ZTE has been through a rollercoaster over the last couple of months. The company had to essentially halt its business after being banned from trading with the US. This meant that ZTE couldn't buy components from companies like Qualcomm, and it could not sell its phones in the US. Since …
Read More »ZTE accepts Trump’s $1.3bn fine to resume business
President Trump has pulled telecommunications company ZTE out of the very same fire he put it in, as the United States reaches a deal with China. Friday’s deal echoes what we had heard previously from inside sources, with ZTE paying a significant fine and changing up its management in order …
Read More »The Senate attempts to save Net Neutrality by forcing a congressional vote
Last December, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to scrap Net Neutrality, a decision which has faced a number of criticisms along the way. Now, in a last ditch effort to preserve online freedom, the US Senate has forced a full congressional vote that could restore Net Neutrality and …
Read More »US ban results in ZTE suspending all major operations
Chinese manufacturer ZTE suffered a crippling blow from the US last month when a seven-year export ban was imposed on the firm. The company’s protests that this would impact its survival seem to be coming to a head, as ZTE has now suspended all operations amidst conversations with the US …
Read More »Broadcom is moving back to the US, opening the door for future takeovers
Earlier this month we saw Broadcom's attempts to acquire Qualcomm foiled by the US committee for foreign investment (CFIUS) and President Trump. The deal was labeled as a potential risk to national security, but it looks like things might not be over yet. In April, Broadcom will be moving its …
Read More »Connecticut-based Newegg customers are being chased down for sales tax
Taxes work very differently over in the US compared to the UK, with some online retailers choosing to sell goods tax-free at the point of purchase. Newegg is one such retailer, allowing buyers to save in the short term under the proviso that they report purchases made to their state's …
Read More »AMD’s Ryzen has not brought the price wars we all wanted/needed
As much as AMD's Ryzen has seen the CPU underdog being thrust back into the race, how much of an impact has it really had on Intel's thus-far dominant Core i7 and Core i7 processors? Using Camelcamelcamel.com‘s Amazon pricetracking tool, we've measured the changes in the US and UK, and …
Read More »Updated: UN rules in Julian Assange’s favour – he may walk free
Update: The BBC is now reporting that a day before the official announcement, the UN is said to have ruled in Assange's favour. Original Story: Wikileaks founder and long-time resident of the Ecuadorian embassy in London, Julian Assange, has said that he will hand himself over to police if a …
Read More »U.S. and China to run hacking ‘tabletop exercises’ to aid defence
Although the United States and China have been covertly trying to hack each other's digital systems for a long time at this point, it looks like the two cyber-super-powers are now going to be working together; a little. Following weeks of joint meetings, the countries are going to conduct what …
Read More »Microsoft may be making huge changes to Hololens
Microsoft might be making huge changes to the development of the Hololens behind the scenes, as new reports are suggesting that the company recently fired as many as 60 engineers working on the project, based on technology that Microsoft acquired six years ago. Apparently the project change has been quite …
Read More »The Overwatch beta extends to Europe this month
Earlier this month, Blizzard officially announced that it would be launching the Overwatch beta, with a release date set for the 27th of October. At the time of the announcement, the beta was only scheduled to launch over in the US, cutting out the rest of the world. However, tomorrow's …
Read More »Black Desert MMO heading to the US and EU
Black Desert, the hugely popular Korean MMO is finally making its way over to the west. Over in the US and EU, the game will be known as Black Desert Online, with closed alpha testing set to begin pretty soon. There is also a new trailer for the game to …
Read More »The US is investigating Google for anti-competitive behaviour
Google is going to be fighting anti-trust legal battles on both sides of the Atlantic, as the FTC and US Justice Department have launched an official investigation in to Google's business practises with Android, similar to the one European Commission conducted over the last year. US regulators have apparently decided …
Read More »The BBC is launching a US streaming service in 2016
It looks like The BBC is planning to expand in the US with its own TV streaming service in 2016. It won't be quite like the free to watch iPlayer that we are used to here in the UK though. Apparently, The BBC's US service will be subscription based and …
Read More »Dotcom’s appeal to delay US extradition hearing denied
Kim Dotcom has been fighting a non stop legal battle with the US for years now over Megaupload. Dotcom and a few other people involved with Megaupload were trying to appeal for more time to prepare for an upcoming US extradition hearing, but their request has been denied by the …
Read More »Atlas V rocket successfully puts U.S. Navy satellite in orbit
United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Boeing Defense, Space and Security, has successfully launched the fourth U.S. Navy's Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite into orbit around the Earth. This should greatly improve the tracking and navigation abilities of U.S. and allied military personnel …
Read More »Kim Dotcom: U.S. offered plea deal, I refused
While the United States has been pretty tight lipped about its ongoing attempts to extradite and imprison internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom, the German native has been very vocal about his side of the equation. In a recent Q&A on Slashdot, the Megaupload founder even suggested that the U.S. had attempted …
Read More »Wikileaks release suggests NSA spied on Germany pre-11th Sept.
Although many people believe that intelligence agencies are a major part of a modern society's national defence, most of the big name ones have been through the ringer in recent years for unlawful spying on their own citizens and allies. However it turns out the NSA has been doing that for …
Read More »China boosts US investment in R&D
While the world may like to use China as a manufacturing hub for all of its products, it is no longer just the country that labour is outsourced to: it's now the one doing much of the outsourcing. In a strange turnaround, it's now investing billions in US based R&D …
Read More »Millions of US government workers’ data stolen
In the battleground for the internet, armies lob digital shells at each other almost as often as the masses sling insults, as it looks like millions of US government worker details may have been stolen by a foreign party. While an investigation is ongoing, China is the earliest named potential …
Read More »Bin Laden had Photoshop, Dreamweaver and gaming guide books
When you imagine the compound that Osama Bin Laden was eventually found in, hidden away in Pakistan, there are likely a lot of things you could conjure up about his stronghold. However having manuals for popular software packages on his bookshelf is unlikely to be one of them, but that's …
Read More »The FAA is finally on-board with Amazon’s drone testing
It looks like the US Federal Aviation Authority has finally got its act together as it has finally given Amazon the permission it needed to conduct drone test flights on US soil. The move follows strong words of disappointment coming from Amazon, after the FAA approved the use of a …
Read More »Austrians launch class action suit against Facebook
Since the Edward Snowden revelations of 2013, many organisations have been held under the spotlight for their collusion with the NSA and other international intelligence agencies, most notably Google and Microsoft. Facebook was involved too though, which is why a group of over 25,000 Austrians have launched a class action …
Read More »US to bring sanctions against hacker nations
The last year has revealed a lot of stories of nefarious hacking, with a good number of them seemingly sponsored by one nation or another. More often than not too, those actions – like the one against Sony – target US facilities and companies, which is why, despite its own efforts …
Read More »US government seizes Dotcom’s millions again
Kim Dotcom has been legally embattled with US and New Zealand authorities for over three years. During that time he's launched services and political entities and even found time to rank as one of the best FPS players in the world, but it hasn't been all smooth sailing. One of …
Read More »FCC declares Title II utility status for the Internet
Net Neutrality has won as the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted in favor of reclassifying the Internet as a Title II public utility, preserving Net Neutrality. More than four million people wrote in to the FCC to try and persuade them to preserve Net Neutrality and even President …
Read More »CITIZENFOUR wins an Oscar and Snowden does an AMA
CITIZENFOUR, the recently premiered documentary by Laura Poitras about the beginning of the Edward Snowden NSA revelations, has won an Oscar for “Best Documentary” at this year's Academy Awards ceremony. The film shows Snowden's efforts to expose the gross abuses of the US government's National Security Agency, along with the help of Laura Poitras …
Read More »Google warns against FBI demands for expanded hacking
Currently, government agencies and local police forces in the US, are only able to obtain permission to hack into the computers and other electronic devices of suspects in their region and only then once they have a warrant. However, now the FBI and other organisations want to expand that power …
Read More »Want to buy 50,000 Bitcoins?
In a rare opportunity, thanks to the United States Marshals Service and Ross Ulbricht of Silk Road fame, you are now able to bid on 50,000 seized Bitcoins. These Bitcoins are currently worth around £7.7 million (or $11.9 million USD) and were seized from Ulbricht when the feds snatched his laptop away from him in a San …
Read More »Obama signs order to protect America’s computer networks
In a move to help protect American online businesses and help them coordinate with US authorities, Obama has signed an executive order that will make federal agencies set up a way of sharing data between technicians in these businesses and federal agents. This information sharing will go both ways, with companies tipping …
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