It’s the end of another busy week in the Nigerian tech space but it’s time to turn our gaze to developments that made the headlines on the global tech space. Shall we?
Huawei Sues US over Ban on its Products
Chinese electronics giant, Huawei, has announced its intention to sue the United States over a ban slammed against the company last year. The ban which prohibits government agencies from patronising Huawei for security reasons was passed by the US Congress as part of the Defense Authorization Bill.
Although legal scholars don’t expect Huawei to get a favourable judgement, they expect a lengthy legal tussle which would delay the implementation of the ban.
The US is still insisting on the ban and encouraging its allies to follow suit even though it hasn’t provided any shred of evidence of security flaws or other defects of Huawei products. But considering that Huawei’s competitors are mostly American companies like Apple, the economic benefits of the ban is clear to see. This however diminishes the security claims of the US.
Uber Pays $2.6M Fine for Violating Dutch Taxi Laws
Ride hailing company, Uber, has agreed to pay a fine of $2.6 million to settle charges that it violated local taxi laws in the Netherlands. The violations occurred between 2014 and 2015 when Uber’s UberPop service was still in operation in the country.
According to the Dutch Public Prosecution Service (DPPS), the fine consists of about $2.2 million fine across the four Uber companies namely: Uber International BV; Uber Netherlands BV, Uber BV; and Rasier Operations BV.
About $400,000 was slammed on the ride-hailing company for “criminally earned capital”. This majorly comes from Uber’s 20% commission on rides. We hope they are more careful in future.
SoftBank Partners AeroVironment to Build Solar-Powered Drone that could Transmit 5G Internet from the Sky
Japanese holdings conglomerate, SoftBank Group has partnered with AeroVironment to build an experimental solar-powered drone that has the ability to transmit 5G internet from up in the sky.
Called the Hawk 30, the drone is a product of a partnership between the two tech giants aimed at delivering 5G and Internet of Things connectivity from the sky. It has ten electric engines that will carry it to an operational altitude of about 19.3 kilometres (about 12.5 miles) into the air.
It is yet uncertain if this experiment will work and if it does, how long before its 5G and Internet of Things service gets to us in Nigeria.
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