korean – Tech Today w/ Ken May

99.6% of new smartphones run iOS or Android; RIP Windows and Blackberry

Enlarge (credit: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images) Remember those crazy days in 2011 and 12 when we thought that the mobile market might become a three-horse race between Android, iOS, and Windows Mobile, with Blackberry bringing up the rear? Well, I have bad if unsurprising news: by the end of last year, 99.6 percent of all new smartphones ran either Android or iOS—a return to the status quo that Ars first wrote about way back in 2009 . According to the latest figures from Gartner , both Android and iOS expanded their share of the market in 2016, while sales of Windows and Blackberry continued their free fall to the base of the cliff. Gartner, a research company that derives its figures from a range of sources, says that just 1.1 million Windows smartphones were sold in Q4 2016, down from 4.4 million in Q4 2015. Similarly, Blackberry device sales fell from 906,000 to 208,000. The action at the top of the sales table, between Apple and Samsung, was a little more exciting. For the first time since Q4 2014 Apple has apparently retaken pole position from Samsung, with 77 million iPhones shifted last quarter versus 76.8 million units for the Korean chaebol. Samsung still shipped the most smartphones over the course of 2016, but its share of the market decreased from 22.5 percent to 20.5. Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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99.6% of new smartphones run iOS or Android; RIP Windows and Blackberry

Netflix’s first original Korean series is based on a web comic

Netflix is eager to court South Korea now that it has a foothold in the country , and it’s finally readying its first original series to match… with a decidedly technological twist. It’s readying Love Alarm , a 12-episode show based on a popular Korean web comic — no, not a book or another country’s TV programming . Even the premise is appropriately techy. The story centers around a mysterious mobile app that lets you know if someone nearby is attracted to you, which invariably causes chaos. The show won’t debut until 2018, but it’ll be available worldwide. That may sound odd for something that’s clearly designed to suit local tastes, but Netflix is clearly counting on the West’s surge in interest for all things Korean (think everything from K-pop to Oldboy ) as a draw. In theory, it’s the company’s dream show: it’s intensely relevant in its home country, but accessible enough that it could attract an international fan base. Via: Tech Crunch Source: Netflix

Samsung loses $26 billion of market value after Note 7 recall

Samsung was having a great year , thanks to the S7 and S7 Edge, enticing investors to toss their money into the pool. Unfortunately, the rest of 2016 hasn’t been going according to Samsung’s forecast. The Korean chaebol has lost a whopping $26 billion (with a B) of its market value since it announced the Galaxy Note 7 recall, according to financial data provider Factset. Its shares apparently dropped 6.9 percent between the Korean Exchange’s close on Friday (September 9th) and Monday, and its stock is currently priced at a bit above $1, 300. That’s the lowest it’s been in months, although as you can see in the graph below the fold, the company has recovered a bit since yesterday. Since around 2.5 million devices were shipped before the recall started, it might have alarmed investors and made them question Samsung’s future in the mobile business. Perhaps in an effort to assuage their fears, the company announced on Monday that Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee will officially take over his father’s role as the company’s chief. Samsung expected to maintain its high-end smartphone sales in the second half of 2016 with the Note 7’s release. And it probably would have succeeded — we called the latest in the series the “best phone Samsung has ever made.” However, the corporation had to issue a recall after reports came out that some units’ batteries were faulty, making them prone to overheating and exploding. There are now over 70 reported cases of Note 7 devices overheating in the US alone. The government even stepped in and asked people to stop using their phones until they get safe replacements scheduled to come out on September 19th. Ordinary consumers have become so wary of the device, tech analyst Rod Enderle told Inquisitr that the company might have to announce the Note 7’s successor ahead of time in order to bounce back. Source: Quartz