Dating in the digital age? There’s an app for that.

Single South Koreans can now use a new feature on the i-um —meaning “to connect” —smartphone application, which aims to bring together hardworking, professional men and women over their lunch breaks, Reuters reports.

I-um users create profiles and upload pictures, much like you would on any other online dating website, but what makes the service different is the way in which it brings people together. Continue Reading »

Jinha Lee. Photo via BBC.

Our computer experience is about to be revolutionized.

South Korea’s Jinha Lee, a TED fellow, has been working with Microsoft on SpaceTop 3D, a “see through computer.”

Lee, a graduate of MIT, who is serving his mandatory military service while working with Samsung Electronics, said at a TED conference in Los Angeles that “the design was inspired by what he sees as a human need to interact with things,” BBC News reports. TED stands for Technology, Education and Design.

The computer works when a “transparent LED display with built-in cameras … track the user’s gestures and eye movements.” Continue Reading »

It is well known that South Korea is the world’s most wired country. Blazing fast Internet speeds while you’re traveling underground on the subway is more of a right than a privilege.

But in terms of the fastest average peak speeds, South Korea was recently ousted from the top spot by Hong Kong, according to a report to be published later today by Akamai Technologies.

Bloomberg got its hands on the report early and said South Korea’s bandwidth has been strained by the massive popularity of online gaming. Damn you, Starcraft! Continue Reading »

by STEVE HAN

A controversial Android app mocking Asian ethnic groups sparked the launching of an online petition, with the number of signatures surpassing 1,000 in just a week.

The app is called “Make Me Asian” and was  created by KimberyDeiss. It allows users to redesign their profile pictures on various social networking sites. Its features include choices of putting on an Asian peasant hat, mustache or adding slanty eyes on the users’ profile pictures. The app is currently available at the Google Play store.

Peter Chin, a Korean American pastor based in Washington, D.C., started the petition.

“Asians and many minorities have silently endured being characterized by offensive stereotypes because we felt powerless to do anything about it,” Chin told iamKoreAm. Continue Reading »

Who was the young, no-nonsense judicial powerhouse that played referee in the highly contentious Apple v. Samsung case? The answer may surprise you.

by SUEVON LEE

It was one of the most closely watched trials in federal court this year.

Iconic American brand Apple had accused South Korean electronics giant Samsung of stealing the design and technology of its iPhone and iPad for the latter’s Android-operated smartphone and tablet products. It was the kind of trial followed not only nationwide, but overseas for its significance on the explosive and very competitive smartphone market. However, with testimony marked by highly technical patent law jargon stretching over three weeks, it was also the kind of trial that could easily put courtroom watchers to sleep—the judge herself even asked the nine jurors at one point whether they needed caffeine.

Indeed, it would be the sharp tongue of the Honorable Lucy Koh who kept things crackling in the San Jose courtroom.

Just Google “Lucy Koh” and count the multiple hits that contain the phrase “smoking crack.” In what’s become her most quoted remark from the bench, Koh snapped at an Apple attorney facing a tight time frame, “Unless you’re smoking crack, you know these witnesses aren’t going to be called.” When Apple and Intel lawyers asserted that one of Samsung’s witnesses was legally not allowed to testify, Koh demanded, “I want papers.  I don’t trust what any lawyer tells me in this courtroom.”

Her candid—and often colorful—comments in the midst of lengthy, dry courtroom proceedings inspired one blog to list “five of our favorite Koh smackdowns.”

Koh kept the trial moving along at a brisk pace, often urging the parties to reach a settlement. “It’s time for peace,” she declared late in the trial, Forbes reported. “If you could have your CEOs have one last conversation, I’d appreciate it.” Continue Reading »

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