Android gaining ground mainly at Windows Phone's expense
Windows Phone sales took a dive in 2015, and it looks like the trend continues in 2016 as well. The platform is losing ground in major markets across the globe, according to a new report by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. And Android is taking advantage of it.
In the three months ending February 2016, Windows Phone saw its market share drop considerably in five major European markets (France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain), and US and Australia, with Android adding the percentage points it lost under its belt. Things are looking better in China and Japan, however.
Chinese censors spring into action to erase mentions of Panama Papers from the web
The Panama Papers that leaked following the Mossack Fonseca hack turned the spotlight on the rich and famous seemingly involved in money laundering and tax evasion schemes. High profile names from the world of politics appear in the papers -- including close friends of Russian President Putin and the father of UK Prime Minister David Cameron.
The leaked 11.5 million files, spanning 2.6 TB of data, include references to the relatives of at least eight current or former Chinese officials, says the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Chinese censors have now gone into overdrive, working overtime to eliminate all mentions of this from Chinese websites.
Samsung Pay arrives in China
Samsung Pay made its debut last year in South Korea in August and then launched in the US in September. At the end of 2015, the company announced that it was bringing its mobile payment service to China.
After a one month beta period, Samsung Pay is now available for local users with a Galaxy S6 edge Plus, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge.
Microsoft: First Windows 10 'China edition' is ready
It is not easy for Western tech companies to do business in China. The local government imposes all sorts of restrictions and makes various demands to allow outside players to operate in the country or use their products. Some companies give up altogether, by either exiting the market or not even attempting to enter it, while others try to accommodate China's requests.
When it comes to selling Windows 10 to China's government, Microsoft has taken the second route by agreeing to deliver a customized version of its latest operating system to the country's agencies. The deal was made public last year, in December, and the software giant just announced that a first -- China edition, if you will -- release is now ready.
China praises hacker who tried to steal US military secrets
Tensions could be set to mount between the US and China after the Communist government's Global Times newspaper praised Su Bin, the Chinese "government soldier" who pled guilty to trying to steal military secrets from US defense contractors.
Despite the Chinese government having previously said that it does not support cybercrime or online espionage, the state newspaper used an editorial to say "Su Bin deserves respect whether guilty or innocent". The hack was designed to gather data about, amongst other things, the F-22 and F-35 fighter jets and C-17 military transport aircraft.
Big Brother's crystal ball: China developing software to monitor citizens and predict terrorist activity
We've become used to the idea of online surveillance thanks to Edward Snowden blowing the lid off the activities of the NSA and GCHQ. While it's easy and natural to bemoan the infringement of privacy such surveillance entails, no one ensures as limited and controlled an internet as the Chinese.
There's the famous Great Firewall of China for starters, and as part of a counter-terrorism program the country also passed a law requiring tech companies to provide access to encryption keys. Now the Communist Party has ordered one of its defense contractors to develop software that uses big data to predict terrorist activity.
Baidu's browser leaks sensitive information
The browser provided by Baidu (China's answer to Google), leaks all kinds of personal data. Researchers at Canada’s Citizen Lab tested the browser and concluded it "collects and transmits a lot of personal user data back to Baidu servers that we believe goes far beyond what should be collected, and it does so either without encryption, or with easily decryptable encryption".
The Android version of the browser is even worse: "Data collected and transmitted in the Android version without any encryption includes a user’s GPS coordinates, search terms, and URLs visited. The user’s IMEI and nearby wireless networks are sent with easily decryptable encryption".
Alibaba launches big data cloud platform in China
The Alibaba Group is launching a "big data" cloud platform which it plans will make data asset technology widely available throughout China.
Alibaba Cloud Computing (AliCloud), said on Thursday that the cloud "Big Data Platform" would offer an initial 20 products or solutions and services, which would cover all aspects of the so-called data development chain. This includes data services and visualization products that assist with data processing and analysis, but also provide a compute engine with capabilities for machine learning.
Qualcomm will manufacture server chips in China
Qualcomm has entered an agreement with the Chinese province of Guizhou to enter into a joint venture to develop chips for server systems.
This is the latest bold step by Qualcomm, which is keen to expand from relying on manufacturing chips for the smartphone and communications market. Though this could be seen as a risky strategy as Intel dominates the server chip domain with over 90 percent of the market, and with addition worries regarding both the Chinese economy and the global drop in technology demand, Qualcomm is pressing ahead with a $280 million dollar commitment for a 45 percent stake.
EFF goes after Cisco for human rights violations in China
China can be a difficult place to do business and it's sometimes a question of conscience or pocketbook. It's a huge market and companies stand to make a lot of money there, but the government isn't shy about wanting data in return. Is it worth it? To many corporations the answer seems to be yes, but for those who suffer there because of it the answer is a resounding no.
Now the Electronic Frontier Foundation is pursuing Cisco in court. This isn't a particularly new accusation or case, but the organization isn't ready to let it die.
Samsung Pay will have 50 percent market share in Asia
Maybe Samsung isn’t doing all that great in the smartphones department, but it has high expectations from its mobile payment service that will be introduced in China early next year.
So high, in fact, that Hyundai Securities is predicting a 50 percent market share in China, and a significant share globally, too. The news was first reported on by ETNews.
Microsoft will offer custom Windows 10 to the Chinese government
Microsoft has signed an important deal with the Chinese government, one which will see the American company deploy its latest operating system directly to the government agencies.
The Verge has reported how the Redmond-based software company will deploy a customized version of Windows 10 to the Chinese government through a newly-formed company called C&M Technologies.
Amazon takes its Fire tablets to China, adds new features
Amazon recently released its latest tablets, the Fire 10 and Fire 8, as well as a smaller $50 model, all of which sold very well over the big shopping days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. These were among several Amazon products that did well over that period.
Now the company is updating the software across the entire line, bringing several enhancements to the tablets. It's also putting a device on sale in China for the first time, so there's plenty of news out of the Washington-based company.
UK and China sign cyber-attack agreement -- but will it be honored?
Chinese president Xi Jinping, and the British prime minister David Cameron, signed an agreement saying the two countries won’t hack and steal each other’s secrets.
A similar agreement was signed between China and the US, just a day before a Chinese cyber-attack against the States.
China attacks US after signing cybertheft agreement
Hackers associated with the Chinese government attacked a handful of American companies just a day after the two countries agreed not to cyber-attack one another.
According to CrowdStrike, a prominent American security firm, the attacks against seven American companies started on September 26. On September 25, President Barack Obama said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that neither government would knowingly support cyber theft of corporate secrets to support domestic businesses.
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