Rumors about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus peaked Tuesday due to a leaked image of rendering and a release date as well as a possible price range, about a month ahead of the smartphones’ debut. The upcoming Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus smartphones are expected to look similar to the previous S8 series phones as they are highly likely to come with the same curved display as their predecessors, featuring 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch Super AMOLED panels with QHD+ resolution and an 18.5:9 aspect rati

he South Korean government confirmed Monday its plan to develop smart cities over the next five years, choosing Sejong and Busan as test beds. The Presidential Committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution said it selected districts in the administrative hub city Sejong and port city of Busan as places to apply innovative technologies, including autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, smart energy management and virtual reality, in order to make them world-renowned smart cities by 2023. The

Bolstered by record-high profit last year, Posco Daewoo is on track to start new businesses eyeing on higher profitability, vowing to grow as a general operating company beyond trading. At an investors relations meeting held in Yeouido on Friday, Posco Daewoo CEO Kim Young-sang unveiled plans for structural changes in existing businesses and ways to create new values for the company. “We need some structural changes in accordance with changing external conditions for sustainable growth,” Kim sai

South Korea’s electronics industry ranked third in terms of production last year, while being the fifth-largest market in consumption, a report showed Friday. According to CEO Report by the Korea Electronics Association, the Korean electronics industry recorded $121.7 billion in production volume in 2017, growing 10.3 percent from the previous year. The growth propelled the country to become the third-largest producer of electronics in the world, trailing only China and the US and accounting for

Samsung Electronics said Thursday it has sent invitations for an event to mark the launch of its flagship Galaxy S9 smartphone to journalists and partners around the world. Samsung will showcase the Galaxy S9 at Fira Montjuic in Barcelona at 6 p.m. on Feb. 25, one day before the opening of the Mobile World Congress. (Yonhap)In the invitation, Samsung said, “If a picture is worth a thousand words, the latest member of the Galaxy family has a lot to say,” hinting that the upcoming device would hav

LG Electronics said Thursday it earned the greatest operating profit since 2009, owing to high sales of its premium home appliances. The company posted 61.4 trillion won ($57.8 billion) in consolidated sales for fiscal year 2017, while recording 2.47 trillion won in operating profits. It is the first time for the tech firm to exceed 60 trillion won in annual sales.  (LG Electronics)Compared to the previous year, sales rose 10.9 percent, while the operating profit surged 84.5 percent, the figures

Bolstered by its record-high net profit in 2017, South Korean memory chip maker SK hynix unveiled Thursday an investment plan worth over 10 trillion won ($9.4 billion) for this year, which will be mostly used for completing its new 3-D NAND plant. During a conference call held for its 2017 earnings, Lee Myung-young, vice president of SK hynix, said this year’s investment will be larger than the previous year’s 10.3 trillion won, with the completion of the M15 fabrication facility under construct

Korea Communications Commission voted to fine a total of 50.6 billion won ($47.3 million) on the country’s three mobile carriers for doling out illegal subsidies to attract new subscribers, the commission said Wednesday. The amount of the fines mark the largest since October 2014 when the government implemented a upper cap on subsidies that were excessively offered by the telecom firms and device manufacturers to attract more customers. The restriction, however, was abolished last September.  Lo

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced cutting mobile bills by an average of 18 percent and abolishing the uniformly used digital signature certificates system as major policy goals for this year at a government policy briefing session in Sejong on Wednesday. As the control tower for scientific research and development projects, the ministry said it will inject a total of 1.42 trillion won ($1.33 billion) for R&D of basic science this year, 10 billion won for artificial intelligence and 4.2 b

South Korean washing machine manufacturers on Tuesday strongly protested the US International Trade Commission’s decision to issue “safeguard” import restrictions on their products, which are harsher than the institute had previously recommended. Samsung said in an official statement that such restrictions will limit choices of US consumers, bringing a loss to the market. Samsung had until now remained silent about the possibility of the US ITC actually imposing additional tariffs on washer impo

The South Korean chip industry is tightening its monitoring of increasing protectionist moves by China and the US as they are faced with probes and suspicions of price collusion, according to the industry on Monday. “We are paying more heedful attention to news about accusations of patent infringements or price collision these days as such moves seem to be growing dramatically,” an industry official told The Korea Herald on the condition of anonymity. “However, such large companies like Samsung

Samsung Electronics has won a patent for a smartphone display design that has holes on the screen with a nearly full screen-to-body ratio, which could be adopted for the Galaxy Note 9 smartphone model, according to news reports Friday. Samsung filed a patent titled “Electronics apparatus having a hole area within screen and control method thereof,” on Thursday with the World Intellectual Property Organization, according to Armsterdam-based LetsGoDigitla that first spotted the filing. The company

LG Electronics may introduce an upgraded V30 smartphone with improved artificial intelligence features at the Mobile World Congress slated to open on Feb. 26, according to the industry Friday. Instead of a new model of its flagship G series, which used to be presented every February or March, LG is expected to announce new technologies and functions added to the V30 smartphone, which was launched last September. The new version could be named “V30+‘α’,” according to news reports.  Models show V3

South Korean washer manufacturers Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics on Thursday expressed dismay at US President Donald Trump’s latest remarks describing the Korean firms as “dumping washers into the US.” Trump’s comments came a few days after Samsung started operating its washing machine plant in South Carolina on Saturday, as part of its efforts to localize its products in the US amid an antidumping battle and tariff pressures.In an interview with Reuters, Trump said Wednesday, “South Kor

삼성전자가 인공지능(AI) 반도체 상용화에 한 발짝 다가간 것으로 보인다. 　　17일 업계에 따르면 삼성은 현재 서버용 인공지능 칩(Chip) 개발을 사실상 마무리했으며 모바일용은 올해 안에 출시 가능할 것으로 보인다. 　　인공지능 분야에 정통한 한 업계관계자는 “서버용 AI 칩은 설계 및 개발이 거의 완료된 것으로 보이며 모바일용으로는 하반기에 출시하는 스마트폰에 적용가능할 정도로 개발 중인 것으로 보인다”고 코리아헤럴드에 전했다. 　　삼성이 집중적으로 개발 중인 AI 칩은 최근 애플, 화웨이 등이 탑재해 화제가 된 뉴럴네트워크(Neural Network) 기반의 NPU(Neural Processing Unit)이다. 　　NPU는 인간의 뇌 신경망과 닮은 구조를 가진 프로세서로 반복된 머신러닝(기계학습)에 최적화된 회로 구조로 되어 있다. NPU가 스마트폰 AP에 탑재되면 학습을 통해 영상, 이미지, 음성 인식 성능을 한 단계 높일 수 있다. 　　업계관계자는 “삼성이 AI칩 개발

South Korean tech titan Samsung Electronics has nearly completed its development of neural processing units, or “AI chips,” to help boost capabilities of artificial intelligence software for servers and mobile devices, according to sources Wednesday.“Samsung is almost done with the development of AI chips for servers, which is expected to be commercialized for server firms, according to Samsung insiders,” a source with expertise in AI told The Korea Herald. “For mobile devices, Samsung has alrea

South Korea’s leading mobile carrier SK Telecom is on track to acquire the factory automation technology firm Toptec to seek synergy with its telecom and semiconductor businesses, according to the industry Tuesday. Despite a denial by Toptec in its regulatory filing early Tuesday, an official at SK Holdings -- the de facto control tower of new investment and business projects of all SK affiliates -- told The Korea Herald that the telecom firm is close to making a final decision on the acquisitio

　SK텔레콤이 특수목적용 기계 제조업체 톱텍을 인수하는 방안을 최종 검토 중인 것으로 확인됐다. 톱텍은 스마트팩토리(공장자동화) 기술을 보유한 업체이다. 　　16일 업계에 따르면 SK텔레콤의 톱텍 지분 매입과 관련해 지주사인 SK홀딩스가 막바지 단계에서 내부 조율하고 있다. SK텔레콤은 또 인수여부 등 최종 결정에 대해 공시할 계획이다. 　지주사의 한 관계자는 “현재 검토 중인 사안으로 알고 있다“며 “오늘(이날)까지 내부적으로 결정이 나올 것”이라고 <코리아헤럴드>에 밝혔다. 　　최근 언론 보도에 따르면 SK텔레콤이 현재 톱텍 대주주와 협상을 진행 중이며 이르면 이번주 양해각서(MOU)를 교환할 것으로 알려졌다. 이에 대해 SK텔레콤과 SK홀딩스, SK그룹 측은 입장표명을 보류한 바 있다. 　　앞선 15일 한국거래소 코스닥시장본부는 톱텍에 최대주주 지분매각 추진설의 사실 여부와 구체적인 내용에 대해 조회공시를 요구했다. 톱텍은 16일 오전 인수설에 관해 “현재까지 결정된 바가 없다

Jo Seong-jin, vice chairman and CEO of LG Electronics, has ordered a revision of the company’s upcoming premium phone, temporarily called the “G7,” further delaying its launch to April. According to a company official who asked for anonymity, the G7 smartphone team of the company’s mobile communications business was told to halt recent work related to development of the newest phone, and to review the new product from scratch. “Right after the vice chairman made the announcement at the Consumer

Samsung Electronics announced Sunday it has kicked off commercial production of its first US-based home appliance manufacturing facility in Newberry County, South Carolina, a move that hopes to reduce the burden of possible punitive tariffs by the US trade authority. The company held a ceremony in Newberry to celebrate the official launch of the first US factory Friday. The event was attended by Samsung’s consumer electronics division President Kim Hyun-suk, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster an