Announcing the official release date of its mobile game “Mabinogi Duel,” South Korea’s top online game developer Nexon Korea said Wednesday it would increase its presence in the global mobile game market.“Mabinogi Duel,” a mobile trading card game, will first be made available in Korean from June 9 but will support six more languages ― English, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Germany and Spanish ― through updates in the latter half of the year.The game will be compatible with smartphones running

Technology May 27, 2015

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics topped a smartphone sales chart in the first quarter of 2015 in Bangladesh with its budget smartphone, the Z1, according to research data Monday.A report released by research firm Counterpoint showed that the Z1, running on the Tizen operating system, enjoyed robust sales in the January-March period and was “the No. 1 smartphone model in the entire country.”The feat came as a surprise, since it was achieved on the home turf of phone-maker Symphony Mobi

Technology May 25, 2015

South Korea’s leading wireless carrier SK Telecom launched a lifeware brand, United Object, Monday, aiming to increase its footing in the burgeoning market for the Internet of Things, a network that connects objects.The branding came amid SKT’s ongoing efforts to beef up its business for smart devices and wearables, including a wearable band for kids, and a smart air quality monitoring device.“With the new lifeware brand United Object, SKT will try to bring positive changes to customers’ daily l

Technology May 25, 2015

South Korean mobile carrier LG Uplus on Thursday launched Android TV services running on Google’s latest Lollipop operating system for the first time in the domestic market.The collaboration is the latest between the Korean mobile carrier, which also provides Internet Protocol TV services, and the Internet giant in their efforts to grow streaming TV businesses.The two counterparts introduced the first IPTV services embedded with Google applications and content in 2012.The new IPTV services, whic

Technology May 21, 2015

Top executives of South Korea’s largest telecommunications firm KT and Stockholm-based mobile carrier TeliaSonera met in Seoul Thursday to discuss collaboration on the next-generation 5G network and the Internet of Things, which connects objects over networks. Providing telecom services for more than 72 million subscribers across 17 North European and Central Asian nations, TeliaSonera is the largest mobile carrier in Northern Europe and launched the Long-Term Evolution service for the first tim

Technology May 21, 2015

South Korea’s top mobile carrier SK Telecom said Wednesday it wished to work with more global tech giants, such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, to grow smart home businesses down the road. “SKT would like to have Samsung and LG as partners for the company’s Smart Home, an open platform for home devices,” said Cho Young-hoon, senior vice president of the telecom firm’s smart home task force, at a press meeting held in Seoul Wednesday.He added the partnership with the two tech giants, i

Technology May 20, 2015

The head of South Korea’s top online game firm Nexon said Tuesday game developers should come up with creative and fun games, warning against the fear of making mistakes. “The fear of making mistakes is the enemy of innovation and it is the enemy of great art,” said Owen Mahoney, chief executive of the Tokyo-headquartered game firm, lashing out at fast-follower strategies widely deployed by Facebook game developers and mobile game developers.“To build great games that capture our imagination, im

Technology May 19, 2015

South Korea’s largest mobile carrier SK Telecom said Wednesday that the sales of its portable projector for smartphones, Smart Beam, reached 200,000, a record high in the global market for pico projectors. Launched in February 2013, the cubical projector measuring at 4.5 centimeters has been released in 12 countries including China and Brazil and around 100,000 units were sold annually, according to the Korean telecom firm. “The Smart Beam, which is also being sold at in-flight duty-free shops o

Technology May 13, 2015

Telecom equipment supplier Ericsson-LG said Wednesday that it would make all-out efforts to lead the next-generation network market, often called 5G, with its improved services and hardware.“Ericsson-LG’s efforts to complete the establishment of a networked society will produce meaningful results from this year,” said Martin Wiktorin, chief executive of Ericsson-LG, at a press meeting in Seoul, adding the company would transform itself into a leading software and services provider, contributing

Technology May 13, 2015

Global tech giant Samsung Electronics plans to unveil its new tablet PC lineup ― Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 and S2 9.7 ― next month, according to news reports.With powerful specifications for the new tablet PC models, including a 64-bit Exynos processor, 3 GB RAM and a Super AMOLED display, Samsung reportedly aims to outpace its arch rival Apple, the leader of the world’s tablet market. Analysts forecast, however, Samsung’s attempt to outgun Apple in the tablet PC market may be a long shot.“It is doubtfu

Technology May 12, 2015

Chief executives of Samsung Electronics plan to work at the company’s overseas offices including those in Silicon Valley and New York on a regular basis, aiming to transform the Seoul-based tech giant into a truly global company.“The tech giant’s CEOs from next month will start working at one of the company’s overseas offices once every two or three months to better understand the global market trends,” a senior Samsung official was quoted as saying.Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest smart

Technology May 11, 2015

With heir apparent Lee Jay-yong filling the management vacuum left by his ailing father, Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee, South Korea’s largest conglomerate is trying to find new growth engines, acquiring foreign ventures at an increasing rate and jumping into new business areas.Since last May when its chairman was hospitalized due to a heart attack, Samsung has conducted eight mergers and acquisitions, almost equal to the combined number of M&As done by the conglomerate in 2012 and 2013.Many of th

Technology May 10, 2015

The power succession from Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee to his son Lee Jay-yong is underway through the conglomerate’s plan to strengthen the heir apparent’s governance of its major units. The restructuring plan started in earnest with the de facto holding firm Samsung Everland’s acquisition of the fashion business division of Cheil Industries in 2013, the remainder of which was taken over by battery-maker Samsung SDI in March 2014. Theme park operator Samsung Everland changed its name to Cheil I

Technology May 10, 2015