DAEJEON -- In 2000, professor Yoo Hoi-jun of the Korea Advanced Institute of Technology predicted that cellphone screens would grow larger and users would play games on the phones. To prove his prophesy, he confidently showcased demos of mobile chips to tech titans like Samsung, Nvidia and Sony at the time, though to lukewarm responses. In 2006, Yoo came up with even more advanced argument: artificial intelligence would be the future. The expert on electrical and electronics engineering was insp

With another record-breaking performance in the third quarter, South Korea’s second largest chipmaker SK hynix is stepping closer to witnessing the largest-ever annual profit of around 10 trillion won ($8.9 billion) this year. According to earnings announced Thursday, the chipmaking unit of SK Group, posted 8.1 trillion won in sales and 3.74 trillion won in operating profit during the July to September period. The third quarter revenue and operating profit climbed 21 percent and 23 percent from

This is the first installment of a series of articles delving into new technologies Samsung Electronics is betting on for its new source of growth. -- Ed. Artificial intelligence is an immediate challenge for South Korean electronics behemoth Samsung Electronics, which is still lacking AI specialists and relevant technologies in its transition from a hardware-oriented technological focus to software. Vice Chairman Kwon Oh-hyun’s departure from the company next year sends Samsung the serious mess

BUSAN -- Oh Seong-mok, president of the network business at KT, South Korea’s second-largest mobile carrier by revenue, announced his ambition to bring the company’s latest solutions for small vessels to the global market Wednesday. At a press conference held at Bexco in Busan, Oh introduced the company’s newest marine telecommunications solutions for small vessels at Marine Week 2017, an international maritime exhibition being held from Tuesday through Friday. “We have embarked on the developme

LG Electronics’ Bluetooth speaker features levitating technology that enables the speaker portion to float in the air above the woofer station, allowing better sound quality in 360 degrees, the company said Tuesday. LG launched the product in Korea at the price of 369,000 won ($327), following its initial launch in the UK in August. (LG Electronics)

South Korean mobile carriers SK Telecom and KT are planning to showcase their efforts related to the fifth-generation network at an international forum in an ongoing competition to commercialize the network as an industry first, according to the two companies Tuesday. SKT will unveil its research achievements in the commercialization of the 5G network and core technologies at the Next Generation Mobile Networks conference set to kick off in Seattle on Wednesday. The NGMN is an international orga

South Korean tech behemoth Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it has developed a new testing program for automotive light-emitting diode components in partnership with TUV SUD, a global technical services provider of quality, safety and sustainability solutions. The two companies held a ceremony to unveil the testing program at the headquarters of TUV SUD Korea in Seoul. The Samsung-TUV SUD agreement marks the first time in the industry that an automotive LED component manufacturer has partnered w

South Korea’s SK Telecom said Monday it has developed Wi-Fi technology that is capable of transmitting data at a maximum speed of 4.8 Gbps and an application processor. At the company’s office in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, SKT said it had succeeded in demonstrating the highest Wi-Fi speed that is about four times faster than the current Wi-Fi used on smartphones. SKT’s upcoming Wi-Fi technology will use four antennas and a 160 MHz frequency bandwidth, double the current Wi-Fi service, which wil

삼성전자가 중국 칭화 소재의 딥러닝 스타트업 디파이테크(DeePhi Tech)에 최근 ‘상당한 규모’의 투자를 단행했다. 　22일 업계에 따르면 삼성은 지난 8월경 디파이테크에 투자를 제안, 파트너십을 맺은 것으로 확인됐다. 　한 업계관계자는 “삼성이 중국 ‘디파이’에 한국 개발자들이 듣고 놀랄 정도의 규모로 투자를 제안했다”고 코리아헤럴드에 전했다. 　그는 “중국이 정부 차원에서 자국 AI 스타트업을 육성하려고 하기 때문에 그 회사의 기술력을 본다기 보다 정치적인 이유에서도 큰 규모의 투자였던 것 같다”고 덧붙였다. 　실제로 디파이테크 홈페이지에는 삼성을 비롯해 중국 팹리스 반도체업체인 미디어텍(Mediatek), 캘리포니아 산 호세에 본사를 둔 팹리스 기업 자일링스(Xilinx), 아마존 계열의 클라우드 서비스업체 아마존웹서비스(Amazon Web Services) 등이 파트너사로 명시돼 있다. 　디파이테크는 2016년 중국 칭화대와 미국 스탠퍼드대 출신 네 명이 공동창업한 딥러

Memory chip giant Samsung Electronics has invested in a Chinese artificial intelligence technology developer as part of its efforts to catch up in the intensifying global race for AI platforms and devices, according to sources Sunday. In August, Samsung made a significant investment in DeePhi Tech, a Tsinghua-based startup with deep learning technologies, a source told The Korea Herald. “Samsung made quite a large investment in DeePhi Tech, which a group of Korean developers who met the startup’

Samsung Electronics CEO Kwon Oh-hyun’s resignation will inevitably impact the semiconductor business of the world’s largest memory chip provider in the short run, industry watchers said at a semiconductor tradeshow Tuesday. “It is unfortunate, since he has done a good job to build the company,” said Len Jelinek, director and chief analyst at IHS Markit. “His resignation would impact the company in the short term, but I don’t think Samsung will fall from the No. 1 position to (say) No.5.” He also

(Samsung Electronics Newsroom)The Samsung Developer Conference scheduled for this Wednesday in San Francisco is drawing more attention than ever from industry observers with questions about how the hardware-oriented tech titan will break through current technological limits in the face of a sudden leadership change. This will be also the first major global event for the tech giant since its Vice Chairman Kwon Oh-hyun announced his surprise resignation Friday, citing the firm’s need to break from

KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu (right) and SpaceX Chairman Elon Musk hold hands after a talk on co-launching the Mugunghwa 5A satellite later this month at the headquarters of SpaceX in Hawthorne, California on Thursday. KT announced Sunday the Korean mobile carrier and the US spacecraft builder will further cooperate on advancing autonomous driving and energy-related technologies. (KT)

Google has adopted a fingerprint recognition module exclusively developed by CrucialTec based in South Korea for its upcoming Pixel 2 smartphone series, according to sources on Sunday. “CrucialTec is preparing to supply its fingerprint solution Biometric TrackPad for Google’s Pixel 2 series,” a source told The Korea Herald. “The Korean company has been a major supplier for past Google phones from the Nexus series to the predecessor Pixel 1.”CrucialTec is a biometric solution developer that was t

Lawmakers urged the Ministry of Science and ICT to fully implement a blacklist system for mobile devices as a measure to further cut mobile bills during a parliamentary audit on the ministry Thursday, Ruling and opposition lawmakers discussed the reasons behind the heavy burden of mobile costs for households and called for government measures to ease the burden by expanding the blacklist system for mobile devices during the audit at Gwacheon Government Complex in Gyeonggi Province.  (Yonhap)Rep.

Ahead of third-quarter earnings announcements later this month, South Korean memory chipmakers reached new highs in their stock value Wednesday on expectations of the companies’ largest profits due to the continuing memory chip boom. Samsung Electronics, the world’s biggest memory chip provider, surpassed 2.7 million won ($2,377.6) per share around noon, due to a strong buying spree by foreign investors, two days before the company was set to release preliminary earnings. It was the first time f

The average price of a smartphone sold in South Korea is higher compared to other countries resulting in Koreans suffering from high mobile costs, a lawmaker argued Tuesday, citing a Gartner survey on premium smartphones sold around the world.Rep. Byun Jae-ill of the ruling Minjoo Party of Korea said installment payments for handsets have taken up a growing portion of households’ monthly mobile costs. According to a recent survey by Gartner, the average selling price of handsets stood at $514 in

LG Electronics announced Tuesday it posted 82.2 percent growth in operating profit for the third quarter of this year compared to a year earlier. According to the smartphone and home appliance maker’s preliminary earnings, it recorded a 15.2 percent increase to reach 15.23 trillion won ($ 13.4 billion) in consolidated sales during the July-September period compared to the same period last year. Its operating profit climbed 82.2 percent to reach 516.1 billion won during the period.  Models introd

Following the lifting of an upper cap on smartphone subsidies provided by mobile carriers effective as of Monday, the amount of grants offered by the firms and handset makers have started to rise, although just gradually, according to the telecom industry. The South Korean government has decided to remove the upper limit of 330,000 won ($289) for the subsidies as part of the efforts to lessen the telecommunication cost burden on consumers and to make subsidies’ packages more transparent. The lim

Like other fast-growing tech companies in China rapidly chasing and surpassing global leaders, Ecovacs of China is confident that it can provide robot vacuum cleaners that better suit households here than those by strong Korean competitors Samsung and LG.“According to our study, Samsung and LG products are bigger and louder than ours, which are more perfect for European and US households than Asian,” said David Qian, president of the international business unit at Ecovacs, expressing his confide