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EU could force WhatsApp, Messenger, iMessage and others to offer interoperability
EU's proposed Digital Markets Act could force large messaging platforms like WhatsApp, iMessage, and Messenger to offer interoperability.
The EU has agreed upon new laws to limit the market power of big tech. Its new Digital Markets Act (DMA) aims to blacklist anti-competitive practices and force popular messaging services like WhatsApp, Messenger, iMessage, and others to open up and interoperate with smaller messaging platforms.
Google, Meta, Apple, others target Russia following Ukraine invasion
Many tech products and services in Russia are shutting off, and content providers like YouTube and Microsoft are blocking Russian propaganda.
The Russian Federation started an attack against the nation of Ukraine on Thursday, with the publicly-stated goal of demilitarizing Ukraine and preventing it from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and other international defense and economic organizations. The attack has been harshly criticized by many governments, companies, and individuals around the world, and the technology industry is no exception.
Irish DPC proposes fining Facebook up to €36 million
The Irish Data Protection Commission has proposed fining Facebook up to €36 million, though there's potential for it to be higher.
The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has proposed fining Facebook €36 million euro in one of more than a dozen probes into the company. This is according to a draft decision published on Wednesday. Under European Union 2018 data protection rules, the preliminary ruling must now be shared with other EU supervisory authorities and consider their views too. If no disagreements are raised by those authorities, then a final verdict will be made and presented to Facebook.
EU plans to force OEMs to use a common USB-C charger and ship phones without one in the box
The Eurpoean Union is planning to force manufacturers to use a common charging port on all their devices to save the environment.
The European Commission is set to present a legislative proposal today for all phones, tablets, and headphones sold in the European Union to have a common charging port. This comes after the European Parliament had voted in favor of Right to Repair, an initiative that would benefit consumers as well as the Union's plan to force OEMs to allow users to uninstall bloatware from their devices. The news isn't really new though since EU lawmakers have been attempting to generalize the charger used to charge consumer electronic gadgets for over a decade now.
Germany wants smartphone makers to offer 7 years of software updates
Germany is currently mulling over a new law that would force smartphone OEMs to deliver seven years of software updates for their devices.
Apple is gearing up to roll out iOS 15 later this year. The company plans to roll it out to several of its devices, going all the way back to the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. This will make Apple the only smartphone OEM to offer seven years of software updates to its devices. That's a remarkable feat, considering that only a couple of OEMs on the Android side promise three years of OS upgrades and four years of security updates. To bridge this gap, the EU proposed a new law earlier this year that would force all smartphone OEMs to offer up to five years of security updates for their devices and deliver reasonably priced spare parts for the same duration.
Ireland fines WhatsApp €225 million over privacy concerns
The Irish Data Protection Commission has fined WhatsApp €225 million for breaching the EU's GDPR rules. The Facebook-owned company plans to appeal the decision.
The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has issued a €225 million fine on WhatsApp for breaching the EU's GDPR rules. The fine is related to an investigation that started in 2018 regarding WhatsApp's lack of transparency about how it processes user data.
OnePlus Nord 2 with Dimensity 1200 and IMX 766 launches with an amazing price tag
OnePlus has finally launched the OnePlus Nord 2 5G, bringing along a great processor, good camera sensor, and more to the mid-range device!
The original OnePlus Nord was the company's attempt at making the signature OnePlus experience available at a lower price to make it more accessible to the masses. As it turns out, people really liked the Nord. It became one of the most successful smartphones from OnePlus in several regions, in sharp contrast to the unlucky OnePlus X. It comes as no surprise then that OnePlus is now ready for round two. Meet the new OnePlus Nord 2 5G, the company's latest attempt at making the signature OnePlus experience more accessible, launched today alongside the OnePlus Buds Pro.
EU paves the way for Wi-Fi 6E devices to hit Europe
The EU has opened up 480MHz of spectrum in the 6GHz band, paving the way for Wi-Fi 6E devices to hit the region. Read on to learn more.
In April last year, the FCC opened up 1200MHz of spectrum in the 6GHz band, paving the way for Wi-Fi 6E in the US. The European Union is now following suit and has opened up 480MHz spectrum in the 6GHz band for the implementation of wireless access systems.
OnePlus is doing surprisingly well in Europe
A spokesperson for OnePlus Europe shared some hard data regarding the company's growth in Europe, and they're doing surprisingly alright.
Over the years, OnePlus has shown unprecedented growth. From being an underground OEM selling phones with invites to being a larger-scale phone manufacturer with carrier contracts and worldwide availability, they've grown their brand and company a lot, even if they're not quite a household name just yet. The company has diversified from just smartphones and has gotten into wearables and even TVs. But 2020 was a particularly good year for OnePlus, at least in Europe.
Xiaomi Mi 11 lands in Europe to take on the Galaxy S21 lineup
Xiaomi today launched its flagship Mi 11 in Europe. Here's everything you need to know about the Snapdragon 888-powered device.
Shortly after Qualcomm launched its flagship Snapdragon 888 SoC last year, Xiaomi launched the Mi 11 in China. The flagship device was the first to feature Qualcomm's new top-tier SoC, coupled with an impressive QHD+ 120Hz display, a triple camera setup headlined by a 108MP sensor, and much more. Over a month after the initial reveal, Xiaomi has now finally launched the Mi 11 in the European market.
Twitter fined 450,000 Euros by Irish regulator for GDPR fail
Ireland's data regulator has handed down a 450,000 Euro fine on behalf of the European Union, for a 2018 data breach of Twitter's Android app
Twitter has been clobbered with a fine of €450,000 (~$546,300) after Irish courts found it had breached Europe’s strong data protection laws, known as GDPR. The fine was brought by Ireland’s data regulator, making it the first scalp for US big tech under the legislation.
The Vivo X50 and Vivo X50 Pro launches in Europe and India alongside the Vivo TWS Neo Earphones
The Vivo X50 series has been launched in India and Europe, along with the new Vivo TWS Neo wireless earphones. Read on to know more about Vivo's latest!
Vivo has been steadily making inroads in a lot of key markets, including India and its home market China. And the company has also been innovating with its product series. For instance, the Vivo X50 series sports an ambitious camera system, with the Pro variant coming in with a gimbal camera. The Vivo X50, Vivo X50 Pro, and X50 Pro+ were launched early last month in China. Now, Vivo is bringing over two of these devices to India and Europe, alongside the Vivo TWS Neo Earphones.
OPPO and Vodafone announce partnership to bring OPPO smartphones to Vodafone's European markets
OPPO has announced a partnership with Vodafone, allowing the company to present its smartphones across Vodafone's extensive markets in Europe. Read on!
OPPO launched its proper flagship for 2020, the OPPO Find X2 Pro in March, bringing over some key technologies to customers across Europe. While the phone does cement the company's place among the premium Android OEMs, OPPO still has a lot of room to grow in terms of sales and market reach. Now, OPPO and Vodafone have announced a new comprehensive partnership agreement, bringing a broad range of OPPO's smartphones to Vodafone's European markets starting this month.
OPPO A52 and A72 are two mid-range smartphones coming to Europe
A new leak has revealed possible specifications and renders of the upcoming OPPO A72 as well as a new mid-range phone called OPPO A52.
Earlier this month we confirmed the existence of two OPPO phones that the Chinese company was planning to launch globally. The first was the OPPO Find X2 Neo which was a rebranded version of the Chinese Reno 3 Pro that was launched around the end of 2019. We also learned about the existence of the OPPO A72. However, at the time the only bits of information we had about this phone was its model number — CPH2067 — and that it would come running Android 10.
Leaked EU proposal reveals plan to make smartphone batteries easier to replace
A leaked proposal suggests that the EU is planning to force manufacturers to make smartphone batteries easily replaceable.
Replacing a dead battery on smartphones used to be quite easy not so long ago. It didn't require any professional help and users could easily pop the back cover open to access the replaceable battery. And having a replaceable battery on your smartphone was more of a norm than an exception. These days, however, replacing a dead battery on your smartphone is a herculean task that requires specialized equipment and poses the risk of voiding the warranty. But this might change soon as the EU is currently mulling over a plan to make smartphone batteries easily replaceable once again.
[Update: Voted Passed, Law Pending] The EU will vote to force all smartphones to adopt USB-C
The European Parliament will move to force all smartphone manufacturers to use USB-C with a new legislation awaiting EU Council approval.
Since smartphones with USB-C started coming out in 2015, the standard has come a long way. Nowadays, it has become, well, the standard connector for almost all Android smartphones out there, from flagship phones to budget devices. With the exception of certain, really cheap phones and accessories, micro-USB is, for most intents and purposes, pretty much dead as of 2020. Even dirt-cheap smartphones like the Redmi 8A have started to come out with USB-C support. But there are still some odd ducks out there. Particularly Apple, which still clings onto their proprietary Lightning port because of revenue purposes as well as certain Android OEMs that, for some reason, are still not done with the old micro-USB port.
MIUI Themes is coming back to Xiaomi phones in Europe
MIUI themes is coming back to Xiaomi smartphones in the European Union, and to celebrate, the company is holding a wallpaper contest.
One of the many features that makes MIUI unique is the theming options. You can change the entire look and style of your Xiaomi smartphone thanks to MIUI themes, even making it look close to AOSP if you'd like. The feature was removed from European Union smartphones back in February of last year, with the company citing "changing privacy regulations" as to why it had to do so. As time went on, it looked like the feature wasn't coming back, but in a surprise announcement on the MIUI forums, the company announced its return.
Samsung and Xiaomi grew heavily in Europe thanks to mid-range Galaxy A and Redmi phones
Xiaomi continues to expand its presence in Europe. Samsung has been a top OEM in the region for years and both saw some impressive numbers during Q2
Canalys is one of the many companies out there that track global shipments of various products (smartphones included). When articles talk about smartphone market share growth they are typically referring to one of these types of reports. Xiaomi continues to expand its presence in new markets around the world and one major target has been Europe. Samsung has been a top OEM in the region for years and both saw some impressive numbers during Q2 (April, May, June) of this year.
Vivo is hiring staff in Germany and Ukraine, possibly expanding into Europe
Some new job listings seem to indicate that Vivo is finally looking to expand in Europe. There hasn't been an official announcement made yet.
Vivo doesn't tend to get much attention these days, but they actually ship more smartphones around the world than well-known brands like Motorola (2-3 times as many). A big reason why they don't seem to get much attention from mainstream outlets is due to the company's limited reach. However, some new job listings seem to indicate that Vivo is finally looking to expand in Europe. There hasn't been an official announcement made yet, and sometimes job listings don't amount to anything, but they have also shown to give us a window into the company's future.