The number of digital driver’s license app users in South Korea has surpassed 1 million, according to major telecommunications firms here Wednesday. Personal smartphone authentication app Pass was developed in June, as a collaboration between SK Telecom, KT, LG U+ and the Korean National Police Agency. The digital driver’s license is currently used as to show driver’s qualification and as identification at convenience stores. The local mobile carriers said they plan to incr

South Korean telecom firm KT on Wednesday announced the launch of its subscription-based game service that streams computer and console games on smartphones. The streaming service will be up against rivals SK Telecom and LG U+, who have joined hands with Microsoft and Ndivia, respectively, for a similar service. KT said it has decided to offer a platform that is more flexible and fits the demands of local users. The company started its beta tests of the cloud-based gaming service GameBox sev

Hope it isn’t too late to express my thanks to Ray Jakobs, head of personal health business of Royal Philips. I was more than lucky to meet the Philips executive at the Consumer Electronics Show 2020 in Las Vegas held in January, obviously when the world was yet naïve to the COVID-19 pandemic. During an interview with Jakobs, I was impressed by his shiny smile during our conversation about the importance of oral hygiene and related Philips products. Naturally, I decided to try

LG U+, a South Korean telecommunications firm, said Tuesday that the company has commercialized the world‘s first 5G-based augmented reality glass solutions. The wearable device named LG U+ Real Glass is supported by smart glasses provided by mixed-reality product developer Nreal and chipmaker Qualcomm, according to the telecom firm. The glasses, which are to be connected to users‘ smartphone via USB, can project a display as wide as 254 centimeters. Users can project multiple ap

Expectations are running high for the groundbreaking for Samsung  Electronics’ third memory plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, amid continuing uncertainties due to the protracted COVID-19 pandemic. According to news reports on Monday, Samsung seems to be preparing to break ground for the so-called “P3” line in Pyeongtaek, which will be even larger than the existing P1 and P2 lines. Samsung had invested over 30 trillion won ($25.29 billion) in each of the two. So

LG Electronics said Sunday it is expanding its robot business to the hotel industry by introducing a delivery robot. Two delivery robots are in a pilot phase at Mayfield Hotel in northwestern Seoul this month, which will deliver food from an indoor kitchen to an outdoor terrace and carry back dishes to the kitchen. It is the first time the tech giant is unveiling a robot that is capable of driving on its own in an outdoor environment. After testing the outdoor robot at Mayfield, the comp

Korean telecom giant KT said Friday its operating profit increased by 18.6 percent though its sales dropped during the same period in the second quarter this year. Operating income of KT in the second quarter reached 207.6 billion won ($175 million), compared to 203 billion won last year, according to a regulatory filing Friday. Sales of KT during the same period dropped 3.6 percent to 5.8 trillion won, the regulatory filing also showed. Improved earnings from business-to-business units he

Korea’s third-largest mobile carrier LG U+ said the company’s operating profit in the second quarter increased by 59.2 percent on-year, the fastest growth rate for three consecutive quarters among local mobile carriers. In the meantime, quarterly sales for LG U+ went up by 5.1 percent on-year to reach 3.2 trillion won ($2.7 billion) during the April-June period, the company added. Since the fourth quarter last year, quarterly operating profit for LG U+ has increased by 75 percent,

Naver on Friday said that its online cartoon business is posting 3 billion won ($2.5 million) in average daily gross sales as of Aug. 2, up from 2 billion won in August last year. Naver contributed the growth to the increased number of monthly active users. Active users in July surpassed 650 million worldwide, increasing by more than 1 million over the last two months. Revenues also started to increase as the number of users in foreign nations saw a rapid surge, according to the firm. Sales

Share prices of LG Chem, Korea’s leading battery maker, jumped nearly 10 percent on Friday on expectations of rising demand for electric vehicles, ranking third in market capitalization in the nation’s securities market.  　 LG Chem shares rose 9.71 percent from the previous trading day to close at 746,000 won ($629). 　 At one point during the day, the price rose 11.47 percent to 758,000 won from a day earlier, hitting another record high. LG Chem’s market value has su

The Ministry of Science and ICT of South Korea on Wednesday reported its assessment of 5G networks provided by the nation’s three largest mobile carriers. According to the assessment conducted in Seoul and six other major cities in Korea, the average upload and download speeds of 5G networks reached 64.16 megabits per second and 656.56 Mbps, respectively. SK Telecom’s 5G network boasted the fastest speed among telecommunications firms, while that of LG U+ was listed as the to

More online events to come as tech giant seeks ways around COVID-19 restrictions

GOYANG, Gyeonggi Province  -- Defining the current COVID-19 pandemic crisis as the “new normal,” Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest smartphone provider, unveiled its second flagship model for the year Galaxy Note 20 and four new upgraded mobile gadgets during its first-ever online showcase event, streamed live from a studio in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday night. Held at the heavily guarded CJ ENM Studio in the planned new city of Ilsan, the noncontact ver

KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo has told executives and employees in a company-wide email that the mobile carrier needs to move beyond network service provision to become a platform operator. The KT CEO’s announcement followed several recent changes at the corporation. KT Skylife last month was selected as the preferred bidder to acquire cable TV operator Hyundai HCN. KT also inked a partnership with Netflix to improve the quality of its pay TV platform. “KT has started to undertake practica

South Korean telecom companies are ramping up moves to improve their videoconference services to meet rising demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has spurred a telework trend here, industry insiders said Monday. Global videoconference and work collaboration software, such as Zoom and Microsoft Corp.'s Teams, have recently surged in popularity on the back of pandemic-driven demand. Zoom reported it had 300 million global daily meeting users in April, compared with 10 million in December las