Month: February 2021

Hauwei’s new $2,800 foldable phone copies Samsung’s Galaxy Fold line

The phone looks great, but can Huawei even get the parts for it?

  • The Huawei Mate X2. It looks just like a Galaxy Z Fold 2. [credit: Huawei ]

Huawei isn't going to let a minor inconvenience like US sanctions stop it from designing new phones. Today, the company announced the next device in its flagship foldable-smartphone line: the Huawei Mate X2. While 2019's Mate X (X1?) was an innovative-but-impractical form factor with a single wraparound display on the outside of the phone, the Mate X2 follows Samsung's lead and goes with a book-style foldable with a rigid phone screen on the outside and a foldable tablet screen on the inside. It looks just like a Galaxy X Fold 2 but with a few interesting design evolutions.

Huawei spent a lot of time saying the Mate X2 was better than the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2, pointing out bigger interior and exterior screens as well as a smaller hinge area with slimmer bezels on the front. One area Huawei didn't make a comparison on is the price, which starts at a whopping $2,784, while the Galaxy Fold 2 is a mere $2,000.

The exterior screen is a 6.45-inch, 2700×1160, 90Hz OLED, while the interior screen is an 8-inch, 2480×2200, 90Hz OLED. Both of these are bigger than the Fold 2, which has a 6.2-inch outside display and a 7.6-inch inside display. Huawei's work to slim down bezels looks impressive, and it really feels like the company got the aspect ratios right. Huawei managed to fit a bog-standard 21:9 display on the front—it looks like a normal smartphone from some angles. The interior display is nearly two 21:9 display put together, with what Huawei called a "8:7.1 aspect ratio." It's hard to say what the interior aspect ratio "should" be, since Android tablet apps are nearly nonexistent, but at least this will be good for split-screen app usage.

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U.S. Copyright Groups Praise UAE’s Enforcement Against ‘Illegal’ VPN and Tor Use

The IIPA, which represents the MPA, RIAA, and other entertainment industry groups, is pleased with the United Arab Emirates’ strict enforcement against the use of VPNs and Tor to access pirate sites. The industry group, however, urges the UAE authorities to go a step further and require VPNs to actively ban copyright-infringing activity.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

anonymous cardThe International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) represents the interests of several prominent copyright groups, including the MPA, RIAA, and ESA.

The group keeps a close eye on various copyright developments around the world and regularly reports its findings to the Office of the US Trade Representative.

In its most recent submission, the IIPA shared its recommendations for the upcoming “Special 301” report. This is the annual ‘watch list’ where the US Government calls out countries that need to improve their copyright policies.

Generally speaking, IIPA’s report shows a lot of overlap with those of previous years. In many instances, parts of country overviews are copied verbatim. This is also the case with the latest recommendations, but the changes over time are worth highlighting.

IIPA’s Concerns Over Anonymizing Tools

For example, when we look at the recommendations IIPA sent in 2017, the group noted that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was making progress on the enforcement front. However, there were specific concerns regarding the use of anonymizing tools that facilitate access to pirate sites.

“Prosecutors have been analyzing facts of IPR cases and referring cases to the courts on the grounds of violations of IP or cybercrimes related laws. However, use of VPNs, DNS masks, and Tor networks for piracy is increasing, and there is no serious enforcement of the Cyber Crimes Law against these actions,” IIPA wrote.

At the time, UAE had just updated its cybercrime law to prohibit the use of anonymizing services for illicit purposes, including pirate site visits. In addition, potential penalties were raised up to $500,000 per offense.

UAE Picks Up Enforcement Efforts

IIPA hoped that this law would be properly enforced and, in the years that followed, things did indeed change. In 2018, IIPA informed the USTR that UAE’s cybercrime law was used effectively against the use of VPNs and the Tor network for piracy activities.

These comments were repeated in the years that followed, including the most recent 2021 submission where IIPA writes the following:

“On a positive note, the UAE Cyber Crime Law has been used effectively against virtual private networks (VPNs), domain name system (DNS) ‘masks’ (that hide domain names), and Tor (anonymous) networks — all used to otherwise disguise piratical sites and activities from enforcement officials.

“Moreover, the enforcement of the Cyber Crime Law has resulted in some severe and deterrent penalties,” IIPA adds, referring to the high fines.

Needless to say, this type of enforcement goes much further than what US copyright holders see on their home turf. And that’s an understatement. In the US, all pirate sites are still freely accessible, so people don’t even need a VPN or Tor to access them.

More Can Be Done

This doesn’t mean that copyright holders believe UAE has done enough. While the copyright holders praise the enforcement actions against anonymizing tools, they also emphasize that more can be done.

In their submission to the USTR, IIPA notes that UAE’s telecommunications authority should encourage online services to actively cooperate with copyright holders to fight piracy.

For example, domain name registrars should be required to take action against pirate sites, but the group mentions ‘dedicated VPNs’ and advertising services as well.

“Proactively enforce against Internet piracy by encouraging the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) to engage domain name registrars and other intermediaries that enable structurally infringing services to cooperate with rights holders and require them to take effective action to prevent their services from being used by infringers.”

For now, these are just recommendations. Whether these will eventually end up in the USTR’s 2021 Special 301 review has yet to be seen.

It’s clear, however, that rightsholders are particularly concerned about the potential use of anonymizing tools to access pirate sites. Why this concern is only mentioned in relation to UAE, and not other countries, is unknown.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

AT&T and Frontier have let phone networks fall apart, Calif. regulator finds

AT&T raised phone prices 153% over a decade as service got steadily worse.

A pair of scissors being used to cut a wire coming out of a landline telephone.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | CalypsoArt)

AT&T and Frontier have let their copper phone networks deteriorate through neglect since 2010, resulting in poor service quality and many lengthy outages, a report commissioned by the California state government found. Customers in low-income areas and areas without substantial competition have fared the worst, the report found. AT&T in particular was found to have neglected low-income communities and to have imposed severe price increases adding up to 152.6 percent over a decade.

The report was written in April 2019 but kept private because data submitted by the carriers was deemed confidential and proprietary. The report finally became public after the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) ruled in December 2020 that a redacted version had to be released by mid-January.

A summary of the CPUC-commissioned report identified six key findings:

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Daily Deals (2-22-2021)

Samsung Galaxy S21 series phones are already on sale for up to $200 off. You can pick up a Lenovo Chromebook Duet 2-in-1 tablet for as little as $230. B&H is running a sale on SanDisk portable SSDs. And if you want to make sure you don’t run…

Samsung Galaxy S21 series phones are already on sale for up to $200 off. You can pick up a Lenovo Chromebook Duet 2-in-1 tablet for as little as $230. B&H is running a sale on SanDisk portable SSDs. And if you want to make sure you don’t run out of power to charge your phone, […]

The post Daily Deals (2-22-2021) appeared first on Liliputing.

Software bugs reportedly keep Arizona inmates jailed past release dates

State law was updated in 2019, but the state’s software suite still hasn’t been.

Very few people want to spend a single second longer than they have to in a place like this.

Enlarge / Very few people want to spend a single second longer than they have to in a place like this. (credit: txking | Getty Images)

A failure to update critical prison management software has kept hundreds of incarcerated people in Arizona behind bars longer than they should be, according to a whistleblower report.

Employees for the Arizona Department of Corrections have known about the bug since 2019, Phoenix-based NPR affiliate KJZZ reported. The flaw follows a change to state law that the software simply cannot handle and has not been updated to deal with.

Arizona has one of the highest imprisonment rates in the country, with drug possession convictions being one of the highest drivers behind the numbers. An amendment (PDF) to Arizona state law in June, 2019 created a mechanism through which inmates convicted of certain nonviolent drug offenses can earn credits toward early release. Eligible inmates who complete a program such as a GED equivalent or substance abuse treatment while imprisoned can earn 3 days credit for every 7 days served and shorten the length of time they spend behind bars to 70 percent of their assigned sentence.

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Apple beats Samsung in phone sales for first time since 2016

Apple sold almost 80 million phones in Q4 2020.

  • The iPhone 12 Pro Max (left) and iPhone 12 mini (right). [credit: Samuel Axon ]

Apple beat out Samsung to become the world's leading seller of smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to a new data report by research firm Gartner. Samsung had outsold Apple since the same quarter in 2016.

Gartner estimates that Apple sold 79.94 million during the quarter, while Samsung managed to sell 62.17 million. Samsung did not release new flagship phones that quarter. Apple's sales were driven by the introduction of the new iPhone 12 lineup, which generally sold better than the previous year's iPhone updates. Apple sold 69.6 million iPhones in the fourth quarter of 2019.

However, this victory for Apple happened amid a general decline of the smartphone market. Overall smartphone sales declined 12.5 percent in 2020 and by 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter.

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Bundestagsanhörung: Eco warnt vor Komplettzugriff des BND auf das Internet

Das neue BND-Gesetz ist nach Ansicht von Experten ein “Erste-Hilfe-Kit” nach einem Urteil aus Karlsruhe. Doch die Änderungen könnten nicht ausreichen. Ein Bericht von Friedhelm Greis (BND, Datenschutz)

Das neue BND-Gesetz ist nach Ansicht von Experten ein "Erste-Hilfe-Kit" nach einem Urteil aus Karlsruhe. Doch die Änderungen könnten nicht ausreichen. Ein Bericht von Friedhelm Greis (BND, Datenschutz)

iodé sells Android phones stripped of tracking and advertising (and the Play Store)

A new French company called iodé is selling smartphones that ship with a custom Android-based operating system that offers some of the benefits of Android (like ease-of-use) while offering more privacy. The company says its software blocks advertiseme…

A new French company called iodé is selling smartphones that ship with a custom Android-based operating system that offers some of the benefits of Android (like ease-of-use) while offering more privacy. The company says its software blocks advertisements, spyware, and other apps and services from tracking your personal data. One trade-off is that the phones […]

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