The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment on a waiver request by auto body parts supplier Kathrein Automotive of consumer signal booster anti-oscillation and labeling requirements. The waiver would allow the FCC certification of an in-vehicle, pre-installed wideband consumer signal booster offered by the company, the bureau said Tuesday. Comments are due Aug. 10, replies Aug. 20.

As fall 2015 tablets roll out, marketers are using back-to-school pegs to spur sales in the slowing category. Office Depot announced Tuesday that the Microsoft Surface 3 and Surface Pro 3 tablets are available for purchase online, while AT&T said it will be the first carrier to offer the Surface 3 when it begins selling the cellular version Friday. The Surface 3, with a 10.8-inch screen, will start at $499 at Office Depot, it said, saying the device can alternate from tablet to laptop when users disconnect the tablet from the keyboard. Battery life of the Surface 3, at nine hours with a Micro USB charger, rivals that of a smartphone, said the retailer. The Surface Pro, with a 12-inch HD screen, starts at $999, and includes an Intel Core i5 processor, 128 GB storage and 4 GB RAM. Weight is 1.76 pounds, said Office Depot. AT&T will begin selling the Microsoft 4G LTE Surface 3 tablet Friday for $0 down and $30 monthly over 20 months with an AT&T tablet installment plan, the carrier said Tuesday. Also, in a limited time deal, customers can buy the Surface 3 for $399 when they buy a Lumia smartphone purchased with the AT&T Next plan, it said. Price of the Surface 3 with a two-year contract is $499, and it’s $599 without a contract, said AT&T. Features include Microsoft Office, Windows 8.1, an Intel Atom x7 processor, 64 GB embedded storage and a surface pen, said AT&T. IDC predicted earlier this year (see 1503120021) that Microsoft tablets would see a boost with the arrival of Windows 10 later this year. The Surface models announced Tuesday are Windows 8.1 models upgradeable to Windows 10 when the upgrade is released. IDC predicted Microsoft would gain “significant share” in the tablet market, growing from 5.1 percent last year to 14.1 percent in 2019.

The FCC must maximize the amount of unencumbered licensed spectrum sold in the TV incentive auction, CTIA President Meredith Baker said Tuesday in an editorial in The Hill. “Wireless operators need spectrum free of interference to provide the reliable and robust service you expect,” Baker wrote. “We do not object to others using this spectrum for free -- whether it be Wi-Fi, wireless microphones or other unlicensed devices -- as long as their use does not interfere with licensed users or reduce the amount of usable licensed spectrum available.” Baker also emphasized the importance of the FCC making plenty of information available upfront so carriers can make informed decisions about bidding in the auction and then making the spectrum available as soon as possible after the auction is complete.

The full FCC upheld a decision by a division of the Wireless Bureau that Wireless Properties hadn't completed a required review under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act because the company didn’t disclose that the location near a wireless tower in Chattanooga was the historically significant Bragg Reservation. “We hold that the Section 106 review is not complete because Wireless Properties failed to identify all of the listed or determined eligible historic properties within the proposed tower’s Area of Potential Effects,” the FCC said. Although the Tennessee Historical Commission, the state historic preservation officer for Tennessee under the NHPA, had concurred with the applicant’s determination “that the proposed tower would have no adverse effect, that determination was based on Wireless Properties’ materially incomplete submission,” the FCC said. The tower would be within 1,000 feet of the reservation, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The order confirmed the earlier determination by the bureau’s Spectrum and Competition and Policy Division. Wireless Properties, which proposed a 150-foot monopole tower, asked for FCC review. Commissioner Ajit Pai voted for the order, but clarified in a statement that the FCC doesn't have unlimited authority to reopen a proceeding. “I believe the FCC lawfully exercises that authority in this case because the applicant omitted material information from its application,” he said. “In particular, it did not identify a National Park that fell within the proposed tower’s Area of Potential Affect.”

Roughly 12.9 billion mobile biometric apps -- generating nearly $68 billion in revenue -- are forecast to be downloaded to smart mobile devices during the seven-year period through 2020, said a report from Acuity Market Intelligence. The segment will grow from less than $100 million in 2014 to more than $21.7 billion in 2020, it said. Acuity estimates more than 5.4 billion biometric smart device apps will be downloaded in 2020, and 4.8 billion biometric mobile devices will be in circulation in 2020, with most containing multiple apps from multiple sources. Emerging, complex relationships among identity, mobility and commerce are “redefining global communication and commerce ecosystems and require frictionless, yet highly reliable security” that biometrics can deliver, said Acuity analyst Maxine Most. Mobile biometric apps can operate independently, or they can leverage embedded biometrics or other biometric apps, she said.

Global smartphone shipments in Q2 reached 304 million units, a 1.9 percent increase sequentially from Q1, said TrendForce, a Taiwanese research firm, Monday in a report. The firm thinks shipment growth slowed in Q2 “as vendors prepared to launch their flagship devices in this year’s second half,” it said. The firm downgraded its outlook for calendar 2015 and now expects unit growth to climb 8.2 percent from 2014, instead of the 11.6 percent growth foreseen in its previous forecast. The firm blamed the downgrade on “the negative global economic outlook for the second half of this year.” The 8.2 percent increase, if the forecast holds true, would pale in comparison with the 26.5 percent unit growth in 2014 compared with 2013, the firm said.

Most mobile operators believe mobile broadband capacity and IoT are the primary drivers behind 5G development, said a Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) 5G white paper released Monday. TIA also said 71 percent of mobile operators surveyed think Asia will lead 5G development, and one-third of operators responding to the survey expect their companies to launch commercial 5G service by 2021. The remaining two-thirds don't expect to have full commercial service available until after 2022, TIA said.

Representatives of mic maker Shure pressed the FCC not to put TV stations in the “duplex gap” between uplink and downlink frequencies when they're bought by carriers during the broadcast incentive auction, said a filing on a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. “That action, if taken, would eliminate critically needed spectrum in major markets leaving absolutely no interference-free exclusive UHF spectrum available to support essential licensed wireless microphone operations, particularly those used in emergencies and breaking newsgathering,” Shure said. The filing was in docket 12-268.

The FCC should preserve one vacant TV channel for use by licensed and unlicensed wireless microphones after the TV incentive auction, and allow unlicensed mics to operate in some portion of the duplex gap, said the Performing Arts Wireless Microphone Working Group in an FCC filing posted Friday. The letter to the five commissioners outlines the working group’s recommendations for wireless mic operations following the auction. Allowing performing arts groups using 50 or more wireless devices to apply for a Part 74 license is a good step, but doesn’t go far enough, the group said. “To consider performing arts entities that use fewer than 50 wireless devices to be non-professional, and therefore ineligible to register their uses in the geo-location database, is a false assumption,” the working group said. “The majority of professional, not-for-profit theatres, symphony orchestras, presenting organizations, dance and opera companies, professional training programs and even touring Broadway productions across this country use fewer than 50 wireless devices on a regular basis.” The issue is critical to the performing arts sector, the working group said. Thousands of performances “are held by professional performing arts organizations each year and the use of wireless microphones is both essential to producing high-quality performances and also mitigates against significant public safety concerns,” it said. “Professional wireless capability, with successful interference protection, and sufficient spectrum to operate, is essential to our sector.” The filing was posted in docket 12-268.

Chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. during Q2 saw demand for smartphones become “weaker than we expected,” due to a sales slowdown in emerging markets and in China in the mid-priced and low-end smartphone segments, President Mark Liu said Thursday on an earnings call. The strong U.S. dollar relative to “emerging market currencies” was partly to blame for the weaker demand, but so were deteriorating “regional economic conditions,” Liu said. As a result of the slowdowns, the industry by the end of Q2 had managed to absorb only half of the “excess inventory” it had accumulated “in the supply chain,” he said. Recent “macro economy uncertainties in many parts of the world” has only “further dampened” the supply chain's confidence in end-market demand “and has caused customers to become even more cautious in managing their inventory,” he said. That said, “we expect our customers' end-market demand will improve in the second half” through new iPhone launches and several launches of Android-based high-end phones, he said. He also thinks the “continuing 4G migration in China and the demand recovery in emerging markets will further support” second-half growth, he said.