The FCC needs "to make both mid- and high- band spectrum available to enable the full suite of 5G services," said T-Mobile, which said it would launch 5G in the 600 MHz band. In meetings with Commissioners Brendan Carr and Mike O'Rielly and aides, "We discussed actions and plans by countries around the world to provide mid-band spectrum, including in the 3.5-4.2 GHz range for 5G services and the need for the Commission to move rapidly to make spectrum in this range available in the U.S.," said a filing posted Friday in docket 17-258. "To preserve U.S. leadership in wireless technologies, we urged the Commission to complete the rulemaking proceeding intended to update the regulations governing 3550-3700 MHz band and to initiate steps to auction Priority Access Licenses in that band in 2018." T-Mobile sought an NPRM "covering, and [to] otherwise accelerate its consideration of, the use of the 3.7-4.2 GHz band for terrestrial mobile broadband networks," the company said. "We discussed the need to move quickly to auction the millimeter wave bands allocated for terrestrial mobile use in the Spectrum Frontiers proceeding. ... Auctioning all bands together will result in a more robust and competitive auction."

THX and i-Blades partnered on the Smartcase, a mobile phone case for Samsung Galaxy 6, 7 and 8 series smartphones with interchangeable snap-on blades that add functionality. THX AAA brings what the company calls an ultimate audio experience with the “world’s highest fidelity audio signal” delivering higher peak output than is possible with standard phones, while maximizing battery life. The THX technology cuts harmonic, intermodulation and crossover distortion by 20-40 dB, creating a more realistic and less fatiguing listening experience, said THX. Its “feed-forward” topology nulls conventional distortion and noise, resulting in a highly linear amplifier, it said. Prices start at $79; iPhone cases are due later this half.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is promising more precise geo-targeting of wireless emergency alerts, with a WEA proposal he said circulated Monday to be included on the Jan. 30 meeting agenda. Pai said Monday that wireless carriers in the WEA program delivering better geo-targeted alerts would encourage more use of the alerts during emergencies and lead to the public taking such alerts more seriously. The agenda is expected to be released Tuesday. CTIA, in a statement in response to Pai's announcement, said it backed the chairman's efforts to enhance the WEA system’s geo-targeting capabilities through device-based solutions, and the agency "should adopt new rules that are technically feasible along an achievable timeline.” Separately, in a docket 15-91 ex parte filing posted Monday, CTIA recapped meetings with aides to Pai and other commissioners at which it said device-based geo-targeting will take at least 36 months to implement after the effective date of new FCC rules. It said the kind of "fundamental shift" in WEA capabilities that such geo-targeting requires incudes new mobile wireless network and device standards, and the agency needs to adopt "a reasonable timeline" for achievement. It said testing new WEA enhancements with a prototype device using device-based geo-targeting methods could happen by the end of 2019. In a separate filing posted Monday, the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions Wireless Technologies and Systems Committee listed 15 standards that would need to be modified or developed for device-based geo-targeting. It said such standards work would take 12-18 months. And the Federal Emergency Management Agency said for geo-targeting alert messages, it saw little need for coordinate precision beyond the fourth decimal point of degree, which works out to about 11 meters or 36 feet. The agency said this doesn't conflict with efforts to have WEA-driven device-based geo-targeting with a one-tenth mile accuracy.

Updated federal rules for border searches of electronic media “fall short of what the Constitution requires -- a search warrant with probable cause,” said Neema Singh Guliani, legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union. The Department of Homeland Security last week updated its border search policy, which enables agents to look through photos, emails, documents and other material stored on electronic devices but doesn't compel travelers to provide pass codes or access to encrypted information. “As a constitutional matter, border search authority is premised in part on a reduced expectation of privacy associated with international travel,” the policy statement said. “Congress should continue to press CBP to improve its policy,” Guliani said.

Public safety and local government groups said the FCC should act on enhanced requirements for wireless emergency alerts. They are seeking upgrades that include improved geo-targeting, multimedia and multilingual alerting, and “many-to-one” feedback. “All of the organizations that have signed on to this letter appreciate the efforts the Commission and the industry have taken thus far but write today, in light of recent emergencies, to underscore the critical need for these improvements to be instituted no later than May of 2019,” the letter said. “Many of the requested enhancements have been under discussion for the last several years, some longer, and it is now time for action.” The Big City Emergency Managers, International Association of Emergency Managers, National Emergency Management Association, U.S. Conference of Mayors and National Emergency Number Association signed the letter, in docket 15-91.

Artificial intelligence features will become a “critical product differentiator” for smartphone vendors that will help them acquire new customers while retaining current users, said Gartner in a Thursday report. “As the smartphone market shifts from selling technology products to delivering compelling and personalized experiences, AI solutions running on the smartphone will become an essential part of vendor roadmaps over the next two years,” it said. Gartner estimates that by 2022, 80 percent of smartphones shipped will have “on-device AI capabilities,” up from 10 percent in 2017, it said: “On-device AI is currently limited to premium devices and provides better data protection and power management than full cloud-based AI, since data is processed and stored locally.” As a product differentiator in an increasingly commoditized market, “future AI capabilities will allow smartphones to learn, plan and solve problems for users,” said Gartner. “This isn't just about making the smartphone smarter, but augmenting people by reducing their cognitive load.”

Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure named a new chief financial officer, Michel Combes, effective Jan. 6. He replaces Tarek Robbiati, exiting at month's end. “Combes will support Claure and the senior leadership team as the company enters a new phase of transformation to deliver profitable growth,” said a Thursday news release. “He will be responsible for leading the company’s financial operations, strategy and continued cost transformation.” Combes was previously at Vodafone Europe, French tower company TDF, France Telecom, Alcatel-Lucent, SFR Group and Altice, Well Fargo’s Jennifer Fritzsche said. He resigned from Altice last year (see 1711140042). Combes is seen as a “turn-around” specialist, the analyst wrote. “Robbiati did a very impressive job as to what he was tasked to do -- lower the company's cost of capital,” Fritzsche said. “However, at this point in Sprint's evolution we believe Combes' turnaround expertise will be well served.”

AT&T expects to be the first U.S. carrier to launch mobile 5G in a dozen markets by year-end, it said Thursday. “The promise of mobile 5G is seemingly endless and we're moving fast to make that promise a reality.” Verizon and Samsung Electronics America said Wednesday they plan to launch in Sacramento, also in 2018 (see 1801030020). AT&T said the launch will be standards-based. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project “completed key elements of 5G new radio (NR) standards last month,” the carrier said. “Hardware, chipset and device manufacturers can start development. This allows us to provide mobile 5G services sooner. We're confident this latest standards milestone will allow us to bring 5G to market faster without compromising its long-term vision.”

Flipsy.com pitched its cellular phone buyback finder Friday, saying the average used smartphone is worth $140. The company’s online tool gives customers the highest-paying cash offer from online and local stores that buy used phones, along with historical phone value trends and which companies offer price locks for later sale.

Allstate’s SquareTrade, a protection plan provider, will offer smartphone screen repair services “to anyone that needs them” at the Pepcom Digital Experience event before CES on Jan. 8, 7-10 p.m., at the Mirage hotel, said the company in a Thursday email. The insurer will also offer two-year protection plans to the first 50 people visiting the SquareTrade table, it said. It will demonstrate its Dropbot campaign that uses robots to “drop, dunk, slide and bend devices to destruction” to show the “fragility” of glass designs that it said are making mobile devices “more susceptible to damage” and costly to repair. The company will discuss new pricing plans set to roll out over 2018. SquareTrade maintains 80 percent of consumers overpay for insurance via the four major wireless carriers.