Korean firm rumored to eye LTE patent lawsuit against AppleApple’s soon-to-be-announced iPhone 5 will not likely affect or change the course of the ongoing court battle with Samsung Electronics, the Korean manufacturer of Galaxy flagship smartphones.Industry sources and analysts said it is highly unlikely Apple will come out and show the world its new smartphone that would expose and make itself vulnerable to its rival Samsung or other handset makers.Based on its past performances and activities

Apple’s new smartphone both boon and bane for telecom operatorsTech watchers and Apple fans are anxiously awaiting the U.S. company’s grand introduction of its next smartphone model, the iPhone 5, on Sept. 12.Since the announcement of Apple’s media event which showed the numbers “12” and “5” silhouetted on its press invitations, market analysts are already forecasting that its new phone will be a hit even before the iPhone 5 is revealed to the public.Rumors and speculations are growing globally.

NHN’s Line has overtaken its close peer Kakao Talk to become the world’s most used mobile messenger.NHN, the operator of Korea’s largest search engine Naver, said Monday that the number of Line users worldwide surpassed 60 million as of Sept. 8.Kakao Talk had 59 million as of Sept. 7.Market watchers say the two sides will have a neck-and-neck competition as Kakao will soon have over 60 million users as it strengthens its overseas operations.NHN has been focusing on marketing Line mostly in Japan

Renault Samsung accepts voluntary retirement from 14% of workersRestructuring and downsizing are sweeping the foreign business community in Korea following lackluster sales amid the global economic slowdown stemming from the financial crisis in Europe.Korean equities continue to receive increasing attention from foreigners whose large investment, could lead to further volatility in the stock market when the global economy faces another tumble.These market trends show an overall picture of the li

KT said Sunday that it has introduced an app platform for NTT Docomo, Japan’s biggest mobile carrier, marking the first time a Korean telecom company has developed an app market overseas.The development of the platform, named “Olleh Market W,” is part of KT’s efforts to become a global media distribution group.Also, this project was in line with “One Asia Super Inter-Store,” or OASIS, which seeks to promote app exchanges among China, Japan and Korea. KT, NTT and China Mobile formed a strategic a

Tech giant likely to report record operating profit in Q3, analysts forecastSamsung Electronics is expected to post record earnings again in the third quarter this year, and enter an era of 7 trillion won in operating profit, despite remaining legal challenges with Apple and the global economic slowdown.The world’s largest tech company by revenue is estimated to achieve some 7.6 trillion won ($6.7 billion) in operating profit from July to September, up 78 percent from a year ago.Its sales will i

Tech giant’s products to ‘come out strong’ despite legal challenges with Apple, analysts saySamsung Electronics, the world’s largest tech company by revenue, saw record sales of its flagship Galaxy S3 in a short period of time, despite recent difficulties over legal issues with its rival Apple.The company said Thursday that it sold more than 20 million Galaxy S3 smartphones globally in 100 days since its introduction in late May.In the first 50 days, Samsung sold 10 million Galaxy S3 smartphones

IFA needs reinvigoration to meet increasing expectations: expertsJam-packed with visitors on its opening day, the Internationale Funkausstellung appears to be a success largely thanks to the three Asian tech giants of Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Sony showcasing their smart and mobile devices and appliances with unique designs and features.Samsung highlighted its all-new Galaxy Note 2 at an unveiling event, where it also featured Windows 8 phones that stole Nokia’s thunder as the Finn

CEO says integration of mobile and social networking inevitable requirements for growthFlexibility and speed are key to innovation in the mobile technology market.These management traits are essential to keep Kakao creative and responsive to the unpredictable and rapidly changing mobile market, Lee Jae-beom, CEO of the mobile communication venture tech firm, told The Korea Herald.The company’s Kakao Talk is one example that became a worldwide hit with over 50 million users through fast decision-

SK Telecom, Korea’s largest mobile carrier, said that it held a meeting called “Bridge Alliance” with telecom companies in Asia Pacific in Jeju on Tuesday.The top of the agenda was boosting partnerships in Long Term Evolution roaming across the region and between alliance members.According to Wireless Intelligence, a telecom researcher, the number of LTE users worldwide is expected to grow 69 percent annually to 580 million in total by 2016.SK Telecom and CSL in Hong Kong were the first companie

Local unit chief: LG aims to edge over Samsung to become top TV brand in 2013BERLIN ― LG Electronics has been seeing fast growth in Germany’s television market over the past year, despite the economic slowdown in the region stemming from the eurozone crisis.The Korean tech company saw its share in Germany, which accounts for 25 percent of EU demand, rise to 10 percent from 7 percent last year.With Japanese TV makers such as Sony, Sharp and Panasonic having gone through restructuring and lacklust

BERLIN ― LG Electronics may be behind Samsung Electronics in the global television market at the moment.But this will all change over the next two to three years as LG bets that its premium 84-inch ultra-definition and 55-inch organic light-emitting diode TVs will be its new growth drivers and give the company a competitive edge over its rival.Kwon Hee-won, CEO of LG’s home entertainment business, said he is positive that the market is ready for big ultra-definition TVs, and that there will soon

BERLIN ― Stepping into an LG Electronics’ exhibition booth at Internationale Funkausstellung, visitors will notice that it is all about the latest high-tech television, especially with more than 120 LED 3-D displays put together into one giant TV at the entrance.With the theme “Above and Beyond,” featuring countless consumer TVs filling its 2,657 square meter booth, Lee Ssang-soo, vice president of TV product planning for LG began the media tour by saying that its main focus of this event is OLE

BERLIN ― Samsung Electronics, Korea’s largest consumer electronics company, plans to begin mass producing next-generation organic light-emitting diode televisions in the fourth quarter of this year.This is part of its plan to maintain the top position in the global TV industry, Yoon Boo-keun, president of the company’s consumer electronics division, said during a dinner with the Korean press Thursday.The Korean tech giant has been the top TV producer over the past seven years. OLEDs are expected

Global No. 1 industrial camera maker eyes growth in OLED, X-ray markets Liquid crystal display manufacturing involves sophisticated technology.It also involves high-end inspection equipment and systems to make sure manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics can produce the world’s top quality LCDs.High-performance industrial cameras such as those made by Vieworks are crucial parts of such equipment that can detect even the tiniest flaws, unnoticeable to the human eye, before products are shipped

Apple has filed a sales injunction on eight old smartphone models of Samsung Electronics to a U.S. federal court in San Jose, California, where a nine-member jury gave a verdict in favor of their local tech company.The eight are: Galaxy S 4G, Galaxy S2 (AT&T), Galaxy S2, Galaxy S2 (T-Mobile), Galaxy S2 Epic 4G, Galaxy S Showcase, Droid Charge and Galaxy Prevail.Its sales ban request did not include Samsung’s latest flagship Galaxy S3 and tablet smartphone Galaxy Note.Apple’s move has largely bee

Corporate advertisers are rushing to sign Korean rapper and singer Psy to do his bizarre and comical horseback-riding dance in their commercials from his latest hit music video “Gangnam Style.”Psy is in talks with six companies to appear in their ads, said an official with YG Entertainment, a music talent agency with which the singer is affiliated.The official, however, said the company cannot yet disclose the names of the brands Psy will be promoting possibly over the next six months to one yea

Questions arise over fairness of verdict in less than three daysThe latest verdict in favor of Apple by a nine-member jury at a U.S. federal court in San Jose, California, will lead Samsung Electronics to file a motion that it hopes will alter the course of the ongoing dispute between the two tech giants.The Korean company will take the next step of motion filing to re-address its arguments and ask the court to reconsider its points, which it believes have not been fully reflected in this trial,

U.S. tech giant to file injunction, Samsung says U.S. verdict is ‘not the final word’Apple is setting the next stage of its patent battle against Samsung Electronics by filing sales injunctions against the Korean tech giant’s flagship Galaxy smartphones in the U.S., following a court ruling in favor of the U.S. tech giant.A federal court in San Jose, California near Apple’s headquarters ruled that Samsung infringed on patents for several technology features and designs of Apple’s iPhone and iPad

Internationale Funkausstellung, one of the world’s largest consumer electronics exhibitions, will open in Berlin, Germany this Friday.Bringing together some 1,300 tech companies from 50 countries, IFA will be the stage for global firms such a Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Sony to feature about 200 high-tech consumer products ranging from smart TVs to computers and mobile devices.Samsung Electronics will showcase its products in the exhibition’s biggest booth at 8,628 square meters, whe