Huawei And OPPO Enter Patent Licencing Deal

Huawei Technologies has signed a patent licensing deal with fellow Chinese tech giant OPPO, the former announced via a press release. This will see both companies share patents of several key technologies with one another, though the exact figure of the agreement is still undisclosed at this time.

According to Huawei, the patents involved include those concerning 5G and Wi-Fi, as well as audio and video technologies. The mutual recognition of intellectual property value between companies is a major step towards fostering a positive cycle of innovation and research in high-value standards: investing, receiving returns from investment, and then reinvesting,” said Huawei Intellectual Property Department head Alan Fan in the press release. “This will enable our industry to keep innovating and provide consumers with more competitive products and services.”

Meanwhile, OPPO Chief Intellectual Property Officer Adler Feng regarded this newly inked agreement as “a win-win deal” for both companies. “We are very pleased to enter into a patent cross-licensing agreement with Huawei,” he said. “It clearly demonstrates that the two companies recognise and greatly respect the value of each other’s intellectual property.”

In a statement to Nikkei Asia, OPPO revealed that the licence deal will give it access to Huawei’s most advanced 5G-related technologies. At the same time, the company will also provide some of its own patents to its fellow Chinese tech giant, likely in terms of audio and video technologies – two fields which OPPO has a long history in. 

Thanks to the sanctions imposed by the US government, Huawei was forced to abandon its development of 5G integrated chipsets and other products, and is also banned from acquiring US-based technologies, especially from the country’s top chipmaking suppliers. However, the company still controls a rich 5G patent portfolio, which it has decided to source out to other companies, including rivals such as OPPO and Samsung.

Speaking of which, Nikkei Asia reports that Huawei has signed a licence agreement with Samsung around the same time as well. However, details regarding the deal are still not known, though it could involve the former’s patents on 5G technology.

Qualcomm Showing Interest To Invest In ARM If The NVIDIA-Softbank Deal Fails

NVIDIA’s plan to acquire Softbank’s Cambridge-based chip manufacturer ARM has been placed on indefinite hold, as we’ve previously covered back in April. The block was issued by UK regulators, citing that the acquisition was grounds for national security concerns. 

Speaking to The Telegraph newspaper on Sunday, Qualcomm CEO Christiano Amon expressed that the company is open to the idea of investing in ARM, provided that the NVIDIA-Softbank deal fails. “If ARM has an independent future, I think you will find there is a lot of interest from a lot of the companies within the ecosystem, including Qualcomm, to invest in [the company],” he explained. Concurrently, the CEO said that Qualcomm has had discussions with others “that feel the same way”, but did not name these would-be investors.

“If it moves out of SoftBank and it goes into a process of becoming a publicly-traded company, [with] a consortium of companies that invest, including many of its customers, I think those are great possibilities,” Amon added. When reached out by CNBC in regards to Qualcomm’s suggestion, NVIDIA commented that an Initial Public Offering (IPO) wouldn’t be enough to support ARM’s growth.

The UK-based chip manufacturer, which runs on an open-licensing model, maintains a neutral approach towards its wide range of tech industry clients. Those that are relying on ARM’s semiconductor business include key players such as Apple, Samsung, and even NVIDIA’s closest rival AMD. Suffice to say, NVIDIA’s plan to buy off ARM from Softbank was met with a huge backlash from these tech giants, who share the same concern of a potential monopoly.

Addressing this, NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang promised that the company would respect and not hinder ARM’s business practices and neutrality after the acquisition. However, as mentioned earlier, Huang’s words failed to convince the concerned parties and eventually led to the deal’s current state of limbo.

PlayStation Ramadan Deals Sees Physical Games Go As Low As RM55

Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced its PlayStation Ramadan Deals. In addition to discounted hardware like controllers, this sees the discounts going to even the PS VR headset, as well as physical copies of games.

According to the list sent out by SIE, you can get the following deals from PlayStation Authorised Dealers:

• PlayStation VR – RM979
• DualShock 4 – RM179 (selected colours)
• Ghost of Tsushima – RM169
• Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time – RM169
• The Last of Us Part II – RM129
• Final Fantasy VII Remake – RM129
• God of War  – RM55
• The Last of Us Remastered  – RM55
• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End  – RM55
• Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition  – RM55
• Ratchet & Clank  – RM55

 

Beyond physical items, SIE also has discounts for digital copies of games on the PlayStation Store. Discounts here also go all the way up to 80%. Both of these sets of discounts are in effect starting today, 28 April until 12 May.

If you don’t already have a PS Plus subscription, you can also get a year’s subscription for RM127, which is 20% off the usual price. Though this offer is shorter than the ones mentioned above, ending on 5 May instead. But if yours is expiring, there should be little reason to not get it, considering the free games you get every month.

Google Signs Massive Deal With News Corp, In Exchange For Contents

News Corp has announced that Google has agreed to sign a three-year deal with the company in exchange for contents from its news sites all over the world. The exact financial terms behind the deal were not revealed but News Corp has stated that it will receive “significant payments” from Google.

According to the press release from News Corp, among its publications that are coming to Google News Showcase as the result of this deal includes The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post from the US together with The Times & The Sunday Times and The Sun from the UK. The Australian and Sky News is part of the deal too.

Meanwhile, the new deal does not only involve content access. News Corp stated that there will also be the development of a subscription platform as well as audio journalism, investments in video journalism by YouTube, and ad revenue sharing.

The announcement is certainly an interesting development for Google who has been facing pressure from the Australian government regarding an upcoming law that requires the search engine giant to pay media companies for the contents that appear on Google’s sites. In fact, it actually got to the point where Google is already looking to pull out Google Search from Australia in its attempt to ease the pressure.

However, signs of Google bowing down to the pressure have begun to appear earlier this month when it signed a paid deal with several Australian media houses including Nine Entertainment, and Seven West Media. So, given these deals, it seems that users in Australia will most probably able to continue using Google Search for the foreseeable future.