USA

Donald Trump was concerned this week that Google suppresses conservative news media in search results. He did so in two Tweets, one of which asked whether this practice was legal. Inside the United States, the FCC effectively ended Net Neutrality in December of 2017. Net Neutrality is not the same as Search Neutrality, and neither the FCC nor the FTC (nor any other government entity) has the legal power to tell Google that it needs to show "fair and balanced" search results - at least where politics are concerned.

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Sony aibo First Litter Edition was revealed this morning in order to bring the robot puppy to the United States. This is the first time it's been released in any major form in the United States, original or re-release. The First Litter Edition for Sony aibo in the USA was listed as a package deal, including the aibo, a 3-year AI Cloud Plan, an individually numbered dog tag, and a set of aibo accessories (aibo toys.)

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It seems that ZTE can finally put the nightmarish few months behind it. Somewhat. Although the company and US President Trump’s administration just recently signed a deal that lifted what would have been a fatal seven-year ban, senators from both sides of the political fence wanted to block that deal by sneaking it into an upcoming law. Now it seems that the deal will be left in place after Republican senators decided to withdraw that clause in exchange for some other stipulation that both political parties could agree on.

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ZTE’s nightmares may finally be coming to an end. Of course, it will still have to recoup its losses from both paying the US’ penalties and months of stopping operations but at least it will have a chance to. That is, if it gets off the ground at all. The US government just announced that ZTE has signed an agreement to pay an escrow and install a monitor. Once that’s done, the company will finally be free, sort of.

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ZTE is a Chinese company but it has found itself in the unfortunate position to need the US government’s permission before it can start operating again. That authorization has just been provided, allowing ZTE to breathe just a little bit. It is, however, a very small reprieve that will run only until August 1 as ZTE awaits the ultimate fate of its compromise with the Trump administration that is being blocked even by the US presidents’ allies in Congress.

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Back in 2011, China Mobile took the first legal step to make its entrance in the US market, one that would allow it to offer wireless phone service to individuals within the nation. The Section 214 license application has been with the FCC for years, the agency having been tasked to seek info from the Executive Branch over whether authorizing the carrier would be "in the public interest of the US." That answer is officially no.

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It may sound ironic, but you won’t find the OPPO Find X in the US, no matter how hard you look. Although OPPO has not always snubbed the market the way Xiaomi continues to do, it doesn’t make all of its smartphones available in the US, even through retailers. That may be the case for the OPPO Find X, which means that none of “sliding camera” smartphones will have a presence in the US, which could reduce the influence of these unorthodox anti-notch solutions.

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It may have been painted as ZTE’s lifesaver but the $1 billion deal it signed with the US government may prove to be even more trouble. The agreement would naturally incur a lot of changes on ZTE’s part, but that is if it will actually push through. The US Senate has just voted 85 to 10 to pass an annual defense policy bill that, among other things, included a provision that would block the Trump administration’s deal with ZTE in the interests of national security.

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Bad cop, good cop strategies are nothing new, but it's rare to see both roles being played by the same person. Some might see it as a change of heart, mercy, or even forgiveness. Others might pin it down on multiple personality disorder. Either way, US President Donald Trump has tweeted that he instructed the country's Commerce Department to quickly find a way to get ZTE up and running again just weeks after the same government signed its death sentence.

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This really shouldn't come as a surprise. After all, Huawei has been in the US government's crosshairs perhaps longer than ZTE. After the latter was slapped with a crippling sanction for violating the US' export sanctions against Iran, it was really only a matter of time before Huawei gets the same treatment. Huawei is now reported to be under investigation by the US Department of Justice for the very same reasons and, considering Huawei's luck, it might get the same verdict as ZTE.

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Huawei is probably thanking its lucky stars that it got off easy. The US government might be working to block sales and use of its products in the country, but it remains unhindered in making such products and selling them elsewhere, even indirectly in the US. Unfortunately for ZTE, it might be facing the worst challenge to its smartphone business yet. And while this single instance could be justified in some way, the sanctions imposed by the US government could pose problems for the entire mobile industry it left unchecked.

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Never say never, some advice, and that actually goes both ways. Huawei recently said that it isn't giving up on the US market just yet, despite mounting government pressure and withholding its latest and greatest flagship, the Huawei P20. Now, however, sources indicate that the Chinese OEM, now the third largest smartphone maker globally, might actually make a U-turn. Especially after it laid off some American employees, including its biggest American lobbyist.

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