The Korea Herald

Apple pulling its YouTube app from iOS 6

Aug 7, 2012

Apple Inc. has removed its YouTube app from its latest beta version of iOS 6, with the Cupertino, Calif., company saying its license from Google has expired.The app will not be included in the next version of its mobile operating system for the iPhone and iPad, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.Since the iPhone went on sale in 2007, Apple‘s YouTube app has come pre-installed on the company’s mobile devices.It‘s the latest sign of a growing gulf in the relations between Apple and Google, wh
KT, Microsoft to support HTML5 app developers

Aug 6, 2012

KT and Microsoft Korea announced on Monday that they will collaborate to promote the development of HTML5-based applications.Under a memorandum of understanding signed by the two companies, KT and MS will seek and support Korean app developers for the World Wide Web, including venture tech start-ups and self-employed entrepreneurs.Korea’s Internet network conglomerate and the global software giant will also provide software and IT education to potential developers as part of efforts to boost the
Korea expected to become 4th-largest mobile ad market

Aug 6, 2012

Global ad spending to top $6b this yearKorea is expected to become the world’s fourth-largest mobile advertising market this year.In a report by eMarketer, a U.S. IT research firm, spending for mobile advertisements in Korea is estimated to reach over $450 million this year, up about 40 percent from $320 million in 2011.Korea will follow the U.S., Japan and the U.K. in terms of ad spending. The U.S., the world’s largest ad market, will maintain the top position with ad spending to reach some $2.
Samsung set to release Galaxy Note 10.1 in U.S.

Aug 5, 2012

Tech giant Samsung Electronics may release its Android tablet PC, Galaxy Note 10.1, in U.S. markets in the middle of this month.The speculation came after American tech and electronics website CNET unveiled a recent press invitation issued by Samsung Electronics at New York’s Lincoln Center on Aug. 15.In the invitation, the main graphic outlines a product that closely matches the specifications of the company’s 10.1-inch Android tablet PC, CNET reported.Free-style doodles on the invitation also
Judge denies Apple’s bid for Samsung sanctions

Aug 5, 2012

A federal judge on Friday denied Apple Inc.’s demands for an immediate victory in a multibillion-dollar patent trial. Apple sought the long-shot bid as punishment for Samsung Electronics Inc.’s decision to issue a controversial press release on the first day of testimony.The San Jose Mercury News reported Friday that U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh denied Apple’s request after polling the nine jurors to determine if they read media accounts based on the news release. All said they’ve abided by the
Low-income households have higher default risks: report

Aug 5, 2012

The ratio of “debt-risk” households among low-income brackets are significantly higher than the national average, a report showed Sunday, confirming that poor families are more vulnerable to worsening economic and financial conditions.According to the report by the state-run Korea Development Institute, the ratio of households deemed to have insufficient ability to pay back their debt among the nation’s poorest 20 percent is about four times higher than the average.The amount of the poor househo
Samsung defeats Apple bid for sanctions over evidence

Aug 4, 2012

Samsung Electronics Co. defeated a bid for judicial sanctions sought by Apple Inc. over a release of evidence in the iPhone patent dispute now on trial in San Jose federal court in California. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh today dismissed Apple’s request to punish a Samsung lawyer’s public disclosure of evidence excluded from trial. Koh polled jurors on the matter and concluded they could remain in
Microsoft to phase out Hotmail, focus on Outlook email

Aug 1, 2012

Microsoft Corp., the world’s biggest software maker, will introduce a new, free Web-based email portal under its Outlook brand and phase out Hotmail over time as it seeks to draw users from Google Inc.’s Gmail. A preview of the new service went online today and Hotmail probably will be phased out in the next year, said Brian Hall, a general manager in Microsoft’s Windows group, in an interview. By going with Outlook, Microsoft is trying to capitalize on the brand behind the most-used corporate e
Samsung, Apple launch salvos in court battle

Aug 1, 2012

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. told jurors that its products are not copycats of Apple Inc’s iPhone but rather an example of legitimate American-style competition from the South Korean company.Lawyers for both tech giants faced off on Tuesday for opening statements in the highly anticipated U.S. patent trial, where Apple has accused Samsung of stealing iPhone features like scrolling and multi-touch.The stakes are high: Apple is being tested on its worldwide patent strategy against Google’s Android
Tapjoy targets Korea’s mobile ad market

Aug 1, 2012

U.S.-based firm joins hands with SK Planet to get business going in KoreaTapjoy, a San Francisco-based mobile advertising firm, said Tuesday it is putting its focus on the Korean market, claiming it is the company’s biggest after its home turf.Mihir Shah, president and chief executive of Tapjoy, said Korea is a special market due to its infrastructure and connectivity as well as its penetration of devices running on the fourth-generation Long Term Evolution networks.“Today, Korea is our No. 2 ma
Popularity of Diablo 3 plunges in Korea

Aug 1, 2012

The popularity of Diablo 3, one of the major online role-playing games in South Korea, has nosedived on the game rankings here, according to GameNote, a local website offering online game news.The latest ranking table released by GameNote on Aug. 1 showed that Diablo 3 has plummeted to the 11th place, which is eight steps down from the 3rd as recorded a week earlier.Diablo 3 was one of the most anticipated titles this year and it has managed to retain some popularity despite critical bugs and ex
Video game claims to treat depression

Aug 1, 2012

New Zealand developers said they have created a video game that will help young people overcome depression. SPARX, developed by the University of Auckland and Metia Interactive, is a role-playing game designed to teach teenagers how to cope with depression.“You can deal with mental health problems in a way that doesn’t have to be deadly serious,” said project leader Sally Merry in an interview with Britain’s Daily Mail. “The therapy doesn’t have to be depressing in and of itself. We’re aiming to
World’s largest floating solar plant starts work

Jul 31, 2012

The world’s largest solar plant on water went into operation on Tuesday, paving the way for the commercialization of a new solar energy provider, said Korea Water Resources Corp., or K-water. The state-run water service company organized the three-year project in August 2008, and Korean industrial solutions firm LSIS undertook the plant construction in 2011 on Hapcheon Dam in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang Province. “K-water plans to form partnerships with private firms for the standardization and o
‘LTE users to hit 42m in 2013’

Jul 31, 2012

The number of Koreans who use smartphones with the Long Term Evolution network is expected to pass the 40-million subscriber mark in 2013, a Seoul-based consulting firm forecast on Tuesday.ROA Consulting said that the number of subscribers may hit 42 million, marking a new era in the domestic telecommunications industry. According to the company’s report, about seven out of 10 mobile device users in Korea will use a smartphone with 4G LTE technology in 2013. This represents a significant jump fr
Twitter clocks half-million users: Monitor

Jul 31, 2012

Over 500 million people are on micro-blogging site Twitter and Americans and Brazilians are the most connected, according to a study by social media monitor Semiocast released Monday.Twitter surpassed the half-billion mark at the end of June, with the United States accounting for both the most users and largest number of “tweets” or short messages of no more than 140 characters posted on the site.The Paris-based monitor carried out the study by analysing data like time zone, geolocation and lang