Demoday, a web platform for Korean Startups, recently came up with a list of 100 hot Korean startups in 2013, and we thought this might be a great chance to write an introduction to the Korean startup world. Every Tuesday and Thursday, we will introduce you to 10 startup companies that got into the list in alphabetical order. Here’s our list for this week: Cosmic Color Category: Commerce Key People: Jerry Yang…

KT – Cisco team up for 5G network Korean telecommunications giant KT said recently that it aims to jointly develop a fifth-generation (5G) network with Cisco Systems under new corporate initiatives being pursued by KT CEO Hwang Chang-gyu. “While 5G is still just a concept rather than a reality, you should keep in mind that being proactive means thinking and acting ahead of anticipated trends,” said a KT executive. The remarks come…

Between 1997 and 2001, 3 web portal giants were born in Korea in a mini .com boom that mirrored similar in the west. Daum, Naver and Nate utilized the incredible IT infrastructure that had been built through a massive, strategic cash injection from the Korean government that aimed (and succeeded) in powering Korea to the status of one of the most progressive technology hubs in the world. This legacy still prevails and…

A Google spokesperson has reached out to TechInAsia who also posted this news, and pointed out that “it hasn’t done or offered any of the things described in this post.” References  were initially sourced from ZDnet Korea (http://www.zdnet.co.kr/news/news_view.asp?artice_id=20140219145110). They have since taken down the articles used as reference for this article. We apologize for the inaccuracy of this post. Korea has long been a brand-obsessed shopping nation. Now Google aims to assist up-and-coming app…

Mobile Shopping Users In Korea Exceed 20M For First Time A recent survey has shown that Koreans using mobile shopping applications has grown such that there are now more mobile shoppers than there are KakaoGame players in Korea. According to Rankey.com who conducted the survey, the number of shopping app users totaled 21.63M, as of January 2014. This figure is 2.7M higher than the number of KakaoGame Play users and represents a…

마이크로소프트(Microsoft), 스프린트(Sprint) 등 거대 IT회사에게 모바일 어플리케이션(이하 앱) 검색 서비스를 제공하는 퀵시(Quixey)에서 새로운 검색 기술을 발표한다. 퀵시는 기존의 앱 검색 기능에서 한발 더 나아가 앱 내 정보까지 통합 검색할 수 있는 서비스를 곧 론칭할 예정이다. 구글이 춘추전국시대와 같았던 90년대 웹 검색 시장을 검색 기능 하나로 평정하며 세계 최고가 된 지금 퀵시는 모바일 앱 계의 구글을 꿈꾸고 있다. 퀵시는 지난 2012년부터 현재까지 구글 에릭 슈미츠(Eric Schmidt) 회장의 이노베이션 인디버스(Innovation Endeavors)를 포함 알리바바(Alibaba), 아틀란틱…

Samsung unveils Tizen-based wearable devices Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest maker of smartphones, unveiled its first wearable devices that run on its own mobile operating system Tizen in Spain on Sunday, as it seeks to break its heavy reliance on Google Inc.’s Android software. The unveiling of the Samsung Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo, Samsung’s successors to the Galaxy Gear, which was released in September last year, also comes as…

There has been much talk about Facebook’s inability to crack the tough, localized Korean market, but in an interview with Facebook’s top brass in Korea, this situation seems to be improving. Korea is a key test market for Facebook and this should send a message to other global tech companies hoping to do business in Korea, particularly those engaged with expansion on mobile. It was also proven last year that Facebook was taking…

The researchers at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) announced that they developed a head-mounted display–30 times faster processing speed compared to that of Google Glass. ‘K-Glass’, developed by Yoo Hoi-Jun, Professor of Electrical Engineering at KAIST, and his team, is a high-performance, extremely low-powered head-mounted display (HMD) embedding an augmented reality (AR) chip–30x faster and with 3 to 12x longer operating time than Google Glass. Despite the sensation that Google created…

Kakao Corp., developers of Korea’s favorite messaging service and social platform, Kakao Talk, will be listing its stock publicly next May. This follows the recent news that SundayToz also successfully listed its stock in August 2013, and demonstrates further growth in the domestic tech industry, that has been attracting much attention in the international press attention recently. What’s more interesting though is the potential opportunity that Facebook has presented following today’s news that…

Google, which has been relatively slow in expanding its market presence in South Korea, is now fast catching up to local rivals in display Ad sales (one segment of online advertising), according to industry sources. This news will be a surprise to many who have been watching Google’s advance in Korea with skepticism, as reported by beSUCCESS only a month ago.   This news will also fall sweetly on the ears of…

Reuters: Asian chat services KakaoTalk, LINE and WeChat threaten to overturn the mobile order of things, usurping the role of Google Inc, Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Facebook Inc and telecoms carriers as gatekeeper to the consumer. Where these internet and telecoms giants once controlled the lucrative choke points of the industry, social messaging services are fast emerging as an alternative distribution channel for adverts, apps, and goods and services. For example, Tencent Holdings’ WeChat allows its more than…

With the launch of a large-screen smartphone-tablet hybrid on Thursday, LG Electronics is attempting to achieve an ambitious goal:  regain the No. 3 spot in the global smartphone market place. It may be a long shot. Last month, Chinese PC maker Lenovo announced plans to buy Google’s Motorola Mobility handset unit for $2.9 billion. There has been a lot of coverage in the press about the recent Lenovo-Motorola deal, but internally LG has been focusing on boosting their own…

All navigation manufacturers are facing an increasingly challenging market. While Apple and Google offer built-in or free software in the US, Korean Telecom companies offer even more state-of-the-art navigation software, informing drivers of speed limit zones and locations of traffic enforcement cameras. Despite the similar kind of market pressure in the face of evolving smartphone apps, the navigation manufacturers in the two markets seem to be moving in opposite directions. While American…

메시지를 확인하면 10초 만에 자동 삭제되는 유령 메신저 ‘스냅챗’이 돌풍을 일으키면서, 이를 기점으로 SNS의 신(新) 역사가 시작되고 있다. 스냅챗이 사람들에게서 읽어낸 니즈는 ‘휘발성’이다. 일부 매체에서는 ‘잊혀질 권리를 보장해주는 메신저’라고 소개하기도 했는데, 분명 자신의 이름을 단 흔적들이 어딘가에 흘려져 있다는 건 부담스러운 일이다. 최근에는 이런 휘발성에 덧붙여 아예 이름이 드러나지 않는 SNS가 등장했다. 이름 없이 소셜 네트워킹이 가능할까 싶지만, 익명 게시판에 더 솔직하고 적나라한 이야기들이 오고 갔던 걸 떠올려보면 그리 새로운 일도 아니다….

Korean researchers have developed a next-generation mobile communication technology that enables devices to directly communicate, long range, without going through a base station. The solution allows direct communication between LTE devices, a world first, and was successfully demonstrated it in the company’s mobile communication lab. ETRI’s technology was highlighted by the international standardization organization, 3GPP, as a stand out new-tech innovation last year and was praised for having a wider communication range…

애플 ios8, 모바일 헬스케어 앱 포함 가능성 애플이 올해 출시할 ios 8에 건강 모니터 앱을 추가할 예정이라고 IT매체 나인투파이브맥이 31일(현지 시간) 보도했다. 추후에 이 기능은 아이워치에도 활용될 예정으로, 최근 애플은 2명의 웨어러블 기기 관련 의학 전문가를 채용하는 등 헬스케어 분야에 지속적인 연구와 개발을 거듭해왔다. 매체에 따르면 애플이 헬스케어 분야의 집중하는 이유는 “사용자들의 연령대가 높아짐에 따라 건강관리 분야가 확실한 사업 영역이 될 것”으로 판단했기 때문이다. 애플이 ios8에 추가할 애플리케이션은 헬스북(healthbook)으로 걸음수, 칼로리 소모량,…

The below is the review segment for Korea. For the full article please click here to be redirected. Samsung 4Q13 profits to fall: Samsung Electronics has estimated its operating profits for the fourth quarter of 2013 at about KRW8.3 trillion(US$7.8 billion), down 18% from the prior quarter. Consolidated sales for the 4Q are set to stay flat on quarterat KRW59 trillion, Samsung disclosed. The forecast operating profits represent a 6.1% decrease compared tothe KRW8.84 trillion…

While many believe that the USA leads the world in innovation, with Silicon Valley as the heart of everything, there are other nations that are making an impact. Bloomberg recently conducted a survey of 215 countries to determine their ‘Innovation Quotient’ and ranked South Korea as number 1 in the world for 2013. South Korea has achieved phenomenal economic growth over the last four decades, and is now is a position globally…

하드웨어와 소프트웨어의 결합은 어떻게 발전하고 있는가 ‘웨어러블 테크(Wearable Tech)’, ‘커넥티드 디바이스(Connected Device)’ 등 IoT(사물인터넷, Internet of Things)가 올 2014년도의 주요 화두다. 최근 개최된 CES2014에서 주목한 분야가 바로 사물인터넷으로, 홈케어 및 헬스케어 솔루션 분야에서 이 기술을 접목한 사례가 많이 소개되었다. 기존에 하드웨어는 사용자가 소프트웨어를 구동하는 하나의 물리적 틀이었다. 그러나 사물인터넷 기술의 발달로 하드웨어 자체가 사용자의 정보를 기록, 분석하여 적절한 솔루션까지 제공하는 지능형 디바이스로 발전하고 있다. 이와 관련된 트렌디한 상품과 서비스가 시장에 쏟아지고 있어…