IBM Corp said on Friday the US Commerce Department should adopt new controls to limit the export of facial recognition systems to repressive regimes that can be used to commit human rights violations. The company said in a statement the United States should institute new export limits on “the type of facial recognition system most likely to be used in mass surveillance systems, racial profiling or other human rights violations.”

Founded in 1984, GameStop is one of the oldest cornerstones of video game retail. But in 2020, it s facing big risks as the industry increasingly turns to digital. Sony sent ripples through the industry in late September when it announced a digital version of the PlayStation 5 that has the same performance as the standard one, but would be $100 cheaper and do away with a disc player for playing physical games. It s a departure for the gaming industry that started off with a heavy reliance on hardware and hard copies, and it signals a shift towards digital and the cloud. The move raised alarm bells for GameStop (GME), which relies on physical games for a significant portion of its income. In 2002, its parent company at the time, Barnes and Noble, took GameStop public. Through the years, GameStop has differentiated its business by continuing to sell merchandise, such as Funko Pop toys, giving away a Fortnite in-game item as a gift with purchase and even opening up pre-orders to the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition.But if gamers were to feel compelled by a digital version of the PS5, and switch over, GameStop would face a huge challenge to its business. The company declined to comment on that risk for this story. But in a September 2019 interview, CEO George Sherman told CNN Business: "Gaming as an industry could not be stronger ... it s us that needs to pivot. It s GameStop that needs to make some changes." Analysts were split on whether the gaming retailer is in immediate trouble. But Sony s upcoming launch is the latest signal the retailer needs to adapt. The company reported a $111.3 million loss in the most recent quarter, compared to a loss of $415.3 million in the same period last year. It said it will close 400 to 450 stores globally this year. Stephanie Wissink, managing director of consumer equity research at Jefferies believes that digital consoles won t see mass adoption yet as most gamers across the country will need more bandwidth and external hard drives to hold all those digital games. Wissink predicts that GameStop will benefit from sales of the upcoming Xbox Series X and the standard PS5, and at least be fine for the next three to four years until 5G and cloud gaming grow more popular. For now, the company will be buoyed by game collectors and those interested in trading in physical games for others. Physical copies can be traded, but digital can t. "But then after that, we really need to start talking about some of the threats... the digitization of software, the rise of cloud gaming," said Wissink, "By the time we get out three or four years, GameStop is going to have to reinvent itself in terms of its positions around physical software." A Blockbuster era Subscriptions like the Xbox Game Pass, where gamers can try out multiple games per month for a flat monthly fee, and cloud gaming subscriptions like Google Stadia s $9.99 a month, could all be challenges to GameStop s business model. "We re entering a kind of Blockbuster era," said Carolina Milanesi, a tech analyst at research firm Creative Strategies, "The same thing we ve seen for movies and content for Netflix and the like that ended up killing Blockbuster are now starting to impact gaming." To survive, GameStop may have to evolve. "You could become just a merchandise store that is linked to gaming and could be also selling accessories, as an example," said Milanesi. "You re changing your DNA, you keep the name and you become somebody else, that s possible." Michael Pachter, an analyst at private financial services firm Wedbush, said GameStop survived the pandemic and closing stores, and it will benefit from new console launches "since there will be a reason for consumers to return to stores." The digital PS5 is a first for Sony but not for gaming. Xbox has done it before by launching a digital version of the Xbox One S in 2019, which Pachter said "barely made a ripple." Xbox s Series S will follow the same trend, but it has lower resolution graphics and less storage than the mainstay Xbox Series X. "People who want to trade in games will buy the more expensive PS5 and will continue to buy discs," said Michael Pachter, an analyst at private financial services firm Wedbush. "So long as there is a version with a disc drive, there will still be discs and GameStop will continue to sell them." An unexpected goldmine GameStop does have one enormously valuable asset, said Wissink, the Jefferies analyst. "GameStop is also sitting on a database of 16 million profiles of core gamers that they have a direct connection with. And they can tell you whether those gamers play more than one game," said Wissink. "So that s something that Microsoft (MSFT) doesn t have. Activision (ATVI) doesn t have. EA (EA) doesn t have. Those companies all know their individualized box in the matrix, but they don t have a view of the matrix." It just depends on what GameStop s able to do with that customer data. The company also owns the gaming magazine, Game Informer, and one of its latest shareholders is the co-founder of pet supplies ecommerce store Chewy, Ryan Cohen. The stock price is $9.45, up 78.30% over the past year, reflecting optimism over the upcoming next-gen consoles. "We know one thing about Chewy, that it is built with customer data at the center of everything," said Wissink. That data could be used to push customer loyalty, repeat purchases and subscription services.

Google is tapping out of the super-expensive smartphone race. With its latest line of Pixel devices, announced in an online event Wednesday, Google (GOOGL) appears to be targeting a more cost-conscious user than the premium smartphones from competitors such as Apple and Samsung — many of which cost upwards of $1,000 and some as much as $2,000. The Pixel 5 starts at $699 and the Pixel 4a 5G starts at $499. Meanwhile, the Pixel 4a that launched earlier this year costs $399. Those lower prices do come with some sacrifices. Both Pixel phones have less powerful processors and displays than the top devices from Samsung and Apple, and the Pixel 4a 5G is not waterproof, though the Pixel 5 is. Japan will be the first country to get the Pixel 4a 5G on October 15, with the phone set to launch in eight other countries, including the United States, in November. The Pixel 5 will launch in eight countries on October 15 and in the United States on October 29.Both of Google s new phones support 5G, the next generation of super-fast wireless networks. They are the latest in a growing slate of phones on the market built to connect to 5G, including models from Motorola, Samsung, Huawei, LG and others. Apple is widely expected to launch its own 5G-enabled phone next month. But the relatively low price point of the Pixel devices could provide a more affordable entry point to the 5G ecosystem. A camera with more control before and after you click As it has with past models, Google is leaning heavily on software to help its smartphone cameras compete with the likes of the iPhone and Galaxy devices. Both phones Google launched on Wednesday have the same front and rear camera system that Google described as its "best one yet," featuring a new ultra-wide lens and software that helps take sharper images.Google is combining two of the Pixel s most popular features — Night Sight and Portrait Mode — to let users blur their backgrounds while shooting in darker environments. Another low-light feature called Portrait Light allows users to strategically add light to darker sections of a photo. The new Pixel cameras also have new video features to help shoot more stable footage. Google Assistant, wait on hold for me Instead of listening to many minutes of tedious hold music, Google is introducing a new feature called Hold for Me. Google Assistant will wait on the line for you if a business with a toll-free number puts you on hold, and alert you when you re off hold and a representative comes on the line. Google is addressing another pain point for users: running low on battery. Its new Extreme Battery Saver mode will allow you to pick what essential apps you want to keep on, while everything else gets paused. The company boasts this could increase battery life for up to 48 hours. Both features will come to older generations of Pixel phones soon, too. Google s TV system gets a refresh Google also updated and rebranded some of its smart home devices with new TV and speaker offerings. The company announced a new version of its Chromecast streaming device, with a system called Google TV (similar to its existing Android TV operating system) that integrates several devices into one. Google TV s Watchlist lets you save movies and shows you want to watch, and add titles to the list from your phone or laptop. The new Chromecast has its own remote with dedicated buttons for Netflix and YouTube, and will go on sale in the US for $50 starting Wednesday.The company also unveiled a new smart speaker called Nest Audio, which it says packs a better sound and louder volume than its Google Home predecessors. The speaker ($99) will go on sale October 5 and comes in five colors, including black, white and light blue.

Egypt s Red Sea Marine Park Authority (RSMPA), the governmental agency responsible for managing the marine protectorates within the Red Sea governorate, decided on Tuesday to impose a fine of US$34,000 on the owner of a tourist boat for its damages to the coral reef in the Magawish area of the Red Sea. The boat reportedly ran aground on the reef, causing it substantial harm. Upon receiving a report from security services on the incident, which took place in the north of Hurghada near Magawish Island in the Red Sea, RSMPA rushed to the scene to inspect the damage. A committee of environmental researchers has been formed to prepare a comprehensive assessment of the damage caused by the accident, and to take legal action against the owner. Sources within RSMPA said that the boat is regularly operating cruises in the protected reef area. The Red Sea in Egypt sees a large number of tourists each year, many of which enjoy snorkeling, diving, and boat tours in its crystal-clear waters. Local conservation groups are actively working with local authorities to protect the fragile environment on the sea, while still allowing tourists to experience its beauty. Egypt s coral reefs are found mainly along the coasts of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba, where more than a thousand different fish species live among 250 kinds of coral. Red Sea reefs are cited as among the richest in the world for overall species diversity. Coral reef degradation has increased dramatically during the last three decades, particularly along the Egyptian Red Sea coast due to man-made disturbances such as global warming and other stressors, according to a study from Benha University. Marine environment experts and diving centers warned of the disappearance of coral reefs in the Red Sea due to launch boats, used for diving trips and maritime activities, tying their iron anchors into live coral reefs, especially in the area between al-Gouna and Hurghada where buoys are not available.

Chinese online media firm Sina Corp. is quitting Wall Street as Chinese tech companies come under heightened scrutiny in the United States. The Beijing-based firm is being taken private by its chairman and chief executive, Charles Chao, in a deal that values the company at $2.6 billion, Sina (SINA) said in a statement on Monday. The offer price of $43.30 per share is a roughly 8% premium to the company s closing price in New York on Friday, and is also sweeter than the initial buyout offer made by New Wave Holdings, Chao s investment company, in July. Sina went public on the Nasdaq in 2000. The company owns Weibo (WB), a popular social media platform in China often compared to Twitter (TWTR).Sina s deal comes as tensions rise between the United States and China. In recent weeks, the two countries have clashed over US threats and restrictions against Chinese tech firms that have ensnared apps like TikTok and WeChat and chipmaker SMIC. On Wall Street, Chinese companies are also facing more scrutiny. Luckin Coffee (LK) was booted off the Nasdaq following the disclosure of massive accounting irregularities. US lawmakers, government agencies and stock exchanges have since taken steps aimed at limiting Beijing s access to America s vast capital markets. In May, the US Senate unanimously passed a bill that would prevent companies that refuse to open their books from listing on Wall Street. The bill s bipartisan co-sponsors said the goal is to "kick deceitful Chinese companies off US exchanges." The bill still needs to pass the US House of Representatives. And in August, the US President s Working Group on Financial Markets released a report recommending increased scrutiny of listed Chinese companies and due diligence requirements for investing in Chinese companies. Fearful of potential regulatory trouble in the United States, as well as wanting to be closer to investors who actually use their products, several marquee Chinese tech firms have in recent months offered secondary listings in Hong Kong and Shanghai — among them e-commerce companies Alibaba (BABA) and JD (JD). Meanwhile, Alibaba s financial affiliate Ant Group chose Shanghai and Hong Kong for its highly anticipated initial public offering, even though Alibaba had a blockbuster IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014. "Chinese companies currently listed in the US will continue a stampede to issue secondary shares in Hong Kong and domestic markets, and these markets will also be the main destinations for new listings by Chinese companies," Eurasia analysts wrote in a note last month.

has won the right to continue operating in London, a crucial market for the company.London is one of the world s most important cities for Uber. The US company said recently that 3.5 million Londoners regularly use its app and it claims 45,000 drivers in the capital. Uber shares were up 6% in premarket trading. The court will now hear the views of both parties on what the conditions and the length of the operating license should be. Transport for London, the regulator, said in November 2019 that it had identified "a pattern of failures" that placed Uber passengers at risk. It said thousands of trips involved unauthorized drivers who were able to pass themselves off as other Uber drivers. Uber has faced a lengthy battle in London. The city first refused to renew its license in 2017, citing several concerns including how Uber responded to serious crimes. Uber appealed that decision and was later granted permission to operate for 15 months. The company faces increased competition in London, with ride-sharing rivals including Bolt, Ola, Kapten and ViaVan looking to take a bigger chunk of the market from Uber and the city s traditional black cabs. "Today s decision is a disaster for London," said Steve McNamara, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, which represents black cab drivers. "Uber has demonstrated time and time again that it simply can t be trusted to put the safety of Londoners, its drivers and other road users above profit. Sadly, it seems that Uber is too big to regulate effectively, but too big to fail," McNamara said in a statement. Uber said in a statement that "there is nothing more important than the safety of the people" who use its app. "This decision is a recognition of Uber s commitment to safety and we will continue to work constructively with [Transport for London]," said Jamie Heywood, regional general manager for Northern and Eastern Europe. Transport for London did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A UK judge upheld the company s appeal on Monday against a decision by the local transportation regulator in November 2019 to strip Uber of its ride-hailing license over safety concerns. Uber (UBER) "does not have a perfect record but it has been an improving picture," Judge Tanweer Ikram said in his ruling. "I am satisfied that they are doing what a reasonable business in their sector could be expected to do, perhaps even more."

The race to keep TikTok operating in the United States has turned into a saga of intricate dealmaking and political flattery. It s exactly the kind of scenario that s already par for the course for American companies that want to do business in China (and for those, like Facebook (FB) and Google (GOOGL), that are shut out of the world s second biggest economy). Experts warn that the more Washington s playbook starts to mimic Beijing s, the more at risk the world s internet is of fracturing beyond repair with enormous implications for global business. The deal to save TikTok s US business would see Walmart (WMT) and Oracle (ORCL) take a minority stake in a US-based company called Tiktok Global. While an announcement earlier this month implied that Beijing-based ByteDance would continue to own most of the short-form video app, developments since then have muddied the waters. ByteDance would itself hold zero percent of the new entity, a person familiar with the deal told CNN Business earlier this week. Instead, TikTok Global would be partially owned by ByteDance s international and Chinese investors.The agreement would make Oracle TikTok s "trusted technology partner," and give the California-based tech firm the ability to store the app s American user data and review its source code. Other aspects of the deal have also become heavily politicized. US President Donald Trump said last weekend that he asked the companies involved to "do me a favor" by bankrolling a $5 billion education fund to teach people the "real history of our country." While it doesn t appear that such a fund will ever materialize, Walmart and Oracle have promised that the deal would coincidentally result in US tax payments totaling that exact amount. For American companies that work in China, the broad strokes of this deal might seem familiar. Beijing often forces foreign businesses to form joint ventures with local firms and establish offshoot entities. "I think there is some era of retaliation here, where, Hey, if you re going to do this to our companies — shut us out or force us to localize — then we re going to do it to you as well, " said Dipayan Ghosh, the co-director of the Digital Platforms and Democracy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School.More similar to China than Europe Trump s threat to ban TikTok if the app is not sold to a US company is founded on the fear that otherwise, American user data risks winding up in the hands of the Chinese government. (Tiktok has denied this as a possibility and says it keeps US data stateside, with a backup in Singapore.) The fight over TikTok has sparked a political firestorm in the United States. But it s not exactly an unusual concern overseas, where governments have long been worried about how much access US tech firms have to information about their citizens. That unease has increased in the years since Edward Snowden, a former contractor who worked with the US National Security Agency, revealed in documents leaked to the news media that the American government tapped into people s data through tech companies like Microsoft (MSFT), Google and Apple (AAPL). The European Union has for years tussled with US companies over concerns about data privacy and surveillance. That was a big part of the reason for passing 2018 s landmark General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which gave consumers much more control over their personal data and forced companies to ensure that the way they collect, process and store data is safe. Europe has continued to strengthen its privacy laws, and this summer struck down an agreement that allowed companies to move data between Europe and the United States over concerns that it did not sufficiently protect Europeans from US surveillance.Now that the United States has been forced to reckon with a foreign company that has broad access to US user data, though, the country is taking an approach that resembles China s far more than it does Europe s. American companies have known for decades that working with China requires a lot of sacrifice. Microsoft, which has a longstanding history in the country, agreed to give the Chinese government access to its source code in 2003 to address national security concerns. The company said at the time that sharing that information was intended to help foreign governments "be confident in the security of the Windows platform." The steps taken by other US firms that have access to Chinese user data bear resemblance to the TikTok proposal in other ways. Apple s iCloud services in mainland China are operated by a Chinese company, for example. The Silicon Valley firm was forced to do so to comply with the country s cybersecurity rules, which require companies to store data on Chinese users domestically. "The US is copying what the Chinese have done," said James Lewis, a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank based in Washington, D.C. "Trump is taking a nationalistic approach." A nationalistic America That way of doing things has consequences, though. Experts have for months been warning that tensions between the United States and China are creating a world where tech firms are viewed more as national actors instead of multinational ones. And as the relationship between the world s two largest economies deteriorates, the fallout risks creating what Eurasia Group once called a "new virtual Berlin Wall." "The US was always about the international system and following the rules," Lewis said. "A more nationalistic America is harder for everyone, not just the Chinese." After all, China s philosophy on technology led the country to create its Great Firewall, a massive censorship mechanism that shuts out content widely available elsewhere on the internet. Beijing closely monitors and manages that system, having realized the potential for the internet to impact the way its populace views the world. When the internet was invented more than 30 years ago and became commercialized in the decades afterward, "we thought of this as a platform over which any person in the world can communicate with anyone else in the world," said Ghosh of the Harvard Kennedy School. He added that closing off the web could sow division worldwide. Washington has increasingly indicated that it is willing to head down that path, though. In August, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the government would seek to restrict the reach of Chinese companies in the United States by banning them from app stores, cloud services and other digital networks."What worries me is that the US is becoming China by trying to block off apps," said Susan Ariel Aaronson, a professor at George Washington University, where she directs a digital trade and data governance hub. "We too are censoring; we too are intervening in the markets for data." Many experts have pointed out that the United States has legitimate concerns when it comes to safeguarding the data of American citizens. Instead of singling out Chinese companies, though, they say the United States should develop universal standards for data collection and use. Ghosh, for example, said a European approach, like a US version of GDPR, may be the right way forward. "What that means is that if you want to do business with American consumers over the internet, you have to be subject to these general baseline privacy restrictions," he said. That may include giving citizens the right to delete data or to be "forgotten," a measure that allows citizens to request that links containing personal information about them be removed from search results. Whatever Washington decides, though, the country s actions are likely to set a powerful precedent. Take India, for example, which has already banned a bunch of Chinese apps during a broader geopolitical tussle. "If we continue to play the game of whack-a-mole with Chinese apps that are perceived as a threat, I don t think that makes us anymore secure," said Samm Sacks, a fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based think tank New America who studies cybersecurity and US-China relations. "I think that what that does is it creates a ripple effect, where other countries around the world will say, This is a blueprint on how to block a powerful technology company under the guise of national security. "

Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have agreed to allow outsiders to audit how they handle harmful content such as hate speech following boycotts of their platforms by major advertisers. The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) announced a deal on Wednesday that will see the platforms adopt common definitions and reporting standards for harmful content. The agreement, which has taken more than a year to negotiate, requires social media platforms to undergo an independent audit of how they are categorizing, reporting and eliminating harmful content to ensure it doesn t appear next to advertisements. The goal is to conduct these reviews by the end of the year, or have a plan in place to implement them. The platforms will also be required to develop systems that give advertisers more control over the type of content that their brands appear alongside. "As funders of the online ecosystem, advertisers have a critical role to play in driving positive change and we are pleased to have reached agreement with the platforms on an action plan and timeline," WFA CEO Stephan Loerke said in a statement.Advertisers have complained for years about their ads showing up alongside racist or violent content on social media. Google s (GOOGL)YouTube faced a big walkout by advertisers last year. But concern increased following the killing of George Floyd, and in July, dozens of the world s biggest companies joined a month-long boycott of Facebook (FB) over what campaign organizers described as its repeated failures to address hate speech and misinformation. The deal announced Wednesday was negotiated through the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, which the WFA launched last year as a way to lobby social media platforms to do more to tackle the spread of hate and misinformation online. It covers 11 broad topics, ranging from explicit sexual content and crime to drug use, piracy, arms and ammunition and "sensitive social issues." A brand safety "floor" is established for each area, which details when the content would be unsuitable for adjacent advertising, such as the excessive use of profane language. The areas are then graded according to risk, which could in some cases allow for advertising to appear such as when it relates to news articles or educational material on the topic. Unilever (UL) and Mars, which joined the boycott of Facebook, said that the agreement marks significant progress towards making social media safer, but will depend on the actions taken by platforms to uphold their end of the bargain. "This is not a declaration of victory," global responsible marketing officer at Mars, Jacqui Stephenson said in a statement. "There is much work to be done and we rely on all of our platform partners to follow through on their commitments with the pace and urgency these issues demand." "While change doesn t happen overnight, today marks an important step in the right direction," added Luis Di Como, Unilever s executive vice president for global media.Facebook s vice president for global marketing solutions, Carolyn Everson, on Wednesday described the agreement with advertisers as an "uncommon collaboration" that gives the industry a "unified language to move forward on the fight against hate online." While the boycott of Facebook in July did little to dent its revenue, which is derived mostly from millions of small businesses, it did undermine the company s reputation and force it to address the issue. A spokesperson for Unilever, whose brands include Ben & Jerry s and Dove, said that its previous decision to pull US advertising from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (TWTR) would remain in place until the end of the year. The news comes a week after celebrities including Kim Kardashian West, Kerry Washington and Leonardo DiCaprio boycotted Instagram for a day to protest parent company Facebook s handling of hate and misinformation. The action was led by the same civil rights groups that pushed for the July boycott. One of the groups, the Anti-Defamation League, said that Wednesday s announcement is an "early step" but shows what can be achieved through collective action like the advertising freeze. "These commitments must be followed in a timely and comprehensive manner, to ensure they are not the kind of empty promises that we have seen too often from Facebook," the organization s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement.

Huawei says it is in survival mode as continuous "attacks" from the United States threaten to choke off the Chinese company s access to key technology. "Huawei is in a difficult situation these days. Nonstop aggression from the US government has put us under significant pressure," the company s rotating chief executive Guo Ping said at a conference on Wednesday. "Right now, survival is the goal," he said. Washington has ramped up pressure on Huawei, issuing fresh sanctions in May and August that further restrict the company s access to the leading edge computer chips it needs to manufacture smartphones, 5G networking gear and other products.Semiconductor companies that use American software and technology to design and manufacture chips can no longer sell to Huawei without first obtaining a license from the US Commerce Department. US regulators say Huawei poses a national security risk, alleging that the Chinese government could use Huawei equipment to spy. The company has repeatedly denied those allegations. Analysts have called the latest US sanctions a "lethal blow" and a "death sentence" for the company. "The United States has been continuously attacking us and [the latest restriction] has posed great challenges to our operations," Guo told reporters. Several analysts estimate that Huawei has stockpiled enough semiconductors to last the company through at least the end of the year. But when asked how long supplies will last at a press conference on Wednesday, Guo said "we re still evaluating more details." He added that Huawei buys hundreds of millions of chipsets for its smartphone business every year, and that the company received its last shipment of chips in mid-September, when the US restrictions announced in May went into effect.Major chipmakers such as Qualcomm (QCOM) and SK Hynix applied for licenses to sell to Huawei, according to Chinese state broadcaster CGTN. China s biggest chipmaker, SMIC, said in a statement that it has also "submitted license applications covering several Huawei products," without going into detail. Some companies have gotten the green light, including Intel (INTC). A spokesman for the US company confirmed that it had received a license from US authorities to continue supplying Huawei, but did not specify what products it could sell. Intel has in the past supplied processors for Huawei laptops. AMD (AMD) may also have obtained licenses to sell to Huawei. Forrest Norrod, senior vice president of AMD, said at a conference last week that "based on the licenses that we ve been able to secure, we don t expect to see a significant impact on our business at this time" because of recent US-China trade tensions. Norrod did not specifically mention Huawei, but Jefferies analyst Edison Lee has pointed out that the California-based chip company supplies Huawei with computer processing units for laptops. AMD obtaining a license "is logical to us, since Huawei s ability to produce notebook computers should not create a national security risk to the United States," Lee wrote in a note on Sunday. Huawei s telecommunications gear is another matter. The Trump administration has been urging countries around the world to ban Huawei equipment from their 5G telecom networks. Several key countries for months resisted cutting off Huawei entirely. But that changed after US restrictions announced in May, barring chip companies from manufacturing chips designed by Huawei affiliate HiSilicon. The United Kingdom in July banned Huawei from its 5G network, reversing a January decision to allow it a limited role in the build out. UK officials cited uncertainty surrounding Huawei s supply chain as the reason for the rapid about-face. Since then, things have only gotten worse for Huawei. The company is facing the likelihood of "a near-total cutoff of semiconductors ... dealing a lethal blow to China s most important global technology company," Paul Triolo, head of geo technology at Eurasia Group, wrote in a research note last month.The US restrictions issued in August are intended to expand the number of chip companies required to apply for licenses to supply to Huawei, "with a presumption of denial," he wrote. SK Hynix s application has already been rejected, according to a Reuters report citing a person familiar with the situation. SK Hynix declined to comment. Huawei indicated on Wednesday that Qualcomm is still awaiting a decision. "Qualcomm has always been an important partner of Huawei," Guo told reporters. "If they get the license, we re willing to procure from them and use their chipsets in our smartphones." Qualcomm and AMD did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of regular working hours. TSMC (TSM), the world s largest contract chip manufacturer, confirmed in July that it would end its relationship with Huawei this month in order to comply with the US regulations.

removed roughly 100 million videos from its platform through the first half of 2020 for breaking its rules. More than a third of them were in India alone. The company took down nearly 37.7 million videos in the country, TikTok said in a transparency report released on Tuesday. The report covers the first six months of the year, just before TikTok was banned in India as tensions rose between New Delhi and Beijing. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company. More TikTok videos were removed in India than any other market. The United States was second, with nearly 10 million videos removed. Videos removed globally accounted for less than 1% of the total uploaded to the platform, TikTok said. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, TikTok said it "relied more heavily on technology to detect and automatically remove violating content" in India and other countries. India also topped the list in the second half of 2019, the first time TikTok reported details on video removals.India was a huge market for TikTok before the government banned it and several other well-known Chinese apps in late June, citing a "threat to sovereignty and integrity." The move followed a border clash between the two countries earlier in the month that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead. The India ban was a big blow to TikTok, whose global ambitions have also been hobbled by President Donald Trump s threat to ban the app unless ByteDance sells it. ByteDance, Oracle (ORCL), Walmart (WMT) and others are now trying to hammer out a deal that can save TikTok s US operations. India had been the biggest driver of new TikTok downloads, generating close to 660 million installs since its launch in 2017, according to analytics firm Sensor Tower. ByteDance had forecast over $1 billion in advertising revenue from India this year, most of it generated by TikTok, according to estimates from consulting firm R3. In its transparency report, TikTok said that of the roughly 105 million videos it removed worldwide in the first half of this year, 31% were taken down for containing "adult nudity and sexual activities" and 22% were removed for "minor safety," according to the report.Like other popular social media platforms, TikTok doesn t allow sexually explicit content on its app. The company also noted that "overtly sexual content can be offensive within certain cultures." Last year, TikTok was blocked in India for about a month after an Indian court ruled that it could expose children to sexual predators, pornographic content and cyberbullying. The court reversed its decision following an appeal by ByteDance, which said at the time that it would continue to enhance safety features. TikTok has not been so lucky this time around. The company said in July it is working with the Indian government to try to allay its concerns. "We have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign governments, nor have we used such data in any manner that would compromise the integrity of India," Nikhil Gandhi, head of TikTok in India, wrote in a blog post. But the app remains banned in the world s second most populous country, and rivals are moving in to scoop up Indian TikTokers as they scramble to find alternative platforms. YouTube announced last week that it will launch Shorts, a TikTok copycat, in India first. Instagram has also entered the market with its own video-sharing feature called Reels. Facebook (FB), Instagram s parent company, began testing Reels in India in July.

President Donald Trump said Saturday he has approved a deal between TikTok s parent company, ByteDance, and Oracle (ORCL), temporarily averting a ban on TikTok in US app stores. The Commerce Department confirmed in a statement Saturday evening that it would delay — by one week — restrictions that were originally to take effect on Sunday. ByteDance will continue to be majority owner of TikTok under the agreement Trump said he approved, according to a person familiar with the matter. Speaking to reporters, Trump said he approved the deal "in concept." "I have given the deal my blessing," Trump said. "If they get it done, that s great. If they don t, that s okay, too."The deal will also include Wal-Mart (WMT), Trump said, adding that "the security will be 100 percent. They ll be using separate clouds and very, very powerful security." Trump said the deal will also include a $5 billion fund for US education, though he did not say which companies would be making the payment. Trump had previously expressed a desire for the companies to make a payment to the US Treasury, but was surprised when he was told such an arrangement would be illegal. Trump s blessing comes hours before restrictions from the Commerce Department were set to take effect that would remove TikTok from US app stores, including those operated by Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOGL). The White House declined to comment. ByteDance will continue to be majority owner of TikTok under the agreement Trump said he approved, the person said. That contradicts Trump s claim to reporters on Saturday that TikTok would be "totally controlled" by Wal-Mart and Oracle, who will have up to a 20% share in TikTok, the person said. TikTok confirmed in a statement that Oracle and Walmart will together hold up to a 20% share. "As part of this proposal, Oracle will become our trusted technology provider, responsible for hosting all US user data and securing associated computer systems to ensure US national security requirements are fully satisfied," TikTok said. "We are currently working with Wal-Mart on a commercial partnership as well. Both companies will take part in a TikTok Global pre-IPO financing round in which they can take up to a 20% cumulative stake in the company. We will also maintain and expand TikTok Global s headquarters in the US, while bringing 25,000 jobs across the country." Trump also said that TikTok would be incorporated in Texas as a new company. Oracle CEO Safra Catz said in a statement: "As a part of this agreement, TikTok will run on the Oracle Cloud and Oracle will bezcome a minority investor in TikTok Global," said Oracle CEO Safra Catz. "Oracle will quickly deploy, rapidly scale, and operate TikTok systems in the Oracle Cloud. We are a hundred percent confident in our ability to deliver a highly secure environment to TikTok and ensure data privacy to TikTok s American users, and users throughout the world. This greatly improved security and guaranteed privacy will enable the continued rapid growth of the TikTok user community to benefit all stakeholders." Walmart said that it plans to take a 7.5% stake in the new company, and that Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon would serve on its five-member board. "We are excited about our potential investment in and commercial agreements with TikTok Global," Wal-Mart said in a statement, adding it will also "enter into commercial agreements to provide our ecommerce, fulfillment, payments and other omnichannel services to TikTok Global." Speaking to reporters, Trump offered high praise to Walmart and Oracle executives, including Oracle chairman Larry Ellison, a close political ally. "You have the combination of the Wal-Mart, that s obvious, and the high tech of Oracle, and the genius of the two leaders of those companies, okay?" Trump said.

President Donald Trump said Saturday he has approved a deal between TikTok s parent company, ByteDance, and Oracle (ORCL), temporarily averting a ban on TikTok in US app stores. The Commerce Department confirmed in a statement Saturday evening that it would delay — by one week — restrictions that were originally to take effect on Sunday. ByteDance will continue to be majority owner of TikTok under the agreement Trump said he approved, according to a person familiar with the matter. Speaking to reporters, Trump said he approved the deal "in concept." Content By BMW From the circus to the catwalk, the story of a superstar photographer Photographer Ellen von Unwerth’s unique style has captivated the world for decades. This is how she turned her passion into a successful career. "I have given the deal my blessing," Trump said. "If they get it done, that s great. If they don t, that s okay, too." The deal will also include Wal-Mart (WMT), Trump said, adding that "the security will be 100 percent. They ll be using separate clouds and very, very powerful security." Trump said the deal will also include a $5 billion fund for US education, though he did not say which companies would be making the payment. Trump had previously expressed a desire for the companies to make a payment to the US Treasury, but was surprised when he was told such an arrangement would be illegal. Trump s blessing comes hours before restrictions from the Commerce Department were set to take effect that would remove TikTok from US app stores, including those operated by Apple and Google. The White House declined to comment. ByteDance will continue to be majority owner of TikTok under the agreement Trump said he approved, the person said. That contradicts Trump s claim to reporters on Saturday that TikTok would be "totally controlled" by Wal-Mart and Oracle, who will have up to a 20% share in TikTok, the person said. TikTok confirmed in a statement that Oracle and Walmart will together hold up to a 20% share. "As part of this proposal, Oracle will become our trusted technology provider, responsible for hosting all US user data and securing associated computer systems to ensure US national security requirements are fully satisfied," TikTok said. "We are currently working with Wal-Mart on a commercial partnership as well. Both companies will take part in a TikTok Global pre-IPO financing round in which they can take up to a 20% cumulative stake in the company. We will also maintain and expand TikTok Global s headquarters in the US, while bringing 25,000 jobs across the country." Trump also said that TikTok would be incorporated in Texas as a new company. Oracle CEO Safra Catz said in a statement: "As a part of this agreement, TikTok will run on the Oracle Cloud and Oracle will become a minority investor in TikTok Global," said Oracle CEO Safra Catz. "Oracle will quickly deploy, rapidly scale, and operate TikTok systems in the Oracle Cloud. We are a hundred percent confident in our ability to deliver a highly secure environment to TikTok and ensure data privacy to TikTok s American users, and users throughout the world. This greatly improved security and guaranteed privacy will enable the continued rapid growth of the TikTok user community to benefit all stakeholders." Walmart said that it plans to take a 7.5% stake in the new company, and that Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon would serve on its five-member board. "We are excited about our potential investment in and commercial agreements with TikTok Global," Wal-Mart said in a statement, adding it will also "enter into commercial agreements to provide our ecommerce, fulfillment, payments and other omnichannel services to TikTok Global." Speaking to reporters, Trump offered high praise to Walmart and Oracle executives, including Oracle chairman Larry Ellison, a close political ally. "You have the combination of the Wal-Mart, that s obvious, and the high tech of Oracle, and the genius of the two leaders of those companies, okay?" Trump said.

TikTok s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, will continue to be a majority shareholder in the short-form video app under a proposed deal with Oracle being reviewed by the Trump administration this week, according to a person familiar with the matter. If the US government approves the deal, TikTok would become a global company with headquarters in the United States, the person said, while Oracle will host TikTok s user data and review TikTok s code for security. Walmart may still have a role to play in the deal as a possible minority investor and e-commerce partner, the person said, but no final decision has been made. Under the proposal, the US government would approve members of TikTok s board; one board member is to be an expert in data security and would hold a top-secret security clearance, according to the person. That appointee would also be responsible for chairing a security committee whose members would be US citizens individually approved by the US government, the person said. The global company is expected to file for an IPO in about 12 months, the person said, with plans to be listed on a US stock exchange. NBC News was first to report the details of the board structure. The structure of the deal reflects a revised term sheet that the US government sent to ByteDance and Oracle late Wednesday, which the companies have accepted, the person said. Bloomberg first reported the revised terms. The terms of the agreement could provoke pushback from President Donald Trump. At a White House press briefing on Wednesday, Trump indicated that he was opposed to the prospect of ByteDance retaining a majority share in TikTok. "Conceptually, I can tell you I don t like that," he said. "If that s the case, I m not going to be happy with that." The deal must still be approved by Trump, who is expected to receive a briefing on the details Thursday. Trump s cabinet officials were briefed on the deal Wednesday, the person said. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Attorney General William Barr appeared to be supportive of the proposal, according to the person, while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was described as "neutral" on the deal and requested more details on how TikTok data would be protected. Pompeo later expressed his support for the deal to Trump in a meeting on Thursday, the person said. Meanwhile a raft of lawmakers have weighed in on the proposal, with Sen. Josh Hawley — a vocal critic of TikTok remaining under ByteDance s control — urging that it be rejected. "The available evidence compels only one cotnclusion: ByteDance has no intention whatsoever of relinquishing ultimate control of TikTok," Hawley wrote in a letter to Mnuchin on Monday. "That is precisely the problem that the President s action sought to solve, and it is that same problem that the proposed Oracle partnership leaves fully intact. In short, the proposal violates the President s executive order." Sen. Marco Rubio said Thursday he had received a briefing on the deal from Oracle and the Treasury Department, calling it "informative." "The only thing that matters is whether we are protecting the personal & consumer data of Americans from being collected by &/or diverted to #China," he tweeted.

Kim Kardashian West, who has one of the biggest Instagram followings in the world, said Tuesday that she would be joining other high-profile users in a protest against Instagram s parent company Facebook and its handlng of misinformation and hate. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Orlando Bloom, Kerry Washington and Sacha Baron Cohen are among those also taking part in the protest, which is slated to take place on Wednesday. "I love that I can connect directly with you through Instagram and Facebook, but I can t sit by and stay silent while these platforms continue to allow the spreading of hate, propaganda and misinformation," Kardashian West wrote in a post published to multiple social media accounts Tuesday. She added, "Misinformation shared on social media has a serious impact on our elections and undermines our democracy. Please join me tomorrow when I will be freezing my Instagram and FB account to tell Facebook to #StopHateForProfit." The coalition of civil rights groups that organized July s Facebook ad boycott announced on Monday it was calling on companies and celebrities to stop posting on Instagram for a day on Wednesday to protest Facebook s handling of hate on its platform and to call on the company to stop allowing politicians to lie in political ads. The organizers, including the ADL and NAACP, pointed to Facebook s failure to shut down the page of a Kenosha militia group as one reason to protest. Asked about Kardashian West s announcement, a Facebook spokesperson declined to comment.

President Donald Trump last month used his office to ignite an international business crisis that s plunged into doubt the future of one of the world s most popular social media platforms — a decision that s now led to the apparent benefit of a major political backer. As Oracle seeks US approval for a landmark partnership with the short-form video app TikTok, experts say questions will intensify over Trump s political relationship with Oracle chairman and co-founder Larry Ellison. One of the richest men in the world, Ellison has built extensive bridges with Trump. He has vocally expressed support for the President and reportedly hosted a major fundraiser for him this year where donors who paid $100,000 were offered a chance to golf with Trump. Nor will the scrutiny be limited to Ellison; Oracle CEO Safra Catz shares close ties with Trump as well. She has donated more than $130,000 to Trump s reelection efforts this year, according to Federal Election Commission data. Catz served on Trump s presidential transition team in 2016 and was at one point considered for a position inside the administration. Both Catz and Ellison have served on Trump s industry working groups devoted to economic revival. Oracle didn t respond to requests for comment. The White House declined to comment. Trump raised eyebrows last month when he publicly supported the prospect of a deal involving TikTok and Oracle. At the time, Oracle and Microsoft had been competing to acquire TikTok, with Microsoft viewed widely as the frontrunner. Oracle, experts said, lacked experience in consumer services and offers no products in the social media sphere. But on Sunday evening, sources told CNN that TikTok s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, had sided with Oracle over Microsoft. Oracle and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed the proposed deal on Monday. In a statement, TikTok said it believed the proposal would "resolve the Administration s security concerns." Administration officials have complained for months that TikTok represents a risk to national security, due to its current ownership by a Chinese firm. TikTok has rejected those claims, saying it stores all US users data outside of China and that the information isn t subject to Chinese law; cybersecurity experts have said there is no evidence that TikTok has been compromised by Chinese intelligence. Oracle s proposed partnership with TikTok must still be reviewed by the US government. And it remains unclear if those discussions will be resolved before a Trump administration ban against TikTok takes effect on Sept. 20, though Mnuchin said the government will be studying the deal this week. Asked directly whether Ellison s ties with Trump were a factor in the proposed deal talks, a person familiar with the negotiations insisted that it was "a business decision, not a political one." But outside analysts said it is impossible to disentangle one from the other, given Trump s personality. Trump has a track record of injecting himself into ostensibly neutral public policy processes. For example, Trump appeared to intervene in a multi-billion-dollar cloud contract decision many expected Amazon to win; ultimately, and after a quiet pressure campaign by Oracle, the Pentagon awarded the deal to Microsoft. In another closely scrutinized case, Trump vowed to block AT&T s acquisition of Time Warner (which is now WarnerMedia, CNN s parent company). The announcement took experts by surprise because antitrust reviews of mergers are expected to occur independently of presidential influence. As the Oracle-TikTok negotiations progressed, some reports highlighted how Microsoft has savvily built its own relationships with the Trump administration. Yet Microsoft s connections were no match for Ellison s, said Eric Schiffer, chairman of the Patriarch Organization, a tech-focused private equity firm. "Microsoft has done everything they could possibly do except show up at a rally with a MAGA hat to win this," Schiffer said. "There s no question that the conventional wisdom was that Microsoft was strategically positioned, having made great political inroads into the administration and having played the politics with Trump fairly well compared to most corporations. But not as well as Larry." Other experts said that while Ellison s ties to Trump may have given Oracle an edge, the proposal at the end of the day must still adequately resolve the US government s national security concerns. Sources have described the proposal as stopping short of an outright sale of TikTok to Oracle, a detail that could conflict with Trump s Aug. 14 executive order that called for a full divestiture, said Harry Broadman, a partner at Berkeley Research Group and former member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, the government body that vets certain deals that could give a foreign investor control of a US business. "Yes, Larry Ellison is friends with Trump, and maybe that will mean something, I don t know," Broadman said. "But there are executive orders out there, and people will be looking to see how this comports with what the executive orders say." Whether the Oracle deal passes security muster depends heavily on the specifics of the agreement, said Alex Stamos, the former chief security officer at Facebook. "A deal where Oracle takes over hosting [of TikTok s data] without source code and significant operational changes would not address any of the legitimate concerns about TikTok, and the White House accepting such a deal would demonstrate that this exercise was pure grift," Stamos tweeted.

TikTok is making the corporate technology company Oracle its business partner in the United States. It s a deal that would tick a lot of boxes for the beleaguered short-form video app, including what is potentially its biggest hurdle of all: getting President Donald Trump on its side. There are still a lot of unknowns about the agreement. TikTok declined to comment about the deal, while Oracle (ORCL) and TikTok s Chinese parent company ByteDance have not responded to requests for comment. A source familiar with the matter told CNN Business that the partnership was meant to satisfy the Trump administration s national security concerns about TikTok — Trump has demanded the app be sold, or else shut down in the United States — and it was not described as an outright sale. But California-based Oracle is a notable partner, given cofounder Larry Ellison s ties to the Trump administration. He s one of the few Silicon Valley tech moguls to back Trump. The billionaire hosted a campaign fundraiser for Trump in February and in April joined a White House advisory group working to revive America s economy. The US president has already indicated he would support a deal between Oracle and TikTok. "I think Oracle is a great company and I think its owner is a tremendous guy, a tremendous person," Trump said late last month after the Financial Times reported that Ellison was "seriously considering" a deal with TikTok. "I think that Oracle would be certainly somebody that could handle it." Political considerations TikTok resorted to Oracle "mainly out of political considerations," said Shirley Yu, visiting fellow at the London School of Economics and founder of an eponymous company that assesses strategy, business, and political risk for companies working in China. "Oracle s Ellison is a much closer ally to President Trump than Microsoft [cofounder] Bill Gates. In order for a no-sale option to be considered by the White House, Oracle stands the best chance," she said. James Lewis, a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, pushed back against the notion that Oracle s apparent victory was driven by Ellison s cozy ties to Trump. (The frontrunner, Microsoft (MSFT), said Sunday that it lost its bid for the app.) "Oracle has done a good job lobbying the White House on cloud and their record in security. That probably helped them. I don t think it s Trump rewarding his friends," said Lewis. Instead, Oracle might win by default. The deal on the table does not appear to involve TikTok s coveted artificial intelligence algorithm, according to Chinese state-run media CGTN, who cited anonymous sources saying that ByteDance will not give the app s "source code" to any US buyers. The broadcaster also pointedly mentioned that ByteDance was not selling TikTok s US operations. ByteDance s ability to retain the app s technology could make the tie-up more palatable to Beijing regulators, according to Cameron Johnson, adjunct faculty instructor at New York University in Shanghai and partner at consulting firm Tidal Wave Solutions. But that may have killed the Microsoft deal, according to Dan Ives, analyst at Wedbush Securities. "We believe Microsoft would only buy TikTok with its core algorithm which the Chinese government and ByteDance was not willing to budge," he said in a note to investors Monday morning.Last month, Beijing introduced new rules governing the sale of certain kinds of technology to foreign buyers. Government officials updated an export control list to include data processing, speech and text recognition — the kind of tech that is used by TikTok. China might see the Oracle partnership "as a win-win," said Johnson. "They won t give up the key ingredients [of TikTok], they re not forced to give everything away and they get an infusion of cash for a big Chinese tech company." Hosting TikTok s US data Like Microsoft, TikTok could be a big get for Oracle, depending on how the terms of the partnership shake out. "Microsoft, they have games and LinkedIn, but Oracle has nothing in the social space," Johnson said. Oracle s chops when it comes data and cloud security could also help allay fears in Washington. The 43-year-old company is a major player in cloud infrastructure and data storage solutions. Cloud services accounted for 74% of the company s $9.4 billion in revenue for the three months that ended in August. The Trump administration alleges that TikTok poses a national security concern because it gathers vast swaths of data from American users, which could be accessed by the Chinese Communist Party. TikTok has denied those allegations. The company has said its data centers are located outside of China and that none of that data is subject to Chinese law. Reporting suggests that Oracle won t be able to buy TikTok outright, but given its expertise in data and cloud security, it could become the US host of TikTok data. "Oracle has incredible data and cloud security," said Johnson, so the US national security establishment may determine that "as long as [US data] is here, it s fine." "Based on early reports and how they are characterizing this as not an outright sale and calling Oracle a trusted tech partner, this has likely turned into a deal about Oracle s cloud, and storing US-based TikTok users data in Oracle s data center," said Brad Haller, a director in the mergers and acquisitions practice at national consulting firm West Monroe. The deal still needs to gain approval from the Trump administration.

Nintendo is leaning hard into nostalgia this year, and its latest retro gadget takes it all the way back to 1980. The Japanese gaming company announced it would re-release Game & Watch, the handheld sensation that put Nintendo on the map 40 years ago. First introduced in 1980 and produced until 1991, Game & Watch was a series of handheld games -- 59 in all -- that Nintendo sold before the Game Boy took over the world. Unlike the Game Boy, the black-and-white Game & Watch games could only play a single game each.The new Game & Watch, made to look like the original with all its 80s styling, is decidedly more modern -- it has a color LCD screen and a rechargeable battery with a USB-C connector. It will play three games: "Super Mario Bros.," "Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels" and "Ball (the Mario version)." Like every Game & Watch device that came out after 1981, the new one can also become an alarm clock with the tap of a button. This time, the clock features 35 different screen-saver scenes of Mario interacting with the clock.Although Game & Watch wasn t Nintendo s first video game attempt, it was its first successful one, paving the way for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985 and the Game Boy in 1989. The Game & Watch isn t as celebrated as some of Nintendo s other game systems, but it was the first system to feature the + shaped directional pad, first found on the 1982 "Donkey Kong" Game & Watch. Its success also gave some legitimacy to handheld gaming, which was a niche that video game manufacturers were unsure of in the 1970s. Nintendo has dipped into the Game & Watch nostalgia bucket before by releasing a version last decade and putting Mr. Game & Watch -- the anonymous character who appears in many of the early Game & Watch games -- into its "Super Smash Bros." games. The company has been on a re-release tear lately. In recent years, it sold classic versions of the NES and Super Nintendo, complete with a couple dozen games and the original controllers. Now, Nintendo is in full celebration mode: It s the 35th anniversary of Mario. The company announced a ton of Mario fun, including a new battle royale game and the re-release of "Super Mario 64," "Super Mario Galaxy" and" Super Mario Sunshine." Now it s Game & Watch s turn in the spotlight. The 40th anniversary edition of the Game & Watch will go on sale November 13 for a limited time.

Huawei has announced plans to pre-install its own Harmony operating system on its smartphones from next year. The Chinese company said it would also offer the software to other manufacturers to use as an alternative to Android. Huawei is currently the world s second bestselling handset-maker, after a brief time in the top spot. But others have tried and failed to challenge Google and Apple s dominance. Google s Android accounted for 85.4% of smartphones shipped last year, according to research company IDC, and Apple s iOS the remaining 14.6%. And those figures reflect the fact Samsung s Tizen, Amazon s FireOS, Microsoft s Windows Phone, and Canonical s Ubuntu have all failed to make headway on handsets. Huawei s move has been prompted by the fact it can no longer offer Google s apps and services on its latest devices, because of a US trade ban - although the restriction does not prevent it from offering Android itself. Within China - where consumers do not use the Google Play store and many of Google s services are blocked - this limitation has not caused Huawei problems. But in other countries, demand for its most recent phones has been weak because Google s tools are popular. One expert said the fate of the new operating system might depend on how many other technology companies Huawei convinced to come on board. "This move will be supported by the Chinese government because it fits into its wider Made In China 2025 strategy," Marta Pinto, from IDC, said. "But it will only take off elsewhere if other Chinese vendors, such as Xiaomi and Oppo, adopt it. "Even then, it will still be a challenge in geographies like Western Europe and Latin America, where so many people and businesses rely on Google s products." Two systems Huawei announced its plan at the start of a three-day developer conference near the city of Shenzhen. The original version of Harmony OS was unveiled a year ago, when it was pitched for use in smartwatches, TVs and other smart home gadgets. But the company now intends to release a fresh version - Harmony OS 2.0 - that can be tested on handsets from December, ahead of a formal launch in October 2021. In parallel, it will shortly release EMUI 11 - a version of its mobile phone user interface based on Android 11. After October, some of its smartphone models will be offered with Harmony OS. But it will continue to offer EMUI as an alternative. Recode apps Part of Huawei s challenge is it will need developers to code their apps specifically for Harmony if the software is to run natively and thus get the best performance. The company has indicated it will be relatively easy to recode apps already written for Android. But this has proved a sticking point for other failed operating-system challengers. Developers either decided the extra work was not worth it or did not make it a priority, meaning the apps typically lacked the latest features available on Android and iOS. Added catalyst "Huawei has the engineering talent, the ambition, and a home market advantage," Ben Wood, from the consultancy CCS Insight, said. "And if the Chinese government got fully behind Harmony and made support for it a condition for other companies to offer their products and services in the country, that would provide an added catalyst for Huawei to establish a third smartphone platform. "But in terms of global aspirations, history shows it s still a very difficult thing to achieve." Huawei faces other immediate concerns. From 15 September, the company will be unable to get more of its Kirin processor chips manufactured, because of further US trade restrictions. Samsung and SK Hynix will no longer be able to to sell it memory chips. And it has been reported Samsung and LG will be unable to continue selling it OLED displays for its smartphone screens. Huawei has indicated it has built up stockpiles of components to get through the immediate future. But the fate of its consumer division may rest on Washington changing its position after the US presidential election.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A tiny baby gorilla has been born at the zoo in New Orleans. Keepers don’t yet know the sex of the critically endangered western lowland gorilla born Friday to 13-year-old Tumani and father Okpara, Audubon Zoo spokeswoman Katie Smith said in an email. “Tumani is demonstrating excellent mothering behaviors and the entire troop is doing exceptionally well,” Smith said. She said keepers first saw the baby during their morning check Friday. Gorilla babies weigh about four pounds (1.8 kilograms) at birth, and photos and video from the zoo show 13-year-old mom Tumani cuddling her tiny newborn. Photos show the baby held in her arms without using her hands. “All gorilla mothers vary on how they carry their infants. Some even carry football style,” Smith wrote. “In the beginning, she was keeping it close to her mouth … to clean. She is carrying it differently now. She is supporting it more on its backside and keeping it low so that it can nurse.” Although the birth was about two weeks after what the zoo had put as the last likely due date, keepers weren’t worried, Smith said, since the dates were based on observed matings. Once keepers knew Tumani was pregnant, she was trained to carry a baby using a “doll” made from firehose canvas. Native to central Africa, western lowland gorillas were declared critically endangered in 2007 because of habitat loss as well as deaths caused by the Ebola virus and hunters who killed them illegally for their meat. The baby is at least the fourth western lowland gorilla born at a US zoo this year. A female was born Jan. 18 at the Los Angeles Zoo. The Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle announced the birth of a male in March, and the Toledo Zoo announced another male’s birth in August. It’s Audubon’s first gorilla birth in nearly 25 years. The zoo’s firstborn gorilla is Praline, who is 24 years old and still at the zoo, where the troop also includes a third female, Alafia. The zoo says its entire primate area will be closed while Tumani and the entire troop bonds with the baby. The zoo says the white patch helps mother gorillas keep track of infants and helps other gorillas recognize it as a baby. The patch will fade when the great ape is three to four years old, according to the zoo’s news release.

Apple has announced that it will hold an event next week, where many expect it could reveal the design of the latest iPhone or other new products. The event will be streamed on its website next Tuesday, September 15. Apple typically holds its new product launch event in early September at its headquarters. The company s Worldwide Developer Conference in June was also held online-only because of the coronavirus pandemic. Apple (AAPL) did not immediately return a request for comment. The company has been widely expected to unveil an iPhone 12 with 5G capabilities this fall — the first iPhone to connect to the new, ultra-fast wireless network. Analysts expect the 5G iPhone to generate a "supercycle" of device upgrades, potentially prompting millions of people to buy the new device. But iPhone fans may not want to get their hopes up too high for next week. There have been questions for months about whether supply chain issues caused by the pandemic would delay the release of the new iPhone. Apple has already said new iPhones will be shipped slightly later than usual this year. "Last year, we started selling iPhones in late September," Apple CFO Luca Maestri said during the company s most recent earnings call. "This year, we project supply to be available a few weeks later." Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said he expects the iPhone 12 reveal to come later this month or in early October, with four versions of the iPhone 12 hitting shelves by mid-October. That suggests the company may take the somewhat unusual step of announcing the new iPhone and other new products in two separate events, and that customers may have to wait a bit longer than a week to see the latest phone. The company s September product event typically also includes the latest designs for other products, such as the iPad and the Apple Watch. Last year, Apple also revealed details on its Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade services. "We believe [the September 15] event will primarily be focused on the next Apple Watch models and potentially a new lineup of iPads," Ives said in an email to CNN Business. Apple may also unveil at the event both lower- and higher-end Apple Watches, a smaller HomePod speaker and the first-ever Apple branded over-the-ear headphones, according to Synovus Trust Company senior portfolio manager Daniel Morgan.

Shares in Chinese chipmaker SMIC plummeted nearly 23% in Hong Kong on Monday on fears that it could become the latest casualty of the US-China tech war. The US Department of Defense and other US agencies are reportedly considering banning exports to Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., according to Reuters and other news outlets. The chipmaker could be added to a list of companies that the US government considers to be undermining American interests. SMIC s relationship to the Chinese military is under scrutiny, according to the Reuters report, which cited an unnamed US official and two former officials briefed on the matter. The plunge in SMIC stock wiped 31 billion Hong Kong dollars ($4 billion) off its market value. Companies on the US list face significant challenges obtaining vital technology because American firms are banned from selling to them without first obtaining a license to do so. Escalating restrictions on Chinese tech firm Huawei, which was added to the list last year, threaten to cripple its global business, for example.The Department of Defense declined to comment on the reports. SMIC, China s biggest semiconductor maker, said on Monday that it was "in complete shock." The company "manufactures semiconductors and provides services solely for civilian and commercial end-users and end-uses," SMIC said in a statement filed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. "We have no relationship with the Chinese military." SMIC added that it is "open to sincere and transparent communication" with US government agencies "in hope of resolving potential misunderstandings." Sanctions against SMIC would be the latest move in an ongoing battle between Washington and Beijing over who controls the technologies of the future. In recent weeks, President Donald Trump has threatened to ban popular Chinese apps like TikTok, owned by ByteDance, and WeChat, owned by Tencent (TCEHY), from operating in the United States. He has ordered ByteDance to sell TikTok and suggested that the Treasury Department should get a cut of the deal. China responded by introducing new rules that could allow Beijing to veto any such deal. In May, Washington restricted the ability of Huawei s chip design company to work with Taiwanese firm TSMC, the world s biggest contract manufacturer of semiconductors. Last month, it further cut off Huawei s access to other chipmaking companies. Most major semiconductor manufacturing companies, including TSMC and SMIC, rely on US machines and technology. Beijing pushed back on the restrictions, characterizing the United States as a "bully" that is abusing national power.Sanctions on SMIC would hurt China s chipmaking ambitions. The country wants to build a cutting edge semiconductor manufacturing industry, but that takes a lot of time and a lot of money. Adding SMIC to the trade blacklist would throw up "significant new barriers to China s semiconductor development," Paul Triolo, head of geotechnology at Eurasia Group, wrote in a note last week. China has earmarked more than $200 billion trying to get the country s chip manufacturing industry to develop faster and more advanced semiconductors, according to Triolo. "Yet it has so far achieved limited results," he said, adding that SMIC "remains three to five years behind industry leaders Intel (INTC), Samsung (SSNLF), and TSMC (TSM)." The global supply chain of semiconductors means that restrictions against Chinese companies often end up hurting US firms as well. Sanctioning SMIC, for example, would also "further undercut the revenue of US semiconductor manufacturing equipment companies that supply Chinese manufacturers, sapping the funds available to be reinvested into the [research and development] necessary to develop subsequent generations of semiconductors and related manufacturing equipment," Triolo said.In July, SMIC raised nearly $7 billion in a secondary listing on Shanghai s Star Market, China s answer to the Nasdaq. Shares popped more than 200% in their Shanghai debut, indicating Chinese investors were eager to buy into the country s leading chipmaker. On Monday, shares in SMIC were hammered both in Hong Kong, where they plunged nearly 23%, and in Shanghai, where they fell more than 11%. SMIC s Hong Kong-traded shares are still up more than 50% for the year. Shares in TSMC closed down 0.7% in Taiwan. Samsung stock rose 1.6% in Seoul.