The Korea Times

Smart payment service

KT President Pyo Hyun-myung, right, poses with CEOs of companies that have joined the KT-led MoCa alliance in an event to mark the opening of their strategic partnership in downtown Seoul, Wednesday. From left are Caffe Bene CEO Kim Seon-kwon, UNICEF executive Ryu Jong-soo, BC Card Vice President Won Hyo-sung, Pyo, and Harex Infotec CEO Park Kyong-yang.                                                                                                                     / Courtesy of KTKT develops MoCa to beat Google in mobile paymentBy Kim Yoo-chulKT introduced a new service called MoCa Wednesday in a bid to beat Google in the smart mobile payment service market.The new service comes as KT, Korea’s No. 2 mobile carrier after SK Telecom and leading broadband operator, has made huge

Dec 5, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Samsung heir prompted to vice chairman

By Kim Yoo-chulLee Jay-yongSamsung Group promoted Lee Jay-yong, the only son of the group leader Lee Kun-hee, to vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, its flagship affiliate, Wednesday. The promotion comes two years after the 44-year-old chief operating officer (COO) was promoted to president at the world’s largest manufacturer of computer memory chips and smartphones. The Harvard-educated Lee joined Samsung in 1991. ``Although Jay-yong was promoted, he will retain the current COO position. The new vice chairman will expand his influence on Samsung’s key businesses,’’ said Rhee In-yong, chief communications officer, in a briefing to local reporters at Samsung headquarters.Market watchers said the promotion to vice chairman, a position that is held by six others at Samsung, comes at a time when the conglomerate is accelerating efforts to transfer management control to the younger Lee from his 70-year-old father.However, Rhee contradicted this, saying that the promotion did not mean that Samsung was speeding up a power transition. ``Because Chairman Lee is very

Dec 5, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Samsung speeds up power transition

Tech & Science

LG plans to cut China payroll by 5 percent

By Kim Yoo-chulLG Electronics plans to reduce the workforce at its mobile unit in China by up to 5 percent due to a steep fall in market share and delays in new handset launches in the world’s biggest consumer electronics market.According to LG and industry sources, the Seoul-based company has recently sent dismissal notices to some low- and mid-ranking employees to cut costs amid continued struggles in its handset business.``As far as I know, LG Electronics will cut the number of employees in China. Five percent will be affected by the restructuring plan,’’ said reliable LG sources contacted by The Korea Times Tuesday.``The situation is not good for LG’s television business in China. But the TV business is better than the handset business in terms of market share and revenue. LG’s handset unit in China is in real crisis,’’ said the sources and officials.The plan is no surprise. In mid-August, Motorola Mobility began laying off some 30 percent of its Chinese workforce, while even Samsung Electronics is maintaining greater flexibility for its

Dec 4, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

LSIS named as global innovator

LSIS CEO Koo Ja-kyun, left, receives a trophy from Woei Fuh Wong, right, an executive from Thomson Reuter’s intellectual property unit at the Korean firm’s headquarters in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday.                                                                                                                             /  Courtesy of LSISBy Kim Yoo-chulThree of Korea’s leading companies ― Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and LSIS ― were named among the top 100 global innovators by Thomson Reuters for a second consecutive year.The nation’s Korea Electronics Technology Institute (KETI), KAIST, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) and POSTECH also made the list.This year’s key criteria was how we

Dec 4, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Apple verdict 'technically wrong'

 Kal RaustialaThis is the second in a series of articles ahead of the Dec. 6 hearing on the Samsung-Apple patent legal battle to be presided over by U.S. Federal Judge Lucy Koh. ― ED.By Kim Yoo-chulA noted U.S. expert says nine U.S. jurors were technically wrong in their decision to order Samsung Electronics to pay Apple $1.05 billion for patent violations.“Juries are ill-equipped to deal with the complexities of patent law, they have brand loyalties that may color their judgment and they tend to easily fall for the simple accusation that someone is a copycat,” said Kal Raustiala, a professor at UCLA School of Law and director of the Burkle Center for International Relations at UCLA, in an email interview with The Korea Times, Tuesday.Raustiala is also the co-author of the book titled as ``The Knockoff Economy: How Imitation Sparks Innovation'' with Christopher Jon Sprigman from the University of Virginia School of Law in the United States.   “The conduct of the jury in the Samsung-Apple trial is a good example of why we shouldn’t have juries in

Dec 4, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Samsung vs. Apple ― What Judge Koh has to know for ruling

Tech & Science

Did Jobs steal?

This is the first in a series of articles ahead of the Dec. 6 hearing on the Samsung-Apple patent legal battle to be presided over by U.S. Federal Judge Lucy Koh. ― ED. By Kim Yoo-chulChristopher J. SprigmanApple started as a ferocious copycat but now it is an industrial leader, it calls everyone else imitators in order to maintain its position, according to a U.S. patent expert.``Apple is now blasting Samsung as a copycat. But from its beginning, Apple was an active copier itself,’’ said Christopher Jon Sprigman, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law. The interview was conducted by email. ``In a 1994 interview, the late Apple founder invoked Picasso’s alleged dictum that `good artists copy, great artists steal,’” Sprigman said, also quoting the late Steve Jobs who said, “We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.”U.S. Federal Judge Lucy Koh will rule on a jury verdict ordering Samsung to pay $1.05 billion in damages for violating Apple patents in a Dec. 6 hearing.The judge may alter the sum or, as S

Dec 3, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Samsung vs. Apple ― What Judge Koh has to know for ruling

Tech & Science

KCC warns against illegal subsidies for iPhone 5

iPhone 5By Kim Yoo-chulThe Korea Communications Commission (KCC), the nation’s top telecom regulator, said Monday that the government agency will punish SK Telecom and KT if they offer illegal subsidies to attract more iPhone 5 customers.``The KCC will start a thorough investigation of the carriers from Dec. 7 ― the date Apple’s latest iPhone comes onto the market ― as we believes chances are high that the carriers will offer illegal subsidies to attract more customers. That’s against the law,’’ said an official from the agency.Earlier the same day, the KCC summoned marketing executives of the companies and ordered them not to give excessive subsidies for the new Apple handsets, the official said.Executives from the local carriers confirmed they were warned by the regulator but their representatives declined to confirm it citing the sensitivity of the issue.The plan by the KCC comes after some local distributors and retailers have already begun providing big subsidies to customers pre-ordering with the condition to change carrier.``We can&rsquo

Dec 3, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Honorable Judge Koh, it's your call!

Dec. 6 may mark watershed in Samsung-Apple patent battle By Kim Yoo-chulU.S. Federal Judge Lucy Koh will hold a hearing on the patent dispute between Apple and Samsung Electronics on Dec. 6. She may rule on a $1.05 billion verdict by a jury for Apple. Her decision will most likely reflect a great deal of attention from experts to consumers including criticism for a flawed jury foreman selection, debate over whether it is appropriate to adopt a jury of ordinary people for this kind of complicated issue and a philosophical review of patents. Samsung is seeking a new trial, while Apple wants a complete sales ban on the Korean firm’s products.Koh confirmed she will re-examine the jury foreman’s alleged misconduct, while the U.S. patent office recently nullified Apple’s bounce-back patent. One of Apple’s clear sweeps in the August verdict was that all Samsung phones were found to infringe the bounce-back patent. ― ED. Florian MuellerFoss Patents founderApple hits jackpot with HoganFlorian Mueller, who runs patent blog of Foss Patents, said Apple

Dec 2, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Samsung SDS wins African contracts

Nho Hak-myung, left, Samsung SDS’s senior executive, smiles with Zepanias Muhate, vice minister of internal affairs from the Republic of Mozambique, after SDS agreed to supply the African country with computer data systems, last week.                                                                           / Courtesy of Samsung SDSBy Kim Yoo-chulSamsung SDS, the information technology solutions affiliate of the Samsung Group, is winning lucrative orders in Africa. It has been desperate to bolster the company’s international footing and said Sunday it has struck a deal with Mozambique to build an emergency management information system (EMIS). Under the agreement worth $25 million, SDS will construct the system for the African country’s police and fire departments by the end of February 2014. ``The government offices located in the country’s capital city of Maputo and

Dec 2, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

LG seeks to be major fabless chipmaker

By Kim Yoo-chulLG Electronics is moving to transform itself into a major fabless chipmaker by hiring more qualified chip designers and giving authority to related divisions.The Korea’s technology giant has strengthened fabless semiconductor manufacturing in a bid to gain a competitive edge in core technologies. Under “fabless” production, instead of making the chips in-house, manufacturers farm out the manufacturing to outside fabrication facilities, many of them in Asia.On Friday, LG officials said that the combined number of its chip designers for use in smartphones and Web-connected televisions exceeded 900 because the company’s chief executive Koo Bon-joon has stressed the importance of more independence and dignity in the parts and finished-goods businesses.But it seems unclear how soon LG Electronics will be able to compete with major fabless chipmakers such as Broadcom. One interesting point, however, is that LG has decided to use LG-branded system chips in its upcoming Web-enabled TVs to better power the premium sets.According to the officials, LG Elec

Nov 30, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Kim Yoo-chul

Read more

Smart payment service

Samsung heir prompted to vice chairman

LG plans to cut China payroll by 5 percent

LSIS named as global innovator

Apple verdict 'technically wrong'

Did Jobs steal?

KCC warns against illegal subsidies for iPhone 5

Honorable Judge Koh, it's your call!

Samsung SDS wins African contracts

LG seeks to be major fabless chipmaker

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