appmarsh

Monday 14 September 2020

Tune out a Chaotic World and Take $100 off These Beats Solo Pro Wireless Headphones Today

Beats Solo Pro Wireless Headphones | $200 | Amazon Gold Box

How Can I Live a More Phone-Free Life?

It is the rare person who—logging off after a long day’s scrolling—thinks, “I need much more of that in my life.” Because the thing about the internet is, it’s awful. Even the good parts suck, because the good parts are swirled in with the bad—you can’t access one without wading through the other. Often, the good…

Anti-Maskers Forced to Dig Graves For Covid-19 Victims In Indonesia

At least eight people who have refused to wear masks during the coronavirus pandemic have been forced to dig graves for people who died from covid-19 in the province of East Java, Indonesia, according to a report from the Jakarta Post.

Oracle Reportedly Agrees Deal for TikTok's US Operations, But Chinese Media Cast Doubt on Any Sale

Amid reports Monday morning that Oracle has won the battle with Microsoft to acquire TikTok's U.S. operations, China's state-run English TV channel is claiming that no sale with any U.S. buyer will go ahead (via Reuters).

ByteDance will not sell TikTok's U.S. operations to Oracle Corp ORCL.N or Microsoft Corp MSFT.O and will not give the source code for the video platform to any U.S. buyers, China's state-run English television channel CGTN reported on Monday, citing sources.

People familiar with the matter told Reuters that ByteDance abandoned the sale of TikTok in the United States and decided to pursue a partnership with Oracle in hopes of avoiding a U.S. ban while appeasing the Chinese government.

ByteDance declined to comment on CGTN’s report.

A source also told the South China Morning Post that the tech upstart has decided not to sell or transfer the source code behind its popular video app.

The development follows a report from The Wall Street Journal on Sunday evening that claimed database software and cloud systems giant Oracle had closed the deal moments after Microsoft announced it had been rejected. The deal reportedly stopped short of an outright acquisition of all assets and intellectual property, with TikTok considering Oracle as a "trusted tech partner" instead.

In a blog post following the news, Microsoft wrote:

"ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok's US operations to Microsoft. We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users while protecting national security interests. To do this, we would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combatting disinformation, and we made these principles clear in our August statement. We look forward to seeing how the service evolves in these important areas."

Microsoft was originally regarded as the frontrunner in acquisition talks with TikTok's China-based parent company, ByteDance, and provided a formal proposal that would have involved the purchase of TikTok's operations in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Bloomberg on Monday cited sources claiming that terms being discussed between ByteDance and Oracle were "still evolving," but that one of the options being explored could see Oracle take a stake in a newly formed U.S. business while serving as TikTok's U.S. technology partner and housing the video app's data in Oracle's cloud servers.

Offers from both parties reportedly valued the U.S. business at about $25 billion, but that was said to be before Chinese officials weighed in with new rules imposing limits on technology exports.

Any deal would still need to be reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a U.S. government group chaired by the Treasury Secretary that studies corporate mergers for national security reasons.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order in mid-August demanding that ByteDance sell its U.S. operations within 90 days. Trump required ByteDance to announce its plan for the sale of TikTok in the U.S. by September 20 and complete a deal by November 12. The U.S. government will ban the Chinese video app by September 29 on national security grounds if it fails to submit its plan. TikTok unsuccessfully sued against the ban order in late August.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: Microsoft, Oracle, TikTok

This article, "Oracle Reportedly Agrees Deal for TikTok's US Operations, But Chinese Media Cast Doubt on Any Sale" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/2FxutUz

US Border Patrol Seized 2,000 OnePlus Buds Believing Them to Be 'Counterfeit Apple AirPods'

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers last month seized a shipment of OnePlus Buds earphones at JFK Airport apparently believing they were counterfeit Apple AirPods, reports The Verge.

CBP tweeted last night that its officers had "recently seized 2,000 counterfeit Apple ‌AirPods‌ from Hong Kong, valued at $398K had they been genuine."

Hey, give those back! 🙃
— OnePlus USA (@OnePlus_USA) September 14, 2020

The tweet also linked out to an official press release that praises CBP officers for "protecting the American public from various dangers on a daily basis," adding "the interceptions of these counterfeit earbuds is a direct reflection of the vigilance and commitment to mission success by our CBP officers daily."

Based on the accompanying photos, however, the seized products are actually legitimate OnePlus Buds, as clearly described on the earphones' boxing. Whether the 2,000 seized units were all OnePlus Buds isn't immediately clear, but given that the CBP tweeted "That's not an [Apple emoji]" in direct reference to the OnePlus boxes suggests this is all an embarrassing mistake.

In addition, and as noted by The Verge, the CBP's valuation suggests they have been mistaken for ‌AirPods‌, because at $79 each, 2,000 OnePlus Buds would be worth $158,000, not $398,000. According to the CBP press release, which makes no mention of the OnePlus branding, the units originated from Hong Kong and were headed to Nevada, but were seized at JFK on August 31.

To be fair, the OnePlus Buds bear a strong resemblance to Apple's stick-like earphones, and there's no doubt that the market is awash with AirPods knockoffs. But OnePlus is a well-known brand, and there's no shortage of other legitimate brands that "pay homage" to the form factor and iconic aesthetic of Apple's ‌AirPods‌ with their own true wireless earphone offerings.

Whether the seizure was indeed the result of a cock-up or just poor communication on CBP's part, OnePlus has clearly seen the funny side: Its official USA Twitter account replied to the CBP tweet with "Hey, Give those back!" accompanied by an upside down smiley emoji.

Related Roundup: AirPods 2

Tag: OnePlus

Buyer's Guide: AirPods (Neutral)

This article, "US Border Patrol Seized 2,000 OnePlus Buds Believing Them to Be 'Counterfeit Apple AirPods'" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/3hrumqT