SK Telecom, Korea’s biggest telecom operator, has developed an image recognition solution for outdoor advertising.The solution, which will be adopted at the International Finance Center in Yeouido, can analyze a group of people visiting the IFC Mall for demographic information such as age and gender, after photographing them with full high-definition cameras placed above or below large digital advertising screens.Such real-time customer statistics gathered through SK Telecom’s image solution wil

Korea’s No. 1 industrial smartphone maker eyes IPO to boost global recognitionWhen Lee Jang-won set out to establish his first venture tech firm in 1995, he built a company named Bluebird Soft that developed messenger software for enterprises.But its early tech products were “far ahead of its time,” said Lee, the founder and CEO of Bluebird Soft.“We were, then, making communication software for VoIP, and mobile and PC messengers that can be seen as today’s Kakao Talk,” Lee said.“Soft” is part o

Kakao, the creator of Korea’s most-used mobile messenger Kakao Talk, is seeing rapid growth in its mobile gaming platform business.Since the launch of Kakao Game Center on July 30, two games released via Kakao’s gaming platform have topped the charts on Google Play, an app market for Android-based smartphone users.“Anipang,” developed by Kakao’s strategic partner Sundaytoz, has become the top grossing game in Korea, edging over the popular “Rule the Sky” by JCE, part of Korea’s biggest gamer Nex

Hyundai Motor, Korea’s largest automaker, said that it will change the status of some 3,000 subcontractor laborers working for its Ulsan plant to regular employees.The company said in a statement that it will recruit 3,000 of its 8,000 in-house subcontractors as regular employees by 2016 as a means to “follow and honor” rulings by Seoul courts and government agencies.It will begin by hiring 1,000, and then increase its employment to 3,000 over the next four years.Labor-management relations have

Companies that own and operate Internet businesses will be forbidden from collecting customers’ resident identification numbers beginning Saturday.This comes after a law revision by the Korea Communications Commission intended to protect consumers from having their ID numbers, which are equivalent to U.S. Social Security numbers, stolen.The KCC, the country’s communications watchdog and policymaking body, said Friday in a statement that the law will be enforced against all Internet or informatio

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest tech company, has won four tech awards from the European Imaging and Sound Association.EISA, an association of some 50 magazines from 19 European countries, hands out awards for technology, design and innovation to companies worldwide.Samsung’s Smart TV ES8000 Series, HT-E6750W surround sound system for Blu-rays, Galaxy S3 smartphone and NX20 digital camera were recognized for their technological achievements by EISA this year.Notably, Galaxy S3, which wa

Olto seeks to promote characters through platforms including KakaoSome characters quickly fade away after short stints, while others outlive generations. Characters that live through the ages such as Batman and Mickey Mouse become immortalized as they are constantly recreated and renewed over the years.The process of character development and reinvention is all part of innovation that helps make a lasting impression among consumers, said Shim Seung-pil, CEO of Olto, a Korean content technology f

Korea has been increasing its research and development projects in the fields of information and technology and biotechnology, spearheaded by 30 state-run agencies over the last three years, according to the National Science & Technology Commission.R&D investment in software, renewable batteries and displays accounted for 19.4 percent of the total last year, up from 18.3 percent in 2009, the commission reported on Sunday.Meanwhile, investment in the development of new drugs, and the welfare and

LG Uplus has formed an alliance with local small and medium-size partners, including Bumin W&P, to launch a radio frequency identification (RFID)-based food waste management service, the company announced Sunday.The new “Smart Clean” service is in line with the government’s environmental policy to reduce food waste, which emits greenhouse gases, the local telecom said. The system will allow more efficient ways of managing garbage disposal by having trash bins at apartment or residential areas ch

SK Telecom and CJ Group have formed a partnership to collaborate on providing convergence services for IT and cultural content amid the rising use of smart devices.Korea’s largest telecom company said that it will closely work with Korea’s leading food and entertainment conglomerate in the areas of marketing and distribution of mobile content.Both sides will be able to benefit from SK Telecom having solid telecommunication networks with over 27 million users, and CJ holding a vast portfolio of e

Korea Communications Commission said Thursday that it will strengthen its supervision and management of the country’s three telecom companies ― SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus ― to further prevent personal data and information leaks.Its announcement came after KT, Korea’s second largest mobile carrier, was found to have had its system breached by a hacker, a company telemarketing agent, last month.KCC, the country’s broadcasting and telecom watchdog, has launched a team of inspectors to probe KT, wh

SK Planet will allow users or subscribers of other telecom network services operated by KT and LG Uplus to access SK’s media platform and see a variety of entertainment content.The mobile platform operating subsidiary of SK Telecom said the media platform named “Hoppin” will open beginning Aug. 8 to such users who can enjoy video on demand, television shows and movies, as well as other free programs such as news and comedies.Consumers can watch them not only on smartphones, but also on their per

LG Uplus, the smallest of Korea’s three telecom companies, has formed an alliance with foreign language education service providers to launch smart education services in foreign languages via Long Term Evolution.With partnerships with Korea’s YBM Sisa, Edubox and SDA, Uplus will kick off the service in September, featuring native speakers and teachers through its fast and real-time LTE networks, the telecom company said.The foreign language program will be offered in English, Japanese and Chines

Samsung Electronics has formed an alliance with Verizon, the biggest telecom company in the U.S., to boost content for smart TVs.The two companies will offer Internet Protocol television content, including video on demand, through the Verizon FiOS App on Samsung’s smart TV.Some 120 million consumers subscribing to Verizon telecom services will be able to view such content without using set-top boxes, which are normally required to watch IPTV shows and movies.Lee Kyung-shik, vice president of vis

KT and Microsoft Korea announced on Monday that they will collaborate to promote the development of HTML5-based applications.Under a memorandum of understanding signed by the two companies, KT and MS will seek and support Korean app developers for the World Wide Web, including venture tech start-ups and self-employed entrepreneurs.Korea’s Internet network conglomerate and the global software giant will also provide software and IT education to potential developers as part of efforts to boost the

Global ad spending to top $6b this yearKorea is expected to become the world’s fourth-largest mobile advertising market this year.In a report by eMarketer, a U.S. IT research firm, spending for mobile advertisements in Korea is estimated to reach over $450 million this year, up about 40 percent from $320 million in 2011.Korea will follow the U.S., Japan and the U.K. in terms of ad spending. The U.S., the world’s largest ad market, will maintain the top position with ad spending to reach some $2.

NHN, the operator of Korea’s largest search engine Naver, has developed a proprietary voice-recognition application that enables users to search for foreign language expressions.Android-based smartphone consumers can access and download the app, named “Link,” which will introduce a list of foreign expressions after they speak into their phone in Korean.When users say, for instance, “hello” or “could you check in my luggage, please” in Korean, the Link app will translate and show how to say the p

Net reaches $4.5b as smartphones remain growth driver, but chip profits continue slideSamsung Electronics, the world’s largest tech company in terms of revenue, posted record earnings in the second quarter of this year, despite the global economic slowdown.The tech giant posted net profit of 5.2 trillion won ($4.5 billion) from April to June this year, up 48 percent from 3.5 trillion won a year earlier. Its operating profit reached 6.7 trillion won, up 79 percent from 3.8 trillion won, with reve

Display maker posts record sales in second quarterLG Display, Korea’s display panel giant, is gearing up to boost the production of high-end, premium liquid crystal displays for small- and mid-size mobile products.The company said Thursday that its board of directors reached a decision to invest over 1.2 trillion won ($1 billion) to transform part of its sixth generation manufacturing line to produce low temperature poly-silicon displays.LTPS is more energy efficient and offers higher pixel dens

KT, Korea’s second-largest mobile carrier, and Yonsei University Health System have launched a joint venture in healthcare IT business named H∞H Healthcare.H∞H, or “Hooh,” refers to the infinite value of human and health, KT said.The two sides invested 1 billion won ($869,000) in the joint venture with a 49 percent stake owned by KT, while Yonsei holds a majority 51 percent in the new entity.The board members will consist of two executives from KT and three from Yonsei University Health System.T