5 things to know today …
1. Samsung looks set to continue its winning streak with today’s launch of the Galaxy Note 7. The 5.7-inch phone is winning rave reviews on the heels of the company’s popular Galaxy S7.
The Galaxy Note 7 will be available through all four nationwide carriers. It is already familiar to many Americans thanks to Samsung’s advertising campaign that ran during the Olympics. The phone’s most salient features are an improved smart stylus and an iris scanner that enables a user to unlock the home screen just by looking at it.
2. ZTE has won another reprieve from U.S. export sanctions. Restrictions, which would have prevented several U.S. companies from selling components to ZTE, were originally imposed last spring after the U.S. government obtained documents that showed how ZTE established new entities to sell banned technologies to Iran. Shortly after imposing the sanctions, the government temporarily lifted them, as ZTE pledged to change its practices. The sanctions have now been lifted until Nov. 28.
3. Lenovo’s purchase of Motorola has not reversed declines in the Chinese company’s mobile division. The company’s mobile business unit reported $1.7 billion in first-quarter revenue, down 6% from the same period last year. Lenovo’s overall revenue also fell 6% to $10 billion.
4. British Prime Minister Theresa May is welcoming a new report that advocates collection of personal data to combat potential terrorist threats. The so-called “bulk powers” the report endorses include bulk interception of communications, bulk equipment interference and bulk communications data obtained from communication service providers.
5. Uber is expected to use self-driving cars to pick up passengers in Pittsburgh, starting this month. The cars will have humans in the driver’s seat, but they will be monitoring the cars rather than driving them. Pittsburgh is the pilot city because it is home to Carnegie Mellon University, a leader in robotics research.
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