A survey commissioned by the Wireless Power Consortium said 75 percent of 2,000 customers in the U.S., Europe and Asia experience “battery anxiety” at least once a week, with 36 percent reporting such anxiety happens daily, it wrote Thursday. Three-quarters said they would use wireless chargers if the technology were built into their smartphones. WPC expects the perceived value of wireless charging to increase as it’s adopted more broadly in products such as laptops, said Chairman Menno Treffers.

The IEEE Computer Society predicted the IoT, self-driving cars and artificial intelligence are among the top technologies that will reach broader adoption next year. Self-driving will see expansion beyond Silicon Valley to constrained geographic areas, it reported Wednesday. Improved processors makes it easier to write domain-specific apps that can adapt and process complex situations, said IEEE. Although 5G isn’t likely to see broad 2017 adoption, standards are being developed, and early use deployments are being pursued.

The ZigBee Alliance and Thread Group demoed products running ZigBee’s language for smart devices on Thread networks, they announced Thursday. Among members of both organizations that demonstrated prototypes at the Thread's member meeting last month and that will show products in both organizations’ CES booths: MMB Networks, Nortek, NXP Semiconductors, Osram, P&G, Resolution Products, Schneider Electric, Silicon Labs, Somfy, Yale and Zen Thermostat, they said. The demos are a milestone in the groups’ liaison agreement toward an ecosystem of connected products that interoperate over Thread IP networks using the ZigBee language, they said.

Federated Wireless said it demo'd interoperability between its spectrum access system and an SAS developed by Alphabet’s Access team. Federated said the demonstration shows the workability of the FCC’s shared spectrum regime in the 3.5 GHz band. The agency labeled the band the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS). “Federated Wireless and Alphabet’s Access team demonstrated operational interoperability for their independently developed SASs, which illustrates a necessary step for industry readiness to launch a commercial shared spectrum service while validating the SAS-to-SAS interface protocol defined by the Wireless Innovation Forum,” said a Thursday Federated news release. “This is a requirement for a multi-SAS administered CBRS band that could enable higher data rate LTE access for mobile devices nationwide.” Sepehr Mehrabanzad, Federated senior vice president-engineering, said “all required building blocks are coming together effectively as demonstrated today and further indication of our readiness towards commercialization of a shared spectrum solution.”

CTIA generally praised the FCC for its July order opening up high-frequency bands for 5G (see 1607140052), but also asked for changes. “The Order was developed and finalized with remarkable energy and speed, facilitating innovation and making additional spectrum available to advance the next phase of U.S. wireless leadership,” CTIA said in a reconsideration petition filed in docket 14-177. “While the Order takes important steps towards achieving its objectives, a few actions merit reconsideration.” The agency should rescind Rule 30.8 with its 5G provider cybersecurity statement requirements, “allocate and license the 66-71 GHz band for terrestrial services” and license the 37-37.6 GHz band for “exclusive use” with “federal sharing as a condition of licensing,” CTIA said. T-Mobile said the order leans too heavily in favor of unlicensed spectrum. Of the 10.85 GHz allocated, “only 3.25 gigahertz was made available for licensed use on an exclusive basis,” T-Mobile wrote. “While spectrum for both licensed and unlicensed uses is important, the disparity here is stark. Moreover, only a small amount of the 3.25 gigahertz of spectrum designated for exclusive licensed use will actually be auctioned, as most is already licensed to incumbent entities.”

Toyota representatives questioned whether some devices the FCC is testing to examine sharing between Wi-Fi and dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) systems designed to prevent many motor-vehicle accidents (see 1605260059) will give the agency a complete picture. The automaker reported on meetings with aides to Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Mike O’Rielly and Ajit Pai. “The re-channelization devices submitted for testing seem to be off-the-shelf 802.11ac devices that have been tweaked to operate in the U-NII-4 band and, unfortunately, do not fully support the re-channelization proposal,” the company said in a filing in docket 13-49. “The devices do not appear to implement any sharing mechanism for the portion of the band that is expected to be shared between U-NII and DSRC. ... While the devices can be used to test cross-channel interference from U-NII to DSRC, they cannot be used to test co-channel U-NII-to-DSRC interference.”

The FCC Public Safety Bureau approved South Dakota’s 700 MHz Regional Planning Committee’s (RPC’s) proposed 700 MHz plan for general use spectrum in the 769-775/799-805 MHz band. The RPC filed the plan at the FCC in October, the bureau said in a Wednesday order. The bureau also sought comment on a proposed plan for Hawaii. Comments are due Jan. 13, replies Jan. 30.

Wi-Fi provider Skyroam announced the launch of airport vending machines from ZoomSystems that dispense pocket-size global Wi-Fi hot spots for travelers. Consumers can rent a hot spot with unlimited global service in more than 100 countries for $9.95 per day and mail it back to the company in a prepaid envelope when they return home. The service provides coverage for multiple users, said Skyroam. The first vending machines are available at San Francisco International Airport with more due later this month at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport and Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Skyroam is also available for purchase online ($99) at skyroam.com. For a limited time, the purchase price includes three free 24-hour global Wi-Fi day passes ($8 value), said Skyroam.

CTIA offered the FCC clarity on aspects of its proposed Wireless Network Resiliency Cooperative Framework, answering questions from staff. Under the framework, four of the five prongs -- roaming during disasters, mutual aid during disasters and mutual aid during emergencies, and improving public awareness on service restoration status -- would kick in when the National Response Coordination Center declares Emergency Support Function 2 (ESF-2) “for a given emergency or disaster and the Commission activates the electronic Disaster Electronic Response System,” CTIA said. The association acknowledged that the “NRCC may not be the only entity that may initiate the ESF-2 function and that other authorized entities may also trigger the system,” in a filing in docket 13-239.

The FCC Wednesday posted a petition by the Alaska Wireless Network (AWN), and parent General Communication, Inc. (GCI) that asked for revised buildout rules for a single lower 700 MHz A-block license covering the entire state. The Wireless Bureau this week sought comment on the petition (see 1612120049). “As the Commission knows, it is extremely difficult to provide wireless coverage or, indeed, any other form of terrestrial telecommunications service in rural Alaska,” AWN said. “In the case of the Commission's Lower 700 MHz geographic build-out requirements, this challenge is compounded by the vast tracts of unpopulated land that cover most of Alaska. These realities make it virtually impossible for any statewide licensee in Alaska to meet the Commission's construction deadlines, if these rules are rigidly applied.” AWN said while geographical requirements aren’t achievable, it will commit to cover at least 50 percent of the population, representing more than 350,000 Alaskans. “Acquiring the 700 MHz license in June 2016 provided GCI with an important tool to advance its effort to bring wireless service to remote areas of Alaska,” the company said. “This license will allow GCI to reach more Alaskans at lower cost, to expand its current coverage radii around many rural communities, and to improve indoor coverage.”