FirstNet may not disclose which carrier wins a government contract for the public safety network as soon as was expected because of the Rivada Mercury bidding consortium's court challenge of its loss (see 1612020032), analysts wrote investors Monday and Friday. If the government and AT&T -- which analysts expect to win the contract -- prevail in court, the network may make the announcement around March, versus a previous expectation of last month, wrote Raymond James analysts. If Rivada wins the case and the bid review process restarts, that could delay partner selection to September, they said. New Street Research, which had expected disclosure of the winner within weeks, now thinks that won't occur until "after the Rivada court case has run its course, likely around March," those analysts wrote. The network authority declined to comment Monday. In October, it delayed the contract announcement past a previously expected Nov. 1, 2016, target (see 1610280031).

Holiday shopping sales from PCs over the Thanksgiving-Cyber Monday stretch jumped 17 percent in 2016 to $8.4 billion, comScore reported, as retailers and researchers continue to report (see 1611280033) that many made purchases from smartphones. Amazon had the most visits from PCs and mobile devices on Cyber Monday, followed by eBay, said comScore. Cyber Monday’s 130 million visitors topped Black Friday online shopping by 14 million, with 89 million via mobile and 37 million shopping on both smartphones and PCs, it said. Meanwhile, top-selling electronics by units Cyber Monday included Apple iPhones, Adobe said. It said tablets and smartphones generated 47 percent of visits to retail websites, generating 31 percent of sales.

Makers of connected "smart" toys should provide clear privacy notices, give "meaningful" ways for parents to consent to collection and use of their children's data, and protect that information as a way to build trust with parents, said a Future of Privacy Forum and Family Online Safety Institute paper Thursday. Building on a June event, FPF and FOSI analyzed privacy and security implications of such toys -- like the speech-activated Dino and Hello Barbie Dream House or the wearable bracelet Pokemon Go Plus -- which can connect to the internet and, therefore, collect, process and share kids' data. "As connected toys become more popular, it is important for toymakers to be transparent about their data practices and to mitigate security risks," said FPF CEO Jules Polonetsky in a news release. "Federal law provides key safeguards, but more can be done to build trust.” The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act may apply to such devices, but the organizations say companies "should go beyond COPPA's strictures by building privacy into the design and packaging of their toys." Even non-connected toys that use Bluetooth could raise privacy concerns by transmitting hardware-specific data that can be tracked by sensors in a store or shopping area, the paper said. Manufacturers should consider technical or policy measures to ensure such toys can be used in public spaces while providing appropriate privacy options, it added.

Though the ability to access smartphone apps in the car is becoming increasingly important, consumers “are concerned about the security of their information when their mobile device is paired to an in-car system,” Strategy Analytics said in a Wednesday report. Most consumers canvassed by the research firm in the U.S., Europe and China “agreed that it is important to be able to connect their smartphone to their in-car system, so they can access apps and music through the in-car controls and displays,” the report said. But more than half said they “do not want their vehicle to collect driving data, even if it remains anonymous,” it said. “Most want to be assured that no data from their phone will remain on the in-car system after it is disconnected.” Consumers by and large are “aware that they have little choice in giving up part of their privacy in order to live in a more enriched world with connected devices,” said Strategy Analytics. “Providing personal data will be less a concern if consumers could know how their data will be used, why it needs to be used, who will have access to it, for what purposes, and that they will have the full control of the data access.” Elsewhere on the connected-car front, Public Knowledge plans a Tuesday briefing on Capitol Hill on connected-car cybersecurity, the nonprofit said Wednesday. The event at 11:30 a.m. in G11 Dirksen is on “Cybersecurity Vulnerability in Connected Vehicles.” Speakers include Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and discussion of "threats posed to our privacy and cybersecurity as revealed by researcher Alex Kreilein of SecureSet in his latest report, ‘Security Considerations for Connected Vehicles and Dedicated Short Range Communications,’” or DSRC, PK said. "Existing DSRC technology makes cars easily identifiable, permitting tracking by third-parties and making DSRC-enabled vehicles targets for hackers." Using "DSRC spectrum and devices to support commercial applications dramatically increases the risk" of cyberattacks and identity theft, the group said.

The IAB Technology Laboratory is seeking public feedback on updated draft technical guidance for rich media ads that run in mobile applications. In a Wednesday news release, the R&D consortium said the revised mobile rich media ad interface definition (MRAID 3.0) -- the first update in more than four years -- provides better user experience, faster ad rendering, viewability measurement and video player ad interface definition integration. “With more accurate mobile viewability metrics, MRAID 3.0 creates better opportunities for publishers to monetize their inventory and for brands to understand the effectiveness of their campaigns,” said Anna Bager, IAB senior vice president and general manager-mobile and video. Comments are due Jan. 30 and then the MRAID working group will assess and incorporate the feedback.

Credo Mobile confirmed the company was in a "long-running legal battle over the constitutionality of national security letters (NSLs), and published the letters the government sent three years ago," said the Electronic Frontier Foundation in a Wednesday news release. EFF said it has represented the carrier in this matter since 2013 and the case has been combined with two other similar challenges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Credo has been under a gag order until now from being identified in the case, but a District Court in March said the FBI failed to justify the order, EFF said: The government decided to drop its appeal of that order, giving Credo the go-ahead to identify itself. "These letters, and the gag orders that came with them, infringed our free speech rights, blocking us from talking to our members about them or discussing our experience while lawmakers debated NSL reform,” said Credo CEO Ray Morris. “We were proud to fight these NSLs all these years, and now we are proud to publish the letters and take full part in the ensuing debate.” DOJ didn't comment.

BT continues to seek a voluntary settlement with U.K. telecom regulator Ofcom, a company spokesman emailed Wednesday. Earlier this week, Ofcom said it will require the legal separation of Openreach from BT due to competitive concerns (see 1611290027). “We put forward proposals in July that we believe are fair and sustainable, and that meet Ofcom’s objectives without disproportionate costs,” the BT spokesman said. “We are implementing these proposals, and have just appointed Mike McTighe to be the first chairman of Openreach. We are in discussions with Ofcom on two outstanding issues, the reporting line of the Openreach CEO and the form of legal incorporation.”

Advocates for those who are deaf and other groups endorsed the real-time text (RTT) positions espoused by Deaf/Hard of Hearing Technology Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center-Gallaudet University (RERC) and Omnitor, which they said are critical for the transition from traditional text telephony service. The advocates said they strongly back RERC and Omnitor's view that "RTT must be supported" on every phone with a display and the ability to generate text or connect to devices that generate text. "This is essential to ensuring that people who rely on text, or a combination of voice and text, are able to call doctors, neighbors, businesses, and others with whom they need or wish to communicate, and not just those who have purchased special phones," said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 16-145 from Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, National Association for the Deaf, Association of Late-Deafened Adults, Hearing Loss Association of America and Cerebral Palsy and Deaf Organization. They agreed with RERC/Omnitor's view "that the control to add RTT to a call must be available alongside other in-call controls, and in all instances that such controls are presented to users." The groups said they agreed with RERC/Omnitor that "all incoming calls that include RTT must be accepted with RTT automatically enabled." The groups backed Hamilton Relay's call for relay providers to "be included in the RTT ecosystem, with wireless carriers connecting to relay providers in RTT." Separately, Verizon said industry needed flexibility on implementing RTT. "While Verizon’s comments supported the flexibility to be able to use an over-the-top application during a transition to RTT, flexibility to implement RTT using native device capabilities is also important and should be encouraged," said a Verizon filing, on a meeting with an FCC staffer. The carrier said it agreed with related comments filed by the Competitive Carriers Association and T-Mobile (see 1611280038). The FCC tentatively plans an RTT vote at commissioners' Dec. 15 meeting (see 1611220064).

ON Semiconductor bowed a development kit to help wearables makers develop differentiated products, while shortening time to market and lowering engineering costs, the company announced Tuesday. The WDK1.0 incorporates a DC-DC converter for power management, battery charger IC, fuel gauge and 10-watt wireless charging front-end controller based on the AirFuel wireless charging specification. Wireless connectivity is provided by an ultra-low power, multi-protocol SoC from Nordic Semiconductor combining a 32-bit ARM Cortex processor core and a 2.4 GHz transceiver supporting Bluetooth Low Energy and other wireless technologies, it said. A compatible app is available at Google Play and Apple’s App Store.

IDC sees global smartphone shipment growth grinding to a halt in 2016 after a double-digit increase in 2015, the research firm said in a Tuesday report. Smartphone shipments are expected to reach 1.45 billion units, with a year-over-year growth rate of 0.6 percent in 2016, IDC said. Though overall growth “remains positive,” that's “down significantly” from the 10.4 percent unit increases in 2015, it said. But 4G smartphones are still expected to show double-digit "uptake" at 21.3 percent year-over-year growth globally for 2016, reaching 1.17 billion units, from 967 million in 2015, the firm said. Much of the growth is coming from “emerging markets,” where only 61 percent of 2015 smartphone shipments were 4G-enabled, compared with 77 percent expected in 2016, it said. “All signs point” to 2016 becoming the first full year of shipment declines for the iPhone, it said. But “by no means is this doomsday for Apple in this category,” said IDC. With the iPhone’s 10th birthday in 2017, “it is hard to believe Apple doesn't have something big up its sleeve,” said the researcher. But the “challenges of low-cost competition remain, and Google getting into the premium space certainly doesn't make things any easier” for the iPhone, it said.