Mobile platform developer SK Planet’s Flitter, a public relations program consisting of college and university students, won first prize at the KPRA Award 2014 on Thursday. The award event was organized by the Korean PR Association, a leading organization committed to promoting the local PR market. Launched in 2013, Flitter has been serving as an important marketing outlet for SK Planet, helping the firm to better communicate with consumers. The team of college and university students participat

DAEJEON ― The Daejeon Global Innovation Forum, a global conference for innovation, kicked off Wednesday in Daejeon. The two-day global conference is expected to serve as a venue for 1,000 scholars, government officials and company executives to discuss innovation in the technology and science fields, and sustainable economic growth. “The forum will present practical solutions for a range of issues in pursuing innovation from how to establish better government policies through collaboration and c

DAEJEON ― A leading Bitcoin organization founder said Samsung Electronics, a chipmaking powerhouse, will likely benefit the most as the global market for the digital currency Bitcoin grows further down the road. “At least half a billion U.S. dollars, up from $10 million two years ago, will be spent on purchasing Bitcoin mining systems (built using highly efficient chips) worldwide next year or in 18 months,” said Peter Vessenes, chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, a U.S. organization committed t

Yahoo agreed to acquire video-advertising service BrightRoll for about $640 million in cash, adding marketing tools to drive chief executive officer Marissa Mayer’s turnaround effort. BrightRoll, one of Yahoo’s biggest deals under Mayer, is profitable and should exceed $100 million in revenue this year, the Web portal said in a statement Wednesday. Yahoo expects the purchase, which is subject to customary closing conditions, to boost earnings before certain items. The acquisition would help bols

LG Uplus, South Korea’s smallest mobile carrier, plans to add a wire transfer service to its mobile payment tool as it tries to tighten its grip on the market against new rival Daum Kakao.The mobile carrier is pushing to complement Paynow, its mobile payment app currently limited to paying bills at a member store by tapping a cellphone onto the reader. The upgraded version of Paynow will allow an individual to send money to another person, with the tool to be further developed into having a full

Investors brought money into South Korean stock funds last month despite the equity market slump, data showed Monday, posting the longest daily buying streak since 2007.Local stock funds, excluding index funds, saw a net inflow of 2.01 trillion won ($1.84 billion) for 31 consecutive days from Sept. 23, according to the Korea Financial Investment Association.The longest unbroken run of net buying lasted for 66 days between May and August in 2007 when stock funds in Asia’s fourth-largest economy w

South Korea’s won rose the most in a month as below-forecast U.S. jobs data weighed on the dollar. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major currencies, posted its biggest loss in three weeks on Nov. 7 after the U.S. labor department said employers added 214,000 workers in October. That was less than the 235,000 estimated in a Bloomberg survey. Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol said last week that while authorities face constraints in dealing with a weakening

The bad loan ratio of South Korean banks dropped in the third quarter of this year from three months earlier on reduced fresh bad debts, the financial watchdog said Monday.The combined bad loan ratio stood at 1.72 percent at the end of September, down 0.01 percentage point from the previous quarter, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The bad loan ratio refers to the proportion of a bank’s non-performing loans to their total lending. A debt that has been in arrears for more than 90 d

4:33 Creative Lab, a top South Korean mobile game designer, has joined hands with two of the world’s largest mobile messenger firms, Tencent and Line Corp., in its effort to foray into the international market. Announcing that it had successfully attracted funds from the mobile messenger operators, the Seoul-based mobile game company said Monday that it would become a global powerhouse in the game designing market. “With the latest investment, 4:33 has secured reliable partners, Tencent and Line

SK Group, the nation’s third-largest conglomerate, announced the detailed plans to support the government’s “creative economy” initiative. “SK will create a task force for the creative economy under the wing of the SUPEX Council committee, the top decision-making body of SK. The group also plans to open innovation centers nationwide in an effort to drive the creative economy,” the conglomerate said in a press release Sunday.SK Telecom CEO Ha Sung-min will head the new task force.SK Telecom’s hea

South Korean display and TV producers, including Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, which maintain a firm grip on the global market, will face daunting challenges from Chinese rivals in the coming years, according to market analysts. “Chinese panel manufacturers are making aggressive investments including building new factories. A competitive edge built in the Chinese panel industry will also boost the Chinese TV businesses,” said Jusy Hong, principal analyst of market research institute IH

Samsung Electronics’ next flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S6, will sport a “dual-edge” display, according to an analyst.“The Galaxy S6 to be released next year will feature a ‘dual-edged’ screen which is curved on the right and left sides,” said Jerry Kang, senior analyst of IHD Technology, at the IHS Display Analyst Conference Thursday. The company had been well aware of possible complaints about the curved display featured only on the right hand side of the Galaxy Note Edge before the release

Mobile messengers have been all the rage ever since the advent of smartphones while PC messengers, on the other hand, have gone downhill. South Korean mobile messenger operators, however, are turning to PCs to complement their existing mobile services and generate additional profit.VCNC, which operates Between, a mobile messenger for couples, is the latest South Korean mobile messenger firm to roll out a PC version of a mobile messaging app.“The PC application aims to capture the eight-hour peri

TAIPEI ― Asia will emerge as the hub of software development in the mobile world, replacing traditional powerhouses like the U.S., said Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt.“It should be possible for the next generation of software companies to emerge from Asia and they could transform from a regional champion to a global champion,” he said in a video conference at the Mobile First World, a global media conference, held in Taipei, Taiwan Tuesday.  (from top) Chris Yerga, Eric Schmidt (Bloomber

Samsung Electronics is said to be investing in virtual reality game developers to boost its fledgling VR business amid sluggish smartphone sales, industry sources said.The South Korean tech giant’s move comes as it needs to create an ecosystem for the Samsung Gear VR, which could be released as early as next month, by financially supporting and encouraging software developers to make game content.“Samsung is making investment in game companies with great ideas and content for the headset,” said

With the rise of smart energy technologies ranging from smart bulbs to smart grids, nontraditional energy companies, especially from the information communication and technology sector, are increasingly turning their attention toward the energy market.Among those trying to gain a foothold in the energy market is LG Corp., which has a range of businesses including home appliances and electronics parts under its wing.The conglomerate’s electronics, battery and chemical business affiliates showed o

Principal Awards/Gold PrizeLG ElectronicsI would like to express my deepest gratitude to The Korea Herald and consumers for having selected the advertisement for the LG DIOS Refrigerator featuring a water-and-ice dispenser as one of the winners of the paper’s 2014 Advertising Awards. Since the release of the refrigerator models that were equipped with the dispenser in 2013, LG Electronics has been rolling out a variety of models, including the bottom-freezer refrigerator, which was exceptionally

The worldwide craze over the new iPhones will hit the South Korean market on Friday when the iPhone 6 and its variant the 6 Plus go on sale here. This time, the so-called iPhone effect will have a more significant impact on the Korean smartphone market than ever, according to industry watchers. The first round of preorders was filled last Friday by the mobile carriers SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus in less than 30 minutes.It is estimated that the total number of preorders will reach at least 80,000

BUSAN ― Robert Pepper, vice president of U.S. networking firm Cisco’s global technology policy team, urged companies to stay vigilant so as not to get left behind in the Internet of Everything era.“You have to challenge and disrupt yourself, as the technology market moves very fast and the customers are always looking for the next thing (in the IoE era),” he said. “If you don’t disrupt yourself, somebody else will disrupt you.”He forecast that the total value of the Internet of Things would reac

ARM, a U.K-based chip designer, said Tuesday that tech companies should strive to design products that make use of complex technology such as semiconductors simple and easy to use. Simplicity will further spur tech firms to make a leap into the upper echelons of the industry.“State-of-the-art technology is hidden and invisible but is certainly leading the industry,” said Antonio Viana, president of ARM’s commercial and global development, in his keynote speech at the ARM Tech Symposium 2014 in S