An iPhone case that includes a separate screen that shows information like photos, boarding passes and maps from the phone sent through a Bluetooth connection isn't classified based on the Bluetooth capability, Customs and Border Protection said in an Aug. 3 ruling that was recently released. CBP responded to an advice request from a customs broker for popSLATE Media, which makes the case. The company told CBP it believes the cases are best classified based on radio transceivers as the agency classified the Apple Watch and other "smartwatches" (see 1606280059). CBP disagreed, saying "the most prominent feature" is the image display screen. That classification has a 2.6 percent duty rate. We couldn't reach popSLATE Friday.
Tessera’s request for an International Trade Commission exclusion order against “potentially all” Samsung smartphones and tablets is so overly “broad,” it would “undoubtedly result in massive unmet demand across several, distinct product types,” Samsung filed (login required) Thursday in docket 3262. The complaint (see 1709290053) gave “no credible evidence” suggesting that “authorized suppliers” could meet consumer demand for the devices that would be import-banned, Samsung said. "The exclusion order would be unavoidably detrimental to consumers, businesses, and government entities.” Tessera wrongly says Samsung’s recall of the Note7 last year (see 1610130044) was “broader” in scope than the exclusion order it seeks, Samsung said. The company sells mobile devices "to nearly every national, regional, and local wireless carrier, including those that service rural, low-income, and minority populations,” with the FCC estimating smartphones comprise 77 percent of U.S. cellphones, it said. Tessera representatives didn’t comment Friday.
Disney got continued permission from the FCC to test ultra-wideband mobile equipment at its Disneyland amusement park. The Office of Engineering and Technology OK'd temporary fixed and mobile operations at 3.1-5.3 GHz until March 18, as the company sought. Disney Imagineering R&D proposed proof-of-concept testing using up to 35 devices at temporary fixed locations and five mobile units to "assess the capability of ultra-wideband technologies to support radiolocation requirements needed at its premises in Anaheim, California," and not for market studies or providing commercial services. Although licensing authority wasn't needed for mobile operations, "experimental authority is required here to permit Disney to test an innovative deployment of such devices that involves their operation at temporary fixed sites," the company said. Representatives didn't comment further Friday.
DOJ's Antitrust Division asked the FCC for wireless numbering information to assist ongoing efforts to monitor mobile carrier competition and prepare for "any future" investigations. "We request access to (a) the information contained in each [Number Resource Utilization and Forecast] report from December 2015 through the present submitted by wireless telecommunications carriers, by carrier and by rate center, and (b) the local number portability data in the Commission's possession related to wireless telecommunications carriers, by carrier and by rate center from January 2016 to the present," said a letter posted Thursday in docket 99-200. DOJ said it previously received access to such data, and it detailed safeguards to protect sensitive information, including trade secrets.
Samsung will begin taking preorders Friday for its Gear Sport smartwatch and Gear IconX wireless earbuds, with availability set for Oct. 27, it said Thursday. The $299 Sport watch touts a water-resistant design, 1.2-inch AMOLED display, circular bezel and GPS. The earbuds have 4 GB storage and Bixby voice control technology, it said.
T-Mobile thanked the FCC for accelerated universal service support (see 1710030057) for subsidiary SunCom Wireless in Puerto Rico and said it's doing all it can to restore service after Maria. “T-Mobile has used nine cargo aircraft to deliver supplies and personnel to Puerto Rico, sent two barges with trucks, cells-on-wheels, and cells-on-light-trucks to the island, and has put hundreds of portable generators to use there,” said a letter in docket 10-90: “We have collaborated extensively with other carriers to pool resources" and "sent numerous emergency and disaster relief experts specializing in the restoration of communications networks to the island. Yet, even with this tremendous effort, service restoration remains a challenge.”
Amazon's Alexa voice assistant will continue to dominate the smart speaker space, finishing the year with 68 percent market share vs. Google Home's Assistant at 20 percent, Strategy Analytics reported Thursday. The recent flurry of product launches from Amazon, Sonos and Google expands the choices and will lead to “increased scrutiny” by buyers, SA said. The researcher projects global smart speaker shipments to surge 300 percent to 24 million this year, nearly doubling its projections from February. Competition will heat up more in the next six to 12 months with addition of Facebook, Microsoft, Samsung and Sonos, and as operators announce plans to bring their own voice-based speakers to market, said SA. Challenges include Amazon Echo skills "often only provide a function that can already be achieved through a smartphone,” it said.
T-Mobile received special temporary authority from the FCC to do tests using AWS-3 spectrum held by the commission, plus 700 MHz, PCS and AWS spectrum licensed to the carrier. “Testing will be in a highly controlled field environment that will help T-Mobile to allow the pre-commercial testing of new products outside of a lab environment but in a controlled and managed manner,” said a filing. Tests will run for six months starting Nov. 12 in Augusta, Georgia.
Information collection requirements in the FCC 2004 800 MHz rebanding order are in effect, the agency said in Thursday's Federal Register. The Office of Management and Budget approved, for three years, requirements in the landmark order designed to abate interference to public safety agencies using the 800 MHz band. In reality, the rules took effect after a 2005 notice, the FCC said. “However, the announcement inadvertently omitted to announce the effective date for the information collection requirements,” the new notice said. “With publication of the instant document in the Federal Register, all rules adopted in the 800 MHz Report and Order are now effective.”
Berkeley, California, officials cheered the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling not to rehear its April decision upholding the city’s ordinance requiring retailers to inform prospective cellphone buyers that carrying their devices in certain ways can cause exposure to RF radiation exceeding federal limits. “The city carefully crafted the ordinance to further a substantial government interest,” City Attorney Farimah Brown said. “We are very pleased with the result.” CTIA, which sued the city, said Wednesday it won’t back down from asserting First Amendment rights (see 1710110069).