South Korea

The broadband race is on.

As policy makers the world over haggle over how to revive ailing economies, one strategy has found widespread support everywhere from Washington and Berlin to Sydney and Seoul: Investing in high-speed Internet access.

The new crop of mobile phones was thin [at] the industry's big event, the Mobile World Congress [in Barcelona]. But despite scaled-down promotion, empty hotel rooms and a murky future, a few trends appeared to emerge.

A subtle but unmistakable move this year was the demise of the flip mobile phone, also known as the clamshell design. Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and LG all had models on display at the show, but none were center stage.

Samsung Electronics Co. announced a major restructuring Friday, consolidating business operations into two divisions as South Korea's most powerful and iconic corporation deals with the slowing global economy and expectations of looming red ink.

The new organization was included in an announcement of personnel changes at the company as well as at the broader Samsung Group of which it serves as flagship.

Canada's Research in Motion and South Korea's SK Telecom announced Tuesday the launch of corporate service for the BlackBerry Bold smart phone, which will be available in South Korea on the country's biggest wireless network.

The two companies said the device was expected to be available on the market by the end of the month. Plans were to target both multinational and domestic companies, it said.

South Korea's money-losing Hynix Semiconductor Inc. is making progress toward raising new capital from creditors and direct backing from the government is not being considered, officials said Monday.

Hynix, the world's second-largest manufacturer of computer memory chips after Samsung Electronics Co., has racked up four straight quarters of net losses amid a long slump in the semiconductor industry.

Sometimes I get the feeling that all the people who used to draw concept art for Star Wars have all quit their jobs and jumped on the green architecture bandwagon. Not that this is a bad thing – when it comes to making the future a reality, I say there’s no better time than the present.

Sometimes I get the feeling that all the people who used to draw concept art for Star Wars have all quit their jobs and jumped on the green architecture bandwagon. Not that this is a bad thing – when it comes to making the future a reality, I say there’s no better time than the present.