Over the past seven decades, what has prevented feuds among the owner family members of LG Group, South Korea’s fourth-biggest conglomerate, has been the outdated yet strict adherence to the tradition that only the chairman’s eldest son takes over the management.Considered “LG norm,” the same type of arrangement was long anticipated before the death of late Chairman Koo Bon-moo, the third generation of the founding family, on May 20.But whether the transition will be as smooth as in the precedin

Mobile carrier KT said Friday that it had built an internet of things-based electric bicycle in partnership with bicycle maker Recon Hi-Tech. Dubbed “Air i,” the electric bicycle uses IoT technologies to reduce the risk of loss or theft. KT applied its IoT technologies and smart mobility platform to the bicycle in order to connect it to the company’s LTE-M network, allowing users to keep track of the bicycle’s real-time positions and remotely control operations. A model sits on Air i, an IoT-bas

Professor Lee Se-hee of the University of Colorado delivers a presentation on solid-state batteries at a forum hosted by Samsung Electronics on Friday. (Samsung Electronics)Samsung Electronics focused on solid-state batteries as the next generation of lithium-ion batteries at an open forum on related technologies, it said Friday. The South Korean tech titan held the event to keep track of the latest progress in development of the new batteries and share industry cases. The forum held at Seoul Na

South Korea’s leading battery maker Samsung SDI unveiled its newest high-voltage home energy storage system battery module at a tradeshow in Germany, vowing to accelerate its penetration into the growing home ESS market, the company said Thursday. The latest residential ESS battery module revealed at the Electrical Energy Storage Europe 2018 in Munich features doubled energy density from last year’s products through the use of newly applied cell and module design technologies.  A visitor takes a

South Korea’s KT will provide its artificial intelligence solutions for Ambassador Hotel Group, helping the global hotel chain to provide AI-based services, the company said Thursday. The Korean mobile carrier and the hotel group signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on building hotels with AI services in the country, starting with Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun & Residences that is slated for opening in July. Under the memorandum, the two companies are planning to connect the h

Affiliates of South Korea’s No. 1 automaker Hyundai Motor Group swept the top three positions in an initial quality study conducted by the US institute J.D. Power, outstripping German and Japanese rivals, the auto group said Thursday. , Genesis ranked highest in overall initial quality with a score of 68, followed by Kia in second place with 72 and Hyundai in third place with 74. The industry average was 93 this year. Initial quality is measured by the number of problems experienced per 100 vehi

South Korea’s leading automaker Hyundai Motor Group said Wednesday it has formed a strategic partnership with Germany’s Audi of Volkswagen Group, in a bid to boost an emerging market for fuel cell electric vehicles worldwide. The two announced a multiyear patent cross-licensing agreement, covering a broad range of FCEVs components and technologies, with an ultimate goal of developing FCEVs together, according to the announcement. The partnership between the first producer of hydrogen-powered veh

SK Telecom’s board of directors decided to split money-losing subsidiary SK Planet into an e-commerce and a data tech firm as part of strategies to boost the online shopping business, it said Tuesday. The parent company also said it has helped finance 500 billion won ($448 million) for SK Planet’s e-commerce platform 11Street with a goal of developing the platform as the Korean version of Amazon. The mobile carrier attracted the investment from various investors including private equity H&Q Kore

South Korea’s three mobile operators are speeding up their plans to commercialize fifth-generation network services after the completion of the auction for 5G frequency bands. According to the plans, the mobile carriers are preparing to select equipment vendors in the third quarter and start building 5G stations in the fourth quarter. “Some are expecting the vendor selection to be completed by early July,” said an industry official. “Now with the frequency auction being completed, each company w

South Korean mobile carriers on Monday secured frequency spectrums for the upcoming fifth-generation network in an auction at a total of 3.6 trillion won ($3.26 billion), the Ministry of Science and ICT said. The auction ended on its second day, and the total winning price was higher than the government’s asking price of 3.3 trillion won.  An official at the Ministry of Science and ICT speaks at a press conference about the result of 5th-generation network auction at the Government Complex Gwach

Samsung Electronics is logging sturdy business growth in the global markets, but is also facing equally increasing risks overseas causing top officials to become cautious, according to the industry on Monday. According to a report on sustainable growth released by Samsung on Monday, the tech titan raised nearly 90 percent of its total sales outside of the country last year, continuing to expanding its global presence. The South Korean firm raised 208 trillion won ($188 billion) in overseas marke

BUNDANG, Gyeonggi Province – An auction for frequency spectrums for the upcoming fifth-generation telecom services kicked off on Friday at the heavily guarded headquarters of Telecommunications Technology Association in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, with participation from executives of the country’s three mobile carriers determined to secure high-quality and efficient frequencies. At around 8:15 a.m., KT’s senior vice president Kim Soon-yong appeared in the lobby of the TTA building vowing to sec

Samsung NEXT, which focuses on entrepreneurs based in Mountain View, California, said Thursday it has launched a new fund to help enable startups with early-stage artificial intelligence technologies to develop their capabilities further. Q Fund will provide Seed and Series A financing to startups solving AI problems, as well as those using AI to solve computer science problems. Differing from traditional venture capital approaches, Q Fund will have the flexibility to invest in non-obvious, forw

Samsung Electronics said Thursday it will expand production and usage of renewable energy at its workplaces in South Korea and a further plan for global expansion by 2020 as part of its ongoing efforts to demonstrate its commitment to environmental responsibility. In Korea, the tech titan will install approximately 42,000 square meters of solar panels in its headquarters dubbed “Samsung Digital City” in Suwon this year. The company will add about 21,000 square meters of solar arrays and geotherm

The Galaxy Note 9, another premium flagship product by South Korean tech titan Samsung Electronics, is likely to be unveiled on Aug. 9, two weeks earlier than its eighth edition, with some changes in its exterior, according to the industry on Wednesday. Amid the circulating rumors about the upcoming Samsung phone’s debut in early August, an industry source told The Korea Herald that Aug. 9 is a likely date for the ninth edition of the Galaxy Note series. Some other rumors said the unpacked event

MakinaRocks, a fresh startup spun out from South Korea’s No.1 mobile carrier SK Telecom, has a bold ambition as its name: To shake the manufacturing world with machine intelligence.  “We are applying artificial intelligence to the high-tech manufacturing sector with a mission to make manufacturing more productive by harnessing the power of data and AI,” Andre. S. Yoon, a co-founder of MakinaRocks told The Korea Herald on Tuesday.   Among many in the broad manufacturing industry, the Korean start

LG Innotek, an electric parts manufacturing subsidiary of LG Electronics, said Tuesday it has completed a facility for mass production of nanometer-class thermoelectric chips for a variety of applications from home appliances to vehicles and vessels. The company has established a production line for the product in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, and will embark on mass production next year, it said. Thermoelectric chips are known as innovative semiconductors that produce power by heating and co

Mobile carrier SK Telecom said Monday it invested 10 billion won ($9.3 million) in MakeUs, a mobile media company, as part of efforts to strengthen its music platform business. MakeUs is a startup that creates mobile content about topics ranging from music, food and traveling to beauty, for Facebook and YouTube. It is followed by more than 330 million users on social network sites. The firm runs a music channel called “Dingo Music” which is gaining popularity for providing music videos adjusted

South Korean tech titan Samsung Electronics is accelerating its research and development efforts on artificial intelligence capabilities abroad by hiring renowned experts and top talents, according to the industry on Friday. At three newly opened AI centers in Toronto, Cambridge, England, and Moscow last month, efforts are being made to secure top talents from the AI field to help lead the centers. In Toronto, the new center led by Larry Heck, senior vice president of Samsung Research America, i

A war has begun worldwide on plastics.For decades, polymers have been used to make human lives easy and more hygienic, but with single-use plastic items being blamed for killing species on the ocean and threatening ecosystems, global initiatives have been launched since last year by the United Nations to curb their use. But South Korea, one of the biggest producers and consumers of plastics in the world, has taken a little interest in curbing plastic pollution. Leaders have been pointing out a l