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The UK's highly controversial online surveillance bill has been delayed, pending a new Prime Minister
The House of Commons was due to vote on it next week
For some time, the United Kingdom has been cooking up legislation to more tightly regulate the internet for British users. The Online Safety Bill seeks to force tech companies, like Meta and Google, to deal with harmful content on their platforms, with provisions including jail time for executives withholding data and obligatory age checks for porn websites. The bill, which has understandably raised concerns regarding freedom of speech, was due to be put up for a vote by the British House of Commons, but the vote has now been delayed.
Put down your tea and check your phone: Call Screen is slowly coming to Pixels in the UK
The fourth region to receive Google's Assistant-powered feature
You have plenty of smartphone choices these days, but only one company seems to really be focusing on the "phone" part of the word. Google recently announced several new tools to improve how calls work on its latest devices, but there's still nothing out there that tops Call Screening. If you've been waiting for the feature to arrive in regions outside Canada, Japan, and the US, you're in luck.
Signal wants to replace your Venmo and Cash apps with private crypto payments
Privacy and security first thanks to crypto, but it's not a well-known coin
Signal was being really secretive about its open-source server code over the last year, and now we know why: the nonprofit has been working on a payments feature and didn't want to spill the beans ahead of the announcement. Starting now, people living in the United Kingdom can send and receive a cryptocurrency using Signal beta builds.
Samsung's watches now support ECG monitoring in 32 more countries
It still requires a paired Samsung phone
Samsung's Galaxy Watch3 and Watch Active2 both have hardware support for ECG monitoring, but it is taking a long time to show up for everyone, since the feature has to be approved by each country's health agencies. It was exclusive to South Korea until September of last year, when it was enabled for use in the United States, and now it's coming to 32 more countries.
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Microsoft released its first Android phone back in 2020, the Surface Duo. It's the only modern Android device with two side-by-side displays (not counting the add-on cases for various LG phone), and even though it's still a questionable buy at its new 9 retail price, Microsoft plans to sell it in more regions this year, starting with Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany on February 18.
Qualcomm can now sell chips to Huawei again, but not any with 5G
Huawei is also asking the UK to reconsider its ban
The trade ban on Huawei by the United States finally took full effect in September, forcing Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony, LG, and other hardware suppliers to stop selling to Huawei. Qualcomm has been pushing for an exemption to sell chips to Huawei, and now the company has been granted a limited license to do just that.
Google Pay adds support for 24 new banks in 23 countries
Forget your wallet, grab your phone — you've got Google Pay
Google Pay continues to expand its support to additional international banks. To help you keep track of which financial institutions have added their credit and debit cards to the service, we've compiled a list of recent additions. Since we last looked in July, Google's added 24 new banks in 23 countries.
Google Pay is now available for 25 new banks in 14 countries
Leave your wallet in your bag or pocket
Google Pay support is ever expanding among financial institutions, and that's both the case in the US and the rest of the world. As such, we've compiled a list of the latest international banks that have added their credit and debit cards to Google's contactless payment service, coming in at a total of 25 institutions across 14 (mostly European) countries.
UK may follow US lead with increased Huawei restrictions
The US sanctions on Huawei could make its products less secure
Huawei has had its share of rough times recently. From navigating through the turmoil of the US banning trade, to figuring out how to sell phones without Google's suite of Play services and apps, it's been a period of adjustment for China's largest telecom. And now it appears that the company is facing renewed scrutiny about the use of its technology in the United Kingdom.
Huawei P40 Pro+ is now available outside of China, without Google apps
Four rear cameras, two colors, zero Google Maps
Even though Huawei has been blocked from working with Google, the company is continuing to push forward with its Android smartphones. The P40 series was announced earlier this year, but at the time, only the P40 and P40+ models were available to purchase outside of China. Now the camera powerhouse that is the P40 Pro+ is coming to the rest of the world, but there's still no sign of the Play Store.
United Kingdom may remove all Huawei equipment from its 5G networks
The UK was previously open to using Huawei's tech, even after pressure from the US
Huawei has been in hot water for over a year now, with the United States blocking most trade with the company and various countries ripping out Huawei-made equipment from its 5G networks. The United Kingdom is still buying hardware from Huawei to build its telecom networks, but that could soon change.
Google's handy Pixel Update and Software Repair tool now available in more countries
Still only works with the Pixel 3 and later, though
Google's Pixel Update and Software Repair tool is a mouthful, but it's an easy way to update or reinstall the software loaded on recent Pixel phones, and sometime recently it got a small tweak: Now the tool is available to people in more countries, with individual support for tons of specific carriers in each.
Google Pay gains support for 29 new banks and financial institutions in 22 countries (Update: 11 more banks)
Because carrying a wallet is so over
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Google Pay is compatible with a wide range of cards from various institutions around the world. Sadly, there are still a bunch of them that don't work with the contactless payment service. Thankfully, it is constantly gaining support for new banks and financial institutions, including the below 29, spread across 22 countries.
Android Auto expands wireless compatibility to most supported countries
Only Japan and Russia are excluded
Some cars and head units are capable of displaying Android Auto from your phone wirelessly, but there are additional restrictions to the functionality — other than owning a compatible handset, you also need to live in one of the regions where the wireless connection is available. Luckily, the list of supported countries is expanding, and now you can use wireless Android Auto in almost all locations where the wired version is available, with only two exceptions: Japan and Russia.
Google users in post-Brexit UK to lose GDPR privacy protections
They'll be moved to US jurisdiction with notably weaker data protection rights
Just when you think the post-Brexit situation can't get any worse for us poor sods in the UK, another depressing tidbit rears its ugly head. This time, it's news that Google users in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland will no longer be protected by GDPR and will instead be at the mercy of the privacy regulations of the United States.
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Google Pay already supports a plethora of credit cards from a multitude of banks all over the world, but there are still many institutions left that don't work with Google's payment system. It's great to see that the number of compatible banks is rising internationally, and today, we can report a whopping 62 newly added banks — though about half of these are savings banks located in Denmark.
You could definitely make the argument that Google isn't the outwardly-fun company it was a few years ago — just recently, it gave up on dessert nicknames for Android releases. Thankfully Google UK is bringing the fun back, by shipping some Pixel 4 phones in packaging that resembles cereal boxes.
Last summer, The Beeb (as it's affectionately known on my side of the pond) launched a new app for all of its various audio content, inventively called BBC Sounds. At that point, we knew the BBC iPlayer Radio app's days were numbered, but now the time has finally come to say goodbye to what many people still believe is the superior app.
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- While a lot of Google services start out as US exclusives, many ultimately expand their reach internationally. But the nature of that expansion can vary wildly, and while some offerings are quick to find global support, others spread at a far more reserved pace. A couple months back we saw the first, early steps Google was taking to bring YouTube Premium discounts to students in more countries. Now that access is seriously expanding, with availability extending to students in an additional 20 countries:
Until today, YouTube Music Premium and YouTube Premium plans offered special pricing for students, though only in the USA. But now, the reduced cost option is available in eight new countries.
HTC just can't catch a break. The company has been bleeding money for years, and even though it hasn't released a new flagship phone in some time, it's also struggling to deliver software updates to its existing lineup. HTC is now caught up in a patent dispute, causing all of its phones to be pulled from sale in the United Kingdom.