LG Group, South Korea's fourth-largest conglomerate, said Sunday it has formed a research consortium with global partners to discover high-performance materials with artificial intelligence (AI) and robot technologies. LG Science Park, the research and development (R&D) hub of LG Group in Seoul, joined hands with French energy firm Total S.A., Canada's McMaster University and the University of Toronto, and the National Research Council of Canada to launch the Alliance for AI-Accelerated Ma

Nikola, a startup on electric and fuel cell trucks, will adopt electric batteries co-developed by South Korea’s LG Chem and its US partner General Motors, according to industry sources on Friday. The Arizona-based motor company is expected to equip the Ultium battery made by LG Chem for the Badger electric pickup truck, slated for mass production in 2022. Expectation for the deal was high, as GM and Nikola recently announced their partnership on electric pickup trucks and fuel cell c

The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy launched a government-industry team on Thursday dedicated to developing next-generation semiconductors. The government will inject a total of 1 trillion won ($842.4 million) by 2029, starting this year. The ICT Ministry will provide 488 billion won and the Trade Industry will give 521 billion won. Those joining the state-led team this year include 103 local businesses, 32 universities and 12 research institutions.

New restriction’s reach extends to displays, 5G parts

As a Galaxy Z Flip user, the technological improvement of the Galaxy Z Fold2 looks to be short of jaw-dropping. But the 7.6-inch main screen, supported by the highly touted Hideaway Hinge and flexible ultrathin glass technologies, definitely felt different. When unfolded, the Galaxy Z Fold2 worked more like a tablet PC than a smartphone. It seemed to have come a long way since the first Galaxy Fold, since the Fold2 is almost bezel-less. With no interruption from a notch, except for a tiny

The initial volume of the Galaxy Z Fold2, the third foldable device by Samsung Electronics, is estimated to grow at least threefold from its predecessor, owing to positive market reaction, according to telecom industry sources Wednesday. Around 10,000 units of the Galaxy Z Fold2 will be allotted for the three mobile carriers in South Korea and independent stores, the sources say. Compared to the first Galaxy Fold edition, that marks three times the volume. “Samsung’s productio

The Ministry of Science and ICT on Tuesday provided advance notice of its ordinances under the revised Telecommunications Business Act, which includes clauses that will bind foreign platform operators like Netflix and YouTube to share costs in securing stable services. The revision, dubbed the ”Netflix law,“ passed the National Assembly in May after local network operators raised complaints over foreign platform operators being exempt from costs for operating, expanding and using

Education technology firm Yanadoo announced Tuesday that the company has recently secured investments worth 30 billion won ($25.2 million). Yanadoo, which merged with Kakao Kids to become a comprehensive education platform, is currently evaluated at 300 billion won, according to the company. Yanadoo previously offered online English programs, but started to add different education programs including ones related to health care after the merger. Yanadoo‘s sales in the first half this ye

LG U+ announced Tuesday that the company and its global partners had developed a new technology enabling smart devices to work without SIM cards. Joining LG U+ in the development of the universal integrated circuit card, or iUICC, were cellular chipset developer Sony Semiconductor Israel, local communication module maker NTmore and German digital security solutions provider Giesecke+Devrient. SIM cards are responsible for storing users’ personal information, which is needed to identify

  South Korea’s social media penetration rate has reached 87 percent, the third highest among nations around the globe, according to a local report Monday. South Korea’s social media penetration rate as of the first quarter this year was 80 percent higher than the global average of 49 percent, according to the latest report by DMC media and Digieco, an economic research institute affiliated with KT. The report, which quoted related data collected by We Are Social, added that

Samsung Electronics will supply 5G network equipment for Verizon, the world’s largest mobile carrier by revenue, through a deal worth 7.9 trillion won ($6.6 billion), according to the company’s regulatory filing Monday. The deal marks the biggest network equipment export for Korea, while officially signaling that Samsung has entered the US 5G market. According to the filing, Samsung will provide an array of 5G solutions including equipment for Verizon for the next five years.

South Korean battery makers LG Chem and SK Innovation are sparring again over an ongoing case regarding a violation of an electric battery patent. On Sunday, the companies each released statements on the status of their EV battery patent case being investigated by the US International Trade Commission. The case was filed by SK Innovation last September, following LG Chem’s filing of a trade secret misappropriation case against the company in April 2019. It was reported that LG Chem

Samsung to remain as largest smartphone vendor, while Huawei faces uncertainties under US ban

KakaoPage, an entertainment company specializing in online cartoons, web novels, film, and TV series, will expand its business overseas, according to the company’s announcement on Friday. KakaoPage will expand its investments in mergers and acquisitions to enter the market in the US, China and nations in Southeast Asia by 2022, KakaoPage CEO Lee Jin-soo said Thursday during a talk with Vivek Couto, an APOS organizer at Media Partners Asia. Lee‘s session was held as part of APOS

Naver announced that it would start recruiting new platform developers and engineers starting on Friday. The IT firm said it would hire more than 200 developers this year. The business units that Naver are recruiting for include IT infrastructure unit Naver Business Platform, workplace collaboration tool developer Works Mobile, Snapchat-like camera app developer Snow, online cartoon platform operator Naver Webtoon and online financial platform operator Naver Financial. Those eligible to apply