BUSAN -- ITU Telecom World on Thursday wrapped up its four days of exchanges on opportunities and risks stemming from the emergence of new technologies. Thousands of ICT ministers, government officials and business leaders visited the southern port city of Busan to attend the event.The participants of the UN-backed ICT conference also discussed ways to address challenges in the global ICT segment, including the digital divide and the adoption of standards for next-generation networks.At this yea

Chipmaker keeps increasing R&D investment amid boom

BUSAN — Artificial intelligence has recently begun to step closer into our lives — primarily in the form of voice-activated smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Home or digital assistant software built into smartphones like Apple’s Siri or Samsung’s Bixby.　These devices all claim to be the so-called “chatbots,” but their ability to converse mostly stops at providing answers to one-ended inquiries or carrying out specific tasks commanded by humans.Seeking to create a more personable AI,

Japanese tech giant Toshiba Corp. said Thursday it signed off on a deal to sell its memory business to a global consortium which includes South Korea's SK hynix Inc.Toshiba earlier decided to start negotiations on selling its memory business to the consortium including participants from South Korea, the United States and Japan. The companies also include Bain Capital, Apple Inc. and Dell Inc., and a handful of other tech firms.The deal is estimated to be worth 2 trillion yen ($17.6 billion).Tosh

Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Telecom Co. on Thursday demonstrated the communication between fourth-generation and fifth-generation networks for the first time in the industry, the companies said.The South Korean tech giant and the country's No. 1 mobile carrier said they successfully made communications between the long-term evolution network that utilizes 2.6 GHz frequency band, with that of the 5G network that uses the 28 GHz and 3.5 GHz frequency band.Samsung said the communication was made

Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday its Galaxy smartphones advertisement won seven awards from the 58th Clio Awards held in New York.The South Korean tech giant said its advertisement dubbed "Ostrich" won one gold in short film and four silvers in directing, cinematography, animation and visual effects. Samsung also won two bronzes for editing and music. (Yonhap)Samsung Electronics said the Clio Awards can be considered one of the world's top three advertising competitions, along with the Cann

Among the smaller companies that joined this week’s ITU Telecom World 2017 in Busan was a Korean tech firm, Samwon FA, which showcased its intelligent transport systems solutions and technologies.Samwon FA is a producer of automatic fare collection systems for buses and urban rail transit as well as electronic payment solutions for retailers and parking lots.Samwon FA exhibits its intelligent transport systems technologies at ITU Telecom World 2017, which took place in Busan from Monday to Thurs

Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday its QLED TVs won positive reviews from US industry trackers as it pushes to promote the cutting edge technology. Samsung Electronics said US-based DisplayMate and Forbes praised its QLED TVs for delivering satisfactory all-round performance.The QLED TVs make use of so-called quantum-dot technology, which are semiconductor nanocrystals that Samsung says improve display brightness, contrast and power efficiency. The feature compares well to the OLED TVs promot

With its expertise in connecting people through telecommunications, connectivity has been at the core of other aspects of businesses promoted and operated by KT. A notable move is the healthcare sector, with KT taking its healthcare solutions to far-flung regions like Africa, Russia and Kazakhstan. By introducing connectivity between healthcare centers and remote regions, KT‘s healthcare solutions are aimed at bringing patients in rural areas into the mainstream healthcare system. KT exhibits it

Mobile carrier set to launch pilot 5G services in February in time for Pyeongchang Olympics

Technological advancements centering on artificial intelligence and robotics will inevitably halve jobs, but at the same time, create new task-specific jobs, said Lee Ho-soo, president of ICT strategy at SK Telecom, on Tuesday. At the Korea CQ Forum of Corea Image Communication Institute at the Danish Ambassador’s residence in northern Seoul, Lee, who is a veteran of AI technologies, delivered a special lecture on latest technological advances toward the “fourth industrial revolution” and their

In preparation for the “fourth industrial revolution,” LG Electronics announced a mid-term plan to build smart production lines for major kitchen appliances in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, with the goals of maximizing efficiency and improving product quality. By 2022, the company will spend a total of 600 billion won ($527 million) on renovating outdated production lines in plant No. 1 of the Changwon complex, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul.The renewed lines will produce kitchen

BUSAN – From a smart air quality monitoring device to a solution that allows a gigabit internet speed with traditional telephone wires, telecommunications giant KT has showcased its solutions and products running on its high-speed network infrastructure at the ITU Telecom World, a UN-backed annual ICT conference held through Thursday in Busan.The Korean telecom firm has been participating in the annual ICT conference every year since 2015, and this year’s event is especially important for the fi

BUSAN -- Korea needs to have a strategic roadmap for the fifth-generation network as the commercial launch of the 5G network is no longer subject to question but will soon become a reality, according to ITU’s standardization chief.The next-generation mobile network, 5G, will serve as a key role in future data-oriented technologies, including artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, connected cars, virtual reality and the smart home. “We have so far been too focused on demonstrating the p

South Korea's leading tech giants -- Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., -- said Wednesday they will invest a combined 10.5 trillion won ($9.21 billion) by 2020 to develop advanced technology for cell phone and home appliances.Kim Jong-ho, the head of electronic appliances at Samsung Electronics and Song Dae-hyun, home appliance division chief at LG Electronics, announced their domestic investment plan in a meeting with Paik Un-gyu, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, along with