The FM chip listening option has expanded to additional mobile devices, said Clip Interactive, a technology company, in a news release Tuesday. Consumers with the HTC One M8, HTC One M9, HTC Desire 610, LG G3 and Sharp Aquos Crystal can now listen to local FM radio without using data minutes on the Clip Interactive platform, it said. The platform allows consumers to listen to local stations without streaming, which "depletes data allowances and consumes more battery life," Clip Interactive said.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau ordered China-based Shenzhen Tangreat Technology to show cause why certification shouldn't be revoked for a device it offers as a Part 15 Class B computing peripheral for preprocessing data. The device is also an illegal cell-signal jammer, the bureau alleged Tuesday. “We take this action based on evidence that Shenzhen apparently misrepresented to the Commission the equipment to be marketed and sold under the Disputed Authorization,” the bureau said. “Instead of the approved use, Shenzhen apparently marketed and sold jammer equipment, in violation of Sections 302(b) and 333 of the Communications Act of 1934.” In November 2010, agents from the bureau’s Atlanta Field Office examined a unit of the TxTStopper, manufactured under the certification, installed in a vehicle owned by Just Driver Training, a driver’s education training school in Canton, Georgia, the bureau said. “Tests conducted by the agents indicated that the TxTStopper was in fact a cellular/PCS jamming device and that, when installed in a vehicle, the TxTStopper was capable of blocking cellular communications initiated from both inside and outside of the vehicle, apparently including 9-1-1 and other emergency calls,” the bureau said.

Foot Locker bowed a mobile app for iOS and Android platforms featuring emoticons with a shoe theme. The free Shoemoji app, with a library of 80 sneaker emoticons, is designed to let sneaker fans talk about shoes and show off favorite styles, the company said. Users can browse new sneaker styles, and find which Foot Locker stores carry a particular shoe and when they’re available for sale, Foot Locker said. Customers can also buy items and track purchases via a loyalty program using the app, it said.

Customers looking for deals on Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge smartphones have several options, we found in a scan of websites Friday. Inducements include nearly free accessories and discounts dressed as retailer-based gift cards or bill credits, we found. Best Buy is giving consumers who buy the latest Samsung smartphones -- in-store only -- a $200 gift card for a working trade-in phone. Terms and conditions apply but weren't stated. Verizon Wireless is offering $200 back in the form of a $100 Verizon Wireless gift card and a $100 bill credit (applied over two to three months) and a working trade-in phone. Verizon Wireless customers have to port their mobile numbers and activate a two-year Verizon Edge account to be eligible. At AT&T Wireless, a purchase of any Samsung Galaxy smartphone qualifies for a $50 discount on a Samsung Gear Circle accessory that was selling for $99 on Samsung.com Friday but far less at other retailers. The limited-time Gear Circle offer requires a two-year agreement and qualified plan, it said. Sprint is offering a 32 GB S6 for zero down as part of its Unlimited Plus lease plan that’s $80 per month over 24 months with early upgrade capability, it said. T-Mobile will pay customers switching to its service up to $350 per line to cover early termination fees from another carrier contract plus up to $300 for a smartphone trade-in when they buy a Galaxy S6 on contract. T-Mobile payouts come in the form of a prepaid Visa card, the carrier said.

That NAB regularly has communicated with regulators its concerns about the low rate of FM chip activations in smartphones doesn’t mean NAB has changed its position and is now seeking FM chip mandates, Skip Pizzi, NAB senior director-new media technologies, told us at the NAB Show. Rather than seeking mandates, NAB’s aim is to convince the FCC to use “its good offices” to encourage wireless carriers to activate the FM chips already embedded in most new smartphones and to endorse the NextRadio FM smartphone app, Pizzi told us. A just-completed NAB analysis released at the NAB Show found roughly two-thirds of the smartphones sold in the U.S. in 2014 with FM chips embedded weren't activated, and of those, 75 percent were iPhones (see 1504120004). NAB previously stated its policy of not seeking a mandate on FM chips in smartphones last month when it said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler erred in House testimony when he suggested broadcasters were seeking such mandates (see 1503200031). Pizzi's denial that NAB was now seeking mandates came amid several references he made in his NAB Show talk that NAB has conferred regularly with regulators over the FM smartphone chip activations issue. Moreover, NAB President Gordon Smith, in his NAB Show opening keynote, juxtaposed expressions of NAB support for the NextRadio campaign on landing more FM chip activations in smartphones with the promise that "winning our legislative and regulatory battles on Capitol Hill and at the FCC ensures broadcasters will be able to capitalize on these innovations."

The cost for Samsung to double the memory of its Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge smartphones to 64 GB is $13 -- and $26 for doubling it again to 128 GB -- but the cost to consumers is $100 for each memory step up, according to IHS’ teardown of the Galaxy S line. The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge with 64 GB of NAND memory carries a bill of materials (BOM) of $290.45, including the $5.60 manufacturing cost, IHS said, compared with the $799 retail price for the S6 Edge at Verizon. That’s higher than the BOM for a comparable iPhone 6 Plus 64 GB, which has a BOM of $240.05, including the $4.01 manufacturing cost. But at $849, Apple’s online store price for the 6 Plus 64 GB model is $50 higher than the comparable S6 Edge, IHS said. Samsung’s most recent Galaxy S series is its “priciest” to date, IHS said. “Samsung seems to have consistently packed more features and cost into their flagship Galaxy S line of phones over the last three generations of product, now producing a BOM cost that is notably higher than comparable iPhones,” said Andrew Rassweiler, IHS senior director-research and analysis. The top cost driver of the Samsung S6 series is the homegrown Super AMOLED display with Quad HD resolution (2560 x 1440 pixels), which compares with the iPhone 6 Plus’s 1920 x 1080 HD resolution, IHS said. The Edge’s curved display costs $85, about $24 more than the display for the regular version of the S6, and roughly double the cost of the iPhone 6 Plus, which IHS estimated at $41 in November. Other notable Galaxy S6 components' costs, according to IHS: Samsung octa-core, 64-bit apps processor ($29.50), Qualcomm baseband multimode processor ($15), Samsung 64 GB NAND memory ($25), Samsung 3 GB SDRAM memory ($27.50), 16-megapixel rear camera module ($18.50) and 5-megapixel front-camera module ($3). IHS said different carriers in different markets see varying versions of the S6 that don’t use the Qualcomm chipset, and it has procured another model to compare cost differences.

Backers of the NextRadio FM-in-smartphones app hailed the Indiana State Senate’s adoption Thursday of a resolution urging wireless carriers to activate the FM receiver chips in their handsets, the backers said in a Friday statement. NextRadio’s prime mover, Emmis Communications, is based in Indianapolis. The resolution “focused on the need for Indiana residents to have direct access from their smartphones to the emergency information broadcasts of local radio stations,” NextRadio’s backers said: “Activating the FM receiver in smartphones would provide immediate access to a radio in the device most residents currently carry even in the event that wireless data networks become unavailable or overwhelmed.” Except for Sprint, they said, major U.S. wireless carriers “have not taken steps to activate the FM chip in the smartphones they sell, and as they profit from the consumer data usage of streaming media, do not feel compelled to provide a free alternative.” NextRadio launched an “awareness campaign” in February with NAB support to trumpet that FM chips already are built into most new smartphones and need only to be permitted by the carrier and activated with the handset maker (see 1502200041) .

SiBeam is partnering with the NYU Wireless research center at the New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering as an industrial-affiliate sponsor of fundamental research that is creating 5G, a news release from SiBeam said Monday. The FCC is exploring the potential of mobile radio services in the millimeter-wave radio spectrum, which researchers believe could increase today’s mobile data capacity by a thousandfold or more, the release said. SiBeam and NYU Wireless recently filed comments in response to the FCC notice of inquiry aimed at exploring the potential of mobile radio services in bands above 24 GHz, SiBeam said in the release. NYU Wireless filed recommendations on global competitiveness and regulation, safety and feasibility and timing as it seeks to shape and accelerate the 5G future, it said.

ZTE announced the global debut of its affordable Blade S6 Plus smartphone Monday through eBay. The $299.99 device upgrades the 5-inch Blade S6 with a larger 5.5-inch 720p display while keeping the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core chipset, Adreno 405 image processor, Android 5.0 operating system and customizable MiFavor 3.0 user interface, ZTE said. The Blade S6 Plus also has an infrared function that allows the phone to act as a remote control for products including TVs, set-top boxes, air conditioning units and digital cameras, the company said.

CTIA posted a list of apps for blocking unwanted calls to cellphones and posted videos on how to use them. “By using these kinds of apps and features, you make the decision of who you want to hear from, and who you want to block,” Krista Witanowski, CTIA assistant vice president-regulatory affairs, said in a Friday consumer advisory. “What could be considered a nuisance call for one, may be important to someone else,” she wrote. “That’s why it’s important blocked calls and texts are directed by the user, not by the wireless carrier.”