Apple vs. Qualcomm: Everything you need to know

Why it matters to you

Qualcomm is king of the mobile processor industry, but back-to-back-to-back lawsuits by Apple may take a bite.

Apple and Qualcomm are engaged in what will likely be a yearslong and epic battle. Following news that Qualcomm had been charging heightened royalties for use of its tech, as well as reports indicating Qualcomm required Apple to pay a percentage of the iPhone’s revenue in return for the use of Qualcomm patents, Apple has sued the company in three countries.

In the United States, Apple is suing Qualcomm for a hefty $1 billion — but it has also filed a lawsuit in China for $145 million, as well as in the United Kingdom. Now, Qualcomm is following with its own countersuit (but losing quite a bit of money).

Here’s everything you need to know about the lawsuit battle so far.

Qualcomm reportedly seeking iPhone import ban

Qualcomm is back on the offensive after Apple decided to suspend royalty payments to the chip manufacturer. Bloomberg reports the company will soon make a request to the International Trade Commission to prevent the importation of iPhones into the U.S.

The American market comprises 40 percent of Apple’s total sales, Bloomberg notes, and the iPhone is responsible for 60 percent of its global revenue.

However, on a Tuesday conference call, Apple CEO Tim Cook appeared confident that an injunction against Apple on the basis of iPhone imports wouldn’t stand because, as he put it, Qualcomm never issued fair terms to the iPhone maker that are required for patent licensing.

“Qualcomm has not made such an offer to Apple,” Cook said. “I don’t believe anyone’s going to decide to enjoin the iPhone based on that. There’s plenty of case law around that subject. But we shall see.”

Qualcomm cuts profit forecasts

As a result of Apple’s decision to stop paying all royalties as both companies wait to hear the outcomes of their respective lawsuits, Qualcomm has slashed its profit forecasts. On April 28, Reuters reported that Qualcomm would not receive any royalties from Apple’s contract manufacturers for sales that took place in the first quarter of 2017.

“Without an agreed-upon rate to determine how much is owed, we have suspended payments until the correct amount can be determined by the court,” an Apple spokesman said in an email on Friday.

Consequently, Qualcomm has adjusted its revenue estimates, and now is citing a revenue of $4.8 billion to $5.6 billion for its third fiscal quarter, a decrease from its originally anticipated $5.3 billion to $6.1 billion.

“(Apple’s) contract manufacturers may make some form of partial payment, but initial indications are that any payment would likely be insignificant,” Qualcomm said.

Qualcomm files countersuit against Apple

Qualcomm has followed Apple’s lawsuits with one of its own. You can read the full lawsuit here, but it is centered around five complaints against Apple. For example, Qualcomm suggests Apple deliberately didn’t take advantage of the full potential of Qualcomm’s chips in the iPhone 7 in an attempt to prevent them from outperforming Intel’s modems. The iPhone 7 marks the first time in several years that Qualcomm chips are not found in all iPhone variants.

According to Qualcomm, Apple “chose not to utilize certain high-performance features of the Qualcomm chipsets for the iPhone 7 (preventing consumers from enjoying the full extent of Qualcomm’s innovation).” On top of that, when iPhones with Qualcomm chips outperformed devices with Intel’s chips, Apple claimed there was “no discernible difference” between the two.

Another big part of Qualcomm’s suit revolves around Apple’s role in various regulatory suits, and that, according to Qualcomm, Apple has been “misrepresenting facts and making false statements.”

Apple files a third lawsuit against Qualcomm

Apple has filed yet another lawsuit against Qualcomm. The two companies were already at war in both the U.S. and in China and now they will be going head to head in the U.K. According to reports, the U.K. lawsuit was actually filed in January, but it’s only now being noticed after being refiled.

While we don’t yet know specifics about the new lawsuit, it does have something to do with patents and designs, according to a report from Bloomberg. It’s likely that it’s similar to the lawsuits Apple has filed in the U.S. and China.

Qualcomm is ready for a fight

Qualcomm had some fighting words against Apple during a call on its quarterly earnings report. The chipset manufacturer’s CEO, Steve Mollenkopf, said Apple just wants to grab as much money as possible from the lawsuits.

“Apple’s complaint contains a lot of assertions, but in the end, this is a commercial dispute over the price of intellectual property,” Mollenkopf said, according to CNET. “They want to pay less for the fair value that Qualcomm has established in the marketplace for our technology, even though Apple has generated billions in profits from using that technology.”

More: Report: Apple will join Google, Microsoft, and IBM in the Partnership on AI

He said Qualcomm’s patents have “tangibly and meaningfully increased over time,” but the company has never raised its royalty rates. Derek Aberle, president of Qualcomm, chimed in.

“If you peel apart all of the arguments Apple’s making, we believe firmly they’re all without merit,” Aberle said. “At the end of the day, they essentially want to pay less for the technology they’re using. It’s pretty simple.”

But the CEO said Qualcomm will keep supplying chips to the Cupertino company, even while the legal battle rages on.

Apple files patent lawsuit against Qualcomm in China for $145 million

Just a few days after Apple filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm in the U.S. for $1 billion, Apple announces it will also take Qualcomm to court in China — this time for “only” $145 million.

The motive behind the lawsuit is similar to the motive behind the U.S. lawsuit — Apple is basically accusing Qualcomm of not delivering on patent-related promises. Qualcomm isn’t being silent about the suit.

“These filings by Apple’s Chinese subsidiary are just part of Apple’s efforts to find ways to pay less for Qualcomm’s technology,” said Don Rosenberg, Qualcomm general counsel, in an interview with TechCrunch. “Apple was offered terms consistent with terms accepted by more than 100 other Chinese companies, and refused to even consider them. These terms were consistent with our NDRC Rectification plan.”

The U.S. lawsuit

Apple has followed in the Federal Trade Commission’s footsteps by suing Qualcomm for $1 billion for “royalties that they had nothing to do with,” according to a report from CNBC.

The Cupertino, California, company claims in the U.S. suit that Qualcomm demanded onerous terms for the use of its patented technology and even sought to punish Apple for cooperating in a South Korean regulatory probe that dove into Qualcomm’s licensing practices — practices that are now under the microscope once again.

More: Federal Trade Commission hits Qualcomm with a lawsuit over its licensing practices

Apple’s documents also mentioned that Qualcomm required Apple pay a percentage of the selling price of the iPhone in return for the use of Qualcomm patents, and demanded that Apple use Qualcomm chips exclusively between 2011 and 2016. While Apple did get so-called “quarterly rebates” under the agreement, Qualcomm began withholding those rebates when Apple agreed to work with the Korean Fair Trade Commission. According to the suit, Qualcomm even told Apple that Apple had forfeited almost $1 billion in rebates by working with regulators.

“We are extremely disappointed in the way Qualcomm is conducting its business with us and, unfortunately, after years of disagreement over what constitutes a fair and reasonable royalty, we have no choice left but to turn to the courts,” Apple said in a statement.

Qualcomm responded to Apple’s lawsuit by calling its claims “baseless.”

“While we are still in the process of reviewing the complaint in detail, it is quite clear that Apple’s claims are baseless,” according to Rosenberg. “Apple has intentionally mischaracterized our agreements and negotiations, as well as the enormity and value of the technology we have invented, contributed. and shared with all mobile device makers through our licensing program.”

Rosenberg said Apple has been “encouraging regulatory attacks” on Qualcomm with meritless claims and by withholding information. The chipset manufacturer is referring to the Korean Fair Trade Commission, which placed a hefty $853 million fine on Qualcomm in December for its alleged anti-competitive practices. As with the FTC lawsuit, Qualcomm said it would fight the fine.

It’s possible this could be a long and brutal legal battle, like the one between Apple and Samsung. We’ll keep this article updated with more information as we find out more.

Article originally published in January 2017. Updated on 05-03-2017 by Adam Ismail: Added Bloomberg report that Qualcomm will seek import ban.

Google quickly disables phishing scheme, but vulnerability remains

Why it matters to you

The latest phishing scheme used Google’s own authentication system to trick people into allowing account access.

Internet security is a real pain. Even when you have done everything right and locked everything down tight, a new attack comes along that leverages legitimate sites and services in stealing your private and sensitive data.

That is just what happened Wednesday, as a phishing scheme exploded that used Google’s own OAuth authentication system to grant access to a nefarious web app. Unlike other phishing schemes that use a fake internet address to lure the unexpecting, this attack merely popped up a Google authorization request with a misleading app title.

It’s important to note that Google responded quickly and removed the offending app, thus shutting down this particular phishing scheme. However, the phishing method itself does not seem to have been rectified. Here’s Google’s statement:

“We have taken action to protect users against an email impersonating Google Docs and have disabled offending accounts. We’ve removed the fake pages, pushed updates through Safe Browsing, and our abuse team is working to prevent this kind of spoofing from happening again. We encourage users to report phishing emails in Gmail.”

The issue was originally highlighted on Reddit, where Redditor JakeSteam provided a step-by-step recreation of the attack. The attack has also been seen in the wild by Digital Trends’ own staff, and so we can confirm that these steps are accurately described.

The process was relatively simple. A potential victim received an email offering to share a Google Doc.

JakeSteam/Reddit

Clicking on the “Open in Docs” button popped up a legitimate Google account selection screen, which when clicked returned an equally legitimate Google authentication request to allow the app to access the user’s Gmail and Google contacts information.

JakeSteam/Reddit

It’s only by clicking on the Google Docs’ developer link that the typical user’s suspicion level might be raised. The problem here is that many people might trust an offer to share a Google Docs file and then it would make perfect sense that Google Docs might be the system requesting access.

If you’ve already fallen prey to this phishing scheme, then you will want to disallow that app from accessing your data. You can do that by visiting the Connected Apps and Sites section of Google’s security page and clicking “Manage Apps.” Then click on the Google Docs app in the list, and hit the “Remove” button. Now might be a good time to review all of your connected apps and remove any that aren’t legitimate.

The primarily lesson here is the same as it has been for a long time now: If you aren’t expecting a shared file, then don not click anything when one is offered. If you are not sure who the file is from, then look into the sender and make sure it’s someone you trust.

Google will likely be looking into this issue and hopefully figuring out a way to resolve it. This particular phishing attack was shut down, but the ability to use Google’s legitimate authentication system for attacks is worrisome.

WhatsApp sees sudden crash for users across the globe; is now back up and running

Why it matters to you

If you’ve been having issues using the typically reliable app, this might explain it.

WhatsApp went down on Wednesday, sending some of the app’s billion-plus users into a bit of a panic in the process. The popular Facebook-owned messaging service started having trouble early in the evening on the East Coast and, within an hour, representatives from the company confirmed to Reuters that it was working on a fix. The issue appears to have been resolved, according to the system status listed in the app’s settings.

The outage did not appear to affect every user — for what it is worth, we were able to send and receive messages just fine. However, problems were cropping up worldwide, if people’s reactions on Twitter are any indication.

The website Down Detector reported a spike of complaints about 4 p.m. (ET), which seemed to have trailed off shortly afterward. Most of the reports appear to have originated from Europe, indicating the region was particularly hit hard. For those affected, the problem was manifesting itself as a persistent “connecting” message appearing at the top of conversation windows. Some encountered similar problems using the web service as well.

Checking the system status during the outage produced the following message:

“Our service is experiencing a problem right now. We are working on it and hope to restore the functionality shortly. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

WhatsApp has a good track record of consistency and reliability, which makes Wednesday’s issues all the more strange. While it might not be a significant hindrance to American users, the app is particularly popular elsewhere in the world — especially in Brazil, India, Mexico, and Russia. WhatsApp seems to be better at transcending geographic borders than Facebook Messenger — though the success of either app is a win for the parent company.

On Tuesday, the app debuted a feature in its beta version that allows users to pin conversations to the top of their inbox.

We reached out to WhatsApp for clarification. As of now, everything appears to be peachy once again, with the status now reading “WhatsApp service is operating normally.”

You don’t need a Faraday cage in your car to avoid distracted driving

Nissan’s Signal Shield is meant to block out all signal to keep you focused. But why not just put the phone away?

If you’re finding it hard to keep yourself from checking in on notifications, missed calls, and social media status updates while on the road, perhaps you shouldn’t be driving at all. Or, you could get a Faraday cage of sorts built into the armrest, as Nissan is suggesting with its new prototype.

The Signal Shield is a bonafide Faraday cage built into the arm rest of the Nissan Juke. Once you place the phone inside, it cuts off all mobile, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi signals. You won’t see any messages or be able to check in until the phone comes out.

Guarantee your mobile will never distract you while driving. Introducing #Nissan Signal Shield pic.twitter.com/kiW5sKgFm4

— NissanUK (@NissanUK) May 3, 2017

“The Nissan Signal Shield concept presents one possible solution for giving drivers the choice to remove all smartphone distractions while driving. This is about delivering more control at the wheel, not less,” Nissan Motor GB managing director Alex Smith told The Telegraph. “Some drivers are immune to the activity of their smartphone, but for those who struggle to ignore the beeps and pings, this concept provides a simple solution in this very connected world we live in.”

I can understand the temptation to check your phone when you’re stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic and bored out of your mind, but these days, I feel like I see more drivers hitting the pedal to the metal at 60 miles-per-hour while face down in a text message. I only drive a few times a week, but it’s often for long distances, and you can bet I see someone breaking the law within minutes of hitting the road.

Having a smartphone in the car isn’t the issue here; it’s having the discipline to put it on silent and leave it in your bag or pocket when you should be paying attention to the road. And if you don’t, perhaps you should consider taking the bus around town. That way, you can use your phone to your heart’s desire until you reach your destination.

Hulu Live TV has arrived: What is it and how does it work?

Hulu now streams live TV.

A year after announcing its live TV plans, the video-streaming service has launched a live TV beta. It’s a paid feature that combines 50+ channels and cloud DVR with Hulu’s existing service. It’s perfect for cord-cutters who already love Hulu but miss the convenience of live TV, local programming, and sports. So, here’s everything you need to know about it, including how it works.

• YouTube TV: What is it and how does it work?
• Sling TV: What is and how does it work?
• PlayStation Vue: What is it and how does it work?

What is Hulu?

Hulu is a premium streaming service in the US. It offers video content such as hit television shows and feature-length movies. For $7.99 a month, you get access to Hulu’s content library, but for an extra $4 a month, you can enjoy a commercial-free experience.

What is Hulu Live TV?

Hulu Live TV allows Hulu to better compete with Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, and others that offer live TV and cloud DVR features. Hulu Live TV is a $40 bundle that provides access to on-demand content and live TV from over 50 channels (depends on your area), plus 50 hours of cloud DVR space. You’ll be able to manage up to six individual profiles and up to two simultaneous streams at once.

How does Hulu Live TV work?

Channels

Go here to see the full list of channels in your area. It includes ESPN, Fox Sports, FX, USA, Viceland, CNN, Fox News, and more. You can watch live news anytime, with local news channels in many cities. You also get access the full Hulu streaming library included, which is a $7.99 per month value, meaning you can watch Hulu Original series, hit movies and episodes, kids shows, and tons more.

Hulu

Hulu said you will be able to stream live games from major pro and college leagues, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and NCAA. You can watch the top national sports channels, with local sports channels in many cities, though some games are subject to regional availability and blackouts. Also, due to rights restrictions, live streaming of NFL games is not available on smartphones.

Interface

The interface has the usual Hulu features such as a Watchlist and recommendations. The video above shows that while you’re watching, a push or swipe up on your remote control will let you add what’s currently playing to your favourites or search for something else to watch. Everything is mixed in with TV channels, but Hulu is suggesting that it can smartly make your favourite shows or channels appear first.

Devices

Hulu Live TV at launch will work on iOS devices, Android devices, Apple TV, Xbox One, and Chromecast. Support for Roku, Samsung smart TVs, and Amazon Fire TV are also in the works.

Extras

Hulu Live TV offers extra cost add-ons. You can bump up your cloud DVR to 200 hours of storage. You can also get “unlimited screens” so that people can watch video simultaneously on as many devices as they want while at home, as well as up to three devices anywhere else. These features each cost $15 per month, or you can get them together for $20 – on top of the Hulu Live TV subscription cost.

How much does Hulu Live TV cost?

You can get a seven-day free trial, but after, Hulu Live TV will cost you $39.99 a month.

How does Hulu Live TV compare to rivals?

PlayStation Vue offers a similar service for $35 to $65 a month, depending on what plan you get. Sling TV does too, but it’s DVR function is still in beta and doesn’t work on every channel. There’s also YouTube TV, which offers unlimited storage for $35, but it only works in a few cities and doesn’t have as many channels. You also need a Chromecast to watch it on your TV.

Where is Hulu Live TV available?

At launch, Hulu Live TV is available in the US.

When can you try Hulu Live TV?

You can sign up now for the Hulu Live TV beta on Hulu’s website.

EE will now let you use your phone abroad for free

EE has made a rather timely announcement to say its customers will be able to use their current tariff abroad, for free, from 15 June 2017. That is coincidentally the same date that EU roaming charges are abolished.

• EU roaming charges will end this year, standardised wholesale prices to come into effect

Customers on both pay monthly and pay as you go customers will be able to take advantage of the new rules in 47 European countries. The countries include Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, Iceland, Norway, Monaco, Switzerland Jersey and Guernsey. 

If you’re venturing to the USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia or New Zealand this year, then you can sign up to a new 4GEE Max plan to let you use your tariff as you would in the UK. EE’s 4GEE Max plans promise “generous data allowances and the fastest speeds in the UK”. Speeds in other countries will most likely vary. 

If you have a holiday booked before 15 June, or plan to go away, you can sign up to a new plan from 10 May to start reaping the benefits early.

• Tesco Mobile scraps European roaming charges, more countries than Three

Rival mobile operator Three has been offering free use of your regular tariff abroad for some time on its Feel At Home plans, and Tesco Mobile offers a similar service as part of its Home From Home plans. 

SpaceX wants to launch its internet satellite system in just two years

Knowledge is power.

We’ve all heard that idea before but take it for granted. Internet, for instance, provides unfettered access to information, and yet, for many reasons, internet is still slow, costly, and for some people in the world, unavailable. That’s where internet-beaming satellites can make a difference, and the latest tech company to be developing them, SpaceX, has plans to launch a system of them by 2019.

Last year, SpaceX revealed it wanted to deploy an internet satellite system to provide high-speed internet around the globe. It asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to launch 4,425 satellites. The Elon Musk-founded company said its custom satellites would be deployed into low-Earth orbit, and now, in a Senate hearing, it’s promising to begin launch operations in just two years.

• Google Loon vs Facebook drones vs SpaceX satellites
• Google Project Loon aims to launch a set of internet balloons next year
• Google buys drone maker Titan Aerospace before Facebook does

During the Senate hearing in Washington DC on Wednesday, which was on US Broadband infrastructure, SpaceX’s vice president of government affairs, Patricia Cooper, detailed the company’s plans. It wants to start testing satellites by the end of the year and into 2018, and then it will launch them in phases between 2019 and 2024, with the hope that the entire system will provide “fiber-like”, high-volume broadband.

SpaceX will launch each satellite with its Falcon 9 rocket. The entire system will also be adaptable and cost-effective, the company claimed. Copper also mentioned SpaceX would like to see more national funding for broadband projects, as only 1.5 per cent of all funds appropriated for broadband infrastructure are for satellite systems. There were other recommendations brought up by Cooper during the hearing, too.

It seems like there are outdated regulations that are creating a few kinks, but it looks like SpaceX has a plan, albeit a vague plan. It’s certainly fun picturing the Earth blanketed with beamed-down, broadband internet. Imagine what our world would look like 50 years after that – when every man, woman, and child has had the opportunity to get online, stay connected, and educate themselves.

• Facebook’s internet drones are the size of jet planes
• SpaceX V2 spaceship is humanity’s vehicle to begin colonising planets

Who needs runways when you’ve got the Lockheed Fury?

Soldiers on the battlefield could soon have an extra set of eyes watching over them. Lockheed is currently developing a high altitude, long endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicle called the Fury. But unlike other HALE platforms like Boeing’s Phantom Eye or Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk, the Fury has no use for runways. It just needs a catapult.

The 17-foot wingspan Fury can loiter at an altitude of 15,000 feet for up to 15 hours while carrying a 200 pound payload and fuel. Depending on its payload, the uav can serve as a reconnaissance platform, providing ISR (Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) data to friendly forces on the ground or intercepting enemy radio and cell signals, or act as a communications relay, bouncing voice and sat comm signals back to base.

Despite its size, the UAV is launched from a catapult and recovered by flying it into a net — similar to how DARPA’s recently revealed SideArm system operates. This isn’t the first time that the defense industry has toyed with the idea of runway-free drones either. In 2015, the US Navy announced that it was developing swarm drone technology (accurately dubbed, the LOCUST project) using low-cost, tube-launched Coyote UAVs.

There’s no word yet on when the Fury will enter service. The company has been developing it completely in-house and has already racked up 400 hours of flight time at its test range in Yuma Arizona. Lockheed reports that it is currently in talks with domestic and international customers.

Via: Popular Mechanics

Source: Lockheed Martin

WhatsApp is down worldwide but Facebook is fixing it

WhatsApp, the encrypted messaging service owned by Facebook, is currently inoperable for people across the globe. A WhatsApp spokesperson tells Engadget that users should sit tight.

“WhatsApp is aware of the issue and working to fix it as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said.

WhatsApp is hugely popular. Facebook purchased the service and its 450 million registered users in 2014 for $19 billion, and by February 2016, WhatsApp had ballooned to more than 1 billion monthly users. Just today, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced WhatsApp Status, which operates a lot like Instagram Stories, has more than 175 million users. Compare that with Snapchat, the OG disappearing-message service: In February, the company reported a userbase of 161 million.

This isn’t the only bad news in the tech industry today: Google had to shut down a massive and fairly sophisticated phishing scam that disseminated fake Google Docs links in a bid for users’ account information.

Source: DownDetector (map)

FBI director Comey backs renewed push for decryption law

If you were hoping that FBI Director James Comey had given up on legislation requiring that companies obey court-ordered decryption requests… you’re about to be disappointed. In statements at a Senate committee, Comey supported Senator Dianne Feinstein’s renewed effort to introduce a bill that would force companies to comply with decryption orders. Feinstein didn’t say how close she was to submitting the legislation, but Comey claimed progress from his side. The tech industry had “come to see the darkness a little bit more,” he says — they supposedly understand the potential threat to public safety when law enforcement can’t crack a device.

Comey also insisted that “none of us” in the American public want backdoor access for law enforcement. Officials just want to “accommodate both interests [privacy and access] in a sensible way,” he added.

On the surface, the attempt to find common ground is logical. However, it suggests that Comey and Feinstein still don’t understand what they’re asking. In order for a company to decrypt a device in a reasonable amount of time, it has to purposefully compromise its encryption — whether through backdoors, lower-quality encryption methods or ditching end-to-end encryption altogether. That, in turn, makes it easier for any attacker to get in. As noble as the idea of reaching a balance may be, there may not be much choice but to accept that device data is sometimes off-limits.

Source: TechCrunch