Samsung Electronics is seeking to take leadership in the home appliance operating system field after a failure to squeeze into the mobile sector, dominated by Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS.In 2012, Samsung unveiled Tizen with the ambition to take share from the mobile OS market and expand its presence in the software market. But the system has just 1 percent of global market share. Only some low-end smartphones sold in India are Tizen-powered. Seeing little chance in the mobile OS sector, the

SK Telecom and Facebook will create a center in Korea early next year to foster startup companies in the field of communications infrastructure, the local carrier said Thursday. This will be the first such center to be set up by Facebook in the world and the first collaboration between the global social media giant and South Korea’s largest mobile carrier.  SK Telecom’s chief technology officer Choi Jin-sung speaks at TIP summit held in Facebook’s headquarters in Silicon Valley. (SK Telecom)The

국내에 있는 외국계 기업들은 최순실 사태에 대해서 매우 황당하다는 반응을 보였지만, 정치적 스캔들이 자신들의 기업활동에 크게 영향을 미칠 것으로 보지는 않고 있다. 한 독일 IT 회사 임원은 최순실 사태에 대해서, “모든 상황이 너무 황당하다. 8선녀라는 말을 이해하는 데 한참 걸렸다. 이러한 일이 한국처럼 선진화된 국가에서 일어난다는 것이 매우 의외다”고 말했다. 하지만, 그는 “이번 일이 당장 영업 활동이나 미래 투자에 영향을 미칠 것으로 보지 않는다. 다만, 정부가 이를 어떻게 수습할지 지켜봐야 할 것 같다”고 말했다.또 다른 미국에 본사를 둔 다국적 기업의 임원은 “현재까지 본사차원에서 (대응책과 관련해서) 어떠한 이야기가 오고 가지는 않고 있다. 우리가 한국에서 느끼는 것과 본사에서 보는 것에는 온도 차이가 있는 것 같다”고 말했다.전문가들은 이러한 온도 차이에 대해서 외국인들은 최순실 사태를 이성적으로 바라보기 때문이라고 말했다. 이러한 정치적 의혹이 국가 전체가 대혼란에

Foreign companies operating in South Korea generally shared views that the presidential scandal does not directly affect their business -- yet. However, if the political issue is prolonged, it may pose stronger risks as it could slow the country’s economic activity, the executives said. Korea is currently reeling from a political scandal involving Choi Soon-sil, who is accused of peddling influence and interfering in state affairs as a secret adviser to President Park Geun-hye.  (Yonhap)Amid gro

Chinese tech giant Huawei is expected to launch its premium smartphones for the first time in Korea, targeting the gap in the market left by the Galaxy Note 7. Huawei’s premium smartphones P9 and P9 plus gained radio equipment approvals from the National Radio Research Agency on Oct. 23 and Oct. 30, respectively, the tech firm’s Korean unit confirmed Monday. The phones are expected to be rolled out in December via Huawei’s local partner LG Plus and priced from around 700,000 won ($612) to 800,00

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors have agreed to pay $41.2 million to settle investigations over inflated fuel economy ratings in US states.“We have faithfully taken all the follow-up measures related to the fuel economy ratings,” Hyundai said on Friday. In return for the settlement, the group representing 33 states -- which claimed the automakers misrepresented fuel economy in advertising -- decided not to file lawsuits against the automakers. The deal is the latest in the ongoing fallout from the a

German home appliances maker Miele denied on Friday claims by LG Electronics that it had infringed on washing machine-related patents. “LG Electronics claimed that Miele used its patent technologies, but we delivered a strong message to LG that we did not use a third party’s patents without permission,” said a Miele Korea spokesperson. “Miele currently holds patents related to steam washing machine technologies and some are under the patent application process,” he said, adding that it is a rout

South Korea's financial authorities took a punitive measure Thursday against Hyundai Card Co., a major local credit card firm affiliated with the Hyundai Motor Group, for "unfair" sale operations.Hyundai Card infringed on the rights and interests of consumers by unfairly inducing them to change the limit of the "revolving"service from 100 percent to 10 percent according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).Hyundai failed to provide sufficient information on the consequences of the shift in

A soldier of the South Korean Army died on Thursday when a grenade exploded during a training exercise in the Demilitarized Zone along the border with the North, military officials said, suspecting that it could be a suicide.The Army PFC, identified only by his last name Yang, died when a grenade went off at around 2:20 p.m. Approximately 10 soldiers, including Yang, were engaged in a military drill in the DMZ near the border town when it happened, according to the officials. The exact cause of

China voiced concern on Thursday over a recent decision by South Korea, the U.S. and Japan to hold a regular joint exercise against North Korea's missile threat, saying that it would not help improve the current situation on the Korean Peninsula."Any action either to strengthen or expand military (measures) given the current situation on the Korean Peninsula would worsen confrontation. It would not be helpful in resolving problems and maintaining peace and stability in the region," Wu Chian, a s

The appointment of Samsung Electronics’ Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong as a member of the board of directors was overshadowed by concerns over the Note 7 fallout at a shareholders meeting Thursday.In the morning, shareholders appointed the grandson of the Samsung founder to its board of directors, paving the way for Lee to step up as an official leader of South Korea’s largest conglomerate. Lee did not attend the meeting.(Yonhap)The unanimous vote, however, was soon followed by questions from shareh

By Yoon Yong-chul Senior vice president of public relations office at SKTThe Internet of Things connecting people to devices and devices to devices is no longer a future technology.It is becoming a part of our life, and SK Telecom believes the change has altered the fundamental nature of our society. Yoon Yong-chulTwo sides -- whether they are people or devices -- are now connecting through the Internet of Things in ways we could not imagine in the past. Connecting the two creates synergies and

Samsung Display is betting on panels for virtual reality and augmented reality to further expand its presence in the mobile OLED market, its top engineer said at a display seminar on Wednesday. “We are expecting the mobile OLED market to grow thanks to the advent of new applications such as virtual reality and augmented reality,” Park Won-sang, Samsung Display’s principal engineer, said at the International Meeting on Information Display held in Seoul. He said the shipment of virtual reality dev

Hyundai Motor will issue a recall for its mid-size sedan Sonata in South Korea as the panoramic glass sunroofs can come loose and fly into traffic, the automaker said on Sunday. Hyundai said the sedan’s poorly attached wind deflector may interfere with its panoramic sunroof that could thus easily become detached.The Korean automaker reported the measure to the Land Ministry last week and plans to start the recall from Oct. 31. The recall covers around 24,000 units of 2015-2016 Sonata including h

The seventh generation of the BMW 5 series (BMW)The new seventh generation of the BMW 5 series sedan highlights a high-tech driving assistance system, a step closer to autonomous driving technologies, the automaker said on Sunday. The German auto giant said the new sedan’s driving assistance system features a stereo camera, which constantly monitors the car surroundings with radar and an ultrasonic sensor. The new sedan also has a lane control assistant function to allow the car to head off the

Apple’s iPhone 7 and LG Electronics’ V20 have taken a sizable portion of the Korean smartphone market since their recent launches, which came on the heels of Samsung’s production halt of the Galaxy Note 7.The market is expected to see a continuous inflow of undecided customers as Samsung Electronics plans to urge remaining Note 7 owners to change their fire-prone devices.Since the iPhone 7 was first rolled out on Friday, around 62,000 consumers changed their telecom operators, according to the K

South Korean tech company Suncore said Thursday that Prince Khaled bin al-Waleed, the son of Saudi Arabian business magnate al-Waleed bin Talal, has become the largest shareholder of the company in its regulatory filing.Suncore said Prince al-Waleed has invested around $10 million in the company to take a 5.6 percent stake. The prince’s father, Saudi Arabian business tycoon al-Waleed bin Talal, is a member of the Saudi royal family, Citigroup’s largest individual shareholder and chief of Saudi c

Information Technology solutions provider Samsung SDS launched a new mobile banking solution to target the global financial market, the company said Wednesday. The company launched the Mobile Voice Recording Solution, or MVRS, which enables mobile devices to automatically record and manage phone calls between customers and call-center employees as well as customers and financial company employees.(Samsung SDS)The new solution is expected to make it more convenient for customers, who have to make

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo said Tuesday that he would seek a fresh start in China, the world’s largest and fast-growing car market, moving away from market concerns over the fate of South Korea’s largest carmaker.At a ceremony to mark the completion of the firm’s new plant in Cangzhou, the chairman said that Hyundai would take this as an opportunity to jump forward, stressing that the factory is built to exclusively target Chinese consumers with high-quality vehicles.Hyundai Mot

Samsung Electronics said Monday it had begun the mass production of 10-nanometer application processors for the first time in the global semiconductor industry, and would apply them into new mobile devices to be launched early next year.The South Korean tech giant said its 10-nanometer APs had 27 percent better performance, saved 40 percent more energy and increased the number of chips per wafer 30 percent compared to the 14-nanometer APs that made up the previous generation. Samsung will be unv