[주간 IT뉴스 브리핑] Nexon, other than the promise of item’reinforcement probability disclosure’

[IT동아 장현지 기자] Here’s a summary of the key news to watch in the IT sector last week. Every Monday, so that issues can be identified at a glance [주간 IT뉴스 브리핑]Serially.

Nexon promises to disclose the item’reinforcement probability’ with apology from CEO Jeongheon Lee

Nexon is at the center of controversy over the suspicion of manipulating items in the Maple Story game. Therefore, on the 5th, we decided to disclose item probability information to alleviate distrust of users. We plan to fully disclose information on enhancement of paid items, and introduce a probability real-time monitoring system that users can directly verify. It is the first in the domestic game industry.

Nexon CEO Lee Jeong-heon said in an in-house notice, “From today (5th), information on the probability items of the game that Nexon is servicing will be released. Even if it takes time, it blends into the grand principle of’transparent information disclosure for users’. We will continue to work on it,” he said, and expressed his plans for the controversy later with an apology. In addition, we plan to change difficult terms in the game to make it easier to understand. Although we also presented compensation for users, the reaction of users who charged a lot of money for the game is still cold.

Google to stop’cookies’-based personalized ads

Google, the world’s largest search engine company, plans not to proceed with personalization of advertisements based on Internet surfing records collected through’cookies’ starting next year. This is a case in which a web page advertisement focuses on the content after searching for a specific interest. The key is whether or not to use HTTP cookies. Cookies are pieces of data that are collected through the server when a user visits a website, and contain a variety of personal information such as time of stay, click location, shopping cart details, and so on. If this is used as an advertisement, it has the advantage of efficiently executing advertisements because it exposes the areas of interest to users, but it has been controversial as it may invade privacy.

However, the advertising industry also says that if advertisements are not personalized through cookies, etc., average sales decrease by 52%. In response, Google announced that it will run ads through the’Privacy Sandbox’, an open standard that protects privacy to protect both the advertising industry and privacy. The technology analyzes your Internet surfing habits, groups similar users into groups, and executes advertisements for groups rather than personalization. It remains to be seen whether this move by Google could become a new watershed for the advertising industry.

Samsung smartphones lead the unstable market share in Europe

Although Samsung Electronics maintained the No. 1 market share in the European smartphone market in 2020, it is somewhat unstable. According to the Counterpoint Research survey, Samsung Electronics’ smartphone sales in the European market in 2020 decreased by about 12% compared to the previous year. It is the level of barely keeping the number one market share. Although there may be a decline in consumer sentiment caused by Corona 19, Apple, which has the second largest market share, only saw a decrease in sales by about 1% compared to the previous year, and increased its market share by 3 percentage points. Xiaomi, the third-largest market share, also saw a 90% increase in sales compared to the previous year.

Looking at the global smartphone market share outside of the European market, as of January 2021, Apple ranked first with 20%, Samsung Electronics ranked second with 17%, China Xiaomi ranked third with 13%, and Oppo ranked fourth with 11%. Shredded. Among them, Apple is building its own operating system (OS) with iOS, so the fan base is solid, and even when a new product is released, it achieves more than basic. On the other hand, Samsung Electronics, Xiaomi, and Oppo all use the Android operating system. Because of this, the market is divided, which is only 4% different from Xiaomi, which is the third place.

It is difficult for a fixed fan base to catch up with a solid Apple, and there is no significant difference from Chinese smartphones, which have to compete using the same OS. In addition, China’s Xiaomi Mina Oppo is competitive in the market at an affordable factory price. Recognizing the risk of being caught up, Samsung Electronics is expected to focus more on the preoccupied foldable phone market.

Another Journey to Mars, Perseverance

NASA’s Mars probe, Perseverance, landed on the surface of the crater with Mars Genji on February 18th at 3:30pm EST. Perseverance is a new Mars rover that connects Opportunity and Curiosity’s mission, which landed on Mars in 2004, and is tasked with uncovering the history of the Martian surface, investigating the secrets of life on Mars and the ancient environment. After landing on the 18th, on the 23rd, the first humankind recorded and transmitted the sound of the winds on Mars, and on the 4th, it succeeded in driving 6.5 meters for 33 minutes after two weeks of landing on Mars. Perseverance will travel 24 km for the next two years, and since one year on Mars is almost the same as two years on Earth, the exploration will be conducted for one year in Mars time.

Written by / IT Dong-A Jang Hyeon-ji ([email protected])