So round one of Chinese smartphone giant Huawei vs the US government actually took place in Barcelona, Spain.?This showed up at the last Mobile World Congress. It’s not over yet. In fact, it’s moving to this country. This is Huawei vs USA part two. The lawsuit.
So now, Huawei sues the US government, claiming the USA is limiting them on doing business. The Chinese smartphone firm claims what they’re doing is unconstitutional. Their lawsuit complains about import tariffs the Feds put on them. It also says this makes it impossible for them to do business here in the USA. Furthermore, one exec accuses the US of a spreading a smear campaign, trying to keep American consumers from Huawei.
Yes, the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) does forbid the US gov’t to do business with Huawai. But legal experts say it’s because of national security reasons, not business. The lawsuit is in Texas. The lawsuit claims the plaintiffs don’t even have due process. It’s not just Huawei that’s sounding off. Because the Chinese government is coming to their defense. In fact, one of their foreign minister leaders call this lawsuit “…totally reasonable and understandable”.
But experts say this won’t last very long. Because of the national security issue, they may just dismiss this one. I hope they do. Because you can’t put business ahead of national security. I don’t care what business it is, IT service, smartphones, computer repair, or anything else. Yes, I’m sure the Trump trade war has a lot to do with this. Though Huawei plays the victim, I have little sympathy for them. Look at how hard they’re trying to push 5G technology. Then look at the dangers of 5G that scientist have covered. Yes, the smartphone industry could use more competition. But do we really want it to come from Huawei? What is your take on the Huawei vs USA part two?
So Tesla CEO Elon Musk and IT support are pretty much synonymous. But even tech billionaires on his level, and with his genius and innovation, has struggles. Is Elon Musk losing confidence?
So let’s start with his Model 3 production line, promising 5,000 cars a week. He was going to use AI/robots to do this. Some quarters made this quota, but some didn’t. However, here is the problem. These robots didn’t really understand some of the parts, like nuts and bolts. This severely slowed down production. In fact, Tesla had to get human employees to take care of this part. I guess they don’t call it ‘production hell’ for nothing.
But Musk seems to be having issues all across the board. Because recently, Tesla announced many of their stores will be shutting down. Then you have SEC officials. They claim Musk is in contempt after they got wind of some of Musk’s tweets. These tweets, according to the SEC, violated a settlement. If that isn’t enough, some of his own people are losing confidence in his leadership skills. Since January 2018, 88 Tesla executives left him.? Yahoo Financed polled 235 employees from Tesla. Of those, 104, almost half, say he is not fit to lead. So of those polled, that leaves 131, barely half, believing in his leadership skills. In 2019, Tesla stocks fell around 16%. Musk has until March 11 to face the SEC.
So, is Elon Musk losing confidence? I doubt it. Because a polling company called Blind polled another 284 employees from Tesla and Space X. A whopping 78% of them believe in Musk and his leadership abilities. Every company, no matter how successful it is, has to go through trials like this. Whether it be computer repair, cars, or even a local small grocer. I believe he will take these challenges and learn from it. Look at how he’s now sounding the alarm about AI technology, and what it can do. Let’s not forget how he helped save the lives of that soccer team in Thailand last year. So should these recent trials worry Musk or his people?
So I have another merger to talk about. But this isn’t what you think. Because this is less about big money and more about IT support functions. Alexa and Roku are compatible: Should we rejoice?
So now, through Alexa, consumers can now control their Roku account. This means Alexa will do things like play their favorite shows and search their account for shows. Furthermore, Alexa will do practical things for Roku, like turn on/off the TV. Alexa’s services apply only those with Roku 8.1. or higher. Also, they have to link their Amazon account with their Roku account. In anticipation for move, Roku already came up with voice-controlled equipment just for this.
Roku already works with Google based equipment. So with Amazon just being Amazon, this shouldn’t surprise anyone. Roku will work with any Amazon voice system, no matter how budget or expensive. Yes, you will be able to control Roku by telling Alexa what to do. Already, some bloggers are giving it the advantage. Because with Google, one has to say, “Hey Google…”. But with Alexa, you just say, “Alexa…”. Some people say this alone gives Alexa the advantage. Come on, people. It’s just a one word difference. And that word is, ‘hey’. The word ‘hey’ is often a first word for one-year-olds.
However, this is one point. If we’re going to choose a voice system just to save us from saying one small word, then something is wrong with us. I remember when I was a kid, I was the remote. I was told to change the channel, until we finally got a remote. Now, the IT service/voice does it for you. As a business move, this is good for Roku and Amazon. For consumers, this gives us more convenience, as we need any more. Alexa and Roku are compatible: Should we rejoice?
So recently, Silicon Valley resident Anand Giridharadas wrote a book. It’s about the IT service in Silicon Valley. However, it’s hardly flattering. Let’s look at this tell all book about Silicon Valley.
So he titles the book Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World. The title alone sounds honest, but harsh. However, he’s just warming up. His biggest beef with Silicon is the inequality. He praises the innovation that comes out of this area. He argues that it’s great for the few that created it, but what about everybody else? This includes people that work for and under them.
Then Anand backs his arguments with scary statistics. It might seem that Americans, no matter what income level, are doing better than ever before. But that’s just not true. For 3 years straight, our life expectancy rate declined. That’s the first time in 100 years that happened. Literacy and education are stagnant. It was easier for you to start your own business in the 1980s than it is today. Also, Anand confronts the ‘win-win’ mentality. That’s the mentality that if you help the very top, like the Jeff Bezos’ and the Mark Zuckerberg’s, then the bottom will get help. In fact, Anand calls that a religion. And he remind us that rarely works.
I would highly recommend you get this book. It confirms what many of us in computer repair have known for years. Silicon Valley is a broken place. How can any worker survive at a place where coffee is $8 and breakfast is over $20? People who make $100,000 a year live in their car because rents are that out of control. Now, people and business are leaving Silicon Valley because of such reasons. Look at all the sobering statistics. In an era of so much innovation, you’d think these statistics would go up. In fact, here’s an article saying that over 450 retail stores closed down within two days! Is that progress? I applaud this tell all book about Silicon Valley. Again, is this progress?
So let’s start by wishing the Samsung Galaxy franchise a happy 10th anniversary. However, look at how they celebrate. They do so by introducing the Samsung Galaxy S10.
The size doesn’t change much. This one is 6.4 inches, not that different from old Samsung Galaxys. But here is a huge difference: under display fingerprint technology. They say this is even more secure that facial recognition. Because this uses Qualcomm 3D Sonic Sensor to check your unique pores of your fingertip. Then, it scans and matches it. But from what I hear, it is a royal pain to get this set up. Some smartphones abandon jacks. The Samsung Galaxy S10 has ports and jacks a-plenty.
This device has Gorilla Glass 6. This will help you gain access to wireless charging. It’s the Wireless PoweShare. Turn your phone down, place another phone on top of it, and the top phone will trickle it’s power down to yours. IT service critics rave about the camera, which takes all kinds of crazy angles, and it’s three-camera array. I saw a cool slide of the wings of a plane landing with this. But perhaps the most awesome thing is the price…and not in a good way. This phone will cost you $1,000. If you start talking about foldable phones, then you’re looking at $1,900.
Personally, I wouldn’t even bother with the Samsung Galaxy S10. There, I said it. Yes, I know Apple’s iPhone X cost that much. But at least they did something revolutionary. So people wanted to pay that much because they thought they were on the verge of computer tech history. You don’t see that with this Samsung. And I’m not liking this fingertip technology. It’s too much work to set up. Then, what if it doesn’t work? And yes, sucking energy from one device to the next may seem cool. But just give me the plug-in charger, thank you very much. I’m not buying this new Samsung. Are you?
