Sprint began offering International Wi-Fi calling “back to the United States” at no additional cost, the company said Thursday. The Samsung Galaxy S 4 with Sprint Spark service will be the first smartphone from Sprint to get international Wi-Fi calling via an over-the-air software update, which will enable subscribers traveling abroad to make and receive calls with the U.S., U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico at no additional charge while connected to Wi-Fi, the carrier said. Additional Android phones will be compatible following software upgrades later this year, a Sprint spokesman told us. Other phones on the Sprint network equipped for Wi-Fi Calling include various HTC One models, the LG G3, LG G Flex, Samsung Galaxy S 4 Mini, Samsung Galaxy S 5, Samsung Galaxy S 5 Sport, Samsung Galaxy Mega, Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and the upcoming Sharp Aquos Crystal. The spokesman didn’t say whether iPhones or Windows Phone devices would be enabled for Wi-Fi calling, nor did he address whether U.S.-originated international Wi-Fi calling with no additional charges would be available in the future.

The IEEE Standards Association plans an Internet of Things workshop Sept. 18-19 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, to “provide an open, engaging platform to discuss opportunities, impacts and challenges around the convergence” of IoT technologies, the group said Thursday (http://bit.ly/1pMY3oH). A “special focus” at the workshop will be on the need for “more interdisciplinary approaches to the design of products and services for IoT markets,” it said. “From smart cities to smart homes to eHealth to cleaner transportation, standardization in IoT will provide economic opportunity to these areas and many more by increasing interoperability and fueling the economy of scale,” it said. The group “is one of the driving forces behind IoT standardization and will continue to contribute to the advancing of IoT by participating and hosting of IoT workshops, events and projects,” it said.

The U.S. International Trade Commission voted to open a Section 337 investigation into whether Beats Electronics headphones violate Bose noise-canceling patents, the commission said Wednesday (http://1.usa.gov/1mYVyL5). Bose filed the ITC complaint July 25 seeking exclusion and cease-and-desist orders against Beats imports. In a companion suit that Bose filed the same day in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware, Bose estimated that at least 14 standing U.S. patents and 13 pending applications protect its QC20 noise-canceling headphones (CED July 29 p3). Under a stipulation deadline extension order signed by Beats and Bose lawyers, Beats has until Sept. 15 to answer the Bose complaint.

Consumer Electronics Daily won’t be published Monday, Sept. 1 in observance of the federal Labor Day holiday. Our next issue will be dated Tuesday, Sept. 2.

Hisense is sponsoring Lotus F1 for Grand Prix races in Italy, the U.S. and Abu Dhabi through the rest of the year, with cars sporting the Hisense logo on the side pod and air box of the Lotus E22 race car, the companies said Thursday. Lan Lin, Hisense vice president, said the company plans to use “proven partnerships that can deliver” as a way to grow brand awareness globally. Sports marketing is key to Hisense’s worldwide brand awareness strategy, it said, saying the company also recently sponsored German football club, FC Schalke 04.

Seattle startup Stand For Stuff landed a U.S. patent (8,789,802) for an adjustable floor stand that makes any tablet useful for reading and watching movies while lying in bed or exercising, or for wheelchair users, the company said Thursday. The patent (http://1.usa.gov/1wJmCrl), issued July 29 and assigned to Stand For Stuff, lists three Seattle-area inventors and describes a “protective case” that enables a person who “does not want to or is physically unable to hold a tablet computing device to interact with an inserted tablet computing device.” One of the inventors, Marty Springer, devised the SwingHolder for his wife, who has difficulty holding things for a long period of time due to a medical condition, the company said: “Making use of his engineering background, Springer assembled a product that would allow her to read on her iPad comfortably for as long as she wanted.” The product sells for $199 at Amazon.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau imposed an $819,000 penalty on T-Mobile for violating commission rules on making the requisite number of hearing-aid compatible handsets available to its subscribers in 2009 and 2010 (http://bit.ly/1qL3Oj0). The bureau noted it first proposed the forfeiture in May 2012. “T-Mobile does not challenge the Commission’s factual findings or legal conclusion that it willfully and repeatedly violated Sections 20.19(c)(2) and 20.19(d)(2) of the Rules,” the bureau said. T-Mobile asked for a substantial reduction in the proposed penalty, but the bureau declined to reduce the amount the carrier must pay the government, the bureau noted. “Given the fundamental importance of providing consumers with hearing loss access to advanced telecommunications services, the severity of T-Mobile’s violations, and the company’s ability to pay, the proposed forfeiture of $819,000 is equitable.” T-Mobile is reviewing the order, a spokesman said. “We provide a broad selection of handsets that are hearing aid compatible and we take seriously our commitment to meeting the accessibility needs of our customers,” he emailed. “This action relates to issues that first were raised by the Commission several years ago, and we are now in full compliance."

Atlantic Technology bowed a Dolby Atmos-enabled speaker built to the precise frequency response and directional sound radiation characteristics specified by Dolby for its object-oriented surround-sound technology. Atlantic’s 44-DA speaker uses a 5.25-inch woofer and 1-inch silk dome tweeter in a concentric driver array that fires up from the top of the speaker enclosure at a set angle. Atlantic used “controlled acoustic scatter” to broaden the sweet spot of sound reflected from the ceiling to allow for placement flexibility within the room, it said Wednesday. Measuring 5 ½ x 8 3/8 x 9 ½ inches, the 44 DA was designed to fit on top of Atlantic’s 4400 LR speakers to create an integrated, “one-piece” look, Atlantic said. The modules also can be used as Dolby Atmos-enabling speakers on top of other speakers or as stand-alone height speakers as part of a complete Dolby Atmos system, the company said. The speakers are slated for a Q4 release at $499 a pair.

More than 70 percent of Americans surveyed in a Harris Poll smart home study commissioned by Lowe’s said they wished they could control something in the home from bed using a smartphone, according to findings released Wednesday by Lowe’s (http://bit.ly/YXpv8V). Forty-four percent of users listed controlling temperature first, followed by adjusting lights at 39 percent, while 27 percent wanted to turn on the coffee pot before they get out of bed in the morning, the study said. A little over half, 52 percent, said having a smart home is at least “somewhat important” to them, compared with 21 percent who said it was very or fairly important. Half preferred do-it-yourself solutions with no service fees versus 21 percent who would opt for professionally installed technology with a monthly monitoring fee, Lowe’s said. Fifty percent of respondents said security was the top benefit of a smart home system, while 46 percent cited home monitoring while they're away. Lowering energy bills was the top benefit cited by four out of 10 people, followed by convenience at 35 percent. Twenty-nine percent said protection from fire and floods was the top benefit of a smart home, and 13 percent said a smart home would make them feel more tech savvy, Lowe’s said. On purchasing considerations, 56 percent of respondents cited cost or fees as the most important determining factor -- 31 percent named fees and 26 percent cited equipment costs -- 13 percent pegged ease of use as most important and 11 percent cited security concerns as the primary driver for buying a smart home product, said Lowe’s. On protective technologies for parents, 61 percent said they planned to monitor their children aged 3-17 in some way when they go back to school; 35 percent planned to buy their children a cellphone; 19 percent planned to use in-home cameras; 17 percent planned to receive a text informing them their child arrived home from school; and 13 percent planned to put a GPS monitoring device in their children’s backpacks to keep them safe, Lowe’s said. The online study surveyed 2,088 adults ages 18 and older in the U.S., July 10-12.

Broadcom introduced a new development kit for its WICED family (for Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices) family of components to enable developers to rapidly prototype “ideas and concepts” for Internet of Things devices and applications, the company said Wednesday. The $19.99 kit includes Broadcom’s newest Bluetooth Smart chip and five micro electro-mechanical systems and has a software stack that is Bluetooth 4.1 compatible, the company said. “By shortening the time between early ideas and end products, companies are able to deliver devices to market more quickly and with higher confidence in their success,” it said. Possible “use cases” range from a single-sensor technology to sophisticated programs gathering and analyzing data from multiple sensors, it said. It gave such smart home examples as using the kit to set up text alerts to be notified if a child’s bedroom rises above a certain temperature.