Rumors about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus peaked Tuesday due to a leaked image of rendering and a release date as well as a possible price range, about a month ahead of the smartphones’ debut. The upcoming Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus smartphones are expected to look similar to the previous S8 series phones as they are highly likely to come with the same curved display as their predecessors, featuring 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch Super AMOLED panels with QHD+ resolution and an 18.5:9 aspect rati

Technology Jan. 30, 2018

he South Korean government confirmed Monday its plan to develop smart cities over the next five years, choosing Sejong and Busan as test beds. The Presidential Committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution said it selected districts in the administrative hub city Sejong and port city of Busan as places to apply innovative technologies, including autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, smart energy management and virtual reality, in order to make them world-renowned smart cities by 2023. The

Economy Jan. 29, 2018

Bolstered by record-high profit last year, Posco Daewoo is on track to start new businesses eyeing on higher profitability, vowing to grow as a general operating company beyond trading. At an investors relations meeting held in Yeouido on Friday, Posco Daewoo CEO Kim Young-sang unveiled plans for structural changes in existing businesses and ways to create new values for the company. “We need some structural changes in accordance with changing external conditions for sustainable growth,” Kim sai

Industry Jan. 26, 2018

South Korea’s electronics industry ranked third in terms of production last year, while being the fifth-largest market in consumption, a report showed Friday. According to CEO Report by the Korea Electronics Association, the Korean electronics industry recorded $121.7 billion in production volume in 2017, growing 10.3 percent from the previous year. The growth propelled the country to become the third-largest producer of electronics in the world, trailing only China and the US and accounting for

Technology Jan. 26, 2018

Samsung Electronics said Thursday it has sent invitations for an event to mark the launch of its flagship Galaxy S9 smartphone to journalists and partners around the world. Samsung will showcase the Galaxy S9 at Fira Montjuic in Barcelona at 6 p.m. on Feb. 25, one day before the opening of the Mobile World Congress. (Yonhap)In the invitation, Samsung said, “If a picture is worth a thousand words, the latest member of the Galaxy family has a lot to say,” hinting that the upcoming device would hav

Technology Jan. 25, 2018

LG Electronics said Thursday it earned the greatest operating profit since 2009, owing to high sales of its premium home appliances. The company posted 61.4 trillion won ($57.8 billion) in consolidated sales for fiscal year 2017, while recording 2.47 trillion won in operating profits. It is the first time for the tech firm to exceed 60 trillion won in annual sales.  (LG Electronics)Compared to the previous year, sales rose 10.9 percent, while the operating profit surged 84.5 percent, the figures

Industry Jan. 25, 2018

Bolstered by its record-high net profit in 2017, South Korean memory chip maker SK hynix unveiled Thursday an investment plan worth over 10 trillion won ($9.4 billion) for this year, which will be mostly used for completing its new 3-D NAND plant. During a conference call held for its 2017 earnings, Lee Myung-young, vice president of SK hynix, said this year’s investment will be larger than the previous year’s 10.3 trillion won, with the completion of the M15 fabrication facility under construct

Industry Jan. 25, 2018

Korea Communications Commission voted to fine a total of 50.6 billion won ($47.3 million) on the country’s three mobile carriers for doling out illegal subsidies to attract new subscribers, the commission said Wednesday. The amount of the fines mark the largest since October 2014 when the government implemented a upper cap on subsidies that were excessively offered by the telecom firms and device manufacturers to attract more customers. The restriction, however, was abolished last September.  Lo

Technology Jan. 24, 2018

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced cutting mobile bills by an average of 18 percent and abolishing the uniformly used digital signature certificates system as major policy goals for this year at a government policy briefing session in Sejong on Wednesday. As the control tower for scientific research and development projects, the ministry said it will inject a total of 1.42 trillion won ($1.33 billion) for R&D of basic science this year, 10 billion won for artificial intelligence and 4.2 b

Technology Jan. 24, 2018

South Korean washing machine manufacturers on Tuesday strongly protested the US International Trade Commission’s decision to issue “safeguard” import restrictions on their products, which are harsher than the institute had previously recommended. Samsung said in an official statement that such restrictions will limit choices of US consumers, bringing a loss to the market. Samsung had until now remained silent about the possibility of the US ITC actually imposing additional tariffs on washer impo

Technology Jan. 23, 2018

The South Korean chip industry is tightening its monitoring of increasing protectionist moves by China and the US as they are faced with probes and suspicions of price collusion, according to the industry on Monday. “We are paying more heedful attention to news about accusations of patent infringements or price collision these days as such moves seem to be growing dramatically,” an industry official told The Korea Herald on the condition of anonymity. “However, such large companies like Samsung

Industry Jan. 22, 2018

Samsung Electronics has won a patent for a smartphone display design that has holes on the screen with a nearly full screen-to-body ratio, which could be adopted for the Galaxy Note 9 smartphone model, according to news reports Friday. Samsung filed a patent titled “Electronics apparatus having a hole area within screen and control method thereof,” on Thursday with the World Intellectual Property Organization, according to Armsterdam-based LetsGoDigitla that first spotted the filing. The company

Technology Jan. 19, 2018

LG Electronics may introduce an upgraded V30 smartphone with improved artificial intelligence features at the Mobile World Congress slated to open on Feb. 26, according to the industry Friday. Instead of a new model of its flagship G series, which used to be presented every February or March, LG is expected to announce new technologies and functions added to the V30 smartphone, which was launched last September. The new version could be named “V30+‘α’,” according to news reports.  Models show V3

Technology Jan. 19, 2018

South Korean washer manufacturers Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics on Thursday expressed dismay at US President Donald Trump’s latest remarks describing the Korean firms as “dumping washers into the US.” Trump’s comments came a few days after Samsung started operating its washing machine plant in South Carolina on Saturday, as part of its efforts to localize its products in the US amid an antidumping battle and tariff pressures.In an interview with Reuters, Trump said Wednesday, “South Kor

Industry Jan. 18, 2018