South Korea’s tech industry is again on high alert as the resurgence of the novel coronavirus across the country has hit companies’ major research and manufacturing facilities, according to industry sources on Sunday. Samsung Electronics, the world’s biggest semiconductor supplier, reported on Saturday that two employees who work for the 16 and 17 chip fabrication lines in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, were confirmed to be COVID-19 patients. The two lines are Samsung&rsquo

A series of complaints surfaced on online tech forums Wednesday about defects in the latest Galaxy Note 20 Ultra edition. Over 100 complaints were posted on the Samsung Smartphone Community, one of the largest online communities for Galaxy device users, suggesting that customers who preordered the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra have detected flaws in their phones. The first major issue was raised Tuesday, when it was revealed that some of the camera lenses may have a condensation problem. Multiple

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it will support three generations of Android operating system upgrades on millions of its Galaxy devices, which includes a plan to start offering Android 11 on some Galaxy phones within the year. Samsung is planning to make a range of its mobile offerings, from Galaxy S, Note, Z, A to the Tab series, eligible for the Android upgrades. The Galaxy S20 lineup that is currently powered by Android 10 will get support for three OS upgrades starting with Android 11

The Galaxy Note 20 series unveiled about two weeks ago is definitely the easiest option for those approaching the end of their two-year mobile contracts with existing phones. But despite initial market expectations, the hype appears to have died down quickly for the latest models, partly due to reduced subsidies for new phone purchases. More significantly, potential consumers have pointed to “less-than-expected” innovations for the pricey device, which is to cost at least $999.

Samsung Electronics’ said Friday its overseas research centers on artificial intelligence are gaining global recognition, winning top prizes in multiple competitions. The company’s researchers in Poland and China have won a highly prestigious global AI competition, winning global attention in speech translation research. Samsung R&D Institute Poland and Samsung R&D Institute China-Beijing competed with some of the world’s top universities and research labs to win f

US electronics giant Whirpool has filed a petition to extend the current safeguard against South Korean competitors Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics over their exports of washing machines to the US market, according to Korean industry sources Thursday. However, the Korean companies expect the safeguard to have little impact on their current businesses even if the restriction is extended. The import restriction took effect in 2018, as Whirpool requested a 16 percent tariff on up to 1.2

Hope it isn’t too late to express my thanks to Roy Jakobs, head of personal health business of Royal Philips. I was more than lucky to meet the Philips executive at the Consumer Electronics Show 2020 in Las Vegas held in January, obviously when the world was yet naïve to the COVID-19 pandemic. During an interview with Jakobs, I was impressed by his shiny smile during our conversation about the importance of oral hygiene and related Philips products. Naturally, I decided to try o

Expectations are running high for the groundbreaking for Samsung  Electronics’ third memory plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, amid continuing uncertainties due to the protracted COVID-19 pandemic. According to news reports on Monday, Samsung seems to be preparing to break ground for the so-called “P3” line in Pyeongtaek, which will be even larger than the existing P1 and P2 lines. Samsung had invested over 30 trillion won ($25.29 billion) in each of the two. So

LG Electronics said Sunday it is expanding its robot business to the hotel industry by introducing a delivery robot. Two delivery robots are in a pilot phase at Mayfield Hotel in northwestern Seoul this month, which will deliver food from an indoor kitchen to an outdoor terrace and carry back dishes to the kitchen. It is the first time the tech giant is unveiling a robot that is capable of driving on its own in an outdoor environment. After testing the outdoor robot at Mayfield, the comp

The first online Galaxy Unpacked late Wednesday wrapped up with an accumulated 56 million viewers from around the world, successfully debuting the latest Galaxy products and showing the world the new path Samsung will be heading in the post-COVID-19 era. According to Samsung on Thursday, the total number of viewers who watched the unpacking event streamed live from Korea via various online channels stood at 56 million. On YouTube, the number of concurrent viewers hit 450,000 during the 100

GOYANG, Gyeonggi Province  -- Defining the current COVID-19 pandemic crisis as the “new normal,” Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest smartphone provider, unveiled its second flagship model for the year Galaxy Note 20 and four new upgraded mobile gadgets during its first-ever online showcase event, streamed live from a studio in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday night. Held at the heavily guarded CJ ENM Studio in the planned new city of Ilsan, the noncontact ver

The Fair Trade Commission has postponed its decision on Apple’s corrective measures regarding its unfair practices in business with Korean mobile carriers, according to the antitrust watchdog on Tuesday. The FTC has been deliberating Apple’s consent order, applied on June 4 with the intention to close the case by taking self-corrective measures. “Due to the prolonging discussion on the details of the matter, the FTC has decided to put off the deadline for its decision, whic

Samsung Electronics said Monday it has clinched multiple supply deals in the UK, in an apparent move to push harder into the home interior and housing market. The South Korean tech giant recently inked a deal to supply 1,000 Air Dressers -- its wardrobe care machine -- with Lux Group. The British firm is a well-known interior design and construction company specializing in high-end mansions, and also manufactures home and dining room furniture. It is one of the major customers that Samsun

UK-based technology company Dyson has introduced two new cordless vacuum cleaners in South Korea, intent to test the marketability of the newest products with lower price tags here first. The two models are the Dyson Omni-glide and Dyson Digital Slim. The Dyson Omni-guide features an omnidirectional Fluffy cleaner head that allows users to suction dust particles in narrower spaces in corners or underneath furniture, offering greater flexibility than its predecessors. The Dyson Digital Sli

SK hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chip manufacturer, on Thursday reported a 205.3 percent on-year increase in its second-quarter operating profit, due to unusually high demand for server DRAMs amid the protracted COVID-19 impact. The consolidated revenue of the chipmaker stood at 8.61 trillion won ($7.2 billion) during the April-June period, up 33.4 percent on-year, while operating profit amounted to 1.95 trillion won and net profit was 1.26 trillion won. Its operating margin

Artificial intelligence solution startup MakinaRocks said Wednesday the company has completed the Series A round, winning a total of 12 billion won ($10 million) worth of funding from large South Korean businesses including LG and Hyundai Motor. MakinaRocks develops and provides solutions that can detect and prevent errors and defects during manufacturing processes based on deep learning and enhanced learning algorithms for companies that operate complex and large-scale manufacturing facilit

LG Electronics’ design-focused Velvet smartphone has become available in the United States, providing US consumers a new 5G device choice, according to the company on Wednesday. The 6.8-inch organic light-emitting diode screen phone with a triple rear camera module in its signature water drop design will retail for $599 via US mobile carrier AT&T first and through T-Mobile and Verizon later this summer. The retail price is viewed as lower than expected compared to 5G phones avail

Discussion and cooperation on future mobility technologies are seemingly picking up speed between South Korea’s two biggest conglomerates, Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor Group, raising expectations on tangible business partnerships on development of next-generation vehicles and automotive solutions. The company’s de facto leaders, Lee Jae-yong of Samsung and Chung Euisun of Hyundai Motor, met officially on Tuesday for the second time this year to discuss future mobility tec

Samsung Electronics has hinted it is planning to unveil its second edition of Galaxy Fold at the upcoming Unpacked event in August, according to a short teaser video uploaded on one of its social network channels. On a Twitter account run by Samsung’s UK office, a video clip featured a drop of rose gold paint transforming into a symmetrical shape assumed to be a butterfly. It also displayed the date of the Galaxy Unpacked event that falls on Aug. 5. The butterfly image previously sym

LG Electronics announced Friday that the company’s chief technology officer will join the IFA 2020 press conference as a speaker in September. Although the largest trade show for consumer electronics in Europe is to be held on a smaller scale than in previous years due to the protracted COVID-19 crisis, LG has decided to participate. LG CTO Park Il-pyung is expected to discuss how the South Korean company plans to offer new value to its customers in the era of the new normal, the firm