Samsung Electronics Co. has been granted a patent on the design of a disc-shaped drone, hinting that the electronics giant may make inroads into the booming market for commercial drones, according to South Korea's patent authority Friday. The patent was filed in April this year and formally registered earlier this month, the Korean Intellectual Property Office said.  This photo captured from a website of the Korean Intellectual Property Office shows a design of Samsung's disc-shaped drone. (Yonh

Kakao Games Corp., a game company under Kakao Corp. which operates South Korea's most-used mobile messenger KakaoTalk, is pushing to go public, industry sources said Friday, as part of efforts to boost its competitiveness and aggressively go abroad. Kakao Games sent out a request for proposals for the initial public offering (IPO) to several local investment banks and will soon select one to seek a listing on the tech-heavy KOSDAQ, they said. This photo captured from a website of the Korean Inte

Korean battery maker Samsung SDI confirmed Thursday its latest supply deal with the US electric vehicle startup Lucid Motors, which industry watchers estimated to be $520 million.Samsung SDI is slated to provide its cylindrical batteries to the California-based EV maker.Lucid Motors, which aims to compete with Tesla and other luxury EV brands, announced last week to build a $700 million auto factory in Arizona. It plans to launch high-end sports electric vehicles, which run more than 644 kilomet

South Korean game developer NCSoft officially released its new mobile role-playing game “Lineage Red Knights” in 12 countries on Thursday, aiming to capture longtime fans of the original “Lineage” online game as well as new mobile gamers.The new mobile RPG is based on “Lineage,” a pioneering multiplayer online role-playing game introduced in 1998 that rocketed NCSoft to stardom and made the firm one of Korea’s biggest game developers.“Lineage Red Knights” is the first ever mobile RPG introduced

Premium refrigerators and washing machines manufactured by South Korean consumer appliance maker LG Electronics Inc. have been recently named the best products of 2016 by online consumer magazines for home appliances in Europe, the company said Thursday. British online magazine Trusted Reviews picked LG's front-loading washing machine with the model name FH4A8FDH2N, which delivers cleaning and drying in one continuous cycle, as the best home appliance of this year, LG said in a statement.The was

The US Supreme Court sided with Samsung Electronics in a patent dispute with Apple, sending back the ruling that the Korean tech giant pay $399 million for infringing on Apple’s iPhone design patent.The court returned the case to the lower court Tuesday, saying the damages should be computed based on the profit Samsung gained from specific infringing parts of the phones, not necessarily based on the entire product. The $399 million in penalty -- equivalent to the total profit Samsung gained from

Toss, a simplified mobile money transfer app developed by South Korean fintech startup Viva Republica, won the top prize at this year’s Google Play App Awards for the Korean market.　Every year, Google’s mobile app store operator recognizes outstanding apps in various categories ranging from lifestyle and commerce to finance and games. Google Korea holds the 2016 Google Play App Awards in Seoul on Tuesday evening. (Google Korea)Among the 34 games and 40 other apps selected by Korea’s Google Play

LG CNS, the IT solutions unit of LG Group, said Tuesday that its cumulative export volume has surpassed $200 million, led by its success in deploying its flagship e-government system technologies to countries around the world.E-government, which stands for “electronic government,” refers to the use of information and communications technologies to improve the activities of public sector organizations, including those in the tax, real estate and administrative services.LG CNS said that it has sco

YouTube Red available at 7,900 won per month, YouTube Music app open for download

The market shares of televisions made by Korean electronics makers in China have dropped below 5 percent due to strong sales of the appliances made by Chinese companies, according to research firm IHS on Monday. IHS data showed the market shares of TVs made by Chinese firms have steadily risen from 76.6 percent in 2014 to 81.9 percent in 2015. The figure increased to 84.3 percent this year through September. (Herald DB)Meanwhile, the portion of Korean TV makers, including Samsung Electronics and

Chinese tech company Lenonvo announced Monday that it is rolling out its augmented reality smartphone Phab 2 Pro in the Korean market on Tuesday.The Phab 2 Pro is the world’s first smartphone to include Tango -- a new technology from Google that enables augmented reality gaming and utilities. The technology allows users to place virtual objects over the real world through 3-D. For instance, a user can install an app to see how new furniture would look in their home, while raising virtual pets an

Kakao, the operator of South Korea’s top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, on Monday said its contents business unit Podotree has secured a 125 billion won ($106.6 million) investment from a consortium led by Anchor Equity Partners.Established in 2010, Podotree is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kakao which operates the Korean mobile giant’s two contents platforms — Daum Webtoon and Kakao Page.(Kakao)Under the investment deal, Podotree will issue new common shares which will be purchased by the Asian pri

Korean electronics and telecom carriers are fiercely competing to take the leadership in 5th-generation mobile networks, or 5G, viewing it as the next-generation technology. Transmitting data 20 times faster than 4G, 5G is expected to be a platform enabling growth in information technology, automobiles, entertainment and manufacturing industries.LG Electronics said Sunday it demonstrated Full Duplex Radio, or FDR, for the first time in the world in partnership with Yonsei University. FDR is a st