The global automotive chip market is predicted to grow 22 percent this year due to the rising price and demand, according to the US semiconductor research firm. Samsung Electronics, which is the world’s largest memory chip maker but has low presence in the automotive chip market, is also tapping deeper into the lucrative industry in response to the growing demand. YonhapIC Insights said in the latest report that the automotive integrated circuit market -- microcontrollers, analog integrated circ

Startup Safeware announced on May 22 that it will release a protective airbag system equipped with a wearable, Internet of Things-enabled safety platform in the second half of 2017. The system is currently under development. After the new product undergoes IoT application tests and trial runs, the company expects to release it sometime at the end of the year. A test version of the product will be featured at the World IT Show, hosted by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, starting

Startup Stratio announced on May 18 that its portable spectrometer LinkSquare, which is currently being sold on Kickstarter, was selected as a “Project We Love” on May 15 by Kickstarter staff. Stratio’s Kickstarter campaign will be held until June 8.LinkSquare is a portable spectrometer that provides information on the test subject’s color and molecular composition by measuring its reactions to both visible and near-infrared radiation. The product currently featured on Kickstarter is targeted at

Hankook NFC, headed by Richard Hwang, announced on May 17 that it attracted an investment of 3 billion won ($2.6 million) from Japan’s Miroku Jyoho Service and signed a service partnership agreement with the company on May 16. Hankook NFC is a startup company that has developed a mobile payment and authentication system based on NFC (near-field communication) technology. This investment is the first foreign investment that Hankook NFC has attracted so far. Last year, the company secured domestic

South Korea needs to step up efforts to develop connected car technology and its standardization in order to not lag behind global competition in the fast growing industry, a report suggested Sunday."The competitiveness in the technology standardization will lead to market domination in the connected car industry just like the case of smartphones," the report released by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade said.The report said the market size of the connected cars will reach 112

 The upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 8 smartphone in late summer will allegedly have a 6.3-inch bezel-less screen, similar to the Galaxy S8 model, a video leak showed Friday. In a nine-second video posted on China’s Weibo, a front panel of what is claimed to be Samsung’s next flagship smartphone was revealed, raising assumptions that it is highly likely to adopt the company’s Infinity Display that drastically reduces the area of the bezel width. The Note 8 will be 0.6 inch larger than its predecess

South Korea's exports of rechargeable batteries reached a fresh record high in 2016 on rising global demand for smart devices and electric vehicles, ctoms data showed Friday.Outbound shipments of accumulators, such as lithium-ion batteries amounted to a record $4.4 billion in 2016, up 11.6 percent from $3.94 billion a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Ctoms Service. (Yonhap)For the first three months of the year, secondary battery exports continued to post solid gains, soaring 22.

Kakao submitted Thursday a set of documents for listing eligibility review on South Korea‘s main bourse, according to the Korea Exchange.Kakao, the second-largest firm listed on the second-tier Kosdaq, will go through an abridged listing procedure. All formerly Kosdaq-listed firms undergo screening designed to verify the business stability for 20 days at maximum, whereas it normally takes 45 days for a market operator to review the eligibility.  (Kakao)The operator of mobile messenger KakaoTalk

Standard & Poor’s said Thursday it raised its credit outlook for South Korea’s LG Electronics from the current BBB Negative to BBB Stable, considering the company’s improving profitability. (Yonhap)The international credit rating agency said LG’s strategy for the premium electronics market worked well in the first quarter, and its profitability is forecast to rise above market averages for the next two years. The agency also added that LG is expected to reduce losses in the smartphone business b

More than 500 ICT firms from both home and abroad showcased their latest innovative technology and industry-leading products at South Korea's largest consumer electronics and technology trade fair on Thursday.The World IT Show, the 10th of its kind, kicked off at the Convention and Exhibition Center in southern Seoul on Wednesday for a four-day run. The event is hosted by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning. (Yonhap)The participating firms include Samsung Electronics Co., the world'

The Constitutional Court on Thursday upheld a law that restricts subsidies on the purchase of smartphones and other mobile devices. The regulation, which sets the legal limit of subsidies at 330,000 won ($295), was adopted to bring transparency and stability to the market long distorted by subsidies as telecom carriers vie for customers.  Kim Yi-su (center), nominee for chief justice of the Constitutional Court, and other justices are seated at the courthouse in Seoul on May 25, 2017, ahead of d

GAME ON -- Models showcase LG Electronics‘ Gaming Notebook, LG Ultra Wide Gaming Monitor and LG HDR 4K Monitor at the 2017 PlayX4 running from Thursday through Sunday at Kintex in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province. (LG Electronics)

SK holdings C&C, the internet technology solutions unit of South Korea’s SK Group, has set out to develop a new artificial intelligence software based on IBM’s Watson that will be able to prevent doctors from overprescribing antibiotics.SK holdings C&C said Thursday that it has signed a partnership with the Korea University Medical Center to co-develop the Aibril Antibiotics Advisor and commercialize the system by the end of 2018.Aibril is a Korean-language version of IBM’s AI-powered cognitive

Facebook Korea said Thursday that it would comply with South Korea’s regulations over local network usage costs if new rules take effect, following clashes with a local telecom provider over sharing the costs of maintaining the quality and speed of its data traffic-heavy services.“Facebook’s fundamental policy and philosophy is to sincerely comply with the local regulations of all of the countries that we operate in,” a Facebook Korea official told The Korea Herald. “Should the Korean government

Samsung Electronics said Thursday that it is not easy to fool the Galaxy S8’s iris recognition, hitting back at a claim by a group of German hackers who said they had cracked the phone’s iris scanner.“Although the one-minute video (that shows the sensor being fooled with a dummy eye) appears simple, it is hard to see that happening in real life,” a Samsung spokesperson told The Korea Herald. “You need a camera that can capture infrared light (used in the video), which is no longer available in t