Samsung SDS, an information and communications technology solutions company under South Korea’s Samsung Group, on Thursday hosted an inaugural developer’s conference to share its know-how in next-generation technologies including artificial intelligence and blockchain.　In its first edition, “Techtonic 2018” brought together some 1,000 IT developers, college students and industry officials with master’s and doctorate degrees in IT development to discuss successful cases of business innovation usi

Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday that sales of a new gradient color edition of its Galaxy S9 smartphone will start this week, marking the first time such patterns have been applied on a flagship device.The company said the Polaris-blue edition of the Galaxy S9 combines silver and blue, providing users with a unique design.  Samsung Galaxy S9 Polaris-blue edition (Samsung Electronics via Yonhap)The new Galaxy S9 adds to the existing portfolio of black, blue, purple, red, and gold colors.The

South Korea’s leading mobile operator SK Telecom on Wednesday opened one of its first commercial fifth-generation base stations in the central area of Seoul, showing confidence in the planned commercialization of the world’s first 5G services in March. SKT introduced a 24-kilogram rectangular active antenna unit for the 3.5-gigahertz frequency band -- 1 meter in height and 23 centimeters in width -- installed at the rooftop of a small hotel building in Myeong-dong, one of the most crowded areas

South Korea’s biggest video game convention kicks off in Busan on Thursday, showcasing a wide range of new PC, mobile and virtual reality games being developed by major game companies here.G-Star 2018 features nearly 3,000 booths and brings together more than 650 game companies from 30 countries. US-based Epic Games, behind the hit survival shooting game “Fortnite Battle Royale” is the event’s main sponsor this year and the first foreign game company to host the expo.Korean game developers and p

Samsung Electronics Co. on Wednesday unveiled a new mobile application processor optimized for artificial intelligence features that can be used on high-end smartphones and tablet PCs.A mobile AP combines central, graphics and video processing units, as well as a modem, into one and is used to run operating systems and applications. Accordingly, it is often referred to as the brain of mobile devices. Samsung Electronics Co.`s Exynos 9 (9820) mobile application processor (Yonhap)The South Korean

Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday it will hold a developer conference in South Korea next week as part of its ongoing efforts to expand the ecosystem of its artificial intelligence platform.The company said it will host the Bixby Developer Day in Seoul on Tuesday. Samsung is expected to share the latest developments related to Bixby announced during the Samsung Developer Conference held in the United States last week.(Yonhap)Samsung opened the software development kit for Bixby during the S

VMware, a US-based company that leads the world in virtualization and cloud-computing software, has partnered with South Korean telecommunications firm KT as part of efforts to address growing demand among client companies for “hybrid clouds,” or a multi-cloud environment.　VMware announced Tuesday that it plans to launch a computing solution called “VMware on KT Cloud” in Korea within this month. It will make VMware’s solutions compatible with KT’s public cloud services. The collaborative soluti

Researchers of North Korea's top university have developed a voice-controlled smart home system and other advanced information technology devices and displayed them at a public exhibition in Pyongyang, the North's official newspaper reported Tuesday. A photo released by the KCNA on Nov. 8, 2018, shows the 29th National Exhibition of IT Achievements that opened at Pyongyang`s Sci-Tech Complex on the previous day. (Yonhap)In a field report on the 29th National Exhibition of IT Achievements that op

Jo Seong-jin, vice chairman and CEO of LG Electronics, will visit Silicon Valley Wednesday to meet with experts in artificial intelligence, robotics, big data and autonomous driving and recruit some of the talents for the company’s new businesses, the tech giant said Tuesday. Jo left Monday for New Jersey, where LG Electronics’ US office is located, before flying to San Francisco. On Wednesday, the CEO is scheduled to meet scholars and experts on AI, big data, cloud computing, self-driving and t

Uber Korea has named Brandon Son, former chief of Expedia Korea, as the new general manager of its mobility division. Son will oversee the management and diversification of the US ride-hailing giant’s mobility services in South Korea, the company said. Son’s duties as general manager formally began Monday, according to Uber Korea.“We are very happy to appoint Brandon Son as our mobility head in in Korea,” said Amit Jain, Uber’s general manager for the Asia-Pacific region, in a statement.“We expe

SK Telink Co., a mobile virtual network operator, on Tuesday released a new smartphone that can selectively block mobile data to help users concentrate on their work or study.The company said the so-called study phone is designed to help students avoid the distractions presented by ordinary smartphones and focus more on their studies. MVNOs refer to mobile service providers that rent networks from mobile carriers, offering more affordable data plans and devices. (Yonhap)Users can choose from thr

SK hynix Inc. said Monday it developed second-generation 10-nano class process technology for DDR4 DRAM with better productivity and improved energy efficiency.South Korea's No. 2 chipmaker said it completed the development of 8Gigabits DDR4 DRAM applied with the new production technology. (Yonhap)The second-generation process boasts 20 percent improved productivity while consuming 15 percent less energy, the company said.The company said it plans to start mass production through the new technol

Samsung Electronics Co. plans to launch its first foldable smartphone in March, along with a fifth-generation network-powered Galaxy S10, industry sources said Monday. According to the sources, the South Korean tech giant plans to unveil the flagship Galaxy S10 smartphone in February, followed by the presumed foldable Galaxy F and another edition of the Galaxy S10 that runs on the 5G network in March. (Yonhap)The outlook came after Samsung Electronics President Koh Dong-jin, who heads the mobile

German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz will take on more Korean suppliers in its mission of navigating future mobility, particularly those in the fields of telematics, battery cells and automation of smart factories, said a Daimler executive in Seoul last week. Calling the carmaker’s R&D unit in Seoul an Asian hub for the German carmaker’s search of future mobility, Markus Schafer, Mercedes-Benz’s top manufacturing executive, told Korean reporters that the company is open to Korean talent and will

Global information and communication technology companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon may soon be required to pay value-added tax on a wider range of their earnings in South Korea, as lawmakers have introduced a new bill to bring changes on this end.　Led by Rep. Park Sun-sook of the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party, a group of 15 Korean lawmakers have proposed amending the Value-Added Tax Act to newly require foreign ICT firms to pay VAT on digital products such as search advertisement