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Dutch company TomTom to partner with Chinese tech giant

After a conflict with the American authorities, the largest Chinese smartphone maker Huawei has found a new partner to develop its own mapping service. Dutch company TomTom, known for its GPS navigators, became a contractor, Business Insider reports.

“We can confirm that developers can now use TomTom Maps APIs, Map content and traffic services via Huawei’s developer portal,” a TomTom spokesman said to Business Insider. As of now, Huawei has declined to comment on the deal.

As you know, in May 2019 the Donald Trump administration added Huawei to the black list of companies that “pose a threat to US national security.” From now on, all American companies need to obtain permission from the authorities to cooperate with blacklisted companies. Huawei denies all espionage charges.

Although the US has temporarily resumed trade with China, Google has already disconnected Huawei’s new products from its services. So, old Android models still have access to Google applications, but new flagship smartphones, such as the Mate 30 and the upcoming P40, will be deprived of it.

Huawei is trying to create its own application ecosystem. Last week, the company announced plans to allocate $26 million to create applications for its AppGallery store. British and Irish companies will be responsible for the development process.

Huawei is also actively promoting its own Harmony OS operating system. It is not yet known whether the company will release new smartphones based on it, but Huawei has announced that it plans to use Harmony in its tablets and TVs.