As a high school senior, Hwang Yu-mi went to work bathing silicon wafers in chemicals at a Samsung factory that makes computer chips for laptops and other devices. She died of leukemia four years later. After Yu-mi’s 2007 death, her father, Hwang Sang-gi, learned a 30-year-old worker at the same semiconductor line also had died…
Court: Chemicals Caused Samsung Chip Worker’s Ovarian Cancer
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A court said Friday that exposure to carcinogens at a Samsung chip factory caused a worker’s ovarian cancer in the first ruling in South Korea to link the disease with chemicals that chip workers were exposed to. The Seoul Administrative Court said it saw a “significant causal relationship” between the disease and even a…
Samsung Reaches Partial Agreement with Sick Workers
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics reached a partial agreement on workplace safety with sickened workers and their families, nearly a decade after the death of a 22-year-old chip worker from leukemia galvanized concern about conditions in South Korea’s semiconductor industry. The South Korean company and Banolim, which is the main advocacy group for sick workers,…
TVs that Eavesdrop and Share Nearby Conversations
Seoul, South Korea (AP) — Watch what you say in your living room. Samsung’s smart TV could be listening. And sharing. Voice recognition technology in the South Korean company’s Internet connected TVs captures and transmits nearby conversations. The potential for TVs to eavesdrop is revealed in Samsung’s smart TV privacy policy available on its website.…
Why a Samsung Takeover of Blackberry Could Make Sense
Propelled by the arrival of the Apple Watch, the global market for wireless power and charging in wearable applications is set to attain a gargantuan 3,000 percent expansion this year compared to 2014, according to IHS Technology. Global revenue this year from shipments of wireless power receivers and transmitters in wearable applications will surge to…
Analysis: Making Sense of Samsung’s Possible Interest in BlackBerry
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung and Blackberry have splashed frigid water on a report that Samsung wants to make a $7.5 billion takeover offer for the struggling Canadian device maker. That, however, did not stop tech industry watchers from dissecting all the possibilities. Once strong in mobile devices, Blackberry is now an also ran,…
Gangnam Becomes Hot Spot for Korean Startups
The uber-trendy Seoul neighborhood made famous by the “Gangnam Style” K-pop hit is known for status-conscious people, plastic surgery clinics and Ivy League prep schools. Now it’s making a name as a bustling center for tech startups. Many young South Koreans, some educated overseas, are going to Gangnam to start mobile or Internet businesses. Venture…