U.S. smartphone penetration reached 80 percent of homes, a 6 percentage point increase from a year ago, CTA said in a report. American consumers now own 27 million more smartphones than they did last year, CTA said. "Smartphones are our personal hubs for innovative technologies like smart homes, connected cars and voice-recognition services,” said President Gary Shapiro. “As more of us recognize the ability of technology to change our lives for the better, smartphones will continue to be one of the most pervasive technologies owned in homes throughout the U.S."

FCC Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Mike O’Rielly said CTIA made the right move in establishing www.stolenphonechecker.org so consumers more easily can check if a used or refurbished smartphone was reported stolen or lost (see 1705110043). “Kudos to wireless industry for launch of consumer tool to help stop smartphone thefts,” Clyburn tweeted. O’Rielly said in a statement that it's “an example of the private sector addressing a need in a thoughtful and effective way.”

CTIA launched an online database tool to help consumers learn whether a used or refurbished smartphone has been reported lost or stolen, it said Thursday. Consumers, police and resellers can use the website to verify the status of a recovered phone by entering a device's unique ID at the website. The ID can be located in the phone’s device settings or on packaging. If a device has been reported as stolen or lost in the database, it will show a red status, and note that wireless service may be blocked from the device, CTIA said.

Global smartphone shipments advanced 6 percent to 353 million units in Q1, said a Wednesday Strategy Analytics report. Apple’s share slipped a percentage point to 14.4 percent share on “lackluster” sales of 50.8 million units, while Oppo was the quarter’s "star performer," its share rising to 7.8 percent on 27.6 million shipments, a 78 percent improvement from Q1 a year earlier, said the report. Samsung regained top position with 23 percent share, shipping 80.2 million units, and has “done well to recover quickly from its recent Galaxy Note 7 battery fiasco," said analyst Neil Mawston. Strategy Analytics expects the Galaxy S8 portfolio to drive Samsung’s upward momentum through the middle of 2017, Mawston said. Apple iPhone shipments declined year-on-year in four of the past five quarters, Mawston said. “Apple has been unable to capitalize on Samsung’s Note 7 missteps, and it is clear that Apple has to do something radical with its rumored upcoming iPhone 8 portfolio in the second half of this year to arrest the ongoing slowdown,” he said. Huawei maintained the third spot with 10 percent global smartphone share in Q1, up from 8 percent a year ago, said analyst Woody Oh, but its year-on-year smartphone growth rate more than halved, to 22 percent from 64 percent, on “intense competition” from Oppo, Vivo and other emerging Chinese rivals, said Oh. Vivo was fourth with 6.3 percent share on shipments of 22.1 million phones, and LG held pace at fifth, selling 14.8 million phones for 4.2 percent market share, it said. The 2017 growth outlook is improving due to economic recovery and stronger consumer sentiment in major regions like China and Brazil, said the research firm.

Global smartphone shipments jumped 4.3 percent in Q1, further proof that “the smartphone industry is not dead and that growth still exists," IDC said in a Thursday report. "There is no question that 2016 was a pivotal year for the industry as growth dipped to low single digits for the first time. However, we believe the industry will show some rebound in 2017, and the strong first quarter results certainly support this argument.” Samsung regained control as the leader in the worldwide smartphone market despite a flat first quarter, IDC said. “Substantial discounts on the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge helped move last year's flagships as they make way for the new S8 and S8+.” Apple’s Q1 shipments “also remained essentially flat,” it said. “The strong holiday fourth quarter carried into the month of January as the larger iPhone 7 Plus returned to stock across most channels in numerous regions.”

Fifth Amendment protections apply at the border, giving people the right to refuse to supply passwords to their electronic devices in most circumstances, said the Electronic Frontier Foundation in a Wednesday blog post. EFF criminal defense staff attorney Stephanie Lacambra said the Fifth Amendment gives people the right to remain silent and to refuse to provide evidence that could be held against them. If a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent asks a question, a person can respond that he or she chooses to remain silent and ask for a lawyer, said Lacambra. CBP agents can pressure people to "voluntarily" talk and they’re "permitted to lie ... to convince you to waive your right to remain silent." Some courts have "held that a person's request for an attorney is enough to invoke the privilege against self-incrimination, even at the border. And that privilege includes refusing to provide the password to your device," she said, adding that other courts have been less protective. In the first six months of FY 2017, CBP reported searching electronic devices of nearly 15,000 international travelers to the U.S., more than in past years (see 1704110051). The agency has increasingly sought access to devices from American citizens and permanent residents as well, prompting a bipartisan bill requiring a warrant be obtained before searching such devices (see 1704050030 and 1703170019). Lacambra said refusing to provide a password results in different consequences depending on a person's status. CBP agents can't detain a U.S. citizen indefinitely though they may flag a person for heightened screening in the future. Agents may "raise complicated questions" about a green-card holder's status, and a foreign visitor may be denied entry, she said. Regardless of a person's status, CBP can seize a device and hold it for months, she added.

After the Galaxy Note7 debacle, Samsung “is hoping to bring a different kind of heat with the Galaxy S8,” iFixit said Monday in a teardown analysis of the new smartphone based on the ease with which it can be repaired. “Does the S8 have what it takes to blast off without blowing up?” iFixit asked. It rates the S8 a four on a “repairability” scale of zero to 10, with a 10 being easiest to repair. Its key takeaways: (1) “You'd think that after Samsung's less than stellar battery record, they'd have a quick eject system for these little packs.” Not so with the S8, iFixit said. “This cell is firmly (and we mean firmly) adhered. And it's not like it's especially hard to have a removable battery -- it's done all over the phone world.” (2) Lots of components in the S8 “are modular and can be replaced independently,” it said. (3) Front and back glass “make for double the crackability, and strong adhesive on both makes it tough to access the internals for any repair,” it said. (4) “Because of the curved screen, replacing the front glass without destroying the display is extremely difficult.”

Federal or state laws that require smartphones made, leased or sold in the U.S. be unlocked so law enforcement can gain access to encrypted data are a threat to innovation, said Tech:NYC, a coalition of New York City tech companies, in its first policy paper. "Were a federal or state legislature to pass a decryption bill, then this technology would likely move offshore and into more open-source software that's not controlled by a single entity, available to only the savviest users," concluded the paper released Thursday. It said protecting people's sensitive data ensures their civil liberties. Most of the paper rehashed the Apple v. FBI fight over the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino, California, mass shooters in 2015 (see 1606240051) and legislative efforts in New York and elsewhere regulating device encryption. The paper said the Trump administration would "advocate strongly in favor of requiring access," based on the statements from President Donald Trump, CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Attorney General Jeff Sessions over the past year.

“CTIA reiterated the wireless industry’s commitment to working with the Commission on use of" embedded clickable links in wireless emergency alerts, "but noted its concerns about implementing such functionality without adequate feasibility testing,” said a filing in docket 15-91 on a meeting with FCC Public Safety Bureau staff. “CTIA and its members continue to urge the FCC and other governmental stakeholders to be mindful of the potential limitations of embedded reference functionality beyond the control of wireless carriers.” The association said the National Hurricane Center’s website wasn't available for a period of time during Hurricane Matthew. The standards work is complete but “implementation by handset manufacturers and operating system providers will be necessary before consumers will be able to ‘click’ on embedded references,” the group said.

Sprint is offering a free 32 GB iPhone 7 to consumers who switch to a Sprint contract and turn in select Apple, Samsung or LG smartphones, it announced Monday. The offer also applies to existing customers who add a line of service, it said.