LG Electronics-made cosmetics products to debut next year

LG Electronics is considering launching cosmetics products in line with the release of a new model of its skin care device under the in-house home beauty brand Pra.L in the first half of next year, according to its recent semi-annual report on DART, the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure board. An LG Electronics official said Tuesday the company is in talks to collaborate with a local cosmetic manufacturer rather than producing the products itself. “We may go throug

Aug. 22, 2023

Big 4 chaebol groups seek to rebuild FKI

South Korea’s top four chaebol groups -- Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor and LG -- are likely to rejoin the Federation of Korean Industries, the disgraced business lobby group that has remained practically defunct for years following the revelation of its role in a massive influence-peddling scandal in 2016. According to industry sources on Monday, key affiliates of the nation’s top conglomerates recently held board meetings to approve them rejoining the FKI. The latest decision comes a

Aug. 21, 2023

SK hynix unveils HBM3E, supplies sample to Nvidia

South Korean chipmaker SK hynix announced Monday it has successfully developed HBM3E, the next generation top performing DRAM chip for artificial intelligence applications. The chipmaker also said its customer is evaluating the sample of the new product. High Bandwidth Memory is a high-value, high-performance memory that vertically interconnects multiple DRAM chips, enabling a dramatic increase in data processing speed in comparison to earlier DRAM products. HBM3E is the extended version of the

Aug. 21, 2023

SKT buys stake in AI developer Persona.AI

South Korea's largest telecommunications carrier SK Telecom said Monday that it has become the third-largest shareholder of Persona.AI, a Seoul-based artificial intelligence contact center, or AICC. The company did not disclose other details, including the deal size and the amount of the stakes it secured. An AICC offers 24-hour customer consultations via AI chatbots and callbots. Persona.AI, using its own natural language processing engine, offers related solutions and subscription-based s

Aug. 21, 2023

[From the scene] AI-powered memorial keeps legacy of independence fighters alive

CHEONAN, South Chungcheong Province -- Commemorating the 78th anniversary of the Aug. 15 Liberation Day this year, the state-run Independence Hall of Korea and the country’s largest telecommunications carrier SK Telecom have joined forces to restore faded photos of independence fighters and animate them using artificial intelligence. Under a partnership signed in 2020, the Independence Hall and SK Telecom kicked off a five-year project to turn the memorial into a high-tech “Eco-Mus

Aug. 20, 2023

Innospace secures launch point in Australia

Innospace, a South Korean startup specializing in hybrid space rockets and small satellites, announced Thursday that it secured a five-year agreement with Equatorial Launch Australia, a space launch services provider, to conduct orbital launches from the provider’s Arnhem Space Centre for its HANBIT family of launch vehicles. The contract, lasting until December 2028, guarantees ELA's assistance in securing an Australian launch permit for the company, increasing optimal launch sites f

Aug. 18, 2023

[Photo News] LG’s big push in Europe

LG Electronics said Thursday it will introduce its new built-in kitchen package at this year’s IFA trade show held in Berlin, Germany, Sept. 1-5. With the new built-in kitchens, which boast better energy efficiency and premium style, the tech giant aims to expand its presence in built-in home appliance markets in Europe and North America, which make up more than 70 percent of global sales. (LG Electronics)

Aug. 17, 2023

Samsung’s Taylor fab secures first order from AI startup Groq

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest memory chip maker, has forged a partnership with Groq, a US-based artificial intelligence inference systems provider, securing the first chip order for its semiconductor fab currently in construction in Texas. Groq revealed in a press release on Monday (US time) that it has established ties with Samsung Foundry to be its “next-gen silicon partner,” saying the collaboration will support the company’s growth to consistently “ou

Aug. 16, 2023

Samsung sells ASML stakes to secure W3tr

Samsung Electronics sold a portion of its stakes in Dutch chip equipment maker ASML and secured 3 trillion won ($2.24 billion) in cash, the company reported in its semi-annual report Monday. In the report, the world’s No. 1 memory chipmaker reported that it held 2.75 million shares in ASML stocks, equivalent to 0.7 percent, at the end of June, down from the 1.6 percent or 6.29 million shares from the end of March this year. In selling its shares, Samsung appears to have secured significant

Aug. 16, 2023

[Photo News] Diary-keeping air purifier

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Wednesday that a research paper about an air purifier that generates a diary, developed by a team led by industrial design professor Nam Taek-jin, has become Korea's first to win an honorable mention at this year's ACM Designing Interactive Systems conference. The air purifier, named Areca, shows how future objects could potentially have feelings and consciousness with the development of artificial intelligence. (KAIST)

Aug. 16, 2023

SK Telecom, OpenAI to host hackathon

SK Telecom, South Korea's leading telecommunications carrier, said Wednesday that it will host a hackathon event with California-based startup OpenAI next month in Seoul to discover talent who are likely to lead the future artificial intelligence industry. Prompter Day Seoul 2023 will run under the theme of developing services that can help humanity through AI. Planners, developers and designers who are interested in generative AIs can participate in the competition to develop services and

Aug. 16, 2023

[Photo News] Batik-themed Ioniq 5

Indonesian Ambassador to Korea Gandi Sulistiyanto (second from left) poses with Hyundai Motor’s Ioniq 5 Batik edition during the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show held in Jakarta on Thursday. The car is a special edition of Hyundai’s flagship electric compact inspired by Indonesia’s traditional dyeing technique, commemorating the 50th anniversary of bilateral ties between South Korea and Indonesia. The South Korean carmaker is the largest EV producer in Indonesia. (Cou

Aug. 16, 2023

[KH Explains] Chinese server robots gobbling up Korean market

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, local restaurants and hotels have been increasingly adopting server robots, and almost seven out of 10 are believed to be from China. According to industry estimates, there were about 5,000 server robots last year, a surge from some 3,000 units in 2021. This year, the figure is expected nearly to double to 10,000 units. In a recent report, the Korean Association of Robot Industry said China-made robots made up about 70 percent of the total number of server robots

Aug. 15, 2023

Chip inventory of Samsung, SK hits W50tr

Samsung Electronics’ chip division and SK hynix have seen their inventories surge in the first half of this year, surpassing a combined 50 trillion won ($37.3 billion), according to the semi-annual reports released by the two firms on DART, the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure board Tuesday. Samsung's device solutions division in charge of the tech giant's chip business saw total assets on its inventory jump 15.9 percent on-year to 33.7 trillion at the e

Aug. 15, 2023

'Smart fabric' generates power from sweat, movements

South Korean researchers have developed a new type of fabric that can generate electricity from sweat and body movements, opening a new chapter of next-generation smart clothes. According to the Korea Institute of Science and Technology on Tuesday, two teams of researchers at the institute’s electronic materials research center came up with the stretchable, washable energy-harvesting fabric that enables biomechanical and biochemical power generation. The researchers weaved two different fa

Aug. 15, 2023

[Photo News] More accessible home appliances

LG Electronics said Tuesday that its Universal Up’s Kit, a set of accessories that aim to enhance the accessibility of home appliances for disabled people, will be unveiled during the IFA trade show held in Berlin next month. The accessories include a detachable handle for a washing machine, a rotating rack for a refrigerator, and a silicon-based braille cover for a remote control. (LG Electronics)

Aug. 15, 2023

[KH Explains] K-culture brings tourists in, but K-maps leave them wandering

"No no. Google Maps won’t guide you well here. Oh, you downloaded the English version of Naver Map? Most of the content there is not translated." This is the line Kim Seong-hee, a guide working at the Tourist Information Center (East) in Incheon Airport Terminal 1, repeats almost fifty times a day to tourists confused about whether they can use Google Maps or local map services. Such requests constitute half her inquiries, she said. This problem isn’t new. As of April 2023,

Aug. 14, 2023

[Photo News] Farewell to Jamboree Scouts

World Scout Jamboree attendees from the Maldives depart from the LG Electronics Corporate Learning Center in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Sunday. The Korean tech giant invited Scouts from the Maldives and Finland to offer a tour of its business facilities and accommodation. (LG Electronics)

Aug. 14, 2023

[Beyond Earth] ‘Halley’s comet could have had a different name’

Halley’s Comet, arguably the most well-known comet in the world, is a short-period comet that comes close enough to the Earth about every 76 years that it can be seen with the naked eye. It was last observed in 1986 and is forecast to return in 2061. The comet is named after English astronomer Edmond Halley, who worked out the pattern by which the comet comes back to the Earth over and over. Although he did not live to see his prediction of the comet’s return in 1758 or 1759 prove tr

Aug. 13, 2023

SK hynix starts mass-production of largest low-power DRAM for mobiles

SK hynix, South Korea's No. 2 chipmaker, said Friday it has begun mass-production of a mobile DRAM that offers the industry's largest capacity aimed at minimizing power consumption and features low voltage operation for devices, including smartphones and tablets. SK hynix said the 24-gigabyte low-power double data rate 5 eXtended (LPDDR5X) mobile DRAM was first supplied to Chinese Oppo’s latest flagship smartphone, Oneplus Ace 2 Pro, which launched Thursday. “With the timel

Aug. 11, 2023