The FCC reminded carriers Tuesday of revised rules for wireless emergency alerts, approved in 2016 (see 1609290060), which take effect Wednesday. The order increased the maximum length of WEA messages from 90 to 360 characters for 4G LTE and future networks, created a new class of alerts -- public safety messages -- to “convey essential recommended actions that can save lives or property,” such as information on emergency shelter locations or boil water orders, and requires carriers to send out alerts in Spanish. The order also requires presenting the message on the device as soon as it's received. The FCC “adopted these improvements to help communities communicate clearly and effectively about imminent threats and local crises, and to create a framework that would allow emergency managers to test, exercise, and raise public awareness about WEA,” said the Public Safety Bureau notice.

Following the “recent debacle with foldable screens,” full-display smartphones will initially be best realized through better biometrics, said ABI Research Tuesday. Vendors are either increasing screen-to-body size ratios or offering a foldable or flexible screen to enable full-display phones, said analyst Stephanie Tomsett, but they also can get there by reducing the need for sensors, buttons and other features on the front screen. Camera-based recognition will be a dominant smartphone biometric technology, reaching 487 million shipments in 2023, followed by in-display fingerprint scanners with nearly 228 shipments in the same time frame, said Tomsett. In-display fingerprint scanners remove the need for an additional sensor or button on the front of the device, putting the technology behind the screen, and camera notches and punch holes, such as those in Samsung Infinity displays, also allow roomier screens. LG’s Crystal Sound OLED screen uses the display as a speaker, eliminating the need to house speakers on the front, and ultrasound gesture control technologies replace the need for additional front sensors, she said. On possible future technologies, Apple has a patent for an iPhone that allows the screen to be a speaker, Samsung has a patent for a smartphone that allows the screen to be a camera and LG has a smartphone patent outlining a full-screen, all-display device, said the analyst. With any number of options, including foldable displays, “there is some debate as to how these options can be used in tandem, and whether some will be become obsolete due to their lack of utility, excessive added costs, or delivery of poor user experiences." Bezels, she said, help protect for the sides of a phone and accidental interaction with the side of the screen; eliminating them would require a different fix to prevent "unwanted interactions."

Tests by three major wireless carriers of dispatchable location technology show it can work but isn’t ready for prime time, CTIA told the FCC, posted Monday in docket 07-114. The association said 30,090 test calls were placed on the wireless networks of the three carriers participating in the simulation: AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. “These results reflect the capabilities of an emerging technology, rather than the capabilities of a complete, ready-to-deploy system,” the report said. “This campaign demonstrated the fundamental ability of Dispatchable Location technology to deliver accurate civic addresses. It also identified the current limitations of this technology at this early stage.” In tests, 82.6 percent of valid calls resulted in delivery of an address for the caller and 74 percent the correct address. CTIA and representatives of the carriers met with Public Safety Bureau staff last week to discuss results. “The wireless industry remains committed to enhancing indoor 9-1-1 location accuracy through innovative solutions,” CTIA said.

Samsung was the sole top-four smartphone maker to lose market share in India in Q1, as Vivo’s share jumped 108 percent on shipments of 4.5 million, reported Canalys Friday. Vivo’s stake grew to 15 percent behind Samsung at 24.4 percent (down 1.8 percent) and leader Xiaomi at 31.4 percent (up 0.9 percent). Analyst Rushabh Doshi attributed Vivo’s growth to “expensive bets” on marketing rights for cricket: It paid six times the previous amount to retain title sponsorship of the Indian Premier League, touted as the world’s richest league. The company also hired a popular Bollywood actor as brand ambassador, he said.

The Samsung website showed no results when we hit the “where to buy” button Thursday for the indefinitely delayed Galaxy Fold smartphone, initially slated to go on sale Friday, before prerelease reviews reported that broken screens on the device were common (see 1904240027). Samsung's website listed AT&T and T-Mobile as carriers for the bendable Fold, but when we hit the “where to buy” button, the U.S. map directing shoppers to available markets came up empty, and a pop-up read “no online retailer.” When we searched for Samsung Fold at AT&T.com, a “page unresponsive” notice came up and we were redirected to a page for the Galaxy S10, S10+ and S10e phones, due in stores Friday. T-Mobile defaulted to a case for the Tab E Incipio tablet, which has a folding base. Verizon responded to a Fold search with the series 10 Galaxy phones in a redirect, along with a Samsung Chromebook Plus, Galaxy Book 2 and Belkin “tri-fold” case for the Galaxy Tab E. At Sprint, the first phone to pop up in a Fold search was the iPhone XR, followed by the Samsung Galaxy S10e. Meanwhile, Samsung emailed customers they can score a free SmartThings hub and up to $250 for a tablet trade-in when they buy the new Tab S5e tablet. The S5e starts at $399 for a 10.5-inch Wi-Fi version. At Samsung.com, the company is offering no-interest financing for the tablets on a six-month payment plan.

The iPhone XS, XS Max and XR models launched last fall accounted for 59 percent of U.S. iPhone sales in the March quarter, reported Consumer Intelligence Research Partners Wednesday, with the lower priced XR at 38 percent. The researcher estimated the newest models had similar sales rates as last year’s newest models, at about 60 percent of total sales, at an average selling price of about $800, down from the December quarter. As Apple begins to emphasize services over hardware, “results are highly uneven,” said analyst Mike Levin. CIRP estimated 48 percent of U.S. users paid for iCloud storage in the quarter, 3 percent bought AppleCare support, 21 percent used Apple Music and 13 percent used the legacy iTunes music service. ICloud, which integrates easily with Apple devices and “solves a common storage problem at a modest cost,” had the highest penetration, CIRP said. AppleCare warranties “sell poorly,” against “intense competition” from mobile phone carriers, retailers and other warranty providers, said Levin. Apple faces similar competition in music from Spotify, Amazon, Pandora and others, he noted. Findings were based on a survey of 500 U.S. Apple customers who purchased an iPhone, iPad, Mac computer, or Apple Watch January-March.

Samsung’s Galaxy Fold smartphone is “Fragile with a capital ‘F,’” which was the “big takeaway” of iFixit’s teardown analysis, said the right-to-repair company Wednesday. Samsung this week postponed the Galaxy Fold launch from Friday to a date not certain after online reviewers reported the displays on test samples Samsung sent them broke a day or two after being unboxed (see 1904220028). The Galaxy Fold “is, without question, an ambitious first-generation device,” said iFixit. Time will tell if the problems reviewers encountered are just “temporary setbacks” or the prelude to a “a full-blown AirPower-style product cancellation,” it said. Apple scrapped the AirPower wireless charging mat’s commercial introduction after concluding internally the product wasn't up to snuff (see 1903290062). The Galaxy Fold has a “ton of entry points for dust and other foreign matter to make their way inside, and there are so many different ways for the screen to break,” said iFixit. Its main bezels are “super slim,” it said. “They barely cover two millimeters of display, while leaving a 7 mm gap at the top and bottom. That doesn’t seem like much protection.” Samsung didn’t comment.

Smaller carriers are lining up against Verizon, which asked the FCC to let it adopt a temporary, 60-day lock on 4G LTE handsets to ensure bona fide customers are purchasing the handsets. Verizon faces special restrictions because of the rules for the 700 C-block spectrum the carrier bought at auction. “This targeted, 60-day period will enable Verizon to determine whether a new device was obtained by a legitimate customer who makes the first payment on that device and that the payment clears processing,” it replied, posted Monday in docket 06-150. “This is similar to, though narrower than, the locking practices of other large U.S. wireless carriers, except that unlike all other carriers Verizon will unlock the device automatically at the end of the 60-day period, regardless of whether the device has been fully paid off.” The Rural Wireless Association said the FCC should reject the request. “When the Commission adopted its open access requirements in the 700 MHz Order, including the handset locking rule, it did so based on a complete record and with clarity,” RWA said. T-Mobile and other carriers opposed Verizon in initial comments. “Rules governing devices using the 700 MHz C Block were adopted based on a record that leaves little doubt about what the Commission intended,” T-Mobile said.

The BlackBerry Key2 smartphone, launched at Mobile World Congress in February, is available in a limited Red edition in the U.S. under the TCL brand, said the China-based company Friday. The $699 phone includes increased memory at 6 MB and 128 GB storage vs. the $399 standard version, it said, and dual 12-megapixel rear cameras with bokeh, dual-tone LED flash, HDR and 4K video recording. An 8-megapixel "selfie" camera faces front. The Key2 has support for Google Lens, Pay and Assistant; it won't work on CDMA networks from Sprint and Verizon, the company said. TCL signed on to license the BlackBerry brand in 2016 (see 1612200062) after BlackBerry’s decision to stop developing its own consumer hardware.

Google will give European Android users new screens that allow them to download search apps and browsers, it said Thursday. The move follows last year's European Commission decision to fine the search engine $5.1 billion for antitrust violations (see 1807180003) for: (1) Forcing manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and Chrome browser apps as a condition for licensing its app store. (2) Paying large device makers and mobile operators to ensure they exclusively pre-install the search app on their smartphones; and (3) Preventing manufacturers that wanted to pre-install Google apps from selling smart mobile devices running on alternative versions of Android not approved by Google. The new screens will be displayed the first time someone opens Google Play after getting an update, blogged Product Management Director Paul Gennai. Two screens will surface, one for search apps and another for browsers, each containing five apps, including any already installed. Those not already installed will be included based on their popularity, shown in random order and vary by country, he said. Users will be able to tap as many apps as they want, and if an additional search app or browser is installed, they'll see a screen with instructions on how to set it up. Users who download a search app will be asked if they want to change Chrome's default search engine. The screens, the result of EC feedback, will roll out "over the next few weeks" and will apply to existing and new Android phones, Gennai said. The screen choice "does nothing to correct the central problem that Google apps will remain the default on all Android devices," said Thomas Vinje, counsel to FairSearch, the primary complainant in the Android case. Few users will move away from Android devices with Google apps and search pre-installed due to convenience and years of abusive product placement that built Google's brands, emailed Initiative for a Competitive Online Marketplace Chairman Michael Weber. "Competition and consumer choice will not be restored before Google and Android are really separated, and all the third party deals tying in Google end."