Key trends for the local and global IT industry this year are likely to be mobility, social, cloud and big data, a report projected Wednesday.Under such trends, multi-screen mobile platforms, business apps and the cloud computing business are among some sectors that are likely to gain traction in 2013, according to the report by the local unit of the Microsoft Corp.The report highlighted the growing importance of multi-screen devices, in which people interchange smartphones and PCs, and multiple

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― Apple Inc. will start selling the iPad mini in China this week in a bid to consolidate its dominance in China’s growing tablet PC market, company officials said Wednesday.The latest iPad will be released in China Friday, Apple officials said. The release comes one week after Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, made a visit to the world’s most populous country. He met government officials, business partners, Apple employees and customers during his visit, reports said. The release co

Prices of dynamic random access memory chips have jumped more than 10 percent in recent weeks amid concern that the key parts for personal computers could be in short supply, data showed Wednesday.The fixed price of DDR3 2 Gigabit 256Mx8 1333MHz came to $0.92 in the first half of January, up 10.84 percent from $0.83 in the second half of December, according to the data by market researcher DRAMeXchange.The chip was priced at $4.34 when it was launched in September 2010. Its price plunged to a re

South Korean stocks closed almost flat Wednesday as investors took to the sidelines amid bleak corporate earnings, analysts said. The local currency lost ground against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) inched up 1.94 points, or 0.1 percent to finish at 1,985.68. Trading volume was moderate at 372.1 million shares worth 2.94 trillion won (US$2.77 billion) with decliners outpacing gainers 416 to 365. "It's hard to say corporate earnings have been satisfactor

South Korean stocks traded 0.3 percent higher late Wednesday morning, led by gains in utilities and construction firms, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 5.96 points to 1,989.70 as of 11:40 a.m.State-run electricity provider Korea Electric Power Corp. climbed more than 2 percent and No. 1 builder Hyundai Engineering & Construction jumped nearly 3 percent. In contrast, tech firms lost ground, with top-cap Samsung Electronics slipping 0.07 percent.The loca

South Korea will launch its Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) between Jan. 30 and Feb. 8, a government committee said Wednesday.It will be the country's third attempt to send off the space rocket, also known as Naro, after its two earlier attempts in 2009 and 2010 ended in failures."After reviewing technical issues, the Launch Preparation Committee has decided to push for the third launch of Naro between Jan. 30 and Feb. 8 with the final launch date to be decided later, depending on weather

FTC, FSC report ways to support SMEs, credit delinquents

The Fair Trade Commission is looking into five-star hotel wedding halls’ tie-in sales practices, in which they make the bride and groom pay for flowers and other expenses costing millions of won.The probe began late last year amid complaints that hotels charge exorbitant wedding fees and coerce customers into buying expensive meals, stage decor and flowers.The antitrust watchdog secured data from the 21 five-star hotels in Seoul last week for the first investigation into unfair trade practices b