Samsung SDI’s lithium batteries will be used for 3,000-ton submarines that are to be developed with Korean technologies for the first time, according to the state arms procurement agency. South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration said it had a critical design meeting Thursday to review whether lithium batteries are suitable for the submarines Chang Bogo-III and Batch-II. The critical design review is a meeting to determine whether making a prototype is feasible.  (Yonhap)Chang Bog

LG Electronics’ online video promoting its new flagship smartphone G6 has gone viral on YouTube, according to market data Thursday. According to data released by video analytics company Visible Measures, LG’s video titled “G6 x Dance” was the most viral video from March 7 to 14, as it has spread rapidly through online sharing. “G6 x Dance,” which drew 29 million views last week, is a 74-second video clip featuring a Parkour athlete learning dance from a hip-hop dancer. Parkour is a type of physi

LG Electronics’ mobile payment service LG Pay will be available in its new flagship smartphone G6 in June in partnership with the US payment solution company Dynamics, the company said Wednesday. LG Pay, which will be available through a software update, will use wireless magnetic communication technology Dynamics developed in 2007.  Models pose with the LG G6 in this photo released by LG Electronics Inc. in a shop in Seoul on March 12, 2017. (Yonhap)“Dynamics is (LG’s) strategic partner securin

Samsung Electronics’ vice president said the company’s upcoming artificial intelligence technology Bixby will be applied to all of its appliances and will also be opened to third-party developers to make applications. Bixby is Samsung’s new voice assistant and will make its debut in the company’s upcoming flagship smartphone Galaxy S8.According to a statement released by the Korean tech giant’s Executive Vice President Rhee In-jong on Tuesday, a subset of preinstalled applications will be Bixby-

Samsung Electronics unveiled several new display technologies at the private room during this year’s Mobile World Congress, including its development of OLED without polarizer, a source familiar with the matter said.“Samsung exhibited new technologies, including force touch, OLED (organic light-emitting diodes) without polarizer, VR (virtual reality) headsets with high resolution and blue-less OLED. They are expected to be launched within one to two years,” a source who attended the private room

SK Telecom’s research and development head said the company plans to open its artificial intelligence platform in June to solidify its lead in the smart home appliances market. “We plan to open the application program interface of NUGU’s AI platform for third-party developers at the end of June. We will make it an open platform like Amazon’s Alexa,” Choi Jin-sung, SKT’s head of corporate research and development, said in an interview with The Korea Herald. Launched in September, NUGU is SKT’s vo

LG Chem, a major battery maker in South Korea, said Sunday it plans to invest 2.7 trillion won ($2.3 billion) in capital expenditure, a 40 percent increase on-year, with the aim of advancing its business structure and strengthening research and development.The company said its base material unit aims to be in the global top three by expanding the production capacity of elastomer to 290,000 tons by 2018. Elastomer is a high-value-added synthetic resin that features both rubber and plastic. The fi

Samsung Electronics is looking to allow viewers at home to feel in real time as if they are at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics through virtual reality headsets. “We plan to offer virtual technology so that, let’s say, viewers with a VR headset in Seoul can enjoy the sports game as if they are at the scene,” Samsung Electronics Mobile Marketing Director Cha Young-tae told The Korea Herald following a meeting with the ICT Ministry on Tuesday. “We are in discussion with the International Olympic Comm

Samsung SDI said it showcased a new lineup of its ESS solutions at the Energy Storage Europe 2017 event held from Tuesday in Dusseldorf, Germany.During the exhibition, the Korean battery maker unveiled its new ESS products, high capacity E2 and high-power P3 models. The E2 model is a high-capacity ESS battery that substantially increases the number of cells integrated in a container. The company said it dramatically raised the intensity of space in the ESS container by upgrading its module desig

German pharmaceutical company Merck said Monday its sales and earnings rose significantly in 2016, as major strategic advances were made in all three business sectors.“2016 was a successful year for Merck. In health care, two of our compounds are in registration. In our life science business sector, we made rapid progress with the integration of Sigma-Aldrich. We have moved ahead faster and even better than expected with the realization of synergies,” said Merck CEO through the company’s stateme

Samsung Electronics’ chief financial officer said the company plans to announce the company’s plan to split itself as scheduled. “Regardless of the group issue (political scandal and the company heir’s arrest), we plan to review and announce the split plan as scheduled because that is what we promised to our shareholders,” Lee Sang-hoon, Samsung Electronics CFO, told reporters following a business conference held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce ＆ Industry on Tuesday. As to how to convene the co

Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn met with General Electric Chairman Jeffrey Immelt at the company’s headquarters in Seoul on Monday to seek new business partnerships, the company said Tuesday. According to Hanwha, Kim and Immelt talked about seeking new growth engines by adding value to the manufacturing sector based on industrial internet technologies. The two heads also discussed how to further cooperate on the aero engine and gas turbine sectors, which Hanwha Techwin and GE have partnered

With its rival LG Electronics’ new flagship smartphone G6 off to smooth sales, Samsung Electronics has made a rare move to release an ad for the Galaxy S8 on TV three weeks ahead of its official launch.Such advertisements are usually unveiled one or two weeks prior to the official launch.LG said over the weekend that the G6 sold more than 30,000 units over the first two days since its launch Friday. Its preorders exceeded 82,000 units during the eight days that began March 2. “Although the initi

After South Korea’s Constitutional Court’s decision Friday to uphold the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, the case involving arrested Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong may take a new turn, experts and industry watchers said. In the historic ruling that immediately stripped Park of her power, acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi said, “President Park’s direct and indirect support in the establishment of the Mir and K-Sports foundations violated the companies’ property right

Korea and China are on the verge of a cyberwar as Chinese hackers that crashed the website of Lotte Duty Free are reportedly seeking to expand their attacks to more Korean public and private websites. Around 30 Korean public and company websites have so far been hacked by Chinese hackers, according to local news reports. These included relevant sites for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics and the 2017 WTF World Taekwondo Championships webpage, alongside homepages of private firms such as English-lang

Korean tech and retail giants are on high alert over the changing political climate in their biggest export markets, the US and China.With the US moving to a protectionist stance in its international trade and China seemingly choosing to retaliate through trade against Seoul’s decision to deploy a US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, Korea’s key exporters, including Samsung, LG and Lotte, are bearing the brunt of the political pressure. The US, which is Samsung and LG’s largest handset and ho

The Korean telecommunications firm SK Broadband’ chief executive said Tuesday it is gearing up for the global launch of its mobile media platform Oksusu. Oksusu, launched in January of last year, is a mobile media service the currently offers a total of 170,000 movies, TV dramas and videos-on-demand created by 115 channels. It is the largest over-the-top platform in Korea with 10 million subscribers, followed by Pooq -- jointly set up by KBS, SBS and MBC -- with 1.3 million subscribers and CJ E&

The world’s largest memory chip maker Samsung Electronics is expected to make the biggest investment in the global semiconductor market this year, a market research firm said on Tuesday. According to the US research firm IC Insights, Samsung Electronics’ capital expenditure on semiconductors this year is expected to be 14.5 trillion won ($12.5 billion), 11 percent higher than last year’s investment. The Korean tech giant is slated to complete the world’s largest chip complex in Pyeongtaek, with

Samsung Electronics’ upcoming smartphone Galaxy S8 received a favorable response from its global partners after the company unveiled it to them during the Mobile World Congress last week, according to local news reports. During the four days from Feb. 27, the Korean tech giant reportedly disclosed its prototype Galaxy S8 to its partners including telecom operators around the world at Hotel Porta Fira, which is located near the Fira Gran Via where the Mobile World Congress took place. (Samsung El

Market analysts said the initial sales of LG Electronics’ new flagship smartphone G6 look favorable and could bring a turnaround in LG’s mobile communications unit if they continue. LG G6, which was unveiled on Feb. 26 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, has sold more than 40,000 units in the four days since it went on sale in Korea, LG said Monday. G6 features a 18:9 ratio display that the company says can provide a more immersive experience when streaming videos and playing games.HI Investm