CTIA warned the FCC on potential technical concerns with requiring carriers to transmit multimedia files in wireless emergency alerts, responding to a Public Safety Bureau notice to update the record (see 1803280029 and 1805290059). The commission should "recognize the significant technical and operational limitations -- both with wireless networks and WEA-capable devices -- that would be very challenging to overcome,” said comments in docket 15-91. CTIA noted the FCC now requires carriers to support the transmission of embedded URLs and phone numbers in alerts: “The WEA system was intentionally designed to transmit only very small amounts of text data to ensure the timely delivery of WEA messages.” Even with successful tests January and April in the National Capital Region (see 1804050053), WEA requires multimedia enhancements, commented the District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency. “While both of these tests demonstrated our ability to provide key information to Washington, DC's residents, commuters, and guests, our WEA messaging was limited by the technical constraints of the WEA system.” Support for images would “provide instant recognition and speak a universal language,” while making WEA more accessible to people with disabilities, it said. Other commenters also asked the FCC to move forward. Despite recent enhancements, “significant gaps remain between what today’s technology can offer and what the WEA System supports,” said New York City’s Emergency Management Department. “Chief among these gaps is the inability to incorporate multimedia (e.g., images, maps, infographics, etc.) into WEA messages. The need for this capability within the WEA System has been thoroughly documented in the public record.” The Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management said the lack of multimedia capability made WEAs less effective during recent wildfires and flooding in California. Multimedia WEA messages “would be of tremendous benefit to the deaf and hard of hearing,” said groups representing that community, led by Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. “While multimedia capabilities provide significant benefit to all recipients, they offer special and unique benefits to the deaf and hard of hearing population many of whom rely on visual information for emergency and nonemergency information.” Other industry commenters share CTIA’s concerns. ATIS said it remains “concerned with the congestion-related impacts” of URLs now required by the FCC. Industry needs time to see how including embedded URLs work, the group said. “The use of URLs with appropriate best practices (e.g. well-designed website links) is the only effective means of providing multimedia in WEA today,” ATIS said. AT&T raised technological concerns. “The arrival of 5G will not alter the WEA technology roadmap -- cell broadcast is and will remain the primary way to send WEA messages,” AT&T said. “Cell broadcast technology, which is optimized for text messages, will be extremely challenged to support multimedia messages -- even smaller files like static photos, much less video files.” Proposals have emerged that images be converted to binary data and sent over multiple cell broadcast messages, the carrier said. “This would require significant standards development, for both the network and handsets, and would require new handsets, introducing backwards compatibility and roaming challenges.”

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., said he's satisfied with Apple's Wednesday announcement it will offer a $50 credit to customers who paid last year for an out-of-warranty battery replacement for the company's iPhone 6 or later devices. Thune raised concerns in January about Apple's decision to slow the performance of iPhone 6 cellphones in response to the diminishing performance of device batteries (see 1801100063). Apple apologized in December (see 1712290019). “Full transparency about actions that could degrade the performance of a purchase is especially critical when it involves changes to complicated technology that might not be readily apparent to consumers,” Thune said in a Wednesday statement.

Paris-based Hadoro launched a line of custom iPhone Xs with backs made from carbon fiber, sapphire glass, relic wood or marble and an anodized stainless-steel housing. A signature feature is an illumination technique for the Apple logo, which lights up when the phone is powered on and when calls and texts are received, said the company. Light intensity and notifications can be changed in settings, it said. The luxury phones will be sold on Hadoro’s website and at Harrods in London, Nous in Paris and Ali Bin Ali in Qatar, starting at $5,300.

Comcast told the FCC it plans to adopt Shaken/Stir call authentication standards aimed at combating spoofed robocalling, starting with trials this year and scaling to "fuller implementation during 2019." It discussed its plans, along with "call display, traceback and network-based options for robocall mitigation" with Chief Technology Officer Eric Burger and other staffers, said a filing Friday in docket 17-59. The company "exchanges a significant majority of its traffic over IP-based interconnections" and said "broader adoption of IP interconnection will enhance the use and effectiveness" of Secure Handling of Asserted Information using toKENs/Secure Telephony Identity Revisited. AT&T last week offered a similar timeline, while Sprint backed the standards but noted hurdles (see 1805170018). FCC Chairman Ajit Pai May 14 accepted the VoIP-oriented call authentication recommendations of the North American Numbering Council for creating a Shaken/Stir framework within a year and encouraging carrier implementation (see 1805140028).

AT&T and Sprint backed Shaken/Stir call authentication standards intended to combat spoofed robocalling, but Sprint said there are deployment hurdles and industry limitations. AT&T plans to implement Secure Handling of Asserted Information using toKENs/Secure Telephony Identity Revisited protocols and procedures for authenticating calls "in parallel" with a one-year industry timeline for setting up a related governance structure, said a filing Wednesday on a discussion with Chief Technology Officer Eric Burger and other staffers, in docket 17-59. "AT&T plans to conduct further testing in 2018 and begin a general rollout in 2019." While supporting Shaken/Stir, Sprint "cautioned that there are logistical obstacles to immediate deployment and that even when it is deployed, it will not be an immediate silver bullet that will eliminate illegal robocalls." Carriers adopting Shaken/Stir "need support from network suppliers and testing tools," said a filing on a meeting with Wireline Bureau Chief Kris Monteith, Burger and others. "Merely signing calls will not combat robocalls unless intermediate carriers, terminating carriers, and equipment manufacturers are all supporting the protocols and providing information to analytics companies for ultimate use by the recipient of the call." Sprint cited "advances that analytics companies have made in identifying robocalls and displaying that information to customers so they can make informed decisions about whether to answer a call, block it, or send to voicemail." FCC Chairman Ajit Pai May 14 accepted the VoIP-oriented call authentication recommendations of the industry-dominated North American Numbering Council for creating a Shaken/Stir framework within a year, with carriers encouraged but not required to implement the standards in the same time (see 1805140028 and 1805030014).

NextRadio developer Emmis Communications feels “very strongly about the future" for the FM-reception smartphone app, said CEO Jeff Smulyan on a Thursday earnings call. “We’ve had some terrific discussions with other broadcasters about that future, and we’re working on that.” Emmis also is “excited about the future for NextRadio outside the United States, not only in Latin America and Canada, but also now in Asia,” he said. Q4 ended Feb. 28 was “another good quarter” for NextRadio, said Smulyan. The quarter included Samsung’s agreement to unlock FM chips in its Galaxy phones and JVCKenwood’s CES announcement adopting NextRadio for the connected car (see 1801120025). “I think we are seeing the realization among our industry and among advertisers of the value of the data attribution to advertisers that we provide” through NextRadio, he said. “Stay tuned for more interesting announcements from NextRadio and our involvement with other broadcasters, who see the value of the work that we’re doing, that we need to do as an industry.”

Japanese wireless carriers KDDI, NTT DoCoMo and SoftBank launched rich communications services based on GSM Association specifications, GSMA said Wednesday: Called "+ message," it's an upgrade to SMS, adding "messaging features such as chat, group chat, video, gifs, file and location sharing.” The service “is poised for explosive growth this year with more and more operators launching,” said Alex Sinclair, GSMA chief technology officer.

Vermont state senators supported continuing talks about electronics “right to repair,” concurring Wednesday with House amendments to a bill (S-180) to set up a task force to examine the need for legislation (see 1805040039). The Senate tweaked the bill further and returned it to the House. That day, the House disagreed with Senate amendments to a privacy bill (H-764) that would mandate security standards for data brokers and require them to report annually to the Vermont secretary of state. The House appointed members to a conference committee to settle differences with the Senate, which passed it 30-0 Tuesday. The Software & Information Industry Association last month opposed the measure as unconstitutional and burdensome to tech companies, but the Vermont Public Interest Research Group supported it as giving consumers more control over personal information (see 1804100042).

Despite its $1,000 entry point, the iPhone X was the world’s best-selling smartphone in Q1 with 16 million shipped, Strategy Analytics reported Friday. Total smartphone shipments dropped 2.4 percent from the year-ago quarter to 345.4 million, said SA. The firm estimates Apple shipped nearly 50 million iPhone X phones globally since the November launch, capturing 5 percent market share. Apple’s 8 and 8 Plus, with 12.5 million and 8.3 million shipments, are in second and third, and the iPhone 7, with 5.6 million shipments, is fourth in global market share, it said. In Q1, Apple owned four of the world’s six most popular smartphone models, it said. The report placed Xiaomi’s Redmi 5A in fifth with 5.4 million shipments and the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus, which began shipping during the quarter, in sixth with 5.3 million units. The research firm expects the S9 Plus to become the best-selling Android smartphone globally this quarter.

Blu Products settled with the FTC over allegations the mobile phone manufacturer allowed a third-party service provider from China to collect personal information about consumers without consent despite privacy agreements, the agency said Monday. Blu “misled consumers by falsely claiming that they limited third-party collection of data from users of BLU’s devices to only information needed to perform requested services,” FTC alleged. The company “falsely represented" personal information protections, the agency said. BLU didn’t comment.