Facebook and Google are arguably the largest content providers in the world. They have, in some cases, become the sole source of content for users. The companies have played the role of content aggregator and ad providers for many years. However, some countries are beginning to take a hard look at how they could have played a role in the slow demise of news outlets over the years.
The main issue being looked at in a lot of countries is the distribution of ad revenue. In most of these countries, the argument is that Facebook and Google’s hold on an unprecedented share of ad revenue has led to the decline in overall revenue for news outlets. This has led to an increased scrutiny by governments. Unsurprisingly, governments are beginning to argue that companies such as Google and Facebook should be paying for the content they are using on the platform.
The latest country to seriously consider the possibility of introducing such laws is Australia. The country has ordered that its Competitions and Consumer Commission (ACCC) create a mandatory code of conduct to address the issue. The code of conduct would, essentially, require companies like Facebook and Google to pay for using content generated by others; this would include listing the content. While we’ve already seen similar measures adopted in countries like France, the ACCC’s code of conduct would also require companies to share data, algorithm changes, news ranking and adopt some form of revenue sharing with content companies.
The move to introduce some form of legislation is spurred by the economic impact of COVID-19 on the news and content sectors. The country is also citing the disproportionately large share of online revenue taken by Facebook and Google in the country. A draft of the Australian code of conduct is expected to be prepared by July 2020. However, there is no clear indication of when the code of conduct will finalised.
In this week’s techENT Download weekly news round-up, we have the two biggest names in tech. The two names are Apple and Google. They are also on the same page this time. Apple and Google, this time is collaborating on a very special project. They are developing a new API based tech for contact tracing. That also means that health institutes and governments could benefit by zeroing down on patient zero or sources of outbreaks in clusters.
That is not all that Apple did last week though, they launched a new iPhone last week too. It is the new Apple iPhone SE, a recycled name with new hardware. You go back to a 4.7-inch display and a fingerprint sensor. Inside though, you get a powerful A13 Bionic System on a Chip (SoC).
Speaking of powerful though, OnePlus launches their brand new 2020 flagship – the new OnePlus 8 series. The OnePlus 8 Pro packs Qualcomm’s most powerful Snapdragon 865 SoC. It also comes with a very familiar 6.7-inch 120Hz QHD+ display and a 48-Megapixel triple camera arrangement.
If you are not up for something so upmarket though, there is the realme 6i that just launched in Malaysia for MYR 699 onward. While not the most premium name or pricing, you still get plenty of power from a MediaTek Helio G80 Octa-core SoC and quad-cameras. Also, you get a large 5,000mAh battery that should last you a day and more.
Last week, two of the biggest tech companies, Google and Apple, announced that they would be working together to help address the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the companies announced a cross-platform API that would allow for better contact tracing. The companies also mentioned that they would be working with government bodies, non-government organisations (NGOs) and other orgranisations to develop the APIs.
That effort may have just hit its first snag in the United Kingdom (UK). in report published by The Guardian, the NHSX, the digitization arm of the National Health Service (NHS), and Google and Apple are at an impasse. The main issue seems to be related to the way data is collected and access to the data. In their announcement, the two tech companies were adamant that the development of their API will keep user privacy intact. This would mean that the data that is collected in a decentralised way; limiting what data is visible and what can be done with it. The NHS, however, is looking to collect data with a centralised database.
While the two approaches seem to a menial issue when it comes to the bigger picture, a decentralised approach to collecting data will allow better user privacy by limiting who has access to the data. Essentially, this will keep the data within the same device. However, using the NHS’s approach of having a centralised database, the data can then be viewed in aggregate. It also means that data is continuously communicated over the internet which can lead to more security concerns.
That said, with the new APIs begin developed by Google and Apple for Android and iOS, these contact tracing applications would be able to run in a more power efficient way. With the current restrictions on the way device features are used on the operating systems, the NHS’s app would be rendered near useless as it would need to be “active” to be able to use features like Bluetooth. This would mean that the apps would, in essence, force devices to maintain an open Bluetooth connection to help do the contact tracing. The fact that the app would need to be active to effectively contact trace, introduces a potentially huge backdoor for hackers and malefactors to take advantage of. However, using the approach being used by the APIs, this wouldn’t happen. It would use operating system access to trigger the Bluetooth when needed.
It seems that the NHS was hoping that these limitations would be eased up on for contact tracing purposes. However, Apple and Google are adamant in maintaining their limitations. In fact, Google has gone on record to say that the limitations are being maintained to prevent the abuse of functionality; in particular for surveillance purposes. On the other hand, the limitations also pose a data collection conundrum for bodies like the NHS. The extra data that they get from their approach would allow tracking of population flows, “near misses” and even contacts from those who have opted to share their data.
Malaysia and Singaore have released their own contact tracing apps in the Apple App Store and Google Playstore. The MySejahtera app and TraceTogether respectively have been deployed by the governments in those countries to help with managing the spread of the SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus causing the COVID-19 disease. However, the apps have seen limited adoption among the general public. The TraceTogether app is already known to use Bluetooth to Bluetooth communication to help with contact tracing. The data collected by the app is stored in a centralized server similar to how the NHS wants to implement its app. This could be one of the factors of the app’s limited adoption.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been taking the world by storm. It has had an unprecedented affect on every country in the world and the world economy. The world is also beginning to realise the value of front liners such as doctors, nurses, scientists and janitors. That said, Google and Apple and lending a hand in fighting the pandemic by working together.
The companies announced a joint effort to help with the current pandemic. The effort comes in the form an APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) which will help with contact tracing. Contact tracing is becoming increasingly more important in the battle against COVID-19 to help with the mitigation of the viral spread. Countries which have started or have been doing contact tracing have shown better disease control in the current pandemic.
Apple and Google are looking to assist with Contact Tracing by using Bluetooth on smartphones. The APIs will work with together with operating system level technology to allow the tracking of potential spread of COVID-19. Essentially, authorised applications will be able to use Bluetooth on both iOS and Android smartphones to help identify individuals who have potentially come in contact with infected individuals. As of right now, it seems like these APIs will be made available to government and public health agencies to help mitigate the spread of the pandemic.
Apple and Google have both stressed that user privacy, transparency and security will be central to the development of these APIs. They are looking into broader, more robust applications of the APIs being developed which allow more individuals to participate, should they choose to via an opt-in. These broader application are being explored in consultation with other interested stakeholders. The effort comes after a number of public health authorities, universities and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) around the world kick started an effort to develop opt-in contact tracing technology.
The APIs and its functionality will be rolled out in stages given the dire need for contact tracing in the current pandemic. The initial stage will be the rollout of the APIs in May which will enable interoperability between the mobile platforms. Official apps using these APIs will be available in the Google Play and Apple App Stores. After this, Google and Apple will be working to enhance and enable broader Bluetooth based contact tracing enabling more robust applications. The companies have stated that they will be openly publishing information their work to be analyzed by others during this process.
So last Friday we started on a series to document how we will start living with a HUAWEI smartphone free from the clutches of the evil Google ecosystem. No, they are not really evil; I am just trying to be a bit dramatic here. You get the idea though. Modern HUAWEI smartphones today only come with HUAWEI’s very own Mobile Services and AppGallery; no Google Mobile Services and Play Store. Kind of sad, really.
Last week we managed to download Facebook and WhatsApp. We did not have Instagram, or Netflix, or Telegram. In short, there were plenty of apps we did not have. Did we miss them? Yes, very much, I had Instagram and Netflix, and Prime Video installed in other devices just to scroll through them.
I Still Miss Social Media
In truth though, I am not that big of a social media person.
While I do scroll through social media from time to time, I seldom spend more
than 15 minutes scrolling through Facebook, or Instagram, or Twitter, and even
Snapchat. I have never logged onto Tik Tok.
That does not mean that I can completely ignore all this social
media though. Of course, if I am being honest, I do miss the apps. The idea of
just seeing what other people are up to in their own life; that can still be
quite fun, and quite traumatising depending on the contents.
Facebook can be quite enough though, especially with
Facebook Watch and the countless videos on the platform. That is technically
all the entertainment I got from the HUAWEI Nova 7i. To keep in touch with my
friends, I have WhatsApp. Then again, I turn on my WhatsApp on desktop barely
looked at my smartphone when it comes to messages.
Exploring the AppGallery A Little Deeper
Still, things are not so bad after scrolling through the AppGallery
once more. There are apps in the smartphone after all. Social media apps
include Snapchat, Tik Tok (of course), and WeChat (of course). Nope, nothing
else that I use as far as I can tell. There is even TrueCaller on the AppGallery.
Things are looking a bit up now that I scroll through a little
bit more through the AppGallery. You can find Viu, iflix, and some cinema booking
apps within the AppGallery to start with. No, no Netflix or even Amazon Video
Prime. For now, iflix and Viu would do. I personally don’t have a viu account,
so I stick to iflix. We are currently under the Movement Control Order (MCO),
so I cannot go for movies.
If not though, I can do some window shopping via Zalora, Lazada,
and even Shopee. There are even some games that you might be familiar with. One
of them is Cut the Rope 2 within the AppGallery. You can even find Lords Mobile
and Fortnite on the device. So to be fair, you are not really getting
shorthanded in terms of entertainment here.
For productivity, they have WPS Office on the AppGallery. While
some say that WPS Office app is better than the original Microsoft apps, I
would respectfully disagree. The modern Microsoft apps are now so much better,
and so much more optimised. At the same time, it is easier to sync your Microsoft
apps to OneDrive than anything else. This is a problem on the device though;
there are almost no Microsoft apps here.
I say almost because there is a particularly useful Microsoft
app that we love. That app is Microsoft’s Translation app. In our opinion, this
is the best translation app that mankind has ever produced. It is accurate and
works with plenty of accents. Still, we are not here for the Microsoft Translate
app.
It is Still Android, Just Without Google
The apps that are downloaded are also very similar to the
Android apps you find on Google Play Store. The EMUI 10 is based on Android 10
after all. Still, we found these apps. Which are great. If you are worried
about bringing them out as your electronic wallet, you would be relieved to
find Touch n’ Go app in there and Boost app. Grab is making its way on
AppGallery. Still, the two largest e-wallets in Malaysia has a foothold in
HUAWEI’s AppGallery. That means the HUAWEI Mobile Services (HMS), and
AppGallery cannot be that bad, right? Too early to tell in my opinion.
Still, we are going to dive a little deeper than that. For
now, that is all we can walk away with. Stay tuned for the next part.
Last night we saw a big fan fare of a smartphone launch. It was the very anticipated HUAWEI photography flagship, the HUAWEI P40 series. The ones we are going to see earlier is the HUAWEI P40 and P40 Pro. There is a third model, the P40 Pro+ which will be coming way later. Still, HUAWEI finally announced their first 2020 flagship.
The HUAWEI P40 is really everything that you might want in a
HUAWEI flagship photography king. If you owned the P20, it is really the
smartphone that you naturally want to upgrade to. There is one thing that it
does not come with though: Google.
This means that the HUAWEI P40 series will not have Google’s very handy Play Store and is stuck to the ways of HUAWEI’s own proprietary Mobile Services (HMS) and its AppGallery. We are not saying that it is a terrible thing though. It may sound bad, but you never know until you try right?
The Test Bed – The HUAWEI Nova 7i
Our test bed is a HUAWEI Nova 7i. In some markets, they know
it as the HUAWEI P40 Lite. We do not understand that half the time, so we will
just stick to Malaysia’s official name for it, we guess; the HUAWEI Nova 7i.
If you really have to know the specs of this MYR 1,099
device, it is is a mid-range smartphone that packs a relatively punchy
HiSilicon Kirin 810 system on a chip (SoC) and supported by 8GB of RAM and you
get 128GB of storage with that. The internals push EMUI 10.0.1.108 that is also
based on Android 10. So, when we say that it comes completely devoid of Google
stuff, I did not forget that this is still an Android device. We just mean that
the HUAWEI Nova 7i comes devoid of Google’s important frameworks that includes
the Google Play Store.
We are not focusing on the hardware capabilities of the
device, though. So, it does not really matter if the HUAWEI Nova 7i comes with
a 48-Megapixel camera and a Full HD display. What matters is that it represents
the collective of modern HUAWEI devices that are in the market right now,
starting with the era of the HUAWEI Mate 30 series. They all have one thing in
common, and that is HMS and AppGallery.
The focus of this write-up then, is what we can do with HMS
and what AppGallery can offer us. On paper, it does not look too good for the
write-up. The HUAWEI AppGallery is the third largest app marketplace behind
Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store. Which may not sound like much,
because there are not many major app marketplaces in the market. Since there
are two major camps of smartphone Operating Systems (OS) in the market, the two
largest ones are quite a given.
Starting-up HUAWEI’s EMUI 10.0.1
Let us still give this a chance though. We fire up the device
and everything feels just like a regular Android smartphone at first. It is an Android
10 based system after all, so it starts up very similar to any Android. Except,
you do not sign in with your Google account. You sign in with or sign up for a
HUAWEI ID account. We had one, so that was simple.
If you are familiar with an EMUI device that has Google Play
Store installed on it, like the HUAWEI P30 series, navigating the smartphone should
be nothing new really. It is still a very familiar EMUI to the EMUI’s of the past;
in that, there is no difference in experience at all. You cannot see Google’s Play
Store on the home screen though. So far, so good; familiarity with the
interface saves the face.
First set-up
No Play Store, no problem. There the HUAWEI AppGallery. First
thing I usually do with a new smartphone is download all the essential apps I
need. Those apps are Whatsapp, Telegram, Slack, Facebook, Instagram, and
Twitter. Out of all those apps listed, I only found two – Facebook and Whatsapp.
They are not loaded into the AppGallery though.
What happens is that the HUAWEI AppGallery will lead you to a
third-party site to download the apk files of Facebook and Whatsapp. These are
the only two I found so far. Not looking good now. When we checked in, HUAWEI
says that these two sideloaded apps are safe because the AppGallery is the one
that leads us to the site.
That is not to say that you cannot sideload the rest of the
apps that I listed down though. You can still download the apk files from other
sites, no problem. Just be wary of the sources though.
Still, we worked with the two apps that we just downloaded.
They both work just like the Android version app should work. They look the
same too. The only question now is whether we can keep up with the most current
update packages or not.
Day 0 Wrap-up
We wrap the test up with that for now. We got our smartphone
running with the most essential WhatsApp up. Even Facebook is there, so far
that is the entertainment we are getting for the night.
Still, we are going to try to live through the HMS and
AppGallery as long as we can and go in-depth. The HMS is available on every new
HUAWEI smartphone you buy today. Yes, they are all running on EMUI 10 now too.
Still, the HUAWEI P40 that was announced last night is not
just that. When you buy a new HUAWEI smartphone today, you get a free 50GB
HUAWEI Cloud Storage subscription for the next year. If you already own a
HUAWEI smartphone device, you already have 5GB of HUAWEI Cloud Storage for free
anyway.
We will be looking to more apps next week with the HUAWEI Nova
7i. Until then, stay safe during this whole Movement Control Order period. To
the ones outside of Malaysia, you stay safe too.
At this point of time, COVID-19 has claimed over 3,000 lives
globally. These are known deaths caused by COVID-19 and there may be more than
that. To be honest too, this is a very difficult write-up. Not because there is
very little information to work with. It is just the fact that COVID-19 news
are not getting any better. There is a glimmer of hope though; WHO claims that
COVID-19 containment and treatment is very viable.
Source: MS Poweruser
Still, COVID-19, or more commonly known as Coronavirus at
this point has claimed more than just lives. It is affecting communities and commerce
as well. Of course it would, people run these businesses and communities,
people are getting infected and therefore sick; conducting business activities
then is difficult.
We saw Apple getting affected earlier on with their China
stores temporarily closing. Foxconn, their manufacturing plant had also stopped
operating at some point. Mobile World Congress 2020 has been cancelled; Geneva
Motorshow is also being torn down as we speak because they cancelled the event
at the very last minute. Even Formula 1 is being heavily affected; they lost China
GP this year and who knows which other GP is being cancelled due to the global
emergency that is COVID-19.
Plenty are hopeful that the disease will be contained and cured
by June or July. That is why some events has been postponed to then. Even Computex
2020 seems to be happening still. The situation now is not very encouraging
though.
This week alone we see more victims to COVID-19. On top of new confirmed deaths around the world we see Microsoft’s MVP physical event going completely digital. Facebook is also cancelling the F8 summit. Even Adobe is not spared; Adobe is having their Summit announcements completely online too. The hardest of all is Google having to cancel both their big conferences.
Source: Google
Google has cancelled their Cloud Next event earlier on this
week. They announced thought that the conference will be a completely online
affair. There was also a sort of expectation that some of the things that would
be covered on Cloud Next would appear in Google’s I/O which was still reported
to be happening. This morning proved our optimism wrong though. Google is cancelling
the Google I/O conference; their biggest developer conference of the year has
been cancelled.
If we are right, we are seeing Google’s latest Android 11 on
the big stage of Google I/O. It looks like we are going to have to see it on an
online stage instead; they show must go on, as they say. There is no final
confirmation yet on the online streaming of Google I/O yet though. We are expecting
them to go online because Google is completely equipped to livestream all their
conferences, which they have done before anyway. Of course, it helps that they
own YouTube anyway.
Google is not the first to be hit strongly by COVID-19. We
highly doubt that Google will be the last one. We are expecting the Olympics committee
to make an announcement soon regarding the Summer Olympics 2020 in Japan. For
all you know, Japan might be the one that makes the announcement of a border
containment. Still, these are just speculations; take it with a pinch of salt.
Not Google’s cancellations though, those are confirmed.
The HONOR 9X Pro has already been lauched in the Chinese domestic market and was expected to make its international debut at MWC2020; Wait didn’t MWC 2020 get cancelled? Unfortunately, yes it has been officially cancelled due to safety concerns over the ongoing COVID-19 virus outbreak.
Source: GSMArena
In light of these developments, HUAWEI and HONOR are going to be launching their products via a live stream. HONOR’s launching will be on February 24 at 6:30PM CET (11pm IST) with not one but two products. The live stream of their launch can be found on their Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and even on their global website.
HONOR 9X Pro will be launched together with HONOR’s laptop, the MagicBook. Even though the HONOR 9X Pro is not a new phone, it is will be coming the latest HUAWEI Mobile Services (HMS). This phone is also the first phone for HONOR to launch with HMS.
The HUAWEI Mate 30 had a taste of HMS in countries such as Spain, Indonesia and Malaysia but the HONOR 9X Pro will feature a revamped version of the HMS. HUAWEI has been working tirelessly on the HMS ecosystem as it has to replace Google’s apps and services in hopes to keep existing users and hopefully attract new users too.
The phone itself was released in August of 2019. The 9X Pro runs on the Kirin 810 processor which is touted to offer the ultimate gaming experience, backed up powerful performance. Even though the processor launched back in August, it has only just made its debut in HUAWEI’s line up with the launch of the Nova 7i.
Source: HONOR
Other than the phone, let’s not forget that they will also be launching the HONOR MagicBook that will also play its role in the while HMS ecosystem. Even though it will be in the HMS ecosystem, the MagicBook will be the first device by HONOR to run Windows 10.
We wrap up the third week of #February 2020 in this #techENT#techENTDownload#techenttv! Boy, hasn’t it been a little quiet in tech this wee?. No matter though, we still bring you the latest things you need to know for the week starting with #Google banning over 600 apps in their #PlayStore to #Cadillac launching their brand new and first even electric vehicle for the world to see; Malaysia might not get it though. Still, at least we are definitely getting into the #Samsung#GalaxyZFlip!
We’ve started a new #Podcast#techntonic#techntonicpodcast and its available on Spotify, Anchor, Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, Breaker, and other podcasting host channels! If we are not yet on your favourite channel yet, let us know in the comments so that we can work our way there!
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