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Huawei claims it will be soon start replacing Google apps

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Chinese tech firm Huawei has hinted that it will soon be ready to replace Google apps with its own native alternatives on its smartphones.

A Huawei executive let slip the apparent impending developments — which will include native replacements for Google’s mail, maps, messaging and payment apps.

The tease follows rumours circulated last week that the firm’s upcoming premiere smartphone offering — the P40 — will ship in March 2020 without Google software.

The move follows restrictions imposed by the US Government on Google’s trade with Huawei, which prevents new phones from being sold with the former’s apps.

The ban — implemented in May — was born from allegations that the firm has close ties with the Chinese government and represents a threat to US national security.

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Chinese tech firm Huawei has revealed that it will be ready to replace Google apps with its own alternative on its smartphones from the end of the year

The shift to in-house apps was heralded by Huawei’s consumer head in India, Charles Peng, on December 24, 2019.

‘We have our own HMS and are trying to build a mobile ecosystem, Mr Peng told India’s The Economic Times.

‘Most of the key apps such as navigation, payments, gaming and messaging will be ready,’ he added.

The move will see Huawei construct its own counterpart to Google Media Service (GMS), whose future on these Chinese firm’s devices has become precarious following the restrictions announced by the US Government earlier this year.

Among the apps bundled with GMS are Gmail, Google Drive, Maps, Navigation, Pay and YouTube.

“Consumers won’t see a difference between GMS and HMS,’ Mr Peng has claimed — a statement hard to reconcile with GMS’ proprietary nature.

‘We are focusing on how to work with developers to offer a good customer experience. It is a challenge that we are trying to address,’ he added.

 

The move will see Huawei construct its own counterpart to Google Media Service (GMS), whose future on these Chinese firm’s devices has become precarious following restrictions announced by the US Government earlier this year. Pictured, a Huawei Android phone

According to The Economic Times, Huawei and its subsidiary brand Honor are endeavouring to surmount this challenge by recruiting app developers in China and India to port their wares to the new smartphone platform.

‘Huawei HQ is in touch with China developers and the India developer base will help us in India as well as regions like Europe,’ Mr Peng reportedly said.

‘In every country, we will focus on bringing top 100–150 apps to customers through HMS.’

To achieve this in India, the firm is offering an incentive of to $17,000 (around £13,100) for the integration of apps with the new media service.

The capital for this incentive is being supplied via the $1 billion (£0.8 billion) fund Huawei established earlier this year to aid in its competition with Google

‘We will create an end to end business model with developers, content and service providers. We will provide value to them,’ Peng added.

‘If [developers] work with us closely, the cost to get new customers will low. Huawei is among the top three handset makers with a huge market share.’

WHAT IS HARMONYOS?

Huawei unveiled its own mobile operating system in August 2019.

It is called HarmonyOS and the Chinese company could use to power its smartphones instead of Google’s Android.

Huawei currently uses Android to power its smartphones and other devices, but has admitted it was developing its own OS as a ‘plan B’.

The revelation that the upcoming Huawei handsets will not have Google apps means HarmonyOS will likely play a starring role.

Earlier in the year, Huawei was ostracised by Google and had its access to Android removed following allegations of spying before Donald Trump reinstated the Chinese firm’s privileges.

At the company’s developer conference in southern China, Huawei said HarmonyOS would be first used in a new Honor smartphone.

Chief executive Richard Yu said the new operating system could be used in phones, computers, tablets and wearable devices such as smartwatches.

However, he said at the time that the Chinese firm’s ‘priority’ is to still use Android in its devices, though it could easily switch to Harmony at any point if necessary.

The firm said it has been developing the software for more than two years but its importance did not become urgent until earlier this year.

Experts are reportedly sceptical, however, when it comes to predicting the success of Huawei’s plans for the media services platform.

‘It is going to be very tough for Huawei/Honor to sell the phone based on their own suite. They would need to double down on efforts for India,’ market intelligence firm IDC India’s Navkender Singh told The Economic Times.

‘In case they have to go ahead with Harmony OS and the trade war issue remains unresolved, they will have to rely heavily on developers more than ever before,’ added Tarun Pathak, an associate director at Counterpoint Research.

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Ottawa orders TikTok’s Canadian arm to be dissolved

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The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.

“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.

The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.

However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”

Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.

A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.

“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.

“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”

The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.

At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.

A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”

Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.

Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.

Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.

Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.

While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.

Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.

The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.

— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Here is how to prepare your online accounts for when you die

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LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?

It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.

Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:

Apple

The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.

For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.

You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.

Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.

Google

Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.

When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.

You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.

There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.

Facebook and Instagram

Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.

When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.

The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.

You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.

TikTok

The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.

Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.

X

It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.

Passwords

Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?

Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.

But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.

___

Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.

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Google’s partnership with AI startup Anthropic faces a UK competition investigation

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LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.

The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.

“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”

San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.

Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”

“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.

The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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