By Mee-Hyoe Koo, Contributor FORBES ASIA interviewed Yukang Choi, the CEO & Founder of Teach for All Korea, a non profit organization that manages and initiates various education programs to help low-income students in Korea. FORBES ASIA: What was your inspiration behind the establishment of your NPO, Teach for All Korea? …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
Political and financial issues could threaten next year’s Indian and South Korean grand prix, as Formula One paymaster Bernie Ecclestone looks to add new races in the United States, Russia and Austria. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
A decorated Korean War veteran from Massachusetts left North Korea on Monday without fulfilling his mission: to travel the Chosin Reservoir battleground where he was hoping to locate the remains of a friend who was the U.S. Navy’s first black aviator.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Coming soon to a printer near you: more NFC. Samsung said Wednesday that two color laser printers with near-field communication would be available in the U.S. starting next week. (The printers were announced in Korea last month.) The products are the Xpress C410W color laser single-function printer, which will cost $229, and the Xpress C460FW MFP color laser multifunction printer, which will cost $399.
NFC is still most common in cell phones and tablets. But no matter how much content moves online, everyone needs to print once in a while. NFC is supposed to make it easier for that print to happen through a simple touch, though there’s also an app involved, of course.
Brother beat Samsung to the U.S. market with an NFC-equipped inkjet multifunction printer two weeks ago, the MFC-J870DW, but Samsung’s are the first laser-based models to arrive here. The C410W is your basic, low-end color laser for a home or very small office. The C460FW MFP is based on the same engine but adds a scanner and automatic document feeder for copy, scan, and fax functions.
Both products have top print speeds, per Samsung, of 19 pages per minute (ppm) for plain, black text and 4 ppm for color output. Paper handling includes a 150-sheet input tray and a 50-sheet output tray—best suited for low-volume use, in other words.
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld
A delegation from the Panamanian Red Cross Tuesday visited the 35 crew members from a North Korea ship being held for carrying undeclared Cuban weapons. …read more
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North Korea has launched its annual Arirang festival, featuring tens of thousands of performers in a highly-choreographed display of patriotism and support for the ruling Kim dynasty. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
If you’ve been waiting patiently since CES to grab a first-of-its-kind HDTV, now’s your chance. During an event in Minnesota today, LG announced its 55-inch curved OLED would begin showing up in select U.S. Best Buy stores over the next several weeks. The $15,000 HDTV launched in Korea back in April, and LG executives feel the move gives the company an “early lead” on the OLED market in the United States. Moreover, Best Buy will also be the first major American retailer to carry OLED sets.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Tech
Panamanian authorities have found two Soviet-era MiG-21 fighter jets aboard a North Korea-flagged ship seized this month as it tried to pass through the Panama Canal after departing from Cuba. …read more
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North Korea has awarded late leader Kim Jong-Il a new medal, state media said, as Pyongyang gears up to mark 60 years since the Korean War ended. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
By John Johnson
Ever heard of Ensign Jesse Brown? Probably not, and that’s too bad, because “he’s a Jackie Robinson in many ways,” says his old war buddy Thomas Hudner. “He’s a historic figure, yet he’s lying on a Korean mountainside.” The AP has the remarkable story: Robinson became the Navy’s first black… …read more
The fates of Y.E. Yang, K.J. Choi of Korea and Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand took a surprising twist when they narrowly made the halfway cut at the British Open on Friday.
Yang (70), Choi (74), and Thongchai (71) finished the second round earlier in the day and were a distance away from the cut-off mark before the Muirfield course bared its fangs.
The course, which was playing hard and fast, and the unpredictable windy conditions made life difficult for the elite players where many moved backwards on the leaderboard to give the three Asian Tour players spots in the weekend rounds. The halfway cut was set at 150.
Thongchai, a three-time Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, was delighted with his battling performance where he avoided the demanding bunkers.
“It is tough when you are in the bunkers but I didn’t find any today. I made a few bogeys from the fairways but it was still a good effort,” said Thongchai, who totalled eight-over-par 150.
Yang, Asia’s first major champion, who was in the first group to tee off at 6:32am, left his fate to the field when he returned with a 148.
“I could have played better. If I had to pinpoint one shot which I would like to reshoot it will be on the 11th yesterday when I ended up in the sand trap and needed five shots to get out,” said Yang.
Choi, who cut his professional teeth on the Asian Tour before going on to win eight PGA Tour titles, made a critical birdie on the 17th hole which sneaked him into the last two days.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
By Richard Green, Contributor Here in Los Angeles, the subway along Wilshire Boulevard, one of the densest streets in America, ends 13 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The Long Beach (or 710) Freeway and the 210 Freeway, two of the busiest trucking routes in America, are connected by surface streets, even though they are only 4.5 miles apart. Both of these projects have been discussed for decades. The “Subway to the Sea” may finally happen, but even now, it will only go as far as Westwood, and it was delayed because of tantrums from Beverly Hills. It is still not clear what will happen with the 710-210 gap. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
South Korea has dropped a two-year anti-competition probe into Google’s Android smartphone operations in that country, sources close to Google confirmed Thursday.
The investigation, which was based on claims that Google had pressured Android phone manufacturers to block search engines or other applications that rivaled its own, has ended with no finding of a violation of law, sources said.
Two Korean search engine operators, Daum and NHN, filed the claims with South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission in 2011. Among other charges, Daum said Google had influenced Android-based phone manufacturers to block certain other software services from being placed before Google’s search tools.
However, it has since been established that Google’s Android business practices did not break any laws, the sources said. Google declined to comment on the case. Neither Daum nor NHN could be immediately reached for comment.
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld
A challenging overseas market is weighing on eBay’s outlook for the second half of the year, sending shares lower in after-hours trading Wednesday even though the e-commerce bellwether’s second-quarter results were roughly in line with Wall Street’s expectations.
EBay shares fell $3.55, or 6.2 percent, to $53.83 in extended trading.
Revenue rose by 14 percent in the April-June period, as its PayPal business and namesake online marketplace continued to grow. But net income declined amid higher expenses.
The company’s shares fell by about 6 percent to $53.95 in extended trading after the results came out on Wednesday. Though he called the quarter’s results strong, CEO John Donahoe said economic weakness in Europe and Korea will “continue to be a challenge” in the second half of the year. The company kept its full-year guidance unchanged, but indicated that results may come in at the lower end of the expected revenue and profit range.
EBay Inc. earned $640 million, or 49 cents per share, in the April-June period. That’s down 8 percent from $692 million, or 53 cents per share, in the same months a year earlier.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, per-share earnings rose to 63 cents from 56 cents and matched Wall Street’s expectations.
Revenue grew by 14 percent, to $3.88 billion from $3.4 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $3.89 billion.
Donahoe said that eBay’s core businesses — PayPal and its e-commerce sites — are going strong. PayPal, which has been the company’s fastest-growing segment, added 4.7 million active registered accounts, ending the quarter with 132 million users.
Revenue at PayPal grew 20 percent to $1.6 billion as eBay continued to expand its once online-only payments service to brick-and-mortar stores.
Marketplaces revenue increased 10 percent to $2 billion. Gross merchandise volume, an important metric that measures all items sold on eBay excluding vehicles, grew 13 percent to $18 billion.
EBay’s operating expenses were $1.92 billion, up 12 percent from a year earlier.
For the current quarter, eBay forecast earnings of 49 to 51 cents per share and adjusted earnings of 61 to 63 cents per share. Analysts estimated higher adjusted earnings of 65 …read more
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North Korea’s foreign ministry said late Wednesday that Cuban arms seized from a Pyongyang-flagged ship in Panama’s waters were part of a legitimate deal and demanded the immediate release of the ship, state media reported.
“This cargo is nothing but ageing weapons which are to be sent back to Cuba after overhauling them according to a legitimate contract,” the Korea Central News Agency quoted the foreign ministry as saying, adding: “The Panamanian authorities should take a step to let the apprehended crewmen and ship leave without delay.”
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Cuba claimed as its own the arms found on board a North Korean ship that Panama impounded, saying the missile system parts were to be repaired and returned.
In a statement read on state television, Havana said the “obsolete” weaponry included anti-aircraft missile arrays, nine disassembled missiles and other parts, without mentioning where they were being sent.
“The agreements Cuba has signed in these areas are based on our need to maintain our defensive capacity to protect national sovereignty,” the statement said.
Panama called Tuesday for UN investigators to inspect a shipment of suspected weapons parts aboard a North Korean-flagged ship as it tried to enter the Panama Canal last week.
Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli tweeted a photo of the suspected weapons cache, which experts have identified as an aging Soviet-built radar control system for surface-to-air missiles.
Panama said the contraband munitions were hidden under thousands of bags of sugar aboard the North Korean-flagged Chong Chon Gang.
Officials said if the shipment is determined to contain missile components, that could violate a UN ban on most weapons being shipped into or out of North Korea.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
1618 – Capt John Gilbert patents 1st dredger in Britain
1867 – D R Averill patents ready-mixed paint
1946 – US court martials 46 SS to death (Battle of Bulge crimes) in Dachau
1964 – Republicans convention selects Barry Goldwater as pres candidate
1995 – “Chronicles of a Death Foretold” closes at Plymouth NYC after 55 perfs
1999 – John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette are killed in a plane crash off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. The Piper Saratoga aircraft was piloted by Kennedy.
1855 – Charles Francis Abdy Williams, composer
1945 – Barry Dudleston, cricket umpire
1964 – Miguel Indurain, Spanish bicyclist (Tour de France winner 1991-95)
1966 – Jyrki Lumme, Tampere Fin, NHL defenseman (Canucks, Finland Oly-B-98)
1970 – William Van Landingham, Columbia TN, pitcher (SF Giants)
1986 – Calum Gittins, New Zealand actor
1887 – Nicaise de Keyser, Flemish painter (Battle at Woeringen), dies at 73
1896 – William Hamilton Gibson, illustrator/author/novelist, dies
1962 – Jan M Romein, historian (Breaking of Two Ages), dies
1981 – Harry Chapin, folk vocalist (Taxi), dies in car crash at 38
2003 – Carol Shields, Canadian author (b. 1935)
2005 – Prince Gu of Korea (b. 1931)
Source: FULL ARTICLE at HistoryOrb.Com – This Day in History
South Korea on Tuesday blamed North Korea for a crippling cyber attack last month against a number of government and news media websites.
The South’s science ministry said hackers in the attack from June 25 to July 1 used at least one IP address that was used in earlier attacks blamed on North Korea.
“North Korea is believed to be behind the attack,” senior ministry official Park Jae-Moon told reporters.
North Korea was blamed for major intrusions in 2009 and 2011 that targeted South Korean financial institutions and government agencies.
Seoul also accused Pyongyang’s military intelligence agency of launching a major cyber attack in March, which shut down the networks of three TV broadcasters and crippled operations at three banks.
The malware used in last month’s attack was found to be a variation of the one used in the March 20 cyber attack, Park said.
Almost all websites and servers of 69 government offices and private organisations targeted in the attack were now operating normally, Park said.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Pyongyang urged the U.S. to “positively respond” to the former’s call for negotiations “without preconditions.” Washington refused to “engage in talks merely for the sake of talks” and insisted that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea commit to denuclearization. The diplomatic impasse on the Korean peninsula continues. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
South Korea’s defence ministry said on Monday it has ordered its staff to install a smartphone application that restricts key functions like the camera in an attempt to prevent military leaks.
The ministry said that, from Monday, its 1,500 staff are no longer allowed to bring smartphones into their offices without installing the app, called “Mobile Management Device”.
The order caused a long queue at the gates of the ministry on Monday because some 20 percent of the staff had failed to install the app, officials said.
The ministry declined to confirm a report by Yonhap news agency that some staff had refused to install the app due to concerns about privacy.
Ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok told reporters that the app, which restricts the use of cameras and audio recording, prevents leaks through smartphones and stops outsiders from hacking into the devices of defence ministry officials.
“We’ve developed a system to restrict the core functions of smartphones because of concerns that our work could be leaked through them,” he said.
For now, the app only works in the ministry compound. Officials said all South Korean soldiers would be ordered to install it later.
The ministry promised to upgrade the app after an operational flaw emerged.
Users of Samsung’s Galaxy and other Android phones can receive and make calls and text messages, but iPhone users can only receive calls and text messages.
Yonhap quoted an unnamed air force lieutenant colonel as saying: “Even if I bring my iPhone 4 that passed the security review, I can only receive calls and text messages. What can I do with the dumb phone?”
About 70 percent of South Korea’s 50 million people have smartphones — the world’s highest penetration rate.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
