[THE INVESTOR] The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a drawn-out legal battle between Samsung Electronics and Apple on Oct. 11, the court announced recently as it posted its schedule for the October 2016 term. 　In March, the court announced it would hear the case, the first time the top court has looked at a design patent case since the 1800s. (123rf)The rare decision comes after Samsung filed a request with the court last year to reexamine the case that it lost to Apple, which resu

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said Monday that it has decided to officially oppose the planned merger between SK Broadband, an IPTV unit of SK Telecom, andCJ HelloVision, the nation’s No. 1 cable TV operator, citing monopoly concerns in the media and telecom markets.After a meeting early in the day, the Fair Trade Commission announced its final decision, wrapping up a review session that lasted more than seven months.“The FTC has decided to object to the proposed M&A since the

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung SDS, the IT solutions unit of Samsung Group, denied once again on Monday speculations that it will spin off its logistics business to merge it with Samsung C&T, the group’s construction and trading unit and de facto holding company. “We have not been considering selling or splitting our logistics business to be merged with Samsung C&T,” the company said in a regulatory filing. “We have no plan to do so in the future.” Samsung SDS’ headquarters in Jamsil, southern SeoulThe

CHUNCHEON, Gangwon Province -- At the foot of Mount Gubong in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province stands an oddly-shaped building guarded with heavy security -- Naver’s Data Center Gak.　It is where South Korea’s leading search engine and web portal Naver operates thousands of servers that store and manage its expansive data from services including emails, online blogs, cloud services and search queries.Naver’s Data Center Gak in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province (Naver)To symbolize the spirit of the data cent

 [THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said on July 18 that it has decided to officially oppose the planned merger between SK Broadband, an IPTV unit of SK Telecom, and CJ HelloVision, the nation’s No. cable TV operator, citing monopoly concerns in the media and telecom markets.After holding a meeting early in the day, the Fair Trade Commission announced its final decision, wrapping up a reviewing session that lasted more than seven months.CJ Hellovision headquarter“The FTC has decided

[THE INVESTOR] The US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a drawn-out legal battle between Samsung Electronics and Apple on Oct. 11, the court announced recently as it posted its schedule for the October 2016 term. In March, the court announced it would hear the case, the first time the top court has looked at a design patent case since the 1800s. The rare decision comes after Samsung filed a request with the court last year to reexamine the case that it lost to Apple, which resulted in th

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung SDS, the IT solutions unit of Samsung Group, on July 18 once again denied speculation that it will spin off its logistics business to merge it with Samsung C&T, the group’s construction and trading unit and de facto holding company. “We have not been considering selling or splitting our logistics business to be merged with Samsung C&T,” the company said in a regulatory filing in the day. “We have no plan to do so in the future.” Samsung SDS headquarters in Jamsil, southern

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics will supply its own connected-car solution Samsung Connect Auto to US telecom behemoth AT&T from August in its latest push to make inroads into the futuristic car market.According to news reports on July 18, AT&T will offer the service based on a monthly payment plan. After gauging market reactions, Samsung aims to diversify corporate clients in the coming months. Samsung Connect AutoThe Korean tech giant first unveiled the Connect Auto solution during the Mobi

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics announced on July 18 that it will become a board member of the Advanced Wireless Research Initiative, led by the US government to facilitate next generation wireless technologies and develop a faster 5G mobile network.The new project will include contributions from over 400 researchers and tech and mobile majors like Nokia, Qualcomm, Intel, Oracle, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile.Samsung Electronics will share its expertise in 5G network architecture and the

LG Chem Ltd., Korea's largest chemicals maker, will start supplying lithium-ion batteries for NASA's spacesuits in the second half of the year, the company said Monday. The contract with NASA marked the first such deal for a Korean company, LG Chem said.  (Yonhap)LG Chem said its new battery's lifespan is five times longer than conventional silver-zinc batteries that are used in military and aerospace industries. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Lee Ung-beom, head of LG Chem's bat

“Pokemon Go” developed by mobile game maker Nintendo has become a global sensation since its release in early July. Although the popular augmented reality game has not been released in South Korea yet, an estimated 1 million South Koreans have downloaded “Pokemon Go,” according to market research firm WiseApp. Players of “Pokemon Go” spend more time on average on the game then social media platforms. As of July 11, the average time spent on the mobile game was 33 minutes 25 seconds per day, long

[THE INVESTOR] In the pre-cloud era, access to a company’s data may was quite a laborious task. A chief executive might have had to send emails back and forth just to acquire necessary data such as those related to sales. Now emerging cloud services allow easy access to analytic data, even on the go.Oracle chief executive Mark Hurd speaks during an interview in Seoul last week.(Oracle)By simply using a mobile app, a company chief is able to get information that span a broad range of queries such

Chemical and battery firmLG Chem is slated to supply its batteries to the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the second half of this year, according to the company Sunday. The local battery maker recently signed a supply deal with NASA to provide its lithium ion batteries for the agency’s space suits used for space exploration.  An astronaut wearing a NASA space suit (LG Chem)“The batteries will serve a key role in the spacesuits, which have various functions such as oxygen su

[THE INVESTOR] Tech giant Samsung Electronics has become the most popular PC brand in Brazil, according to local media on July 17. The Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, based on its annual brand survey, reported that Samsung grabbed the top spot among all PC brands, beating its American rivals Apple and Dell. Last year, Apple ranked No. 1, while Samsung and Dell shared second place. Samsung’s feat came amid a slump in the local and global PC markets. The sales of all desktops and laptops