Sluggish iPhone X sales rumors are adversely affecting earnings forecasts for South Korean electronic parts suppliers, market watchers said Sunday.Local stock market and industry watchers said earnings estimates for chipmakers SK hynix Inc. and Samsung Display, as well as LG Display and LG Innotek, have been downgraded for this year.They said the concerns come as sales figures for the latest iteration of Apple Inc.'s flagship smartphone may not be meeting initial expectations. The iPhone X with

Intel will host an international “StarCraft II” tournament in South Korea’s eastern county of PyeongChang in the lead up to the 2018 Winter Olympics that kicks off in the region next month.The Intel Extreme Masters PyeongChang tournament for Blizzard Entertainment’s real-time strategy game will take place Feb. 5-7 at the Olympic Village in PyeongChang. Intel has yet to confirm a venue. A total of 18 StarCraft II players who have passed the online qualifiers compete in the main tournament for a c

Consumption of rice increased notably last year, particularly on the popularity of ready-made meals in South Korea, data from Statistics Korea showed.From Nov. 1, 2016 to Oct. 31, 2017, 114,341 metric tons of rice was consumed, up 14.1 percent on-year. Rice tallied here included that used in various food products such as kimbap, prepackaged meals and instant rice sold at convenience stores and large retailers. Rice used at restaurants, however, was tallied separately.Meanwhile, rice consumption

Korea beats Japan for first time in electronics production

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

BUSAN -- LG Uplus, one of the largest mobile carriers in South Korea, announced an outline of its upcoming drone managing service and showed off key technologies at a press showcase held at Bexco in Busan, Thursday.In a bid to take the lead in the fast-evolving drone business, LG Uplus said it has developed a full-fledged drone management service, dubbed the “Uplus smart drone total service package.” The package consists of four key services, including customized drones, a management service, cl

Global content streaming service Netflix is ready to step up as a platform that introduces South Korean TV dramas and films to new audiences worldwide as well as help Korea push the boundaries of its content genres, Netflix executives said at a press conference in Seoul on Thursday.　Netflix, which officially launched here in January 2016, offers an eclectic pool of films and TV shows from around the world, including those from Korea, to some 117 million subscribers in 190 countries worldwide. 　T

South Korea's top game publisher Nexon Korea Co. on Thursday rolled out its highly anticipated massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) "Durango: Wild Land."The open world sandbox MMORPG -- based in a primitive universe dominated by dinosaurs -- is officially available on both Android and iOS, the company said. (Nexon)The company said the game drew more than 2.5 million preorders in the five-week preregistration period.Players are placed in the world of Durango due to an unknown a

In most parts of the world, Google Maps is the go-to source for travelers in foreign countries, as it offers easy public transportation guidance as well as directions for driving, biking and walking.　However, South Korea is one of the few countries in the world where Google Maps is not offered in its full capacity, with critical features like driving navigation unavailable due to security restrictions.South Korea, still technically at war with North Korea, prohibits companies from exporting the

Google said Wednesday it has rolled out an audiobook service supported by artificial intelligence (AI) in 45 countries, including South Korea. 　The service is initially available in Korean, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Russian and Japanese, the company said in a press release.　“It is meaningful that South Korea was included among the first batch for the launch as the country‘s audiobook market is small compared to countries that speak English,” Kwon Jae-hee, a Google of

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

ICT Ministry sets aside W1.42tr for basic science, W10b for AI, W4.2b for blockchain

Samsung Electronics has launched the official smartphone application of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic & Paralympic Games. This screenshot shows the home screen of the official 2018 PyeongChang Olympic smartphone app, as of Jan. 24.As of Wednesday, the app is available via Galaxy Apps, Google Play Store and iOS App Store for free. Information on game schedules, major venues, cultural events, transportation and more are currently included on the app.When the Winter Games kick off, the app will addi

Experts advise Korean firms to strongly confront the Trump decision

President Moon Jae-in called for swift measures to remove unnecessary and excessive regulations Monday, calling them a major hurdle to a new start for the country's economy, and for new and innovative firms. "Regulation reform is an urgent task at least to provide a chance for our young people to freely make challenges. They may fail while making a challenge, but they will have an outcome only if they can at least try," the president said in a special meeting held at his office Cheong Wa Dae to