Bluetooth low-energy beacons can deliver more precise indoor location-based services than Wi-Fi, but have their limits, said an AT&T blog post. A beacon transmits a signal to a smartphone to share its proximity to the beacon. Beacons require mobile apps and require a company to know what it wants to communicate, said the blog post by Maribel Lopez of Lopez Research. “The beacons aren’t smart,” Lopez wrote Monday. “They transmit signals, not content. You have to code what that signal means in your app. This sounds easy, but it requires planning.” Beacons also aren’t as good as Wi-Fi for overall customer analytics, she wrote. “With beacons, a company can only capture analytics on the users that have downloaded the app,” she said. “If the store is using Wi-Fi for location services, it can capture basic information, such as entering the building, from every user that has Wi-Fi turned on and has associated at least once with the Wi-Fi network.”

Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure has only a few years to turn around the carrier, he said in an interview with The Kansas City Star. “What I know is I got hired to do a job, and I want that job to be completed in three to five years,” he said. The paper said Overland Park, Kansas-based Sprint is one of that area’s largest employers. Claure, 44, was named Sprint CEO last August (see 1408070044).

Four in 10 U.S. households and more than 20 percent in Europe will use wireless charging by 2020, said a Juniper Research report Tuesday. As more devices implement wireless charging -- smartphones, tablets, wearables and upcoming laptops -- infrastructure providers are starting to roll out support for wireless charging in a manner similar to the rollout of public Wi-Fi, said Juniper. The visible public infrastructure will play a key role in increasing awareness of the technology, where consumers can audition it without committing to a purchase, Juniper said. The provision of additional data-based services alongside the charging process is an area of potential for wireless charging, said Juniper. “While easing battery anxiety is a key appeal of the technology, the easy data exchange will in the future enable over-the-air services through the charging points,” said analyst James Moar. "Wireless charging will ultimately be about more than the power and speed of charge.” The ability to pinpoint device location through data exchange enables “location-based activation functions around the home, the car and in the leisure industry,” and industry stakeholders should be ready to leverage the opportunity, he said. Japan is expected to lead global adoption of longer-ranged resonance-based charging technologies, while induction-based charging will remain dominant for the next five years in cost-driven markets, Juniper said. Wearables will account for a fifth of all wireless charging by 2020 and will drive diverse designs without physical connectors, it said.

IDC downgraded its 2015 forecast on global smartphone shipments and now expects shipments to climb 10.4 percent this year to 1.44 billion units, the research firm said in a Tuesday report. IDC previously forecast 11.3 percent growth for 2015, but now expects to see “a noticeable slowdown” in smartphone shipments “as China joins North America and Western Europe in a more mature growth pattern,” it said. “However, steadily falling average selling prices will fuel steady growth through the end of the forecast period, with global shipments reaching 1.9 billion units in 2019.” Though China “remains the focal point of the global smartphone market,” its performance hasn’t been “as positive as in previous years,” IDC said. Shipments there are projected to grow only 1.2 percent this year, compared with nearly 20 percent growth in 2014, it said. Though China will remain the world’s largest smartphone market through 2019, its share of the overall market is expected to drop to 23.1 percent in 2019 from 32.3 percent in 2014, it said.

The 700 MHz band, being cleared in the Latin America region as part of the DTV transition, is “among the most appropriate options to accelerate adoption of mobile broadband services in Latin America,” 4G Americas said Tuesday in a news release. “The 700 MHz band enables efficient coverage and fast data speeds for mobile broadband services in locations that currently have no other Internet access alternatives,” said José Otero, 4G Americas director-Latin America and the Caribbean. “These LTE mobile broadband data capabilities provide a huge opportunity for the governments in the region to boost their connectivity programs and increase the number of people that can benefit from e-learning, telemedicine or e-government initiatives.” The group cited a recent white paper on the topic, "700 MHz Spectrum Processes in Latin America."

The Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) is on the right track in decisions it made before November’s World Radiocommunication Conference, John Giusti, deputy chief regulatory officer of the GSM Association, said Tuesday in a news release. Giusti offered particular support for CITEL’s decision to support the allocation of the entire L-band (1427-1518 MHz) for mobile broadband. “Many countries require connectivity across large rural areas and mobile broadband is often the only way -- or at least the most cost-effective way -- to ensure people have access to the Internet,” Giusti said. “We are also pleased with the progress made on the sub-700MHz UHF band (470-698MHz), critical for expanding affordable rural connectivity. Although there is no CITEL common proposal in support of this band for mobile, a growing number of countries want to ensure they have flexibility to deploy mobile broadband networks in this band.”

The FCC provided extra time for parties to comment on a July 17 NPRM on updating the rules that govern the evaluation and approval of radiofrequency devices. The American National Standards Institute Accredited Standards Committee C63, CEA, Information Technology Industry Council and Telecommunications Industry Association had sought extra time, citing the complexity of the proceeding. “The Commission does not routinely grant extensions of time in rulemaking proceedings,” the FCC said Tuesday. “However, we believe that extensions of the comment and reply comment deadlines will provide parties with an opportunity to more fully analyze and respond to the complex technical issues raised in this NPRM, thus allowing development of a more complete record in these proceedings.” Comments were due Sept. 9, replies Sept. 22. The new deadlines are Oct. 9 for comments, Nov. 9 for replies.

Panasonic and five other companies conspired to fix prices of linear resistors sold in the U.S., alleged a complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Jose. Almost all electronics products from smartphones to PCs to TVs “contain resistors, often hundreds of them,” and linear resistors are “the workhorse” of the resistor industry, said the complaint by Microsystems Development Technologies, which designs and develops microprocessor-based consumer and industrial products. Named with Panasonic as defendants in the complaint were KOA, Murata, Rohm, Vishay Intertechnology and Yageo. The complaint said the five are among the world's largest manufacturers of resistors. The defendants “used mechanisms designed to conceal their collusion, such as covert meetings, use of code words or terms to refer to competitors and/or customers, use of pretexts to mask the true purpose of collusive communications, use of non-company phones, and instructions to destroy emails evidencing collusive activities,” said the complaint, which seeks class-action status. All had “a common motive to conspire,” it said. “As resistors are commodities, price is the most obvious differentiation among them for purchasers,” it said. “In a market of this nature, with trillions of components being manufactured and sold a year at relatively inexpensive individual prices, there is a huge incentive to fix, stabilize, maintain and raise the prices of the components to supra-competitive levels through illegal conspiratorial agreements. By foregoing competition, each manufacturer could still guarantee themselves massive profits in such a high volume market. This anticompetitive conspiracy causes substantial harm to consumers, to competition, and to United States commerce.” The complaint emanated from reports that the Department of Justice launched a price-fixing probe of the resistors industry in mid-June, it said. Panasonic spokesman Jim Reilly in a Monday email declined to comment. The other companies didn't comment.

The FCC proceeding on Deere's request for a waiver of TV white spaces rules (see 1508210035) is now considered a permit-but-disclose proceeding, in in docket 15-184, said a public notice from the Office of Engineering and Technology included in Monday's Daily Digest. Deere wants the rules waived to permit the use of a TV white space device in the 470‑698 MHz band intended for fixed operation in certain nonfixed agricultural applications, the PN said.

A notice on Apple’s website said the company is offering replacement cameras for a “small percentage” of iPhone 6 Plus smartphones after deciding a component in the iSight camera may fail, causing photos to appear blurry. The affected units are in a limited serial number range and were sold primarily between September and January. Apple will replace the cameras of affected devices for free, it said. To determine eligibility, iPhone 6 Plus users are to input their phone’s serial number in a box on the website. Service options include authorized Apple service providers, Apple retail stores and Apple technical support, but wireless carrier partners aren't participating in the program, said Apple. Phones will be examined before any service to verify eligibility, said the company. Among the disclaimers: Any damage to a iPhone 6 Plus, such as a cracked screen, that impairs camera replacement has to be resolved before repair; Apple may restrict or limit repair to the original country of purchase; the program doesn’t extend the phone's standard warranty coverage; and the program covers the camera for three years after the first retail sale of the unit.