ZTE
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Senate votes to reinstate ZTE ban in the US
The Trump administration's decision to work with Chinese President Xi Jinping to bring ZTE back to business didn't sit well with lawmakers from both sides. A group of Senators from the Republican and Democratic parties recently amended the National Defense Authorization Act to include language that reinstates the sanctions against ZTE. Now, the Senate has overwhelmingly voted in favor (85-10) of restoring those sanctions, going against the president's wishes to save the Chinese tech giant. It will undo the agreement between the US and China to remove those trade sanctions if ZTE pays a $1 billion penalty and adds a US-picked compliance department.
Bipartisan Senate effort aims to override Trump’s deal to save ZTE
A bipartisan group of Senators has added language to the National Defense Authorization Act that would reinstate sanctions on Chinese firm ZTE, the Wall Street Journal reports. The legislation is set to be voted on this week. If it passes in the Senate -- and it's expected to -- it could override a deal that President Trump and the Commerce Department have put in place that would allow ZTE to once again purchase necessary components from US suppliers.
Senator probes Alphabet and Twitter on data-sharing with Chinese firms
The New York Times recently revealed that Facebook entered into agreements with at least 60 mobile device companies, giving them access to Facebook user data so that the companies could recreate Facebook-like features. Among those companies are four Chinese firms -- Huawei, Lenovo, Oppo and TCL -- which has spurred some concern among US lawmakers. Today, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) sent letters to both Alphabet and Twitter, inquiring as to whether they entered into similar data-sharing agreements with any mobile device companies based in China.
ZTE will pay $1 billion fine to beat US export ban
Tensions between the US government and Chinese smartphone maker ZTE seem to have abated, at least temporarily. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC this morning that the government has "struck a deal" with ZTE to end trade sanctions. The deal includes a $1 billion penalty and a US-picked compliance department that will embed within the company and monitor it going forward. More than that, within the next 30 days, ZTE will have to install a new board of directors and executive suite, whom the compliance committee will report to directly.
Data-stealing router malware bypasses web encryption
A recently discovered strain of router malware appears to be much worse than thought. Cisco Talos has learned that VPNFilter can not only render devices unusable, but can bypass the SSL encryption you often see on the web. A module in the malware intercepts outgoing web requests to turn them into non-secure (that is, basic HTTP) requests, helping it steal sign-ins and other sensitive data when possible. It can also use man-in-the-middle attacks to insert hostile JavaScript into outside websites, and target devices beyond the router itself, such as PCs on the local network.
Trump administration tells Congress it has deal to save ZTE
The US government should soon act on its promise to give ZTE another chance following its revived export ban. The New York Times has learned that the Trump administration has informed Congress of a Commerce Department deal that would let ZTE take American exports as long as it accepted new penalties. It would have to pay a "substantial" fine, shake up its management team and hire American compliance officers to keep it on the straight and narrow.
The US will help save ZTE even though it broke international laws
Last year the US imposed a trade ban on American companies supplying equipment to Chinese telecoms giant ZTE Corp. Now, it appears the two countries are trying to work things out. According to sources briefed on the confidential negotiations, there has been a "handshake deal" between US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He which will lift the ban that effectively crippled ZTE's operations.
US and Chinese presidents work to get ZTE 'back into business'
ZTE's future is currently grim in light of the revived US export ban, but is it guaranteed to wither and die? Not necessarily. President Trump has tweeted that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping are "working together" to give ZTE a "way to get back into business." Just how that would happen wasn't clear, but he told the US Commerce Department to "get it done."
ZTE faces bleak future after US ban prevents it from making phones
ZTE's future is increasingly murky after the company's main business ground to a halt. The Chinese firm is unable to make its smartphones after the US blocked it from working with American suppliers, most notably Qualcomm. ZTE has appealed the seven-year export ban, which the US government revived last month.
Pentagon bans Huawei, ZTE phones from military base retailers
The Pentagon has banned retailers on US military bases from selling Huawei and ZTE phones, the Wall Street Journal reported. Officials are concerned that the Chinese government could order the firms to track soldiers' movements or snoop on their communications, though Huawei and ZTE have both denied that could be the case.
ZTE faces revived US export ban over false statements
When the US Commerce Department slapped ZTE with $1.19 billion in penalties for illegally shipping telecom gear to Iran and North Korea (and making false claims about it), it offered a reprieve: it would suspend a seven-year export ban as long as the Chinese company honored an agreement and didn't break the rules again. Apparently, ZTE might have blown its chance at a break. Department officials have revived an order banning ZTE from exporting US products after accusing the company of lying about punishing those involved in the scandal.
Researchers say some Android phone makers hide missed updates
A number of Android phones have a tendency to skip the occasional security patch while making it appear that the device is fully up to date, Wired reports. Researchers with Security Research Labs (SRL) looked into 1,200 phones from manufacturers like Google, Samsung, Sony, Nokia, Huawei, Motorola, LG, HTC, ZTE and TCL and found that there's often a gap between what the phones say have been updated and what patches have actually been installed. "It's small for some devices and pretty significant for others," SRL founder Karsten Nohl told Wired.
ZTE brings the first Android Go phone to the US for $80
Today, handset maker ZTE made the first Android Go phone available in the US. The Tempo Go retails for $80 and is available for purchase at the company's website.
FCC aims to block purchases from non-US firms posing ‘security threat’
The FCC announced a proposal today that aims to more fully shut out companies "that pose a national security threat to United States communications networks or the communications supply chain." If approved, an upcoming Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will seek to disallow the use of the FCC's Universal Service Fund -- which subsidizes those that bring broadband internet to rural regions of the US -- for purchasing equipment and services from certain companies based abroad. "The money in the Universal Service Fund comes from fees paid by the American people, and I believe that the FCC has the responsibility to ensure that this money is not spent on equipment or services that pose a threat to national security," FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement today.
US intelligence agencies warn buyers to avoid Huawei smartphones
After being rebuffed by carriers AT&T and Verizon, Huawei's push to sell phones in the US isn't getting any easier. Six top US intelligence chiefs, including the heads of the FBI, CIA and NSA, told Americans they wouldn't recommend buying products or services from the Chinese manufacturer, CNBC reports. "We're deeply concerned about the risks of allowing any company or entity that is beholden to foreign governments ... to gain positions of power inside our telecommunications networks," FBI Director Chris Wray testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
ZTE shares its plans to keep experimenting with mobile phones
ZTE has had an interesting 2017. The crowdsourced eye-sensing phone it was planning didn't happen because of criticism about its proposed specs. Then the company released a dual-screen foldable phone via AT&T, which drew plenty of curiosity. ZTE continues to make what it calls affordable-premium phones -- the large phones that cost less than $200 that you'll find at low-cost carriers like Boost -- and says it remains dedicated to creating a line of foldable phones. Check out what vice president of marketing Jeff Yee had to say about the year ZTE has had and the year ahead. Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.
Microsoft patent points to folding dual-screen notebook
New patent filings from Microsoft appear to hint at that foldable notepad we've heard rumors of for a while, The Verge reports. Filed earlier this week, the patent contains a number of images depicting a unique hinge and a few that show a foldable, two screen device that appears to work in a number of configurations.
ZTE’s dual-screen Axon M is fascinating and flawed
Six years ago, a smartphone maker without much clout in the US designed an Android device with a novel second screen that turned a thick phone into a small tablet. That company was Kyocera, that device was the Echo, and uh, it totally flopped. (David Blaine doing magic tricks under 10,000 gallons of water at the phone's unveiling was, in hindsight, not a great omen.) Rather than leave the idea of a dual-screen phone in the dustbin, ZTE ran with it and last month released the Axon M, an AT&T exclusive. It's hard not to look at the thing as a $725 curiosity, but don't be fooled: It's a lot more than that. It's an argument that smartphones can and should be more than the flat slabs we've grown so used to. Too bad that argument isn't compelling.
ZTE Axon M hands-on: A new hope for dual-screen phones
Many companies have tried to make the mythical dual-screen folding smartphone a reality. All of them have failed. But ZTE thinks it's time to try again. Now that Android supports multi-window apps, the company expects it will get enough buy-in from developers to create a phone that people will actually find useful. The Axon M will be an AT&T exclusive when it arrives in the US next month for 30 monthly payments of $24.17. I tried out the Axon M and while I'm not completely won over by the handset itself, I find the potential applications compelling.
ZTE may unveil a dual-screen folding phone in October
Weeks ago, sources told Venturebeat's Evan Blass that ZTE and AT&T had teamed up to release a dual-screen, unfoldable smartphone codenamed the Axon Multy. Today, Android Authority followed up with leaked screenshots of a similarly-designed phone, which sources claimed might be called the Axon M. Regardless, both sets of details imply that this is the device ZTE will announce at an anticipated press conference in NYC on October 17th.
