DirecTV urged Raycom to let DirecTV customers see opening-weekend NFL games and upcoming NCAA football games while the companies try to work out a carriage deal. Raycom stations were pulled from DirecTV’s lineup this month due to a carriage negotiation dispute. DirecTV subscribers were to be able to view Friday’s NFL opener at NBCSports.com, DirecTV said Thursday. DirecTV said it will compensate Raycom the final price that the parties agree upon for the days its customers are permitted to see Friday’s and Sunday’s NBC, CBS or Fox NFL coverage, and the NCAA games that took place over the weekend.

The launch of a new iPhone model historically has caused “major depreciation" in the resale value of older iPhones, said uSell.com, which calls itself the “leading online marketplace for used gadgets.” With Tuesday’s expected launch of the iPhone 6, uSell.com examined thousands of used iPhone sales on its platform after the launch of previous new models, it said. It found that two weeks after a new iPhone launch, old iPhones lose about 11 percent of their resale value. After four weeks, they depreciate about 15 percent, it said. By the seventh week, an old iPhone will have lost 21 percent of its value, it said. In a bit of opportunism, it suggested locking in a sale price before Tuesday’s iPhone 6 launch, as many platforms like uSell.com offer 30-day price guarantees. That way, “consumers can substantially increase the value of their old phones,” it said. It also suggested a “savvy consumer could lock in a sale price before the iPhone launch, but then wait to ship their old phone until right after they get their new model."

Four technology companies asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overrule U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh’s rejection of their proposed $324.5 million settlement over hiring practices, in a Thursday filing (case No. 11-cv-2509). Adobe, Apple, Google and Intel were accused in a 2011 lawsuit of colluding to stop intercompany employee poaching. In filings Thursday, Koh suggested a jury trial to begin Jan 12. The companies have requested a stay pending the 9th Circuit decision.

The FCC opened a docket seeking comments on mobile device theft, supplementing work by the Working Group on Mobile Device Theft Prevention, formed under its Technological Advisory Council. The docket number is 14-143. “The new docket will allow industry and consumers to share information to supplement the efforts of the working group,” said an agency public notice Friday (http://bit.ly/1qlqhHB).

Six major app developers signed on to build connected car apps through the AT&T Drive platform. The developers are AccuWeather, Glympse, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Streetline and Tribune Digital Ventures, AT&T said Friday. The platform allows automakers and developers to implement their own innovative and customized connected car systems, it said. Apps include one from AccuWeather that warns against inclement conditions, and another from Glympse that allows connected car drivers “to share their dynamic location in real-time with anyone,” AT&T said.

Seiki Digital, the supplier of ultra-low-price Ultra HD TVs, will use Digital Power Station (DPS) audio technology from Bongiovi Acoustics in all its new HD and Ultra HD TVs, the company said Friday. Including the technology is part of Seiki’s “ongoing product development plans to introduce new technology and improve overall quality of its display products,” Seiki said. Seiki and Bongiovi happen to have booths just several feet apart in Hall 25 at IFA. DPS “represents a genuine breakthrough in audio processing,” Bongiovi said. “The unique and powerful digital audio signal processor was developed by a team of audio engineers with more than 40 years of experience in the music and motion picture recording industries. Audio is digitally restored in real time, adding missing harmonics, improving clarity, presence and bass resonance."

Pioneer will team with Treasure Data, a supplier of cloud-based data collection services, on a business alliance to develop telematics data services for the global automotive industry, the companies said Thursday. Using the Treasure Data cloud service, Pioneer will release new data and analytics-based services for automobile manufacturers and related businesses, including dealers, repair shops, insurance and rental car companies, they said. They also plan to “drive new research” on more effective use of automotive telematics data, they said in a news release (http://bit.ly/1lCfcRS).

Qualcomm said its Qualcomm Atheros subsidiary expanded distribution with Arrow Electronics for the U.S. and China and Codico for Europe in an effort to broaden support for QCA4002/4004, its low-power Wi-Fi platform designed for the Internet of Things. Qualcomm Atheros is offering an IoT development kit to enable low-power Wi-Fi in a range of connected products including light bulbs, home automation devices and security systems, it said. The kit includes support for AllJoyn, an open-source software and services framework from the AllSeen Alliance; a hosted mode for designs that pair the QCA4002/4004 with a microcontroller; 21emetry’s IoT platform, ThingFabric, which provides secure communication between devices and the cloud; peer-to-peer connectivity via Wi-Fi Direct; and Green Transmit to dynamically adjust output power, Qualcomm said Thursday.

Consumers should stop using JVC-branded 42-inch LCD TVs marketed by AmTRAN Video under the Emerald series because the neck of the TV’s stand can crack and cause the TV to tip over, “posing a risk of impact injury to the consumer,” the Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a recall notice Thursday (http://1.usa.gov/1twHEY5). The notice involves about 27,000 sets sold February through August this year for $370-$470 through BJ’s, Costco, Sam’s Club and Walmart, and online through Costco.com and Walmart.com, the commission said. “Consumers using the stand assembly (neck and base) should immediately detach it, place the television in a safe location and contact AmTRAN Video for a replacement stand neck,” it said. Consumers with wall-mounted TVs “should also request the replacement neck in case the stand assembly is needed for future use,” it said. The affected sets, manufactured in China, bear the model number EM42FTR and serial numbers beginning with the letter “T,” it said. AmTRAN has received 16 reports of cracked stand necks, but no injuries have been reported, it said. It’s the second commission recall notice issued in the past month involving AmTRAN. In August, Vizio posted a notice on its website warning owners of certain E-Series 39- and 42-inch TVs of a possible tip-over hazard that the commission said affected some 245,000 units (CED Aug 8 p7). Those sets, too, were manufactured by AmTRAN, the commission said. AmTRAN representatives didn’t immediately comment.

Parks Associates plans a free webinar on “The Technology to Deliver Millions of Connected Homes,” at 9 a.m. CDT Sept. 25, addressing challenges of scalability, interoperability, usability and integration of data analytics for the future connected home. Coverage will include strategies smart home vendors are using to leverage product connectivity so they can reduce cost, extend functionality, add services and provide an integrated user experience, Parks said. Presenters will include Alertme.com founder Pilgrim Beart and CEO Mary Turner.