Intel sets up R&D in Korea

SAN FRANCISCO: Intel Corp., the world's largest computer chip maker, said it has opened a research and development center in Korea focused on wireless communications and multimedia.

Korea, which has one of the most developed markets in the world for cellular phones and high-speed Internet access, joins other Intel research sites in Asia, including India, Malaysia and China, said Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy.

The move follows a similar investment by International Business Machines Corp., which said last October that it would open a research laboratory in Korea.

Among the center's priorities will be a short-range wireless technology called ultrawideband, which Intel is backing as a way to link PC and electronics components, Intel said.

The Santa Clara, California-based company said it tapped K.S. Lee, who previously worked for Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. in its digital media network business, as the first director of the center.

© Reuters