The FCC Public Safety Bureau will host a workshop May 8 on the use of apps on smartphones and other mobile devices to contact 911, the FCC said Wednesday. “Topics addressed in the workshop will include: how existing apps are assisting in the provision of 911 service, how 911 network architecture affects requirements for app design and delivery, and future steps needed to encourage further development and integration of 911 apps into the broader 911 ecosystem,” the FCC said. The workshop will be at FCC headquarters and more details will be revealed closer to the event, a public notice said.
The International Trade Commission began two Section 337 investigations into patent infringement by iPhones and iPads imported by Apple, it said in news releases (here) and (here) March 30. Ericsson requested the investigations in February, alleging Apple is infringing its patents for 2G and 4G/LTE standards, as well as design of semiconductor components, user interface software, location services and applications and the iOS operating system. Ericsson asked the ITC to issue limited exclusion orders and cease and desist orders banning import and sale of infringing products by Apple.
Spotify and Sony unveiled a new option that lets gamers using a PS4 concurrently listen to music, said Spotify in a news release. The partnership lets the player use a mobile device or tablet to skip tracks or change volume of the music instead of requiring the gamer to pause the game, Spotify said. Spotify on PlayStation Music rolled out on PS4 Monday and also will be available on Sony Xperia for smartphones and tablets, the release said.
Only 16 percent of current iPhone users would "never consider” upgrading or switching to a Samsung smartphone, ecoATM said a survey it commissioned found. The survey canvassed 637 iPhone users and was conducted Feb. 22-23, ecoATM said. That’s about a week before Samsung announced its Galaxy S 6 and Galaxy S 6 Edge on March 1 for April delivery (see 1503040051). Nearly a third of iPhone users canvassed said they would switch to a Samsung “for the right price and features,” ecoATM said. “Price may be the biggest factor for iPhone owners, with 42 percent reporting they would consider upgrading” to a new Samsung phone if offered the upgrade for free or for a very low price, it said. As for the features that might inspire iPhone users to switch to a Samsung, 21 percent would consider it for longer battery life, 18 percent for a larger screen size, it said. But brand loyalty "plays an important role” in iPhone nation, it said.
China, the world’s largest smartphone market, saw Q4 handset shipments reach 105 million, a 16 percent “sequential” increase from Q3, Bharat Book Bureau, the India-based market research firm, said Friday in a report. Overall smartphone shipments in China declined 7.9 percent for all of 2014 to 388.8 million units, the report said. Bharat estimates 248 models of smartphones from all suppliers were launched in China Q4, it said. Apple rode the “white hot” sales of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus to the top market share position in China for Q4, when it shipped a total of 17.3 million iPhones of various models, it said. Supplier Xiaomi lagged only slightly behind Apple with 17 million units shipped Q4, it said. IDC has estimated that Xiaomi is the world’s third-largest distributor of smartphones behind Samsung and Apple.
Representatives of CTIA disputed arguments by Google, NCTA, Federated Wireless and various public interest groups that the FCC should “effectively bar” LTE-unlicensed from the 3.5 GHz shared spectrum band. The FCC is moving toward final rules for spectrum sharing in the 3.5 GHz band and tweaking its rules after several comment rounds (see 1502050049). In meetings with officials from the FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology, a filing in docket 12-354 said, CTIA said: “It is not the agency’s role to make technology choices. LTE-U is a promising new technology and one possible solution that does not preclude other air interface solutions that meet the FCC’s technical requirements.” The order also should support devices that are tunable across the 3.5 GHz band and encourage investment by Priority Access Licenses that pay for better access to the band, it said.
Consumers Union is asking the FCC to stop telemarketers from finding loopholes in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and using robocalls to cellphones, said a CU news release Wednesday. CU said it added to the series of petitions submitted to the FCC in support of the act by delivering about 130,000 petition signatures to the agency Wednesday. Some telemarketing and financial service companies are lobbying the FCC to allow “wrong party” robocalls to cellphones, which would subject consumers to intrusive calls if the company obtains a number previously owned by someone else, or if a debt collector associates a number with the wrong person, CU said. It's working to pressure phone companies to offer free, effective call blocking tools to stop unwanted and illegal robocalls.
ABI Research said smartphones will be a primary driver for a forecast $3.1 billion in global revenue in 2015 for the biometrics industry’s consumer and enterprise sectors. Rapid advances in biometrics will drive further smartphone hardware upgrades, ABI said Wednesday. “Biometry is moving rapidly into the security ecosystem and its adoption by CE devices will jumpstart this phenomenon,” said ABI analyst Dimitrios Pavlakis in a news release. “Smartphone biometrics provide not only a secure alternative for authentication, mobile payments, and [bring your own device] initiatives but also enhance user experience, navigation, mobility, and versatility.”
Verizon seems like a likely buyer of Sprint spectrum if that carrier puts some of its extensive holdings for sale on the secondary market, BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk said Tuesday in a blog post. Piecyk said Verizon needs spectrum and may be able to buy it from Dish Network and Sprint, while still participating in the TV incentive auction. “Sprint could sell at least 60 MHz of spectrum to all three existing wireless operators and not violate the existing spectrum screen,” he wrote. “It’s not clear how much spectrum Sprint would be willing to sell but we believe that existing wireless operators would likely be interested in a minimum of a 20 MHz and unlikely more than 40 MHz.” Piecyk said AWS-3 spectrum isn't included in the screen until the spectrum is within three years of being cleared. Verizon has more than 40 percent of U.S. postpaid customers with roughly 18 percent of available spectrum “and the data usage of its existing customers continues to rise,” Piecyk wrote. “Sprint has more spectrum than any operator resulting from its effective foreclosure on the 2.5 GHz spectrum band, which is quickly becoming the go to capacity source for operators around the world.”
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., introduced the Unlocking Technology Act Tuesday. Her office released the text of the six-page bill, which has the backing of Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Jared Polis, D-Colo. “It’s simple -- you should be free to unlock the mobile devices and media you legally purchase,” Lofgren said in a statement. “If consumers are not violating copyright or other law, there's little reason to hold back the many benefits of unlocking." The legislation would “permanently restore consumers' freedom to switch wireless carriers,” Polis said.