Global sales of mobile phones declined in the second-quarter from a year ago, but Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. continued its strong growth to maintain the top spot, a market researcher said Wednesday.According to technology research firm Gartner Inc., a total of 419 million handset units were sold in the April-June period, down 2.3 percent from a year earlier.Consumers sat on the sidelines to postpone new purchases ahead of the launch of Apple Inc.’s iPhone 5, which is expected to roll out ar

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest tech company, has won four tech awards from the European Imaging and Sound Association.EISA, an association of some 50 magazines from 19 European countries, hands out awards for technology, design and innovation to companies worldwide.Samsung’s Smart TV ES8000 Series, HT-E6750W surround sound system for Blu-rays, Galaxy S3 smartphone and NX20 digital camera were recognized for their technological achievements by EISA this year.Notably, Galaxy S3, which wa

Samsung Electronics called its first witnesses, two computer scientists, to attack Apple Inc.’s claimed originality of its software patents at issue in a multibillion-dollar trial in California. The witnesses in federal court in San Jose on Monday demonstrated technologies resembling and predating Apple’s “rubberbanding” ― the way an iPad or iPhone screen seems to bounce when a user scrolls to the end of a file ― years before the 2007 release of the iPhone.Benjamin Bederson, a University of Mary

Samsung Electronics Co. and Siemens AG’s Osram unit have reached a global settlement of their patent fights over light-emitting diode technology, according to a filing with a U.S. trade agency. Financial details weren’t made public in the filing dated yesterday with the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington. The settlement ends a case that Samsung filed against Osram and that was scheduled for trial at the agency on Aug. 13. Osram’s case against Samsung went to trial last month, and

LG Uplus has formed an alliance with local small and medium-size partners, including Bumin W&P, to launch a radio frequency identification (RFID)-based food waste management service, the company announced Sunday.The new “Smart Clean” service is in line with the government’s environmental policy to reduce food waste, which emits greenhouse gases, the local telecom said. The system will allow more efficient ways of managing garbage disposal by having trash bins at apartment or residential areas ch

About two-thirds of smartphones shipped globally in the second quarter ran on Google Inc.’s Android platform, data showed Thursday, further cementing its dominance over other operating system.Shipments of Android-powered smartphones totaled 104.8 million units in the April-June period, more than doubling from 50.8 million units the previous year, according to the data by market intelligence firm International Data Corporation.That translates into the Android platform powering 68.1 percent of sma

SK Telecom and CJ Group have formed a partnership to collaborate on providing convergence services for IT and cultural content amid the rising use of smart devices.Korea’s largest telecom company said that it will closely work with Korea’s leading food and entertainment conglomerate in the areas of marketing and distribution of mobile content.Both sides will be able to benefit from SK Telecom having solid telecommunication networks with over 27 million users, and CJ holding a vast portfolio of e

Korea Communications Commission said Thursday that it will strengthen its supervision and management of the country’s three telecom companies ― SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus ― to further prevent personal data and information leaks.Its announcement came after KT, Korea’s second largest mobile carrier, was found to have had its system breached by a hacker, a company telemarketing agent, last month.KCC, the country’s broadcasting and telecom watchdog, has launched a team of inspectors to probe KT, wh

SK Planet will allow users or subscribers of other telecom network services operated by KT and LG Uplus to access SK’s media platform and see a variety of entertainment content.The mobile platform operating subsidiary of SK Telecom said the media platform named “Hoppin” will open beginning Aug. 8 to such users who can enjoy video on demand, television shows and movies, as well as other free programs such as news and comedies.Consumers can watch them not only on smartphones, but also on their per

LG Uplus, the smallest of Korea’s three telecom companies, has formed an alliance with foreign language education service providers to launch smart education services in foreign languages via Long Term Evolution.With partnerships with Korea’s YBM Sisa, Edubox and SDA, Uplus will kick off the service in September, featuring native speakers and teachers through its fast and real-time LTE networks, the telecom company said.The foreign language program will be offered in English, Japanese and Chines