IBM launched Bluemix, an open-source cloud computing development platform, in South Korea on Thursday.The platform enables developers to create applications for smartphones, running on both Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android.More than 50 types of services are also available on the platform to develop applications for databases, the Internet of Things, big data and security. Adam Kocoloski, chief technology officer of Cloudant, an affiliate of IBM, speaks to the press about IBM’s newly launched clo

SK Telecom, the largest mobile carrier in Korea, opened a hands-on experience center, called T.um Mobile, where children can learn about the history and latest trends of information and communications technology in Seoul on Wednesday.The telecom firm will first run the center at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan for three days from Wednesday, and will open 20 others across the nation including in Haenam, South Jeolla Province, and Taebaek, Gangwon Province. Aimed at providing more opportun

LG Electronics is seeking to ascend in the global smartphone market with plans to roll out new models in its flagship G smartphone line in the near future.The smartphone maker has been filing trademarks for the G4 to G9 since last year at the Korean Intellectual Property Office, according to industry sources Tuesday.The trademark filings are in line with the tech giant’s announcement last year to boost its focus on high-end brands after dropping its previous Optimus smartphone brand. LG Electron

Lee Jay-yong, a vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, is gaining public exposure by taking a bigger role in tackling managerial issues amid the prolonged managerial vacuum caused by the illness of his father, Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee.According to Samsung Group, the junior Lee went on three business trips over the past few weeks, to the U.S., Europe and China. Representing the tech giant, he joined the Allen & Co. conference, an annual gathering which draws big names from the global media and

CrucialTec, Korea’s largest fingerprint sensor manufacturer, said Monday it would host a plenary meeting for the Fast IDentity Online Alliance, an international industry consortium aimed at revolutionizing online authentication with open standards, in the fall in Korea. The third annual meeting since the establishment of the FIDO in 2012 is to be held for the first time outside the U.S. Global information and technology device makers, financial institutions and software developers, including Sam

Shin Jong-kyun, the chief executive of Samsung Electronics’ mobile business unit, was the highest-paid CEO in Korea in the first half of 2014, according to a report released by local corporate researcher Chaebul.com on Sunday. The report showed that around 190 corporate executives received over 500 million won in the first half of this year. Shin topped the list with an income of 11.3 billion won ($11 million) over the first six months of the year.  Shin Jong-kyun. (Bloomberg)Kwon Oh-hyun, chief

Behind every great company and scientific theory, mathematics has always been involved.James Harris Simons, a mathematician dubbed the “Quant King,” said he could not emphasize enough how important the application of math is for everything, ranging from basic scientific research to starting a business.Today’s inventions such as Google search and digital communications have been created with the use of mathematics. James Simons. (International Mathematical Union)“Math is in just about everything.

Maryam Mirzakhani, the first female mathematician to win the Fields Medal, the most prestigious honor in mathematics, said confidence is what it takes to make such achievements. “Confidence is what makes a big difference,” said the mathematician at a press conference at the 2014 International Congress of Mathematicians in Seoul on Wednesday. “It is not your talent, but about thinking that you can do it.” The Fields Medal is an award created to commemorate John Charles Fields, a world-renown Cana

Kakao Talk, South Korea’s largest mobile messenger, is taking aim at the Middle East by scaling up its Arabic language services.The mobile application was the most popular free mobile messenger in 2011 in some Middle Eastern nations, including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait and the UAE, according to Kakao. However, it was soon outpaced by global social networking service messengers, such as Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, and Naver’s Line. As part of its efforts to regain its footing in the

Merck Korea, the Korean branch of Germany-based chemical firm Merck Group, said Thursday that it would join “Take the Next Baby Steps,” an annual campaign cosponsored by its headquarters, to show its support for couples struggling with infertility. Designed to help raise more awareness on infertility, the campaign is cosponsored by the Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction, the Korea Society for Reproductive Medicine and Merck Serono, the pharmaceutical business unit of Merck Group. It will ki

In the wake of an earnings shock in the second quarter, Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest smartphone maker, is making all-out efforts to cut costs. “Samsung is tightening its belt as it is forecast to face tougher competition in the global smartphone market,” industry watchers said. The Korean firm’s operating profit plummeted 25 percent on-year to 7.2 trillion won in the April-June period, the lowest in two years, according to the Korean headquarters.One of the electronics giant’s latest

Foreign residents in Korea who have been discontented with Korea’s conventional taxi services have increasingly opted to use Uber, the smartphone car-hailing application.And those foreigners are fuming at the latest move by the Seoul government to block Uber from operating in the city.“Uber has solved every problem that foreigners and tourists have with Seoul taxi services. There is no waiting, no negotiating, and no ‘I won’t go there’ with Uber services,” said Sam, a 45-year-old businessman, ca

Controversy over Uber’s car-booking services is spreading like wildfire here following Seoul City’s decision to team up with related government bodies including the Korea Communications Commission to keep the U.S. firm out of the local transportation market. The city government has said it would try to stop Uber’s operations in Seoul, claiming that the services are illegal. “Seoul City will push for stricter measures, including fines for more Uber drivers, in order to ban the illegal ride-sharin

Hanwha Group has teamed up with robotics researchers at Hanyang University to introduce the world’s first wireless control system for excavators this year. The tele-operation system, called the Ghost, consists of three parts ― a wireless foot pedal, lever and portable controller. It enables users to remotely operate the digger from a distance of up to 100 meters.The company has now inked a 1 billion won ($970,000) deal with a Singaporean company to supply the wireless excavator controllers.“Hanw

Beleaguered by the challenges posed by its Chinese rivals coupled with worsening profits, Samsung Electronics is making efforts to cut costs by expanding its overseas production lines. According to recent news reports, Samsung Electronics is planning to make a $375 million investment in the Dube TradePort special economic zone, located near the city of Durban, South Africa, to construct a TV plant. “We have worked with Samsung and they identified the Dube TradePort as a space to operate from,” t

Kakao Corp., the operator of Korea’s most-used mobile messenger Kakao Talk, is aiming to expand its character business based on its stickers ― emoticons going by the name of Kakao Friends ― used in chat services. Kakao, which sells a variety of character products from notebooks to dolls, has recently teamed up with baked-goods maker SHANY, an affiliate of SPC Group, to produce Kakao Friends Bread, featuring mobile characters including Muji, a yellow radish in a bunny costume, Apeach the peach, a

Fuji Xerox Korea, a leading document management firm, said Thursday it would make efforts to solidify its leadership in the document management services market. “Fuji Xerox Korea will continuously provide a better work environment for our customers and also make contributions to society,” said Ueno Yasuaki, chief executive of the company, at a press meeting marking the 40th anniversary of its entry into the Korean market.In line with the efforts, the company, which introduced the first color cop

Samsung Group is said to be carrying out a sweeping “management assessment” on underperforming affiliates in the electronics sector in the wake of the second-quarter earnings shock of its cash cow Samsung Electronics.The audit division under Samsung’s Corporate Strategy Office, the conglomerate’s control tower, has recently began a review on Samsung Electro-Mechanics, a manufacturer of smartphone camera modules, according to Samsung Group.The latest move is just another in a series of management

Corporate Korea is lagging behind in using big data in day-to-day business, according to a recent survey compiled by The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry.The organization said Monday that among the 500 Korean firms participating in the survey, only 7.5 percent said they used big data in their business activities, while 81.6 percent responded that they do not use it at all. The most frequent use of big data is for marketing. Of companies that used big data, 47 percent used it for this purpo

Amazon wants to put money in authors’ pockets while the online retail titan battles with Hachette over terms of selling books handled by the publishing powerhouse.Hachette told AFP that it had received the proposal on Tuesday, and fired back with a call for Amazon to “withdraw the sanctions they have unilaterally imposed,” on the publisher’s titles.Amazon is offering to give Hachette authors all revenue brought in for digital copies of books ― rewarding writers instead of making them casualties