Enterprise

Google begins blacklisting Huawei from its services

Biggest blow yet to the Chinese company

Published

May 20, 2019

Marvin Velasco

By now, it should be clear that Huawei hasn’t been doing well on North American soil. Whether it was because of accusations stemming from the US government or threats of banning the Chinese company’s 5G technologies in certain countries, there was always something for Huawei to worry about. In the latest development, we may be seeing their biggest hurdle yet.

Initially reported by Reuters, Google has already cut ties with Huawei, effectively banning them from the “transfer of hardware, software, and technical services except those publicly available via open source licensing.”

If this action holds, Huawei smartphones might soon lose access to Android updates, the Google Play store, and all Google-made apps and services — all of which are “not covered by the open source license and require a commercial agreement with Google.”

“Huawei will only be able to use the public version of Android and will not be able to get access to proprietary apps and services from Google,” says Reuters‘ source.

This move comes after US President Donald Trump added Huawei to the country’s trade blacklist last week. Additionally, Huawei settled a three-year-long patent dispute with Samsung a couple of days ago — probably in anticipation of this larger threat.

Aside from this early information, it’s still unsure how and when this blacklisting will take effect. According to the same source, both Huawei and Google are currently discussing internally how all this will affect their Android partnership.

However, Huawei phones in China may be unaffected, since they don’t rely on Google apps and services in the first place, choosing to use their own homegrown software. Furthermore, existing Huawei smartphone users could be safe from the loss of app access, but there’s no official confirmation on that as of now.

Earlier this year, it was already confirmed by a Huawei executive that the company is building a non-Android operating system for their smartphones. With the way things are going, its development may speed up.

Automotive

I Took A Ride On a Self-Driving Tractor!

Just like your smartphone, AI powers tractors through the fields

Published

July 24, 2021

GadgetMatch

Unusual in the GadgetMatch YouTube channel is a visit to a big warehouse full of farming vehicles, windmills, and corn fields. But Michael Josh’s visit at John Deere’s booth last CES 2020 and hosting session in CES 2021 made him gain interest in smart farming equipment.

But do you know what do tractors and smartphones have in common? John Deere’s farming machines are in a way like farming robots. Just like smartphones, they also leverage the power of data and AI — or also known as Artificial Intelligence.

But what makes John Deere’s farming vehicles stand out from the rest? Find out more in our latest video!

Enterprise

Samsung launches 1000-inch TV display

Three zeroes

Published

July 20, 2021

Luigi Leonardo

Television sets have gotten a lot crazier over the years. From rollable sets to ones that hide on the wall, the world has a lot more options on how they want to consume their media. One of the more renowned series spearheading this revolution is Samsung’s The Wall, offering sets that meld perfectly with the wall it’s set on. Today, Samsung is going big — really big — with a new 1000-inch display.

That’s not a typo. The Wall’s latest entry indeed has three zeroes. The new display uses microLED, making it lither and more adaptable. Despite being a gigantic screen, it can put out images in stunning 8K resolution and buttery 120Hz framerates. It can also be configured to maximize output to 16K resolution in a 15,360 x 2,160 arrangement.

Speaking of arrangement, interested buyers can choose different configurations for the screen besides a plain horizontal one. It can be installed in any wall type, including concave and convex ones.

However, if you’re wondering how you’re going to fit it in your home, Samsung is positioning the screen more towards business and commercial spaces, rather than consumer-friendly ones. The company has also not revealed how much it will go for.

Of course, if you happen to have the money and the space for it, why not?

Enterprise

Xiaomi becomes second-largest smartphone maker

As of Q2 2021

Published

July 16, 2021

Luigi Leonardo

The smartphone industry has been in a shakeup for quite some time now. Since the rapid fall of Huawei, several smartphone makers have been fighting to fill in the Huawei-sized hole. The rankings have since seesawed between the two usual suspects, Apple and Samsung. Now, Xiaomi is once again climbing the ranks. According to a report, Xiaomi is now the second-largest smartphone maker in the world, as of Q2 2021.

As reported by Canalys, Xiaomi now holds 17 percent of the smartphone market, a huge 83 percent increase from the last rankings. The Chinese company edges out Apple, the third-largest smartphone maker, who just bagged 14 percent of the market. Meanwhile, Samsung is still sitting on top with 19 percent of the market. OPPO and vivo each hold 10 percent of the market.

According to the same report, the entire smartphone industry is recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It grew as a whole by 12 percent.

Besides the pandemic, Xiaomi is also recovering from American bans. Because of its association with China, the company was formerly included as part of the blacklist limiting them from engaging in American business.

Months ago, Xiaomi finally freed itself from the blacklist, making way for its astronomical 83 percent growth this quarter. Huawei, on the other hand, is still in the red, plummeting deeper and deeper down the rankings.