung Electronics sent out an invitation to the media Wednesday for the unveiling event of its new flagship smartphone Galaxy S7 to be held in Barcelona, Spain on Feb. 21. (Samsung Electronics)

Technology Feb. 1, 2016

GOHEUNG, South Jeolla Province ― Exactly three years ago on Sunday, Korea launched a rocket dubbed the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-I, or Naro, to put a satellite into orbit and become the 13th country to do so from its own soil.Since then, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, Korea’s own version of the U.S.’ NASA, which led the Naro project, has been trying to move on to the next phase ― the development of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-II.Engineers from the state-run Korea Aerospace Research

Technology Jan. 31, 2016

Global sales of tablet PCs tumbled more than 12 percent in 2015 from a year earlier as a slumping world economy crimped demand for information technology products, industry data showed Sunday.A total of 168.5 million tablet PCs were sold across the world last year, down 12.2 percent from the previous year, according to data by market tracker TrendForce.It is the first time that global shipments of tablet PCs have fallen at a double-digit rate.Apple led the world‘s tablet PC market last year, but

Technology Jan. 29, 2016

Odds are you may think that virtual reality was developed in recent years. But it has long existed in different forms, arguably stretching back to the 360-degree murals of the 19th century and the stereoscope View-Master made in 1939. The term virtual reality is said to have been coined in the mid-1900s and augmented reality, which overlays 3-D images over the real world, came along in the 1950s. Visitors wear Samsung Electronics' Gear VR headsets at the company's 4-D theater at the CES trade sh

Technology Jan. 29, 2016

When I first tried Google Cardboard, a virtual reality pair of goggles made out of a few pieces of cardboard and two lenses, at The Korea Herald office in Seoul one afternoon, my coworkers giggled, watching me holding the small brown box up to my eyes and struggling to turn around properly in my chair. But their attention was divided between me and the trendy cardboard goggles, making me feel both embarrassed and flattered. Google CardboardTo be honest, I could have done a review on the Cardboar

Technology Jan. 29, 2016