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Carriers to halve registration fees

By Kim Yoo-chulSK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus will cut its registration fees by half and offer more benefits to the elderly and people with disabilities.These are part of policy initiatives that the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) proposed in a briefing to President Park Geun-hye in June."From Sept. 1, SK Telecom will charge 10,800 won as a one-time registration fee for new customers, cutting the current price in half from 21,600 won," said SK Telecom in a statement. KT, No. 2 mobile carrier, will also charge 7,200 won, while customers who register with LG Uplus' telecom service will now pay 9,000 won. The three will spend about 170 billion won to cover shortfalls from the reduced fees annually, according to officials in the telecommunications industry. "The announcement is part of our efforts to respond to the government's consistent efforts to help the public by lessening their burden when paying their telecom bills," said an official at KT.On a related note, market leader SK Telecom will provide more data for a maximum of 900 megabytes to 12 data billing packages

Aug 28, 2014By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Apple denied Samsung sales ban

By Kim Yoo-chulA federal U.S. judge denied Apple’s request to slap a sales ban on the Galaxy S3 and older smartphones manufactured by Samsung Electronics.A court ruling by Judge Lucy H. Koh from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, said; "Apple has not established that it is entitled to the permanent injunction it seeks. Apple's motion for a permanent injunction is therefore denied."The smartphones in question were those found in May to have violated three of Apple’s patents.The filing pointed out that Apple is moving based "only" on the three patents to keep Samsung from making, selling, developing or advertising its products.The U.S. judge said, "Apple has not satisfied its burden of demonstrating irreparable harm and linking that harm to Samsung's exploitation of any of Apple's three infringed patents. Apple has not shown that it suffered any of these alleged harms because Samsung infringed Apple's patents."Samsung said it welcomed the ruling. "We remain committed to providing American consumers with a wide choice of innovative products," th

Aug 28, 2014By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Power transition under way at Samsung

By Kim Yoo-chulLee Jae-yongA transition of power is underway at Samsung Group as its ailing Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee has shown no major improvement in his health for months.On Wednesday, the Samsung Medical Center (SMC), where Lee is undergoing treatment, said Lee is still unable to communicate."The chairman's condition is much better. He can make eye contact and freely move his hands. Unfortunately, he is still unable to communicate," an SMC spokesman said. But the hospital declined to comment on how long he is expected to be hospitalized. The chairman, 72, has been in the hospital since a May 10 heart attack. Amid no significant progress in the chairman's health, attention is being shifted to whether or not the senior Lee's only son and Samsung heir apparent Lee Jae-yong will take control over the conglomerate smoothly.The younger Lee, who is fluent both in Japanese and English, is an international face for Samsung. He was Samsung's chief operating officer until 2012 and now is Samsung Electronics' vice chairman.According to Samsung watchers and officials, the junio

Aug 27, 2014By Kim Yoo-chul
Power transition under way at Samsung
Tech & Science

Daum-Kakao deal threatens Naver

An employee walks past the main logo of KakaoTalk at the headquarters in Sampyeong-dong, Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Shareholders of Kakao and Daum Communications approved the merger between the two./ YonhapKim Beom-soo becomes largest shareholder of merged entityBy Kim Yoo-chulKim Beom-suLee Sir-gooShareholders of Korea's No. 2 Internet portal operator Daum Communications and the rising messaging application company Kakao approved a merger of the two Wednesday.It is expected to pave the way for a back-door listing that values Kakao at more than $3 billion.The mega deal will challenge the long-time leadership by Naver in the nation's mobile industry and officials say the winner may be Kim Beom-su, chairman of Kakao's board committee.The merged entity will have two chief executives ― Kakao co-CEO Lee Sir-goo and Daum CEO Choi Sae-hoon. But officials say all key decisions will be directly handled by Kim."The merger between the two companies is more than enough to threaten Naver's decades-long leadership in the industry as the deal will hugely lift the Kakao chairman Kim

Aug 27, 2014By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

SK hynix shift towards flash memory chips

World's No. 2 chipmaker acquires US firm for $23 millionBy Kim Yoo-chulSK hynix, the world's second-largest memory chipmaker, is accelerating its shift into the NAND flash memory chip segment with acquisition deals.The SK Group's semiconductor affiliate only trails Samsung Electronics in the global DRAM industry with 26.6 percent global share by last year in terms of annual revenue, SK hynix said in a filing to the nation's top financial regulator.  It is the global No. 3 in flash memory chips with a 12.8 percent market share in 2013, pushing SK's top management to put more resources toward expanding its presence in flash chips.SK hynix said Friday that it signed a pact with California-based Violin Memory to acquire the U.S.-based provider for flash solutions' Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) server flash module product line for $23 million in cash and the assumption of $500,000 in liabilities.In a statement, SK hynix said the acquisition of the PCIe product line has included Violin's velocity PCIe card family, consisting of PCIe-related intellectual property and

May 30, 2014By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Samsung replaces system memory chip head

By Kim Yoo-chulKim Ki-nam, head of its logic chip-making divisionSamsung Electronics has replaced the head of its logic chip-making division to seek a breakthrough in advanced logic chips.In a statement, Samsung said Friday that it appointed Kim Ki-nam as president of the division, expanding his influence inside Samsung as he has already been handling Samsung's memory chip business."The promotion will be effective from June 1," said Samsung.The outgoing head Woo Nam-seong had to step down from the position due to health problems."Woo has so far been managing the division's key issues from a hospital in Seoul; however, that was too stressful, making his health much worse," said a source.Samsung Electronics is shifting toward the more profitable logic chip business, and cutting its heavy reliance on conventional and less-profitable memory chips.The placement of a greater focus on this division is to deliver “total solutions” for a connected world, Samsung said.The company believes the logic chip business should be able to achieve reasonable returns and is hopeful these

May 30, 2014By Kim Yoo-chul
Samsung replaces system memory chip head
Tech & Science

Samsung bets on 3D NAND chips

By Kim Yoo-chulA Samsung solid state drive using the company’s latest second-generation three-dimensional (3D) vertical NAND flash chip technology is seen in this file photo, Thursday./ Courtesy of Samsung ElectronicsSamsung Electronics is shifting its focus considerably toward cost-effective and highly advanced three-dimensional (3D) NAND flash memory chips.The world's biggest memory chip supplier believes the time for 3D NAND flash memory may have finally arrived. On Thursday, Samsung said it began mass-producing second-generation vertical 3D NAND chips in Korea for the first time in the industry.The chips will go for its corporate clients. Specifically, Samsung has advanced on its original V-NAND technology, stacking 32-NAND storage layers in one chip package.The first-generation of 3D V-NAND, which had been released in August, stacked 24 storage layers. The layers transfer data through a proprietary interconnect, said Samsung officials."Samsung will use existing chip fabrication lines for the latest NAND chips supporting a 32-NAND storage layer, meaning that we expect more

May 29, 2014By Kim Yoo-chul
Samsung bets on 3D NAND chips
Tech & Science

IBM in hot water

Regulators suspect firm gave KB executives ‘rebates’By Kim Yoo-chulThe Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said Thursday that it will take punitive action against International Business Machines (IBM) Korea, if it is found to have offered “rebates” to get an online system overhaul deal from KB Financial Group. "We are looking into personal bank accounts of senior executives at KB Financial and its flagship Kookmin Bank,” said an FSS official, asking not to be identified.Accounts of KB Financial Chairman Lim Young-rok, Kookmin Bank President and CEO Lee Kun-ho, senior board member at the bank Chung Kyeong-ki and outside board directors are being checked for any unusual transactions. "The ongoing special investigation will continue into next month. We want to leave no allegations and speculations unchecked," said another official.IBM Korea’s spokeswoman said the company will work hard to defend itself and protect the interests of its clients here, although she declined to comment on the rebates, synonymous with bribes in Korea. IBM Korea CEO Shirley

May 29, 2014By Kim Yoo-chul
IBM in hot water
Tech & Science

IBM looms as only winner in KB dispute

Lee Kun-hoShirley Yu-TsuiBy Kim Yoo-chul, Choi Kyong-aeInternational Business Machines (IBM) is emerging as the only winner in an internal dispute between KB Financial and its main subsidiary, Kookmin Bank. "We have no option but to extend our contract with IBM as we've failed to narrow differences with KB Financial Group over the necessity to replace the current banking application system solutions," a senior manager at the bank said, Wednesday.The manager said the bank plans to sign a new contract with IBM for five more years after its contact expires in July 2015, costing the bank at least 140 billion won.Kookmin is paying some 3 billion won monthly in return for using IBM solutions, bank officials said. Such updates come a few days after IBM Korea CEO Shirley Yu-Tsui sent a letter to Kookmin Bank CEO Lee Kun-ho to show that the decision by the bank's board of directors and KB Financial Group Chairman Lim Young-rok to switch the bank's main banking application system to the less-pricey Unix-based system is risky.The IBM CEO offered a heavy discount if the bank withdraws its plan t

May 28, 2014By Kim Yoo-chul
IBM looms as only winner in KB dispute
Tech & Science

TmaxSoft, Kolon team up over enterprise software

By Kim Yoo-chulTmaxSoft, a leading enterprise software firm, has teamed up with an information technology affiliate of Kolon Group to bolster its footstep in the growing local enterprise software solution business segment. In a statement Tuesday, TmaxSoft said it signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Kolon Benit to closely collaborate in business areas in which the two companies are interested.The alliance is calling for the companies to extend their partnership into middleware and system monitoring. The agreement enables TmaxSoft to access channel, product and technology-related data owned by the Kolon affiliate.A TmaxSoft spokeswoman said the Bundang, Gyeonggi Province-based outfit will jointly develop new business models as Tmax is being urged to find its next growth momentum in the local enterprise solution market. "We are positive that the agreement will help us see substantial progress in issues of mutual importance in the shortest time. We will try to add more local client channels amid positive response of local system software solutions," she said.She d

May 27, 2014By Kim Yoo-chul
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