Cyworld, a South Korean first-generation social networking site that once dominated the country’s cyberspace, announced Monday the launch of a news curation app called “Que,” seeking to become Korea’s leading online news platform.The Korean social networking service firm’s news curation app consists of two main sections: the curation service NewsQ and Q-feed, a social media platform tailored to sharing news, according to Cyworld. 　NewsQ is a personalized news recommendation service that uses art

German carmaker Volkswagen’s recent announcement that it will be supplied with electric vehicle batteries from Samsung SDI and LG Chem through to 2025 in Europe and China is boosting market expectations for growth in the battery industry.Last week, Volkswagen announced in Berlin that it had selected Korean battery makers Samsung SDI and LG Chem as well as China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. to supply batteries for its upcoming electric vehicles at its European and Chinese plants, with s

Samsung Electronics and Apple, two tech companies that were beleaguered by product scandals in 2017, showed very different performances in global corporate reputation rankings for 2018.Samsung Electronics jumped 44 spots to land at No. 26 in the annual Global RepTrak 100 released by the Reputation Institute, while Apple plummeted 38 steps to land at No. 58. Both companies suffered major setbacks in 2017. Samsung Electronics grappled with the fallout from safety concerns surrounding its battery f

A highly anticipated vacuum TV ad featuring Korea’s women’s Olympic curling team began airing Saturday, according to LG Electronics on Sunday.The commercial uses the Winter Olympic sport as a motif to promote its Cord Zero A9, R9 and T9 vacuums. Starting with a cut of team skip Kim Eun-jung’s piercing stare, the team maneuvers LG Electronics’ vacuums to clean a house the way they maneuver brooms and stones on the ice.The Korean women’s curling team ultimately lost the gold to Sweden during the P

Kakao Taxi, South Korea’s most widely used taxi-hailing mobile app, recently announced the introduction of a “paid option” that would allow users to call up taxis faster or immediately by paying an extra fee on top of the ride fare.　The new feature, set to be rolled out by as early as late March, has been drawing mixed reactions from local users, despite Kakao’s reassurance that it will retain the current taxi-hailing service option offered free of charge.　Extra fees for faster pickup　Kakao Mobi

South Korea’s top mobile carrier SK Telecom is preparing for another significant acquisition, buying security firm ADT Caps from private equity firm Carlyle Group as part of its strategy to strengthen its internet of things business. According to industry sources Friday, SKT is taking serious moves to acquire a 100 percent stake in ADT Caps at an as of yet undecided price in partnership with Australia’s Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets. (Yonhap)Washington-based Carlyle Group has reported

Today, the global medical technology sector is at a crossroads. Despite a decline in health care spending and a sharp growth in the number of firms pursuing medtech, demand for products and services that promise the best patient outcomes and satisfaction is higher than ever.　In this age, developing a product alone cannot guarantee the success of a medtech company. Firms must instead focus on building, or integrating themselves into, an end-to-end solution that guarantees the best, most economic

Woowa Brothers Corp., a South Korean startup that operates the country's most popular food delivery app, "Baedal Minjok," said Thursday that it is currently developing an autonomous delivery robot.The self-driving robot -- named "Dilly" -- is being co-built by a team of researchers from Korea University and is expected to be commercialized within the next few years, the company said. "We have completed the development of a trial product of Dilly and our goal is to commercialize it in next two or

Yonsei University’s research center focuses on human machine interaction, user experience

The Dayou Group has no plans to merge its household appliance affiliate Dayou Winia with its newly acquired affiliate Daewoo, according to a top executive Wednesday.“We are benchmarking the operating strategy of Hyundai and Kia Motors,” said Cho Sang-ho, vice president at Dayou Group, at a press conference Wednesday at The Plaza Hotel Seoul. Executives from Dayou Group speak to the press at The Plaza Hotel Seoul on Wednesday. From left: Ahn Byoung-deok, head of strategic planning at Daewoo Elect

Samsung SDI said Wednesday that it introduced its latest high-capacity battery cell at a trade show dedicated to energy storage systems in Germany. Samsung SDI‘s booth at Energy Storage Europe 2018 in Dusseldorf, Germany (Samsung SDI)The company‘s exhibition at the three-day Energy Storage Europe 2018 featured the company’s latest ESS battery cell with a capacity of 111 ampere-hours, upgraded from 94 ampere-hours in its predecessor. The 111-ampere-hour battery cell is the same size as its predec

Industry watchers raise concerns that trend may distort companies’ net earnings

LG Electronics Inc. said Wednesday it signed an agreement with South Korean skeleton gold medalist Yun Sung-bin to promote its latest LG V30S ThinQ smartphone, an upgraded version of the V30 smartphone released last year. Under the project, the South Korean company said it will unveil a new advertisement on major social media where Yun will promote the smartphone on Thursday. The agreement marks the extension of the sponsorship contract signed between LG and Yun in 2015.  South Korean skeleton g

Models introduce Wind-Free air conditioners from Samsung Electronics at the Mostra Convegno Expocomfort 2018, a biannual trade exhibition in Italy dedicated to residential and industrial installations and air and energy solutions. Samsung Electronics will be presenting products targeting the European air conditioner market at the show, which runs from Tuesday to Friday. (Samsung Electronics)

Korea’s two largest electronics companies are set to hold shareholders meetings this month, with industry watchers keeping a close eye on Samsung’s plans to confirm its first-ever stock split.Samsung Electronics will hold a shareholders meeting on March 23 to discuss its 50-to-1 stock split, which was announced in January. “The company had received numerous requests for a stock split based on the view that a high share price was a hindrance to potential investors. The request increased in freque