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LG to unveil first Google 3D television

By Kim Yoo-chul LG Electronics will unveil and market a Google-powered 3D, LED-backlit LCD television in the United States later this month. Google has provided its latest 2.0 software, released in October, for the new set. Sony had earlier unveiled its Bravia TV on the Google platform but with the 1.0 version. ``LG Electronics will start the sale of our Google-powered 3D TVs with 47-inch and 55-inch models,’’ said Nho Seok-ho, head of the company’s LCD TV division, in an interview, Monday. Production of the televisions will start from May 17 at LG’s factory in Reynosa, Mexico, and they will be available in stores such as BestBuy in the week starting May 21, according to Nho. ``We have yet to decide whether to use Google’s next 3.0 platform for our Web-connected and 3D-compatible TVs. LG will expand its offerings to Europe and South America after reviewing sales in the United States,’’ the executive said. Samsung Electronics has yet to decide whether it will launch a Google TV, having said earlier it will release its own version by the end of this year. Google

May 7, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Samsung acquire US content firm

By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Electronics completed a deal to acquire U.S. digital entertainment company, MSpot, according to industry sources Sunday. The negotiations were first reported by The Korea Times in June last year. The California-based MSpot is a provider of Internet streaming services for movies, music and other content and currently has a customer pool of about 6 million. Samsung, the Korean technology giant with leadership in consumer electronics and mobile devices, is desperate to strengthen its content ecosystem for its smartphones and touch-screen tablets. MSpot was just one of many digital entertainment companies targeted by Samsung, sources said, as it looks to established a server-based, ``cloud’’ computing platform for content that will allow users to download video, music and games anywhere on any device. The deal for MSpot is thought to be worth around 10 billion won, the sources said. Samsung, which enjoys a dual strength in parts and finished products, has been aggressive in the merger and acquisition (M&A) market lately. In August last year

May 6, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Nokia: fallen hero

Finnish firm falls into ‘competence trap’ while Samsung, Apple soar By Kim Yoo-chul When Apple unveiled its first touch-screen iPhone in June 2007, then Nokia Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo simply underestimated the impact of its release saying, ``What we decide is the global standard.’’ This was the beginning of the Finnish firm's fiasco. His remark illustrates how Nokia’s influence and confidence was great back then in the phone making business. Later, Kallasvuo was replaced by Canadian Stephen Elop ― the firm’s first non-Finnish CEO ― in 2010 taking full responsibility for failing to keep up with rivals such as Apple. Nokia, once the handset titan and ``the pride of Finland’’ is falling. It ended its 14-year leadership in the entire mobile phone industry in the first quarter of this year. Rather, Korea’s Samsung Electronics has risen to the top in the industry globally. Standard and Poor’s (S&P) has downgraded Nokia’s credit rating to BB minus. It also cut Nokia’s short-term credit rating to B from A-3. With this downgrade, the company’s debt now falls under t

May 6, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

SK pulls out of Elpida deal

By Kim Yoo-chul SK hynix, the world’s second-biggest memory chipmaker, has dropped its ambitious bid for Elpida Memory, the Tokyo-based chipmaker that had filed for bankruptcy in February. The Icheon, Gyeonggi Province-based chipmaker has blamed Toshiba’s decision to drop its joint bid for Elpida was one crucial reason that forced SK hynix to drop the plan, according to SK hynix officials. ``SK hynix’s board decided not to participate in the second round of bidding for the bankrupt Japanese chipmaker. Board members reached a consensus that Elpida has no strategic value,’’ said SK hynix Chief Executive and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won in a meeting with reporters at SK hynix’s main office in downtown Seoul. With Chey, another SK hynix CEO Kwon Oh-chul, SK hynix board chairman Ha Sung-min, the company’s chief technology officer Park Sung-woo attended the meeting, which lasted two hours from 11 a.m. ``The withdrawal from Elpida doesn’t mean SK hynix would be passive in mergers and acquisitions. But currently, acquiring Elpida is against our strategy,’’ Chey told reporte

May 4, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Game changer

Samsung Electronics vows to widen gap with Apple By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Electronics is seeking to widen its lead over the California-based Apple in smartphones as it believes the just-unveiled Galaxy S3 will be the most successful in the company’s phone-making history. ``We strongly believe that the Galaxy S3 is a game changer, not just another technologically advanced model. This is the phone that Samsung has dreamed of for a long time,’’ said a senior executive, Friday. It’s no surprise to see Samsung showing confidence about the new Galaxy as its telecommunications unit accounted for over 70 percent of the firm’s profit during the first three months of the year. As Finland’s Nokia continues to give up market share, Samsung and Apple are persisting in their ``tug-of-war’’ to lay claim as the world’s top smartphone vendor. And as Nokia’s shipments have nose-dived year-on-year in the first quarter, Samsung has emerged as the No. 1 handset vendor, globally. The company was the top smartphone seller with a 29.1 percent global share from January to April, followed

May 4, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

SK hynix to decide on Elpida

By Kim Yoo-chul SK hynix, the world’s No. 2 memory chipmaker, will hold its annual board meeting early today and make a final decision over whether to take over the bankrupt Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Elpida Memory. ``Our top decision-makers including CEO Chey Tae-won will attend the meeting, which is set for 10 a.m. at our main office in Seoul,’’ said Park Hyun, a spokesman for SK hynix, late Thursday. After the meeting, co-CEOs Chey and Kwon Oh-chul will brief reporters on the outcome. The board meeting comes after a group of Elpida’s bondholders threatened to thwart an auction of the company’s assets it trustees agreed to a reported selling price of $1.9 billion. ``That’s a good signal for SK hynix. If the deal is delayed, then it will offer a better price,’’ a high-ranking SK executive told The Korea Times. SK Telecom, the major stakeholder in SK hynix, will be the decisive factor on whether the bid will go ahead. It declined to comment as senior executives were to hold an internal meeting on the matter. If SK hynix is successful in the second round

May 3, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Qualcomm chip shortage hinders Pantech’s return

Firm unveils high-profile smartphone Vega Racer 2 By Kim Yoo-chul, Cho Mu-hyun Pantech, Korea’s smallest mobile phone manufacturer, unveiled a high-profile smartphone Thursday using advanced long-term evolution (LTE) technology as part of its desperate attempt to ride the industry’s new trend. But Pantech isn’t entirely happy about the debut of the Vega Racer 2 and it is highly likely that the company will miss this year’s sales target as U.S.-based chip giant Qualcomm is having trouble supplying chips for its new 28-nanometer Snapdragon S4 System-on-Chip (SoC), used by major handset makers including Samsung, LG, Taiwan’s HTC as well as Pantech. ``We are having difficulties in getting chipsets from Qualcomm due to the shortage,’’ said Lee Joon-woo, Pantech’s chief technology strategy officer, during an event to unveil the Vega Racer at the firm’s headquarters in Seoul. The Vega Racer uses the dual-core Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 processor provided by the San Diego-based Qualcomm. As Pantech is a second-tier customer for Qualcomm unlike Samsung, it’s no surprise that the chi

May 3, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

BASF aims to expand presence in Korea

By Kim Yoo-chul BASF, the world’s biggest chemicals company by sales, aims to expand its businesses in Korea by putting more focus on highly-lucrative, rising electronic materials for use in hybrid electric vehicles (EVs), according to a senior company executive. Shin Woo-sung, head of BASF Korea, hopes the ongoing strategic partnership with Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group will be further strengthened as the German-based chemicals company is looking to expand its profile in electronic materials. ``BASF regularly holds technical meetings with Hyundai-Kia at Hyundai-Kia’s research lab. It’s too premature to say that we have seen substantial progresses with the automotive group for projects linked in electronic materials,’’ Shin said in a meeting with reporters at a Seoul hotel, Thursday. BASF and Hyundai Motor previously unveiled the concept car i-flow in Geneve, 2010. The joint project was to reduce as much of the car’s weight as possible using new innovative materials, using existing materials in new ways. Amid government initiatives for green projects, top-tier carmakers

May 3, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

SK Telecom sees net profit decline by 40%

By Kim Yoo-chul SK Telecom said Wednesday that its first-quarter net profit fell by 39.8 percent to 323.3 billion won ($286.5 million) between January and March, hit by rising investment costs for advanced telecom networks and a cut in mobile charges. Its operating profit during the first three months of the year declined by 26.4 percent from a year earlier Its sales edged up 2 percent year-on-year to 3.98 trillion won while operating profit dropped 26.4 percent to 452.3 billion won. ``A cut in mobile charges and investments for networks to respond to higher data traffic amid the explosive demand for data-intensive devices such as tablets and smartphones hurt us,’’ said an SK Telecom spokesman. Under the government’s consistent pressure as part of Seoul’s efforts to tame inflation, SK Telecom began to cut its monthly basic rates for its customers by 1,000 won from September last year. It was the first local mobile carrier that was surrendered to the government’s demands to lower monthly mobile charges. The company’s quarterly net profit was 323.2 billion won from 537 b

May 2, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Chairman Lee offers public apology

By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee made his first public apology concerning the ongoing family feud over inheritance. ``I feel sorry for the public as I expressed personal feelings about a personal matter. From this time on, I will pass legal issues to experts and I will focus on expanding Samsung,’’ Lee told reporters before his departure to Europe using his private jet, Wednesday. Lee will look at Samsung’s affiliates in Europe, including those in Spain, for a month, according to Samsung officials. ``I need to look into Samsung’s businesses in Europe as I believe it is still the biggest concern for Samsung,’’ Lee said at Gimpo International Airport, on the outskirts of Seoul. The chairman’s trip comes as the Samsung family feud is showing no signs of abating. In a letter to the Seoul Central District Court, Tuesday, the chairman insisted that he sold all Samsung Electronics shares inherited from his father, the late Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull, and stressed he later bought 22.5 million shares in Samsung Electronics, saying he doesn’t need t

May 2, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
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