KT and LG Uplus, the second and third largest mobile carriers in South Korea, on Wednesday announced that the two mobile carriers will join hands for a music content platform as part of efforts to enhance their Internet of Things and artificial intelligence businesses. LG Uplus decided to purchase a 15 percent stake, or about 7.38 million shares, in KT Music, an operator of online music streaming service Genie, for 26.7 billion won  ($23 million) at a board meeting. With the acquisition, LG Uplu

South Korea unveiled Tuesday a plan to invest 514.1 billion won ($447.4 million) to jumpstart nano technology development this year.The plan came as seven ministries including the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, three government-affiliated organizations and 11 state-backed research institutions mapped out budget plans to the National Science and Technology Commission. About 84 percent of the budget, 430 billion won, will be used to support research and development in nano technolog

Byda has signed a memorandum of understanding with a Kyrgyzstan government institution to supply its traffic enforcement system, the company announced Wednesday.Byda is a startup headed by Kim Byeong-seong, that produces intelligent traffic enforcement radar systems that are equipped with high-frequency sensors and real-time signal processing technology.  Byda’s traffic radar equipment (Byda)As opposed to existing traffic radar systems, which only provide data on speed and distance, the radar sy

Four Grit announced Wednesday that it has began conducting an open beta of Beusable, a service that conducts quantitative analyses on the UX (user experience) of internet users. Four Grit, a startup headed by Park Tae-joon, developed and operates a service that provides UX-related big data to internet and mobile device users in the form of visual quantitative data. With staff made up largely of former Naver user interface developers, Four Grit currently receives support for marketing and other a

Samsung Electronics Co. on Wednesday launched a new line-up of its high-tech televisions using quantum dot technology, as it seeks to strengthen its market share in the global premium TV market. Quantum dot TVs offer better picture quality and cheaper manufacturing costs than organic light-emitting diode TVs.Samsung unveiled the 55-inch and 65-inch ultra-high-definition quantum dot TVs at the annual Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year. At a global launch event for the premium TVs in Pari

Samsung SDI said it showcased a new lineup of its ESS solutions at the Energy Storage Europe 2017 event held from Tuesday in Dusseldorf, Germany.During the exhibition, the Korean battery maker unveiled its new ESS products, high capacity E2 and high-power P3 models. The E2 model is a high-capacity ESS battery that substantially increases the number of cells integrated in a container. The company said it dramatically raised the intensity of space in the ESS container by upgrading its module desig

The government unveiled its research and development plan for next year on Tuesday to secure a new growth strategy to cope with the fast-paced industrial transformation going forward.Under the road map crafted by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, the government will increase R&D productivity by securing critical intelligence information technologies that characterize the so-called fourth industrial revolution.The plan was finalized after getting input from relevant government age

South Korea's science ministry said Tuesday that it will spend 514.1 billion won ($447.8 million) this year on developing core nanotechnology know-how to improve the competitiveness of the country's industrial sector.The 2017 spending plan is roughly on par with the 518.1 billion won earmarked in 2016 and aims to develop key technologies that can be applied in various industrial areas, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said.Scientists experiment with nanotechnology in a lab in Nor

PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province – Approximately 180 kilometers east of Seoul, PyeongChang, in Gangwon Province, is preparing itself to become a base camp for the country’s upcoming fifth-generation wireless network system. Despite the mountainous region’s disorderly altitudes ranging from 800 meters to over 1,000 meters, the host city for the 2018 Winter Olympics is expected to be the first area to experience the 5G network before its commercialization in 2019. As an official Olympics sponsor, Kor

The US top network equipment and security solution provider Cisco will help globalize promising Korean technologies and services with financial support, said Cho Bum-coo, president of Cisco Korea. “There are a handful of intriguing solutions and services developed by Korean firms, which I am considering proposing to the Cisco headquarters,” Cho said in an interview with The Korea Herald. “Cisco is very keen in making investments, and it is my job to attract as much as possible to the Korean mark

South Korea ranked No. 1 for the 12th consecutive quarter for the world’s fastest internet connection speed, data showed Tuesday.According to Akamai Korea, a branch of US-based content delivery network and cloud services provider, South Korea’s average broadband adoption rate reached 26.1 megabits per second in the fourth quarter of 2016.  (Herald DB)South Korea was followed by Norway at 23.6 Mbps, Sweden at 22.8 Mbps, Hong Kong at 21.9 Mbps and Switzerland at 21.2 Mbps. South Korea was the only

South Korean tech firms successfully showcased their advanced technology at the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain, earlier this month, industry and government officials said Tuesday.About 170 local firms, including many small and midsized companies, took part in the annual technology event, marking the largest number of South Korean companies to do so, they said.  Participants at the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain, on March 1, 2017 (Yonhap)The remarks were made durin

(Screen capture from YouTube)An advertising video clip for Samsung Electronics’ upcoming flagship Galaxy S8 is sweeping social media. The 30-second ad promoting the Galaxy S8 last week was the most-viewed video on the Viral Video Chart, a weekly list of viral videos.The ad titled “This is a Phone” attracted more than 26 million views on YouTube the previous week beginning from its release on Feb. 26. It overtook “YouTube Rewind,” a compilation of last year’s popular YouTube videos that ranked se

Naver will debut Tuesday its web browser Whale, which the company has been developing for the past six years to challenge the dominance of the widely-used Internet Explorer and Google Chrome browsers.　　Naver, the operator of South Korea’s largest portal website, said it will release an open beta version of its Whale browser for PCs, following a series of closed beta tests that have been ongoing since last year.　The Whale browser for Windows will become available from Tuesday, Naver said. The fir

LG Electronics Inc. said Monday that its portable projector maintained the No. 1 spot in global markets for electro-luminescent display projectors last year. Citing recent data by market tracker Pacific Media Associates, LG said its "Minibeam TV" projector was named as the world's top-selling LED projector in terms of revenues in 2016.   This photo shows LG Electronics Inc.'s 'Minibeam TV' projectors. (Yonhap file photo)It marked the sixth consecutive year that the LG projector stood at the top