Hasta La Gadget!

The United States government has reportedly stopped issuing licenses that allow companies in the country to export to Huawei, according to The Financial Times. If you’ll recall, the Trump administration added the company to the “entity list,” making it ineligible from receiving exports from the US without a license. The US commerce department issued some companies like Qualcomm licenses to provide Huawei with American tech unrelated to 5G networks since then — Qualcomm, for instance, supplies Huawei with 4G chips for smartphones. But the government is reportedly looking to impose a total ban on the sale of American tech to the Chinese firm, and this expanded restriction is a step towards making that happen. 

The US government adds companies to the entity list if it believes they are involved in or “pose a significant risk of being or becoming involved in, activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.” It has previously accused Huawei of having deep ties with the Chinese government and warned allies that the 5G equipment it makes could be used to spy on other countries and companies. Huawei has repeatedly denied the accusation. 

It’s not entirely clear why the US government is moving towards a total ban, if this report is indeed true, but the Biden administration seems to be taking a tougher stance on China compared to its predecessor. Last year, it introduced new rules that prohibit the export of powerful semiconductors that could be repurposed for military use, as well as chipmaking equipment, to China and Russia. One possible reason is that Huawei, The Times says, is backing projects that aim to build a semiconductor supply chain in its country that doesn’t rely on imports. A former CIA official also told the publication that the government is probably looking to expand the existing export ban, because Huawei is a totally different company from when it was added to the entity list.

Huawei’s focus back then was on 5G technology, but it has since changed gears to prioritize its enterprise and government businesses, including a cloud service, to survive the trade ban. Being added to the blacklist had a huge impact on Huawei’s revenues in 2021, but company executive Eric Xu said the manufacturer was able to pull itself “out of crisis mode” in 2022 and expects to go back to “business as usual” this year. A total ban could very well put Huawei back into crisis mode, and it would likely affect the revenues of its US suppliers, as well. That said, the Chinese company might have some time to prepare, depending on when the export licenses that had already been issued will expire.

A commerce department spokesperson didn’t confirm whether it has truly stopped issuing licenses to American firms, telling The Times that it “continually assess[es] its policies and regulations.” A source told Reuters, however, that US officials are in the midst of crafting new policies that would prohibit shipments to Huawei below the 5G level. The new restrictions would reportedly cover products and components related to 4G, WiFi 6 and 7, AI, as well as cloud and high-performance computing. 

California prosecutors charged Dharmesh Patel, a 41-year-old radiologist from Southern California, with three counts of attempted murder for driving a Tesla with his family inside off a 250-foot cliff earlier this month.

Read more…

The “Late Night” comedian spotlighted GOP treatment of Trump.

It’s a good time to pick up one of Apple’s latest M1-equipped iPad Air models, as they’ve dropped back down to all-time low prices. The 64GB WiFi model is now on sale for just $500, or $99 (17 percent) off, while the 256GB is available for $650, also $99 off the regular $749 price. Those are substantial savings on one of Apple’s best iPads to date.

Shop 2022 iPad Air on Amazon

The M1 chip gives the 2022 iPad Air a substantial performance boost over the previous model, so it’s a solid choice for content creation, gaming and other demanding apps. Throughput is also boosted thanks to the 10Gbps USB-C ports that have double the bandwidth of the last model. At the same time, battery life remains unchanged at an excellent 10 hours. All of those things make the 2022 iPad Air future-proof and helped it garner a top-notch 90 score in our Engadget review.

It has more than speed going for it. You get a 10.9-inch liquid Retina LCD display with Apple’s True Tone feature for optimizing the screen’s color temperature based on ambient light, to start with. It also comes with an improved 12-megapixel ultra wide front camera and supports the same accessories as the last model (keyboard cases, Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil).

The main downsides are the relatively miniscule 64GB storage on the budget model, lack of Face ID and pricey accessories. Still, it’s a huge leap over the previous model, and the $99 discount makes it a solid buy.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

The National Labor Relation Board (NLRB) has determined that Apple’s rules around leaks violate worker’s rights, Bloomberg has reported. Apple’s actions and statements from executives “tend to interfere with, restrain or coerce employees” from exercising their rights, a spokesperson said in a statement.

The decision stems from complaints by former employees Cher Scarlett and Ashley Gjøvik. Scarlett alleged that Apple work rules “prohibit employees from discussing wages, hours or other terms or conditions of employment,” in violation of labor laws. Gjøvik, meanwhile, complained that an email sent by CEO Tim Cook vowing to punish leakers violated federal laws. Apple’s policies prohibiting staff from disclosing business information, talking to reporters and other actions were also illegal, Gjøvik alleged. 

In the email in question, Cook wrote that “we do not tolerate disclosures of confidential information, whether it’s product IP or the details of a confidential meeting… people who leak confidential information do not belong here.” That was in response to the leak of a company-wide meeting that was effectively tweeted live by a journalist, as TechCrunch noted.  

The NLRB will issue a complaint against Apple unless the company settles, the spokesperson said. Apple has yet to comment, but a company attorney previously said, “Apple fosters an open and inclusive work environment whereby employees are not just permitted, but encouraged, to share their feelings and thoughts on a range of issues, from social justice topics to pay equity to anything else that they feel is an important cause to promote in the workplace.”

Gjøvik was fired by Apple in 2021 for leaking confidential information and told TechCrunch she believes she was let go in retaliation after filing an EPA report about toxic fumes in her office. She complained to the NLRB that she was let go illegally, but the board has yet to issue a ruling on that subject. 

The NLRB recently found that Apple violated federal law with anti-union meetings in Atlanta. Earlier this month, Apple agreed to review its labor practices, saying in an SEC filing that it would assess its “efforts to comply with its Human Rights Policy as it relates to workers’ freedom of association and collective bargaining rights in the United States by the end of calendar year 2023.”