SK Telecom, the No.1 mobile carrier by subscriber numbers in South Korea, announced Friday it will fully own SK Telink, a total ICT solution providing subsidiary, widely seen as a move by the telecom giant to turn itself into a mid-level holdings firm.At a board meeting on Thursday, SKT’s board of directors made a decision to acquire a 14.14 percent stake in Telink, in addition to the 85.86 percent already owned by the telecom business, for 270,583 won ($236.2) per share. Telink, at the same tim

South Korean tech leaders SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics announced Thursday their completion of the world’s first end-to-end network interworking trial of fourth- and fifth-generation networks, which will allow consumers to enjoy immersive media content while driving in the early stages of the commercialization of 5G. The trial took place in the Euljiro area of central Seoul, where SKT is headquartered. A 360-degree virtual reality video clip was streamed live between a user in a traveling c

South Korean memory chipmaker SK hynix announced Thursday it will invest more than 200 billion won to build a research and development center for its emerging cash cow NAND in the company’s headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. When completed in September 2019, dispersed R&D crews across the Icheon campus will move in to the new center, including researchers and developers of the company’s flagship 3-D NAND chips and future technologies. The new R&D center will break ground next month on ab

Since March 2015, when KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu first mentioned 5G, or the fifth-generation network, the South Korean mobile carrier has been making efforts to prepare for the establishment of the world’s first 5G network services. The company’s efforts are close to bearing fruit at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics set to take place in Gangwon Province in February. Taking advantage of being an official telecom partner for the PyeongChang Olympics, KT has been working to showcase the world

Technological advancements centering on artificial intelligence and robotics will inevitably halve jobs, but at the same time, create new task-specific jobs, said Lee Ho-soo, president of ICT strategy at SK Telecom, on Tuesday. At the Korea CQ Forum of Corea Image Communication Institute at the Danish Ambassador’s residence in northern Seoul, Lee, who is a veteran of AI technologies, delivered a special lecture on latest technological advances toward the “fourth industrial revolution” and their

In preparation for the “fourth industrial revolution,” LG Electronics announced a mid-term plan to build smart production lines for major kitchen appliances in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, with the goals of maximizing efficiency and improving product quality. By 2022, the company will spend a total of 600 billion won ($527 million) on renovating outdated production lines in plant No. 1 of the Changwon complex, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul.The renewed lines will produce kitchen

Samsung Electronics has started to mass produce a premium memory product for cars, rapidly expanding into the automobile industry, the company announced Tuesday. The South Korean memory chip giant said it would provide the industry’s first 128 gigabyte embedded universal flash storage solution for vehicles, which will enable connections between cars and mobile devices, providing advanced data transfer speeds and robust data reliability. Consisting of 128 GB and 64 GB versions, the new eUFS solut

A new, urgent task of Samsung, the world’s unrivalled memory chip provider, seems to be developing chips for artificial intelligence applications on devices, including the company’s AI program Bixby on smartphones and connected home appliances, an emerging cash cow sought by many chip ventures around the world.Though belatedly compared to its major rivals such as Qualcomm, the South Korean tech behemoth has embarked on research and development of so-called “AI chips” with a goal of commercializa

LG Electronics on Monday announced its surprise entry into the growing home beauty market by launching four skin care devices.By combining the company’s hardware manufacturing capabilities and the cosmetics business of affiliated LG Household & Healthcare, the tech titan said it aims to expand into the beauty device market. Branded as Pra.L, LG’s home beauty appliance lineup consists of the Derma LED Mask, the Total Lift-up Care, the Galvanic Ion Booster and the Dual-Motion Cleanser.  Models int

To address the challenges to meet the pressing requirements of next-generation data processing and storage systems, Samsung has introduced new Vertical-NAND memory solutions and technology to its global customers. At this year’s Flash Memory Summit held in Santa Clara, California, in August, Samsung showcased solutions to address next-generation data processing challenges centered around the company’s latest V-NAND technology and an array of solid state drives. The company hopes SSDs will be at

GWANGJU – Robots in a 2-meter-tall box-shape equipment swiftly but precisely place six plastic lenses that are about a fourth of a fingernail in size on an image sensor. On top of the six-layer lenses, the Crystal Clear glass lens is added to let in more light to present better picture quality. This is a common sight at LG Innotek‘s camera module plant in Gwangju, where LG Electronics‘ first F1.6 dual camera module, which has been adopted by the company‘s latest flagship V30 smartphone, is produ

Some find reasons for South Korea’s competitiveness in the memory chip industry in Korean people’s genetic traits: diligence, meticulousness, tenacity. But Nam Ki-man, vice chairman of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, takes a different approach.A radial shape of the chipmaking ecosystem is what has made Korea a powerhouse for memory chips, Nam explained. “Like the shape of the Avenue des Champs-Elysees in Paris, Korean semiconductor businesses are forming a radial shape of business

After three-month-long negotiations, Japanese conglomerate Toshiba selected a global consortium led by US private equity group Bain Capital to sell its memory business, according to news reports on Wednesday. The consortium includes South Korean chipmaker SK hynix and tech giant Apple.For SK hynix, the world’s fifth NAND flash maker, the group’s acquisition of the Toshiba unit is expected to help raise competitiveness of the chip business. Toshiba is the second largest NAND provider in the world

South Korean chipmakers and display manufacturers vowed to invest a combined 51.9 trillion won ($45.8 billion) by 2024 to help stimulate the economy and create jobs, in correspondence to their anticipated record sales forecasts this year at a meeting with the country’s Industry Minister on Monday. Eleven chiefs of semiconductor and display businesses -- including Kwon Oh-hyun, vice chairman and CEO of the device solutions business of Samsung Electronics, Park Sung-woo, chairman and CEO of SK hyn

Samsung Electronics on Friday released an upgraded GPS-based fitness band and virtual reality headset in the South Korean market. The two had previously been unveiled at the IFA 2017 convention earlier this month. The company said it would start rolling out the fitness band Gear Fit2 Pro with newly added swimming functions in partnership with global sports brands at 229,000 won ($202) for a limited 1,000 units with Bluetooth earphones as part of a promotion through Sept. 22. The Gear Fit2 Pro is

Starting this month, South Korean mobile carrier KT will begin establishing the fifth-generation network in major parts of PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, accelerating its preparations for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, the company said Friday. KT signed an agreement with Korea Expressway Corp. on the establishment of the 5G network on major roads and facilities in PyeongChang, which will enable visitors to enjoy seamless telecom services on the road.  Officials of KT and Korea Expressway Corpora

A recent upbeat atmosphere in the Korean smartphone market peaked Thursday, as LG Electronics kicked off preorders for its latest flagship V30 smartphone in competition with Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8. This is the first time for LG to throw a preorder event for the V series smartphone, which has been read by market watchers as the company’s renewed confidence in the newest product. Preorders for the LG phones will be available for one week until Wednesday through the country’s three big mobile carr

The world’s No. 1 chip and handset maker, Samsung has embarked on a new autonomous driving business by announcing the creation of a new fund Wednesday. The South Korean technology giant established a $300 million fund -- Samsung Automotive Innovation Fund -- that will exclusively focus on connected car and autonomous driving technologies, the company said in a press release Thursday.The autonomous technologies include smart sensors, machine vision, artificial intelligence, high-performance compu

Japan’s Toshiba is leaning back toward a global consortium that includes South Korea’s SK hynix in the bidding for its memory chip business, the company announced Wednesday. Toshiba’s board of directors on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding with the consortium led by US private equity group Bain Capital and technology giant Apple, Development Bank of Japan and Korean chipmaker SK hynix.“Toshiba’s board of directors has determined to continue negotiations with the Bain-led consortium

South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom will export its artificial intelligence network solutions to India’s Bharti Airtel, marking the company’s biggest foreign project, it announced Wednesday. The two telecoms signed a strategic partnership to transfer AI technologies and solutions in San Francisco, where heads of global mobile carriers have gathered to attend the Mobile World Congress America. Under the partnership, SKT will apply its AI network solution to the nationwide telecommunication net