Google Suspends Business With Huawei Following US Government’s Blacklisting

Huawei is in all sorts of trouble. According to a report from Reuters, it seems that Google has suspended their business dealings with the company following the US government officially blacklisting Huawei. What this means is that Huawei will no longer have access to US businesses such as Google, which also includes access to Android.

This means that future Huawei handsets will no longer be able to access Android and Google’s services. As to what this means for current Huawei handsets, it appears that Google will continue supporting these days as it is, but they will no longer be able to get future Android updates.

In a statement made to Reuters, a Google spokesperson said, “We are complying with the order and reviewing the implications. For users of our services, Google Play and the security protections from Google Play Protect will continue to function on existing Huawei devices.” It is unclear how long this blacklist is expected to last, as previously, Chinese company ZTE had encountered similar problems as well, although that was rather short lived as ZTE managed to reach a deal to unban their devices.

That being said, Huawei did previously state that they had a plan B to replace Android if it was ever required. Whether or not the company will enact that plans remains to be seen, but for now, it certainly doesn’t bode well for the company.

Google Suspends Business With Huawei Following US Government’s Blacklisting , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Qualcomm And Intel To Cease Business Dealings With Huawei

As you might have heard, Google had recently confirmed that they will no longer be doing business with Huawei following the US government blacklisting the Chinese company. It seems that they are not alone because in a report from Bloomberg, other companies are now following suit as well.

This includes the likes of Qualcomm, Intel, and Broadcom, all of whom are expected to cut their business dealings with the company. The report cites sources who claim that these companies will now be freezing their supply deals with Huawei until further notice. On Intel’s end, this means that the company will stop supplying Huawei with server chips and processors used in their laptops.

As for Qualcomm, the impact might not be as big as Huawei has been using their own chipsets and modems, but we imagine that it will probably still affect them to a certain degree. That being said, another Bloomberg report claims that Huawei has actually been planning for this eventuality and has stockpiled enough chips from their US suppliers.

This stockpile is expected to last the company about 3 months, which should give Huawei enough time to figure out what their next step is. In the meantime, Huawei had previously stated that they do have a backup plan for if Android were to no longer be made available to them, but it remains to be seen what that might be.

Qualcomm And Intel To Cease Business Dealings With Huawei , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

AMD Reassures That Their Chips Are Safe From ZombieLoad Vulnerability

While Intel and AMD are seen as rivals in the processor business, it’s safe to say that Intel has largely been seen as having an edge over AMD and tends to be the more preferred brand. However, due to the recent security vulnerabilities that Intel has endured, it could give AMD a slight boost to help them gain more ground over their competitor.

More recently, AMD has come forward to reassure their customers that their chips are safe from the recently discovered ZombieLoad vulnerability that seems to have affected quite a number of Intel’s processors.

In a post made on its website, AMD says, “At AMD we develop our products and services with security in mind. Based on our analysis and discussions with the researchers, we believe our products are not susceptible to ‘Fallout’, ‘RIDL’ or ‘ZombieLoad Attack’ because of the hardware protection checks in our architecture. We have not been able to demonstrate these exploits on AMD products and are unaware of others having done so.”

The ZombieLoad vulnerability was discovered just last week and is the second time in recent years that Intel has been affected by chip vulnerabilities. Previously, the company had quite a PR nightmare on their hands when it was discovered that the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities had affected their processors as well.

Intel has since issued microcode patches to computer makers to help them patch these flaws, but whether this has shaken the confidence in its customers remains to be seen.

 

AMD Reassures That Their Chips Are Safe From ZombieLoad Vulnerability , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Say Goodbye To Custom Google Pixel Phone Cases

For the most part, smartphone makers usually offer their customers official cases to use with their smartphones. Google had done something similar with their Nexus and Pixel handsets through the “My Case” program that lets users create custom smartphone cases for their devices.

Unfortunately, it seems that this program is no more. According to 9to5Google, they discovered that when Google launched their new Pixel 3a and 3a XL smartphones, the company had also axed their custom cases as well. Google is still offering official cases for their smartphones, but if you wanted a custom case, then you’ll need to start looking elsewhere.

For those who are hearing about this for the first time, the “My Case” program was where customers could create their own custom cases for their Google smartphones. All they needed to do was upload a photo to Google, align it with the template, purchase it, and it would be sent to them.

It was a fun way to create a truly customized and unique case for a smartphone and it is a bit of a pity that it is no longer being offered. Google has yet to officially comment on why that is, but if we had to venture a guess, maybe it wasn’t used by enough customers to warrant keeping it around.

 

Say Goodbye To Custom Google Pixel Phone Cases , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Leak ‘Confirms’ Next-Gen Xbox Will Be Revealed At E3 2019

According to rumors dating back to last year, it was suggested that Microsoft could already be working on its next-gen Xbox console. Given that next-gen consoles are typically revealed during the mid or three-quarter waypoint of the current-gen console’s lifecycle, this did not really come as a surprise.

Now in a post made on the NeoGAF forums by a user called Braldyr who claims to be an industry insider, it seems that the next-gen Xbox consoles could be revealed next month. Braldyr posted a list of things that Microsoft is expected to announce at the event, and one of the items on that list is the next-gen Xbox.

This is not the first time we’ve heard that the next-gen Xbox could be revealed at E3. Earlier this year in February, we had heard a rumor that there could be two new Xbox consoles revealed at the event. One of them is codenamed Lockhart, while the other is codenamed Anaconda.

If the rumors are to be believed, one of the consoles is said to be a streaming-only device. This is aimed at gamers who don’t mind streaming their games instead of playing it locally. With Microsoft having announced its streaming service, Project xCloud, back in 2018, this does not really come as a surprise. Take it with a grain of salt for now, but we should find out in the next couple of weeks.

Leak ‘Confirms’ Next-Gen Xbox Will Be Revealed At E3 2019 , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Samsung’s Older Smartwatches Will Be Updated With Galaxy Watch Active Features

The problem with our gadgets is that over time, they eventually start to get out of date and companies will stop supporting them. This means that if you want to have the latest features, you’ll need to spring for a new device. However, the good news is that if you own an older Samsung smartwatch, it seems that you might not need to.

It has been reported that Samsung is in the process of rolling out a software update for some of its older smartwatch models where they will be updated with newer features from the Galaxy Watch Active. The smartwatch was originally announced back in February and it came with a load of new software features, some of which will now be brought over to older smartwatches as well.

This includes the new One UI interface, certain optimizations, and health features. For example, there will now be faster workout tracking through the Samsung Health app, and it will also bring swimming tracking to your smartwatch as well. There will also be heart rate alerts for when your heart rate spikes abnormally, and also improved sleep tracking.

The optimization is also said to have improved on the battery life of the smartwatch, but we suppose your mileage may vary depending on how aggressively you use your smartwatch. The update should be in the process of rolling out so it might be worth keeping an eye out for it.

 

Samsung’s Older Smartwatches Will Be Updated With Galaxy Watch Active Features , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Fans Spot Water Bottle In Game Of Thrones’ Series Finale

A couple of weeks ago in the fourth episode of the eight season of HBO’s Game of Thrones, eagle-eyed fans discovered that someone had left a Starbucks cup on the table in a scene. It was a pretty hilarious sighting given that obviously Starbucks has yet to open up shop in Westeros.

Many had assumed it was a one-off mistake, but it seems that lightning has struck twice. During the series finale, fans discovered a couple of instances in which water bottles used by the cast were left in some scenes. This not only happened once, but twice. Now, we won’t spoil it for you but you can check it out below if you’ve already seen the episode or if you don’t care about spoilers.

HBO had previously acknowledged the mistake and made it sound like it was a one-time deal, but judging by this, perhaps not and we have to wonder what they might have to say about that. We also have to wonder, if this has already happened twice this season, could there have been similar mistakes made in previous seasons that fans might have missed? We imagine that many will probably be going back to take a look.

In the meantime, Game of Thrones has officially concluded. Reactions to the final episode have been mixed, but the general consensus seems to be that the final season did not live up to the hype. This has led to many fans petitioning HBO to remake the entire season (which seems unlikely).

Fans Spot Water Bottle In Game Of Thrones’ Series Finale , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

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