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An incident at a Samsung production facility has seen another set of employees injured. The leak of hydrofluoric acid gas at the processor plant in Hwaseong, Korea is the second incident of its kind in a four-month period, with the previous incident taking place at the same factory with the same leaked gas causing injury.
A version of the LG Optimus G with features borrowed from the Optimus G Pro is heading to Korea. The Optimus GK has a five-inch 1080p Full HD IPS display with a pixel density of 440ppi, and though it has a smaller screen than its Pro equivalent, it keeps most of the internal specifications the same, just as the Optimus G Pro released specifically for Japan.
LG is putting curved OLED televisions on sale earlier than first thought. The electronics producer is opening up its 55-inch EA9800 to pre-orders in Korea today, with shipments in the country expected in June. The HDTV's release outside of Korea will apparently be announced in the coming months, along with regional pricing.
In its latest cyber assault, the Anonymous collective has reportedly broken into the Chinese-hosted North Korean news site Uriminzokkiri.com and pilfered 15,000 user records -- including user names, email addresses, birthdates and hashed passwords. To prove the intrusion, the group has included details for six users, including three North Koreans, and three people from China. One of the identified Korean users had an email address from the Korea Electric Power Company.
A South Korean politician has lost his seat in parliament, due to methods used in exposing corruption within electronics giant Samsung. Roh Hoe-Chan, member of the Progressive Justice Party, had broken communication laws by publishing transcripts of conversations gained through wiretapping.
A man in South Korea was injured on Saturday after his Samsung Galaxy Note exploded. The 55-year-old man apparently suffered second-degree burns to his right thigh, after the smartphone and spare battery he stored in his pants pocket suddenly ruptured and caused damage to his body and clothing.
Korean news agencies are reporting that electronics giant Samsung is covering up a hydrogen fluoride tank gas leak that killed one worker, and hospitalized four in a South Korean plinth. The incident began last night at 11PM local time, when a large tank of hydrofluoric acid started leaking. Initially stopped by workers, the patch gave out at about 5AM local time, releasing 10 liters of aerosolized acid to the environment. Samsung did not report the incident to local authorities until 3PM, nearly 14 hours after the initial incident, and an hour after a worker for the maintenance crew died.
Pantech has revealed its first smartphone with a full HD display, succeeding the 5-inch Vega S5 the company unveiled in July. The Vega No. 6 phablet has a 1920x1080-resolution IPS screen measuring 5.9-inch diagonally, which is claimed by Pantech be the first in South Korea of it's size to be able to use an LTE data connection.
A group of 29 Korean iPhone owners have withdrawn their location-tracking lawsuit against Apple in order to put the group's weight behind a different suit, reports say. The first case was filed against Apple in 2011, claiming that the company was enabling tracking without consent. Now, however, the group is backing down after failing to accumulate enough evidence, according to Korea's Yonhap News Agency.
Teenagers in South Korea may be required to have censorship software installed onto their mobile phones, if government plans come to fruition. The proposals would see profanity and pornography blocked from view on smartphones, and is hoped to curb "illegal and harmful information" being sent to teenagers in the country.
Samsung is "likely" to postpone building a new semiconductor plant in Hwaseong, South Korea because of Apple, according to DigiTimes. The facility, known as Line-17, was originally expected to start volume production in the first quarter of 2014, but DigiTimes suggests that Samsung may be worried about losing some of its orders for Apple processors. Sources tell the website that Samsung will no longer be the only manufacturer of the A-series chips used in iPhones and iPads; currently these are produced at a Samsung plant in Austin, Texas.
The South Korean government is demanding that Apple change the name of a chain of islets in iOS 6 Maps, the Korea Times reports. The chain is known as Dokdo in Korean, but Apple also lists the English (Liancourt Rocks) and Japanese (Takeshima) names for the land, reflecting the fact that both Korea and Japan dispute the land's ownership. "We protested to Apple’s Korean unit that, because Dokdo is clearly an integral part of our territory, the new reference is unacceptable and it should be marked as the Korean name of Dokdo wherever it is searched for," a Korean foreign ministry official comments. Previously Apple relied on data from Google, which uses just the Korean and English names, but is still believed to be unacceptable to the Korean government.
Yahoo said on Friday that it was exiting the South Korean market, citing challenges in the market and stiff competition in the area. Founded in 1997, Yahoo Korea has around 250 employees who will now be looking for work. Localized online portal services will be terminated before the end of the year, with all the corporate assets moved or sold by February 2013.
South Korean authorities have reportedly opened in investigation into Samsung's business practices, following antitrust complaints from rival Apple. The iPhone maker has accused its Korean rival of abusing its dominant position in the wireless technology market.
A South Korean court has ruled that both Apple and Samsung are guilty of patent infringement, bringing an end to two lawsuits filed last year. A three-judge panel outlined the split decision, which finds Apple guilty of infringing two Samsung patents and, conversely, Samsung has been found guilty of infringing one Apple patent. Both companies will be affected by product injunctions, though the monetary damage awards are minuscule.
The two current iPhone carriers in South Korea, KT and SK Telecom, are in talks with Apple for LTE support in the next-generation iPhone, according to anonymous officials with the carriers in contact with the Korea Times. The underlying issue is that while the new iPhone is almost guaranteed to support LTE, KT and SK Telecom use separate frequencies for their LTE networks. KT wants Apple to support 1.8GHz, but SK wants 800MHz. SK reportedly sent an official to Apple's Cupertino headquarters earlier this week hoping to secure a deal.
HTC has closed its offices in Seoul following lackluster handset sales in South Korea. The Taiwanese phone manufacturer claims the efforts are to "streamline operations" and to focus on selling its One range of handsets to customers in markets where HTC is more popular. It is not known how many employees will lose their jobs at the offices, although reports suggest HTC is encouraging affected employees to apply for other in-house vacancies.
Google has allegedly vowed to back Samsung in the Korean handset maker's ongoing legal battles with Apple, unnamed sources have told the Korea Times. Although Google so far has taken an indirect role in defending device makers that utilize its Android platform, the recent injunction focused on Galaxy Nexus sales, handed down in a California court, is said to have pushed the search giant to deepen its involvement.
Samsung Display suffered a power outage at an LCD manufacturing facility, potentially costing the company millions of dollars in productivity. The power interruption, caused by an employee at state-run Korea Electric Power Corp, forced all production lines to grind to a halt. Yonhap News Agency reports that the seemingly simple glitch had an exceedingly disruptive effect on plant operations.
Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy R Style, a Korea-bound handset that appears to serve as a successor to the current Galaxy R. The device packs midrange features, including a 4.3-inch display with 960x540 resolution, a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, and a five-megapixel camera.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has raided Google's offices in Seoul, Korea on Monday. This is the third raid on the search giant's Korean headquarters in just over a year. The KFTC is continuing an Android-related antitrust investigation spearheaded by two local search engine's complaints about Android tampering with search results, favoring Google businesses and advertising providers.
LG has unveilled the Optimus LTE II in Korea. Successor to the Optimus LTE and other Optimus variants, the handset claims to be the world's first smartphone to be released with 2GB of RAM, shortly before the Samsung Galaxy S III reaches Japan in its own RAM-boosted state.
Apple Korea has agreed to change the way it handles replacing defective iPads and iPods in the country, reports say. Until recently, people bringing in faulty hardware would typically get a refurbished device if a replacement was needed. Apple has been persuaded by South Korea's Fair Trade Commission, however, to follow local laws, and will now replace defective iPads and iPods with entirely new units for a period of up to one month after purchase.
This Friday marks another set of expansions for iPhone and iPad sales. The iPhone 4S is now available through another five regional US carriers, including Alaska Communications, Appalachian Wireless, GCL, Cellcom, and nTelos. The first regional carrier to get the iPhone was C Spire, which joined national options AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint.
KT, Korea's largest wire-line operator and Internet services provider, has begun limiting web access to Samsung's Smart TVs. KT took the step a day after it warned Korean TV makers that it could not give Internet-enabled TVs a "free ride" over its network. The service provider wants compensation for the alleged heavy traffic the TVs create, claiming it slows down Internet service to its other customers.
As promised, Apple has launched special Lunar New Year online sales in a handful of countries. These are notably similar to the company's Black Friday deals in the US, which were modest in scope. At the Hong Kong Apple Store, for instance, Apple is offering about 8 percent off Wi-Fi iPads, or 6 to 7 percent off 3G models.
Samsung has decided to forego seeking an injunction against the iPhone 4S in South Korea, says local newspaper The Chosun Ilbo. The company reportedly debated "until the last moment" on whether to file, having already made such efforts in Australia, France, Italy, and Japan. The 4S went on sale in Korea on Friday.
Today's South Korean iPhone 4S launch was met with long lines, at least at KT's flagship store in downtown Seoul, says local news agency Yonhap. There a lineup is said to have formed before sunrise. SK Telecom is also putting iPhones on sale however, marking an end to KT's exclusivity. The first 100 people to pre-order with SK were treated to a midnight event where phones were activated and Korean hip-hop acts performed.
LG has introduced a new projector, the CF3DAT, that will be headed to customers in the company's home country of Korea. The projector features Cinema 3D technology, enabling users to view 3D content in HD resolution when wearing inexpensive polarized glasses rather than relying on more expensive active-shutter frames.
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt will be in Seoul this week to meet with executives from South Korea's leading telecom and personal electronics companies. According to a source at The Korean Times, Schmidt will announce a number of significant investments in Korea, including a possible local Internet Data Center. Until recently, Google has struggled to establish itself in the market against Korean search companies Naver and Daum.
The South Korean government has lifted a ban on iOS games, reports say. Although the App Store has been accessible in Korea for some time, games were kept out because of rules making it illegal to sell titles not approved by the country's Game Ratings Board. Some limits began falling away in July, though, paving the way toward today's decision.
The South Korean government has fined 10 LCD makers for allegedly fixing prices for display components. The list of companies includes all of the major players, including Samsung, LG Display and AU Optronics. Total fines have been set at 195 billion won (~$173 million USD), though Samsung faces the largest single fine of 97.2 billion won (~$86 million USD).
Apple has unveiled plans for an iOS 5 Tech Talk World Tour. Apple experts are scheduled to visit nine cities during the tour, including Berlin, London, Rome, Beijing, Seoul, São Paolo, New York City, Seattle, and Austin. Events will start in Berlin on November 2nd and end in Austin on January 23rd. Registration for January 13th's New York City event is already full.
Samsung is "looking into filing a motion in a Korean court to ban the sale of the iPhone 4S in Korea," according to Samsung mobile communications chief Shin Jong-kyun. The executive spoke to reporters in Hong Kong on Wednesday. "We haven't limited our legal actions to certain countries," Shin elaborates. "We intend to take legal action in as many countries as possible with all the patents we can use."
Samsung is still the main producer for Apple's next-generation mobile processor, the A6, claims an anonymous executive with a South Korea-based Apple supplier. "Apple has been in talks with Samsung over shipment of its A6 quad-core mobile processor (AP) chips to be used in the next iPhone. It appears that Apple clearly has concluded that Samsung remains a critical business partner," the person tells the Korea Times. Samsung is in fact said to be boosting output of A6 chips at a manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas.
Samsung is already preparing to ask for a ban on the iPhone 5 in South Korea, sources for the Korea Times claim. "Just after the arrival of the iPhone 5 here, Samsung plans to take Apple to court here for its violation of Samsung’s wireless technology related patents," a senior Samsung executive is quoted as saying, under promise of anonymity. "For as long as Apple does not drop mobile telecommunications functions, it would be impossible for it to sell its i-branded products without using our patents. We will stick to a strong stance against Apple during the lingering legal fights."
Samsung is reportedly building new partnerships with Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo and several other companies to develop chips that will be used in upcoming smartphones. According to a Nikkei report (sub. required), the South Korean company is attempting to decrease its dependence on components produced by competing chip maker Qualcomm.
Korean carrier KT has unveiled a smartphone concept that pairs a handset with a wide range of dock accessories. The system centers around the Spider, an 0.37-inch-thick Android handset that offers a dual-core 1.5GHz processor and a 4.5-inch display with 1280x800 display, along with 1GB of RAM and 32GB of integrated storage.
Samsung has announced that its Galaxy S II smartphone has sold more than two million units in the company's home market of Korea. The achievement was reached just 73 days since the device arrived on the market. In comparison, the original Galaxy S took 144 days to hit the same number.
Apple has made its first-ever legal payout in the controversy over iOS location tracking, according to Reuters. In May a court ordered Apple Korea to pay a local lawyer, Kim Hyung-suk, 1 million won ($946) in compensation for recording location information through his iPhone without consent. The firm Kim belongs to, Mirae Law, has only just confirmed that Apple completed the payment in June.
The South Korean government is reportedly placing pressure on local cellular carriers to lower their pricing structures. SK Telecom, the largest mobile provider in the country, is the first to respond to demands from regulators. The company will reduce its monthly charge by 1,000 won (~$0.92 USD) by September, bringing the average monthly fees down to approximately 11,000 won (~$10.21 USD), alongside other promotions and plan changes.
One of Apple's key Asian retail partners, Foxlink, is planning to double the number of Apple-exclusive stores it operates in the region. The chain currently has about 50 stores, but says it will expand to 100 locations by the end of the year. Existing outlets are spread throughout China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea.
Apple has posted a new version of Boot Camp, its software allowing Windows partitions to run on a Mac. The v3.2 update -- measuring just 638KB -- is a minor one, only resolving problems with Japanese and South Korean keyboards when operating on a 2011 iMac. The update is nevertheless available in over a dozen languages, and requires Windows 7.
Asian launches of the iPad 2 were met with long lines on Thursday, reports say. The most significant of these may be in Japan, which was first slated to get the tablet on March 25th, but had the introduction delayed because of the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit the north on March 11th. By the time Apple Japan's flagship Ginza store opened at 9AM on Thursday, the iPad 2 lineup was reportedly three blocks long.
The Korea Communications Commission is now probing for possible legal violations by Apple in regard to iOS 4, says Bloomberg. Concern revolves around the location history file recently made public at Where 2.0. The KCC has requested that Apple explain how often location data is collected and saved, and whether or not the public has a choice to save or delete it. The company is further being asked to say why the information is saved, and if it's being stored on Apple servers.
Apple will launch the iPad 2 in 13 more countries next week, according to COO Tim Cook. The executive made the statement during the company's fiscal Q2 results call, addressing the "mother of all backlogs" the tablet has been experiencing. More countries will get the device throughout the third quarter, says Cook.
UK carriers Orange and Vodafone have announced details of their subsidized iPad 2 plans. Beginning tomorrow, Vodafone is selling 16, 32 and 64GB tablets at prices of £199, £249 and £349 for existing subscribers. For new customers, a £30 premium is being imposed.
Apple has "clever things" planned in order to address the prepaid market for iPhones, says COO Tim Cook. The executive joined CFO Peter Oppenheimer and VP of Internet Services Eddy Cue in speaking with Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst with Bernstein Research. While the iPhone is in high demand, a new model can cost at least $600 off-contract. Apple doesn't want its products to be "just for the rich," according to Cook, and is "not ceding any market." He notes that the company has spent "huge energy" in China, said to be a "clasic prepaid market."
The iPhone has had an "extraordinary" reception in Asia, "on par with the US some cases," according to analysts Toni Sacconaghi and Sanford Bernstein of Bernstein Research. The pair point to recent IDC data in particular, which indicates that the iPhone now forms 12 percent of all Japanese cellphone sales, not just smartphones. Given momentum and plans to open 20 more Chinese Apple Stores in 2011, it's inevitable that the iPhone will come to more Asian carriers, Sacconaghi argues.
Over 2 million iPhones have now been sold in South Korea, local carrier KT has announced. Various versions of the phone have been available in the country for little over a year. The iPhone 4 launched in the country on September 10th, and the 1 million mark was achieved a little over 10 days later.
