South Korea’s tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. said on Monday that it has selected six additional in-house projects to be spun off as independent start-up businesses as part of its years-long program to introduce innovative culture into the company. Samsung Electronics has been providing an in-house program called Creative Lab - known as C-Lab - since 2012 where its employees develop and commercialize their own ideas. The company has been spinning off successful projects from August. So far, a total of 20 projects have been or are in the process of being commercialized including the latest six.

The six projects are Hum On!, an application that allows users to easily make music from their humming; Waffle, a contents-based social media application that allows up to 25 users to add contents to a photo or drawing uploaded by an initial user to create a bigger content; LiCON, a solution that allows easy operations of Internet of Things devices using the smartphone; Ahead, a hands-free device that can be attached to a helmet and allows mobile conversation; Fit 360, a 360-degree neck-band wearable camera; and ItsyWatch, a children’s smartphone that helps develop good habits.

Samsung Electronics said that the six projects have been selected to be developed as independent start-ups based on their potential to be commercialized after going through internal and external evaluation. The hands-free device Ahead has already received proposal by a wireless company for collaboration while Hum On! by an overseas music artist.

The 23 Samsung employees that took part in the projects are expected to establish their own start-ups with an aim to provide commercialized products and services in the first half of next year. They will receive various network, management know-how, and consulting support from Samsung Electronics after they set up their own companies. They can choose to join Samsung Electronics again regardless of their own achievements after leaving the company.

By Shin Hyun-kyu

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