Samsung SDI, the battery-manufacturing unit of Samsung Group, will build an electric car battery factory in Hungary, securing a key base in Europe for its global expansion. The battery maker will renovate an existing plasma display panel factory it had run in Goed, 25 kilometers north of Budapest, the company said in Seoul on Tuesday. An artist’s impression of Samsung SDI’s electric vehicle battery factory in Goed, Hungary(Samsung SDI)Samsung announced the plan at the Hungarian government office

US wearable-maker Fitbit will launch its newest fitness wristband models Charge 2 and Flex 2 in Korea in September and in October, respectively, the company announced Tuesday.  Fitbit Charge 2 (Fitbit)Fitbit Charge 2 has a display screen that is four times larger than its predecessor Charge HR, which allows the wearer to see all information in one screen. Just as HR did, this Charge 2 allows non-stop monitoring of heartrate, checks the wearer’s inner oxygen level and offers recommended breathing

South Korea's major department stores and discount chains saw their sales rise sharply in July from a year earlier on improved consumer sentiment and an increase in holidays, government data showed Tuesday.The combined sales of three department stores -- Hyundai, Lotte and Shinsegae -- advanced 7 percent on-year last month, while those of major discount retailers -- E-Mart, Lotte Mart and Homeplus -- gained 2.1 percent during the same period last year, according to the data compiled by the Minis

South Korean chip equipment manufacturers are likely to see their earnings rise in the second half of the year amid market speculation that Samsung Electronics Co. may plan to heavily invest in production lines for 3-D NAND flash memory chips. Samsung, the world's largest maker of memory chips, has not revealed how much it will spend on boosting the production capacity of 3-D NAND chips, which are widely used for smartphones and other smart devices. But market watchers have speculated that Samsu

A South Korean think tank on freshwater organisms and biodiversity conservation agreed on Tuesday with India's Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development to make preparations toward initialing joint research on the exploration and use of bioresources, the think tank said.The state-run Nakdonggang National Institute of Biological Resources and the Indian research center signed a business pact on the agreement in Imphal, a city in India's northeast province of Manipur.The IBSD, based in

South Korea’s two tech giants Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are ready to show off their latest display and imaging technologies at the annual IFA technology show in Berlin at the beginning of September. Samsung Electronics said on Monday it plans to unveil three types of curved quantum dot monitors at the event. This is the first time that Samsung has applied quantum dot technology for computer monitors since it unveiled the quantum dot super ultra-high definition television at the US c

Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea has started receiving pre-orders for its new Galaxy Note phablet from Chinese customers, company officials said Saturday.The Galaxy Note 7 is scheduled to go on sale on Sept. 1, with a price tag of 5,988 yuan, or one million won (US$897).It features 4GB of RAM and 64GB of flash memory storage, the same as those sold in other markets such as South Korea, the United States and Europe.The fresh phablet has attracted keen global attention with an iris recogniti

Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. will showcase their latest developments, gadgets and smart home appliances at next month's consumer electronics fair in Berlin, according to company officials on Friday. The annual IFA fair, to be held in Berlin from Sept. 2-7, will bring together about 240,000 participants from around the world. The weeklong exhibition "will offer a great platform for professionals working in the field of consumer electronics and home appliances to exchange knowle

Display panel makers in South Korea, Taiwan and China are expected to start mass production of 8K ultra high-definition TV panels in the fourth quarter of this year, but their final decisions will depend on market conditions, according to industry watchers on Friday. The 8K TVs feature four times the resolution of the 4K TVs, which are on sale by TV makers such as Samsung Electronics Co. and Japan's Sony Corp.Commercial broadcasts for 8K TVs are not available and Japan is currently doing a trial

The South Korean government’s delay of its final decision on Google’s request for the country’s map data has drawn public criticism that the move sidesteps national security concerns and prioritizes trade relations with the US. 　The Transport Ministry stated Wednesday that it would hold back its decision on whether to allow Google to access its Korean map data, for another 60 days. The government needs more time to review its impact on national security and the local spatial information industry

South Korean internet company Kakao rolled out a new job information search service Wednesday ahead of the start of major companies’ fall recruiting season.Kakao, the operator of Korea’s top mobile messenger KakaoTalk and portal website Daum, has partnered with local job information website Jobplanet to introduce a new search page that displays information on some 15,000 companies registered under Jobplanet.Screenshots of Kakao and Jobplanet’s new job information search service accessed via Kaka

[THE INVESTOR] Talking about staying at a motel in Korea has historically been an uncomfortable topic -- mainly because such accommodations have typically been considered venues intended for sexual activities. But to Lee Su-jin, the chief executive of motel-booking app Yanolja -- meaning “let’s play,” in Korean -- a motel means “possibility.” Yanolja is a rising star in the Korean online-to-offline start-up scene. It is also a pioneering business that helped a boy from a broken family turn his d

Samsung Display Co. said Wednesday that it has formed an alliance with its sister company Samsung Electronics, and Chinese TV and panel manufacturers to further cooperate on expanding the curved panel industry.The agreement was made at a forum held by Samsung Display and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China in Beijing on Tuesday, the company said.China-based TV manufacturers, including market leader Hisense Co., panel makers such as TCL Corp. and Leshi Internet Information & Technolog

Samsung Electronics Co.'s mobile-payment service, Samsung Pay, has hit 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) in accumulated transaction volume in South Korea, the company said Wednesday. The record came about one year after Samsung launched the mobile-payment service at home. Of the accumulated transaction volume, the value of fingerprint-identification mobile payments, which started this year, stood at about 500 billion won, Samsung said. Samsung is expanding the mobile-payment service globally. The co