Pantech CEO Park Byeong-yeop said Thursday the company is ready to join the intense competition with Samsung Electronics and Apple, calling its new one-chip solution smartphone Vega Racer 2 the “world’s best.”“Even though Samsung and Apple are powerful players, the product quality of the Vega Racer 2 is second-to-none,” Park told reporters after a launching event held at the company’s headquarters in northern Seoul. He was appearing in public for the first time since the nation’s third-largest h

A fully automatic washing machine made by LG Electronics Inc., South Korea’s leading consumer appliance maker, was named the best product by an authoritative U.S. magazine, industry sources said Thursday.Consumer Reports said the top-loading washing machine received the highest marks among 81 products tested and was the only model to receive an “excellent” rating in washing capabilities, sources said.The WT4801C model that features fully automatic temperature control, a detergent dispenser and f

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― Research In Motion on Tuesday unveiled a revamped BlackBerry platform that discards the smartphone’s trademark keyboard to embrace apps, touchscreens and other trendy features.The long-promised platform was shown to software developers at the Canada-based company’s annual BlackBerry World conference in Florida.RIM also released kits for tailoring programs for the new BlackBerry 10 platform and gave attendees slick prototype touchscreen smartphones on which to dabble with th

‘Samsung currently in stage of integrating Bada and Tizen OS’The biggest difference between rivals Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics is the U.S.-based company’s integration of hardware and software.While Apple thrives on its mobile operating software iOS, introducing it exclusively for its wireless devices, Samsung and LG Electronics both make greater use of Google’s Android platform.Samsung, dubbed to be the world’s top smartphone maker in the first quarter, developed a proprietary mobile plat

Users urged to manage digital reputation and be careful in putting personal info onlineIt is not uncommon to see public figures suddenly fall into disgrace and infamy due to reckless comments made in a public place or interview with the media. But in the era of Facebook and Twitter, people are now faced with the bewildering reality that a single careless comment on social networks, even years ago, could backfire spectacularly. A striking case in point is Kim Gu-ra, a comedian who built up his ca

 Top mobile gamer to boost publishing, reenter EuropeCom2us may not be as big as NCsoft, Neowiz or Nexon, Korea’s best-known gamers. But Com2us had a head start in the mobile gaming market, and being first is everything in today’s fast-changing mobile technology landscape.Com2us chief financial officer Choi Baek-yong said that acquisition is part of plans to maintain its edge in the market that is bound to become more competitive as big online gamers enter the mobile scene.“We are interested in

“Diablo 3,” which started a closed beta service in South Korea on Wednesday, is garnering mixed responses from local gamers, offering a clue about its impact ahead of its officially release May 15. The online action RPG game by Blizzard Entertainment has been regarded as one of the biggest titles by gamers in Korea and elsewhere, as its previous two versions were huge hits across the world.Some Korean users who played the game through the closed beta said “Diablo 3” was too easy, saying that com

Nokia Oyj’s rating was cut to junk for the first time by a debt rating company as the Finnish mobile-phone maker loses its grip on a market now dominated by Apple Inc. and Asian suppliers such as Samsung Electronics Co. Fitch Ratings Tuesday lowered Nokia’s long-term debt ranking to BB+, one step below investment grade, citing a deterioration in the handset business in the first quarter and a “general lack of visibility.” Fitch said it may further cut the rating if Espoo, Finland-based Nokia’s r

CEO boasts app’s  privacy settings  better than Google, Apple services When she heard about the recent murder case in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, iSharing Soft CEO Reese Cho said she felt anger and frustration.   A 28-year-old woman was found killed and butchered early this month. Despite her last-minute phone call for help, it took 13 hours for police officers to figure out her location.  “I believe that she could have been rescued if her location had bee