Neowin

WeChat has suspended new user registrations in a bid to upgrade its tech "to align with relevant laws and regulations" in mainland China. It is expected to get back to normal in early August.

The Chinese regime has denied any role in hacking Microsoft Exchange Server. In retaliation, China's foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, has called the US the world's top "hacking empire".

The US, European Union, the UK, and NATO countries have expressed concerned over China's numerous cyberattacks on businesses, maritime, aviation, defense, education, and healthcare sectors.

Microsoft has issued an advisory about a cyberattack from a Chinese group targeting SolarWinds' products. A hotfix has been released but organizations are still advised to review guidance.

Next week, China's Long March rockets will be performing several missions to ferry satellites into orbit and Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, will also be taking his first trip to space.

China's National Space Administration (CNSA) has shared a video of Zhurong rover's descent on Mars. It is part of the Tianwen-1 mission aimed at studying the Martian geology and atmosphere.

In the upcoming week, China will be sending its first three taikonauts to the new Chinese Space Station. They are set to blast off on Thursday morning aboard the Shenzhou 12 spacecraft.

Didi Chuxing, the Chinese ride-hailing app, has filed to go public with the U.S. SEC. It's expected that the company will be publicly listed on the NYSE and Nasdaq as soon as July.

The Biden administration has signed a new Executive Order that replaces three Executive Orders - two in litigation - signed by former President Trump prohibiting transactions with some Chinese firms.

According to an internal memo, Huawei's founder and CEO wants to shift the company's focus from hardware products to software and services, in an attempt to lessen the impact of U.S. sanctions.

Sony has announced its next-gen console in China before its competitor Microsoft. The PS5 will be available to purchase in the region on May 15. An Xbox Series X|S launch is still pending in China.

A study finds that 40% of China's bitcoin mining is powered by coal and will produce 130.5 million metric tons of carbon emissions by 2024. This would hamper the country's control of CO2 emissions.

A report from Reuters suggests that we could see Xiaomi-branded electric cars come to market in the future. It's supposedly talking to Great Wall Motors to use its factory to build the cars.

Facebook has disrupted a cyber espionage operation being carried out against Uyghur activists living abroad. The malicious activity has been attributed to a sophisticated Chinese hacking group.

There are four planned rocket launches this week, two from SpaceX, one from Rocket Lab, and another from the Chinese National Space Administration. Rocket Lab's mission was delayed from last week.

Microsoft has unveiled new features for its Azure analytics solutions such as Synapse Analytics and Cosmos DB. The company is also opening a new datacenter region in China to cater increased demand.

Xiaomi introduced today its latest smartphones to be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888 SoC, namely the Redmi K40 Pro and Pro+. The standard K40 was also unveiled with a Snapdragon 870 chipset.

Clubhouse has confirmed a security breach which allowed live audio to be siphoned. This follows concerns raised by multiple researchers around the integrity of the backend platform for the app.

This week, India, SpaceX, Russia, China and Iran are all planning space launches. All of the launches are carrying satellites but for very different purposes from internet delivery to monitoring.

Valve and Sony have announced the launch of Steam China and PlayStation 5 in China, respectively. The former currently hosts around 40 games that have been approved by the government.

5G smartphones will account for 35% of all smartphone sold in 2021 according to the analyst firm Gartner. In China, it's expected that 59.5% of smartphones will be equipped with 5G this year.

With Honor now no longer a part of Huawei, the company is reportedly working on a new lineup of devices that support Google Mobile Services for launch in Russia later in the spring.

The Brazilian government looks likely to let Huawei operate in the country's 5G network. The government's leader, Jair Bolsonaro, wanted to block the firm but he has faced resistance.

The United States government has signed a new executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese apps, The order could be revoked by the President-elect once he takes office, though.

The analyst firm TrendForce expects Huawei to drop from third to seventh place in terms of smartphone production as restrictions placed on it by the United States really begin to be felt.

The U.S. government added 77 more companies to the Entity List, banning the firms from trading with U.S. companies without a license, The firms include chipmaker SMIC and popular drone maker DJI.

U.S. Lawmakers wrote to Intel and Nvidia inquiring them about the export of their technology that has potentially been used by China to carry out surveillance of Uyghurs in Xinjiang region.

Carriers will be barred from installing new Huawei equipment from September next year while the purchase of new equipment will be banned earlier in January. Existing equipment can be overhauled.

CEO of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei, said that the firm's divorce with its budget smartphone brand, Honor, will cut off all ties between the two companies, hopefully allowing Honor to regain U.S. tech.

Tesla is looking to rapidly expand its charging network in China. The new factory, which is expected to complete in February 2021, will have the capacity to manufacture 10,000 chargers a year.

If the mission is successful, China will become only the third country to collect and bring back rock samples from the Moon to the Earth—a feat that has not been attempted for the past four decades.

Lawmakers are pushing for banning the installation of Huawei equipment as early as September next year. Violation of the ban would result in heavy fines and taking cuts from sales proceeds.

Huawei has sold its Honor sub-brand to a consortium of over 30 agents and dealers in China. It will no longer have any stake in Honor, with the sale being done to save Honor's industry chain.

Tesla will be replacing suspension components on several car models exported to China between 2013 and 2018. The replacements will be offered to customers free of charge after a recall was issued.

Earlier this month, the Indian Government banned PUBG Mobile in the country. Just after the news, PUBG Corp. dropped Tencent Games but the move was not enough for the government to reverse the ban.

Huawei's rotating chairman Guo Ping has said that the company is ready to source chips from Qualcomm for its products provided the latter is able to get the required license from the U.S. government.

Samsung could close its TV manufacturing plant in Tianjin, China around November time according to sources who have insight on the matter, speaking with Korean news. The factory employs 300 people.