Wireless charging and high-speed connectivity were among next-generation technology topics at a New York International Auto Show tech event. Valens Semiconductor is looking to adapt its HDBaseT transmission technology for future vehicles that will need a high-speed solution for data and HD video transfer, said Micha Risling, automotive business unit head. Autonomous cars will be a “totally new environment” with as much as 100 times the data running through vehicles today from sensors, cameras, computing units and infotainment systems, Risling said Thursday. Daimler announced it would use HDBaseT technology in future vehicles in November, and Valens investors include Samsung.

The market for wireless headphones will spike this year on Apple’s design overhaul with the iPhone 7, eliminating the 3.5 mm headphone jack and forcing its headphone users to go wireless or adopt a new wired solution. Parks Associates predicted growth in wireless headphone sales this year from a 2016 U.S. broadband household penetration rate of 16 percent for wireless earbuds and 23 percent for wireless headphones. “Consumers now have more choices and options when it comes to how they listen to audio on their devices,” a 1More spokesman emailed us after its release last week of a quad-driver, wired in-ear headphone. Harman saw an uptick in Bluetooth headphone sales before and since the introduction of the iPhone 7, Armin Prommersberger, ‎senior vice president-technology of the Lifestyle Audio division, emailed us. “Any software, no matter the OS, chipset or resources available, can be securely updated and managed using our over-the-air technology," he also said.

Federal or state laws that require smartphones made, leased or sold in the U.S. be unlocked so law enforcement can gain access to encrypted data are a threat to innovation, said Tech:NYC, a coalition of New York City tech companies, in its first policy paper. "Were a federal or state legislature to pass a decryption bill, then this technology would likely move offshore and into more open-source software that's not controlled by a single entity, available to only the savviest users," concluded the paper released Thursday. It said protecting people's sensitive data ensures their civil liberties. Most of the paper rehashed the Apple v. FBI fight over the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino, California, mass shooters in 2015 (see 1606240051) and legislative efforts in New York and elsewhere regulating device encryption. The paper said the Trump administration would "advocate strongly in favor of requiring access," based on the statements from President Donald Trump, CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Attorney General Jeff Sessions over the past year.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau rejected a request by the County of Santa Clara, California, for a waiver so it can operate a T-Band (470-512 MHz) public safety land mobile radio system on frequency pair 482/485.3375 MHz at two locations. The FCC previously suspended processing of requests of the type the county seeks for operations in the T-band. The bureau cited the need to move forward on the repacking after the TV incentive auction. Granting the waiver “would further constrain the repacking process and would impede the Commission’s implementation of the Incentive Auction required by the Spectrum Act,” the bureau said in a Friday order. “We find that enforcement of the suspension in this instance would serve its stated purpose and the public interest.”

The FCC is tweaking its experimental licensing system and can now accept applications for program licenses, said Julius Knapp, chief of the Office of Engineering, in a Friday blog post. In a typical year, OET grants more than 2,000 experimental licenses, Knapp said. “Many of the services and technologies deployed today were first tested under the experimental licensing program. In fact, many experimental licenses are currently supporting work looking towards the introduction of next-generation 5G services.” Program licenses are “designed to streamline the process for institutions that regularly file for experimental applications such as universities, R&D development companies, and medical institutions and also conduct a large portion of their experiments within geographic areas under their control,” Knapp said. The new program licenses provide for "Innovation Zones," areas the FCC can define and make available for experiments, he said. NYU Wireless said in a news release it became the first applicant to receive the program experimental license using the new portal. "The license will allow the center to do cutting-edge work throughout the spectrum, not just at frequencies critical to 5G, but also far beyond," said Ted Rappaport, director of NYU Wireless. "The FCC's move today launches a new tool that will hopefully reduce the wait time for government authorization to do cutting-edge research and experimental transmissions.”

Days after disclosing the dissolution of its $2 billion agreement to buy Vizio (see 1704100045), LeEco announced Thursday it signed new retail partnerships with HSN and Walmart.com. HSN.com will carry all three models of LeEco’s Super4 TVs, plus both its Le Pro3 and Le S3 smartphones, said the supplier. Several of the products will be featured Saturday on HSN’s Electronics Connection segment, it said. Walmart.com also will carry the Le Pro3 and Le S3 smartphones, LeEco said. But Walmart’s online store won’t sell LeEco TVs, nor will Walmart’s brick-and-mortar stores carry any LeEco products.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 smartphone that a Sterling Heights, Michigan, man bought in 2011 from a T-Mobile store exploded and burst into flames in November, causing him serious injury, said a complaint (in Pacer) accusing Samsung of product negligence. The case is noteworthy among other recent litigation against Samsung because it involves a 5-year-old phone and makes no mention of the Note7 debacle. Bayar Karim filed the complaint March 17 in a Wayne County, Michigan, state court, but Samsung had it removed Wednesday to U.S. District Court in Detroit. Not long after Karim set his Note 4 next to his bed Nov. 30 and went to sleep for the night, he woke up to what sounded to him like a gunshot and saw flames and smoke coming from his smartphone, said his complaint. Karim suffered burns to his face and upper body, as well as hearing loss and the loss of some peripheral vision in one eye, it said. Company representatives didn’t comment Thursday on the Karim complaint and reacted previously to similar lawsuits by saying it stands behind “the safety of the millions of Samsung phones in the U.S.” (see 1612280017).

The Competitive Carriers Association filed comments at the FCC urging the agency to auction FiberTower’s 650 terminated licenses as soon as possible, the group said in a news release. AT&T is buying the company with an eye on using its high-frequency spectrum for 5G (see 1703160059). “The facts are simple: FiberTower failed to construct these licenses as of their renewal date, and the licensees were terminated by law,” CCA said. “CCA therefore urged the Commission to promptly auction these licenses for the benefit of consumers and the United States Treasury.” AT&T didn’t comment.

Qualcomm will be required to pay BlackBerry a minimum of nearly $815 million for patent royalty overpayments, BlackBerry said Wednesday. The $815 million award stemmed from a Feb. 27-March 3 binding arbitration hearing in San Diego over whether Qualcomm’s agreement to cap certain royalties was applicable to BlackBerry’s licensing agreement with Qualcomm. Qualcomm may pay upward of the initial award amount depending on the results of a May 30 hearing to determine interest and reasonable attorneys’ fees, BlackBerry said. “We are pleased the arbitration panel ruled in our favor and look forward to collaborating with Qualcomm in security for ASICs and solutions for the automotive industry,” said BlackBerry CEO John Chen in a news release. “While Qualcomm does not agree with the decision, it is binding and not appealable,” Qualcomm said in a statement. Qualcomm also faces ongoing legal battles with the FTC (see 1701170065, 1704040040 and 1704040037) and Apple (see 1701230067 and 1704110026).

The car industry “over promised” a personal-use autonomous driving system “that under delivers,” said AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson at the National Automobile Dealers Association/J.D. Power 2017 Automotive Forum in New York Tuesday. “The idea that I’m supposed to sit back and enjoy that this autonomous system is driving the car, and on the other hand I’ve got to be paying attention every single second, ready to intervene before the thing crashes … are you kidding me?” said Jackson. “I’d rather do it myself,” he said, anticipating the response of the average driver. Jackson sees a place for “guardian angel” use cases, where autonomous driving technology helps drivers avoid accidents and “in certain cases” can take over driving in low-speed situations, under 25 mph, he said. Jackson sees autonomous vehicles fitting into the market where their cost is justified by replacing a professional driver for ride-hailing, taxi and trucking applications. The cost of a truly autonomous, Level 5 vehicle today is “probably $200,000” and that might come down to $100,000 in a few years, Jackson said, but “unless you’re replacing a professional driver, you can’t make an economic justification for it.” That's about five years in the future, he said.