South Korea’s state-run Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute said Monday that it would expand its operating system for drones and helicopters to be used for the operation of trains and nuclear power plants.The ETRI’s indigenous embedded OS software, called the Qplus Air, will be further developed with its partners to focus on monitoring and running the safety systems of railroads and nuclear power plants.It has partnered with KEPCO Engineering & Construction, the nuclear power p

Technology Dec. 22, 2014

The advent of digital technology had spelled trouble for professional and emerging comic book artists as the technology made paper books less appealing to readers.With consumers shifting to digital content and services in droves, both newly created and long-standing comic books and characters faced their demise.But in 2003, the convergence of information technology and offline cultural content, which led to the creation of a digital platform called Webtoon by Daum Communications, instantly chang

Technology Dec. 17, 2014

 It was never easy for Lee Jun to become a professional comic artist.Without proper training or money to hire assistants, he had to master the skills of drawing and storytelling on his own.Lee dropped out of college, but kept his job as an office worker not only to make ends meet but also to realize his lifelong dream.“It was never easy to create webtoons,” Lee said in an interview with The Korea Herald.A self portrait by Lee Jun“I only rested for half a day during the week and spent all my time

Technology Dec. 17, 2014

LG Electronics said Tuesday that the company would unveil new LCD televisions that use quantum dot technology at the International Consumers Electronics Show in Las Vegas next month.South Korea’s second largest consumer electronics company will showcase two sets of 55 and 65-inch quantum dot-based ultrahigh-definition LCD TVs featuring higher color reproduction capacity.The TVs are embedded with films of quantum dot nanocrystals, which are placed in front of LCD backlights, to boost the color ga

Technology Dec. 16, 2014

The National Pension Service, South Korea’s pension manager, said Sunday that it sold the HSBC headquarters building in Canary Wharf, London, U.K. to Qatar Investment Authority, Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund last week.The NPS, which acquired the real estate asset in 2009, gained 960 billion won ($900 million), including dividends of 419 billion won, from the sale.The Korean pension operator was able to reap 1.65 times the investment it made in the building five years ago with the net internal ra

Dec. 14, 2014

Technology Dec. 10, 2014

The Korea Internet & Security Agency said Wednesday that it would reorganize its key divisions by the end of the month to better handle emerging technologies related to the Internet of Things and online security.KISA CEO Baik Kee-seung, who took helm of the agency that promotes cybersecurity and Web-based businesses last September, said the new technology environment requires the organization to dump old mindsets and tackle problems through collaboration.“We have asked ourselves whether KISA and

Technology Dec. 10, 2014

Mobile technology has brought profound changes to the way people consume digital goods, with life cycles of products and services getting shorter.As people are constantly exposed to a slew of new information, their tastes change every minute, making it harder to predict their future spending patterns.This is why companies today need the assistance of artificial intelligence that can help them analyze a massive amount of data in real time and implement advertising and marketing strategies customi

Technology Dec. 10, 2014

The South Korean government has set forth a new vision for enabling the country to achieve sustainability through information technology amid the dawning of the Internet of Things era.In an event commemorating the country’s achievement of connecting the society through IT since 1984 in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, Friday, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning unveiled a road map for the future of Korea’s technology.The five strategic visions are: developing a digital market where everyo

Technology Dec. 5, 2014

Daum Games said Tuesday that together with its developing partner Pearl Abyss, it will launch the long-awaited massively multiplayer online role-playing game “Black Desert” on Dec. 17.After developing what many expect to be a blockbuster PC MMORPG for more than four years, Daum Games and Pearl Abyss said they are putting the finishing touches on the game to make its fantasy world and characters more realistic.Their priority is to provide new gaming experiences to players in Korea by making sure

Technology Dec. 2, 2014