TOKYO (UPI) -- Japanese electronics firm Hitachi says it has invented a way of storing data that could keep it safe and stable for hundreds of millions of years.The technology behind the long-term storage capability involves a laser that is employed to encode data into a piece of quartz glass with dots corresponding to binary code that can be read back by an optical microscope, ZDNet reported.Hita

CUPERTINO (UPI) -- U.S. technology giant Apple’s foray into mobile maps with its iPhone 5 had to do with advertising and a growing rivalry with Google, industry observers said.Apple’s iPhone 5, which went on sale Friday included a new online maps service that was “littered with flaws, some laughable,” The New York Times reported Monday.But behind the effort to compete with Google is the lucrative

South Korea's Navy fired warning shots against North Korean boats operating south of the western sea border, military officials said, after raising the alert status in response to a number of ships violating the demarcation line over the past week.The North Korean boats retreated to north of the border upon the warning shots, officials said.The latest move comes as a growing number of North Korean

Apple Inc. has taken its patent row with Samsung Electronics Co. to South Korea's anti-trust watchdog by accusing the top smartphone maker of abusing its dominant market position, sources said Thursday.Since April 2011, the two top smartphone giants have been embroiled in a high-stakes battle across four continents to conquer the $219 billion global smartphone market.Apple has filed a complaint ag

The two recent powerful typhoons have cost South Korean airlines about 17 billion won ($15 million) in lost sales at the end of the summer peak season, company officials said Tuesday.Typhoons Bolaven and Tembin pounded South Korea with heavy downpours and strong winds late last month, forcing the cancellation of more than 860 domestic and international flights at airports in South Korea.The typhoo

Police said Friday they will provide tear gas guns to officers on security duty in Seoul, as part of efforts to reinforce countermeasures against violent crimes.The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said they requested the National Police Agency to set aside a budget worth 180 million won ($158,800) to purchase gas guns for conscripted riot police and combat police forces stationed in the capital c

South Korea received a letter Japan's prime minister wrote to President Lee Myung-bak about recent tensions over Lee's visit to the easternmost South Korean islets of Dokdo, but there is no change in the country's position on the matter, officials said.Japanese media reported Friday that Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda sent the letter to Lee via Seoul's Embassy in Tokyo, describing as regrettable Le

The powerful uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un returned home Saturday after a six-day visit to China that included Beijing's agreement to help develop special economic zones in the impoverished nation and meetings with China's president and premier, the two countries' media said.The North's Korean Central News Agency said Jang Song-thaek, the chief of the central administrative department o

South Korea's bellwethers in six major industries have outshined Japanese rivals in terms of market capitalization as they have made big strides in global markets, data showed Tuesday.According to the data by Shinhan Investment Corp., leaders in South Korea's semiconductor, display, refinery, construction, steel, and shipbuilding industries had larger market caps than their Japanese counterparts,

MANILA, Philippines _ A new storm is forecast to dump more rain in the flood-battered northern Philippines a week after nearly 100 people died in a monsoon deluge that submerged half of the sprawling capital city.Officials in Cavite province southwest of Manila closed schools in Rosario town Monday because of downpours, and rescuers began evacuating landslide-prone areas in Manila's suburban Quezo