The penetration rate of personal computers in South Korea fell to its lowest level in 15 years as more people use smartphones and tablet computers, data showed Tuesday. The nation's penetration rate of personal computers was 75.3 percent last year, marking the lowest rate since 2001, according to the data by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, and the Korea Internet & Security Agency.  (Yonhap)Personal computer penetration had been on a steady rise until 2012, when the rate stood a

The level of digital information among underprivileged people in South Korea improved in 2016 from the previous year, but it remained far lower than the national average, a poll showed Tuesday.According to the survey of 15,000 people nationwide, the digital information level among the so-called information have-nots stood at 58.6 percent of the average for all South Koreans, up 6.2 percentage points from a year earlier. This undated file photo shows a handicapped child participating in an inform

(Yonhap)LG Display CEO Han Sang-beom on Feb. 20 hinted that the firm could start supplying liquid crystal displays to its cross town rival Samsung Electronics from as early as July this year. The two firms have been in talks on LCD supplies since Sharp, owned by Taiwan’s Hon Hai Group, notified its supply cuts to Samsung in November last year. Sources say the panel shipments are being delayed as they adjust different manufacturing technologies. “Nothing has been set in stone, regarding the suppl

Hwang Jeong-hwan, head of R&D Laboratory of Home Entertainment at LG Electronics, (left), shakes hands with Sajeev Jesudas, CEO of consumer business at Underwriters Laboratories, Friday. (LG Electronics)LG Electronics’ webOS 3.5-powered Smart TV has been certified as a Cybersecurity Assurance Program by the Underwriters Laboratories, it said Monday.LG is the world’s first smart TV manufacturer to win the international certification, according to the company. UL is an American safety certificatio

SK Telecom is ramping up efforts to take the lead in the fledgling smart home market by developing the country’s first sensor-connected closed-circuit television system and applying its artificial intelligence-based speakers to apartments. According to the largest South Korean mobile carrier Monday, it has developed a new CCTV system equipped with a moving sensor that is capable of not only detecting intrusions by strangers but can also examine changes in temperature, humidity and the concentrat

Recent advances in artificial intelligence have brought significant improvements in automated translations, which was accompanied by a sense of uneasiness that it would eventually spell an end to human translators.In a pre-emptive attempt to explore this question, a battle between a professional human translator and AI-powered translation software will take place in South Korea on Tuesday at 2 p.m. The event will be broadcast live via the Sejong Cyber University website.Organized by Sejong Cyber

NAVER’S AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE LICENSED -- Naver Labs, the research and development unit of South Korean portal website Naver, won a government license that allows the company to test-drive its autonomous vehicle on the road. Naver’s vehicle was the 13th self-driving car to be approved by the Transportation Ministry since its introduction of a temporary license system for autonomous vehicles in development in February 2016. Naver is the first local information technology company to have obtained a l

Niantic, co-developer of hit augmented reality mobile game “Pokemon Go,” has reportedly partnered with convenience store chain 7-Eleven in South Korea to designate select 7-Eleven outlets here as either “Pokegyms” or “Pokestops.”　It marks the first-ever corporate partnership between “Pokemon Go” and a major retailer in Korea, fueling expectations the game — which involves people visiting real-life locations to catch “Pokemon” on their smartphones — can help boost local businesses.  (Niantic)News

A group of South Korean medical scientists has discovered a retina cell that responds to light, the science ministry said Monday, a finding that could potentially help the sight of people suffering from severe sensitivity to light.The team led by Kim Jin-woo from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology discovered that visual responses are sensitive to the overall composition of retinal interneurons called amacrine cells, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said. (Mini

Samsung Electronics Co. was ranked fourth in research and development spending by chipmakers last year, according to market data on Monday. Samsung spent $2.88 billion in R&D activities in 2016, up 11 percent from 2015, the data by market researcher IC Insights showed.  (Yonhap)Intel Corp. came first with R&D expenditures of $12.7 billion, followed by Qualcomm Inc. with $5.1 billion and Broadcom Ltd. with $3.1 billion. Intel's R&D spending accounted for 22.4 percent of its total sales last year,

Less than one in five South Korean manufacturers of medical supplies and equipment said they plan to increase new research and development (R&D) jobs, a survey showed Monday, despite the government's push to become a global biotech and medical industry hub.According to the survey by the Korea Medical Devices Industrial Coop. Association of 267 medical device manufacturers, only 17 percent said they have decided to add R&D positions over the next two years. The survey showed that 52 percent of th

Digital healthcare expert and DHP Korea chief Choi Yoon-sup discusses vision for Korea’s digital healthcare sector

The arrest of Samsung Group’ de facto leader Lee Jae-yong on Friday over his ties to the presidential scandal involving Choi Soon-sil, was a shock to many, as it marked the first-ever detainment of the chief of South Korea’s biggest conglomerate in its 79-year history.Over the past decades, prosecutors have regularly targeted the head of Korea’s biggest and most powerful family-controlled conglomerate for corporate misbehavior. However, neither Lee Kun-hee, the bedridden chairman of Samsung Elec

South Korea's plan to import a vaccine against food-and-mouth disease from a British company may end up in smoke as it has yet to respond to a Seoul request for an emergency import, sources said Friday.South Korea remains gripped by a serious undersupply of FMD vaccines following the simultaneous outbreak of type A and type O viruses. Since the first outbreak on Feb. 5, nearly 800 cows have been culled so far. This undated file photo shows an FMD vaccine (Yonhap)After a type A case was reported

Kakao Taxi, a taxi hailing app operated by South Korea’s mobile giant Kakao, will feature a new automated payment function within the first half of this year, the company said Tuesday.　Kakao has entered a new partnership with Korea Smart Card Co. to jointly introduce an auto pay option on the KakaoTaxi app that is widely used by those in Korea. Once the new feature is added, KakaoTaxi app users will be presented with an “auto payment” option which would automatically pay for the taxi fare when t