South Korea ranked No. 1 in the level of development in its information and communications technologies in 2016, the second year in a row that it topped the global ranking, a government report showed Thursday.According to the annual report by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the International Telecommunications Union said Asia's fourth-largest economy ranked first among 175 countries surveyed last year. (Yonhap)After losing its top spot to Denmark in 2015 for the first time since 2010, South Kor

Clever connectivity, innovation added to home appliances showcased at IFA 2017

BERLIN -- LG Electronics announced Wednesday its partnership with Bang & Olufsen to supply the company’s organic light-emitting diode televisions to the Danish audio system maker. Under the partnership, LG will start supplying OLED TVs to B&O from September. The audio company will add its sound technologies to the TVs to maximize their sound combined with their OLED displays’ ultimate color representation. The Danish firm will present the LG OLED TV applied with B&O sound technologies at the upc

The government said Wednesday that it plans to provide more free wireless Internet access zones across the country in an effort to become a "Wifi mecca." According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, a panel comprised of some 25 officials from the government, academia and telecom industry will discuss ways to build more free WiFi zones, giving citizens better access to the Internet for their portable devices. (Yonhap)The ministry said it plans to add such zones in various public locations, inclu

The number of Internet and smartphone banking service users in South Korea rose 1.4 percent in the second quarter from three months earlier, central bank data showed Wednesday, in the latest sign that a growing number of people do their banking on their computers or smartphones without visiting bank branches.In the three months that ended June 30, the number of Internet and smartphone banking service users came to 127.05 million, compared with 125.32 million in the first quarter, according to th

Company workers use about three social networking services on average, mostly to get and share information, but a majority of them feel exhausted by unwanted information and marketing that come with the services, a poll showed Wednesday.Hunet, a provider of career education, surveyed 821 people working for firms with questions about their use of SNS. Results showed that 69.4 percent are tired out from the services, mainly from having to see needless information (27.7 percent) or from excessive a

Samsung Electronics has returned with the much-awaited Note brand complete with smarter S Pen stylus, a bigger display and a bolstered camera. The latest Galaxy Note 8, released to keep its rival iPhone 8 in check, features the largest-ever screen on a Note device that fits in one hand, the brand’s signature S Pen stylus and its new dual camera. “We appreciate the relentless passion of the Note community. They’ve been a constant inspiration to us and we designed the new Note for them,” Koh Dong-

Global game company Nexon is ramping up efforts to provide young students in South Korea who are aspiring to become programmers with more opportunities to learn how to code programs.As part of its social contribution program, Nexon has begun holding a coding competition for interested students, titled “NYPC.” Using the games it services, Nexon presents participants with relatively easy cases to solve, with open answers. Launched last year, the event aims give interested students a chance to expe

Samsung Display Co. said Tuesday the recently unveiled Galaxy Note 8, won top marks from US industry tracker DisplayMate, for its stunning performance and high-end features.The display producer for Samsung Electronics Co. said the phablet became the first smartphone to win "Excellent A+" grade from DisplayMate."The Galaxy Note 8 is the latest in a new generation of OLED Smartphones that have a Full Screen Display design like the Galaxy S8. It has many major and important state-of-the-art display

Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday it agreed to join US 20th Century Fox and Japan-based Panasonic Corp. to expand the ecosystem for the High Dynamic Range 10 Plus technology.The South Korean tech giant said the companies agreed to establish an alliance for the HDR 10 Plus technology.The agreement is aimed at inducing more TV producers and movie productions to join the ecosystem for the new technology, Samsung said. (YonhapThe HDR technology allows screens to deliver vivid displays by optimizin

Samsung Electronics will invest a total of $7 billion in its semiconductor business in China for the next three years, the company said in a regulatory filing Monday.The latest investment announcement in the China business is the biggest in five years since the Korean chipmaker established the plant in Xian in 2012. Samsung’s Xian facilities produce 3-D NAND flash memory chips whose demand is rapidly rising as mobile device manufacturers want chips with greater data storage space and faster proc

The global market for mobile phone displays is expected to overtake that of TVs screens for the first time this year due to changes in consumer demand, data by IHS Markit showed.Mobile panels market grew by an average 17 percent annually in the past seven years. Sales of TV screens declined about 8 percent per year during that same period.The rise in mobile phone displays is directly linked to the emergence of smartphones and the advances being made in ultra-high definition panels that have appe

Local mobile carriers tone down protest as government raises pressure

LG Electronics Inc. said Monday its flagship smartphone, the V30, will be equipped with premium audio-related features in addition to high-end camera functions.Through previous teasers, LG Electronics has been emphasizing camera-related features, hinting the 6-inch LG V30 will come with minimized bezels and a top-notch dual-lens camera with an F1.6 aperture.On Monday, the South Korean tech giant added the LG V30 will be equipped with the Hi-Fi Digital to Analog Converter for improved audio. LG E

The organizer of the Internationale Funkausstellung in Berlin plans to expand security measures amid rising concerns over terrorism, industry sources said Monday.The move comes as around 240,000 visitors are expected to visit the venue of the global tech fair, which kicks off for a six-day run on Sept. 1. South Korea's tech giants, including Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., will participate in the annual event.Sources said while there have been no signs of possible attacks at the