Cognitive Systems announced a home monitoring system using Wi-Fi and beacons to detect motion by monitoring disruption of wireless signals caused by movement. It uses algorithms and machine learning, and works with IFTTT (If This, Then That) and Alexa and Google Home voice control.
The drumroll continued Friday for pre-Black Friday deals, led by T-Mobile buy-one-get-one-free holiday offers. It's good on the iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 8 and 8 Plus, the latest Samsung Galaxy S family and Note smartphones and on premium LG phones, a spokeswoman said. A line must be activated.
Smartphone penetration in the U.S. reached 82 percent this year and 93 percent among 18-24-year-olds, Deloitte reported Friday. The strongest growth in ownership is the 55-and-older age group. Some 264 million Americans use their mobile phones 12 billion times daily, and handset usage and growth rates “matured after years of robust growth," said the consultant. Consumers are “fairly consistent” in the way they use smartphones, and interest has been buoyed by IoT-related apps and services, unlimited data plans and device upgrades, it said.
Carriers are choosing fiber over wireless backhaul, but wireless transport may grow, Mobile Experts said in a Friday news release and report. "Leading operators take this position because top mobile operators … have several LTE bands with overlapping plans to upgrade small cells,” said analyst Joe Madden. “They have a long-term view, like a roadmap, and they're not calculating ROI based on a single upgrade.” By 2022, 16 percent of small cells will use wireless transport, predicted Madden. “There is potential growth in wireless transport, as operators are starting to discover the limits of the utopian 'all fiber' deployment.”
The FCC Public Safety Bureau defined the enhanced specialized mobile radio (ESMR) dividing line in the 800 MHz band for Canada border regions (CBRs) one through six, said a Friday public notice in docket 02-55. It accepted the 800 MHz transition administrator’s recommendation with changes proposed by Sprint. The line separates ESMR and non-ESMR systems in the CBRs by assigning non-ESMR licensees to replacement channels in the lower segment of the 800 MHz band while maintaining the upper portion of the band for licensees operating ESMR systems.
The FAA approved AT&T's use of a drone to temporarily restore wireless service in Hurricane Maria-battered Puerto Rico. The agency said Friday the company's Flying Cell on Wheels drone involves a drone fitted with LTE radios and antennas and is tethered to ground-based power and electronics. It said it flies at an altitude of up to 200 feet and can cover up to 40 square miles with wireless service. The agency said the company needed a special exemption and an emergency certification of operation because the drone exceeded the small drone rule's 55-pound weight limit.
FirstNet should implement enhanced location services to track first responders’ location by June 2019, the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council said in a Thursday paper. “The ability of FirstNet to incorporate location technology to field responders into its network is of critical importance to first responder safety,” NPSTC said. “This includes the ability to locate first responders in both outdoor and indoor environments.” NPSTC said it would help FirstNet, including through the Public Safety Advisory Committee.
The November launch of the iPhone X put a $100 million dent in Best Buy revenue expectations for Q3 ended Oct. 29, said CEO Hubert Joly on a Thursday earnings call. Natural disasters in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and Mexico had an additional impact, he said. Revenue was “materially lower than expected,” Joly said, as a “major new phone” didn’t ship until the retailer’s Q4. That caused “significant softness” in Q3 smartphone sales as customers delayed purchases, he said. Chief Financial Officer Corie Barry said with smartphones costing many hundreds of dollars, and the X selling for $1,000, it's “difficult” for consumers to determine wallet share for electronics within holiday budgets. Early results from Best Buy’s In-Home Advisor program meanwhile are strong, and it's adding staff there, said Joly, saying customer waits are a week.
The FCC Wireless Bureau granted an Arizona Public Service Co. request to waive the 800 MHz application freeze along the Mexico border to permit licensing and implementation of a statewide radio system (see 1708150055). The electric utility, which uses two-way radio for communication between dispatchers and service staff, is building a Project 25 radio system to replace a legacy 800 MHz system that's difficult to maintain and relies on discontinued equipment, said the order in Thursday's Daily Digest and in docket 17-168.
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel tweeted that she concurs with calls by the National Weather Service, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a sped-up time frame for implementation of device-based geotargeting of wireless emergency alerts (see 1711150011), She pushed Wednesday for her agency to act.