IHS erred in its forecast that nearly 21 million autonomous vehicles will be sold globally by 2035 (see 1606080048), the firm said in a Thursday clarification. IHS sees 76 million autonomous vehicles being sold globally through 2035, including 21 million alone in 2035, the clarification said. IHS expects global sales will reach nearly 600,000 units in 2025 and rise at a 43 percent compound annual growth rate in the decade that follows, it said.

The 5.8 GHz band, heavily used for Wi-Fi and especially by wireless ISPs, remains a highly contentious band two years after the FCC tried to harmonize rules, said Fletcher Heald lawyer Mitchell Lazarus in a Thursday blog post. The band was subject to two sets of rules, combined in 2014, he said: “The new rule mostly retained the more stringent provisions of each predecessor, including the stricter U-NII out-of-band emissions limits. Done, the FCC dusted off its hands and turned to its next task. Not so fast. In came a boxload of petitions for reconsideration. … Four of the petitioners, including WISPs, objected that the newly adopted out-of-band emissions limits were too low. In principle one can design a device for any out-of-band limit, but more stringent limits drive up the cost and weight, and may impair performance.” The FCC is still taking comments with more decisions to be made, he said.

The International Trade Commission is investigating Apple and AT&T alleged patent infringements by importing smartphones and laptops that include haptics technologies, as requested by Immersion, the ITC said in a news release last week. Immersion's complaint earlier this year alleged Apple and AT&T are importing and selling iPhone 6s, MacBook and MacBook Pro devices that include infringing technology, which allows users to feel a vibrating force or resistance based on different user interactions with the device. The ITC will consider whether to issue a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders against Apple and AT&T Mobility. Those companies had no comment Friday.

Word on the street at the recent Public Safety Communications Research Lab meeting was that at least three companies bid for the FirstNet contract, and possibly as many as five, public safety consultant Andrew Seybold said in an email blast Friday. Rivada has been very public as a bidder on the request for proposals, Seybold wrote (see 1606070037). “There was a lot of speculation about who the bidders are,” he said. “Unless more of them issue press releases there is really no way to verify who bid and who did not. The rumored suspects discussed both during the PSCR event and each evening at the parties included AT&T, Verizon, perhaps with Motorola and Ericsson, Pacific Data Vision (Morgan O’Brien’s company) along with Motorola and Ericsson, and perhaps to round things out a company such as Northrup-Grumman or even Booz-Allen Hamilton.” Nothing in the rules prevents a company from participating in different bids, Seybold noted.

The FCC needs to address questions about wireless facility siting and tribes that were raised in a May petition by PTA-FLA, the Enterprise Wireless Alliance said in a filing Friday. PTA-FLA, a Jacksonville Beach, Florida-based carrier, said wireless companies' repeated notifications to tribes, often when there's no possible impairment to an Indian site, can add months to the siting process. “It should be possible to strike an appropriate balance between the entirely legitimate interests of Tribal Nations in protecting locations of meaningful historic significance to them and the public interest in facilitating deployment of antenna facilities that are used in delivering public safety, public service, broadband and other wireless communications,” EWA said. “The changes proposed in the Petition may not achieve that optimal balance, but the issues raised are substantive and should be addressed.” The filing was posted in docket 15-80.

Lenovo unveiled the first consumer smartphone with Google’s Tango augmented reality technology, at Tech World 2016 Thursday. Lowe’s will sell the Tango-enabled Lenovo Phab2 Pro, the companies said. Dolby Audio 5.1 Capture technology will debut in the Phab2 Pro, enabling users to record in surround sound, said Lenovo. The Moto Z and Moto Z Force smartphones, in an all-metal design, have low-light camera performance, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 processor and Moto TurboPower charging. The Moto Z is said to be the thinnest premium smartphone. Lenovo also demo'd concept technologies: flexible screens and components, as well as smart footwear technology, with wireless charging, based on Intel’s Curie module. Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang cited the company’s three pillars of future technology: device innovation, device plus cloud connectivity and infrastructure. He said that interconnected devices will allow “rich interactions” such as a “seamlessly linked smart home with custom environment and entertainment options."

The FCC rejected an appeal of a Wireline Bureau decision that denied a request of USCOC of Cumberland and Hardy Cellular Telephone (both U.S. Cellular units) to waive USF high-cost support filing deadlines. Rules 54.809(c) and 54.904(d) required eligible telecom carriers receiving interstate access support and interstate common line support to make certain certifications every year. While they've now been largely superseded by new rules under the 2011 USF and intercarrier compensation transformation order, the FCC said, U.S. Cellular in 2008 sought a waiver from the previous deadlines but was denied by the bureau and filed an application for review by the full commission. In its unanimous order Wednesday in docket 08-71, the FCC said the company failed to establish any grounds to overturn the bureau decision. U.S. Cellular didn't comment Thursday.

IHS sees nearly 21 million autonomous vehicles being sold globally by 2035, the firm said in a Tuesday forecast. “This is a substantial increase from previous estimates, and is influenced by recent research and development by automotive OEMs, supplier and technology companies who are investing in this area,” IHS said. It also based the new forecast “on a wave of recent developments and investments in this sector of the market, as well as activity within various regulatory environments,” it said. The U.S. market is expected to see “the earliest deployment of autonomous vehicles as it works through challenges posed by regulation, liability and consumer acceptance,” IHS said. Deployment in the U.S. will begin with several thousand autonomous vehicles in 2020, but grow to nearly 4.5 million vehicles by 2035, it said. In fashioning a market for autonomous vehicles, IHS “expects entirely new vehicle segments to be created, in addition to traditional vehicles adding autonomous capabilities,” it said. “Consumers gain new choices in personal mobility to complement mass transit, and these new choices will increasingly use battery electric and other efficient means of propulsion.”

Fast charging, wireless charging and augmented and virtual reality functionality will be the top three smartphone “technologies and capabilities whose developments and transformations” through 2017 that no vendor can “ignore,” Gartner said Wednesday in an online Q&A with its research director, Roberta Cozza. Though the “current appearances” of AR and VR are new, “better display technology, improvements in sensing and tracking hardware and software for things such as motion, gesture, head and eye tracking, and real-time graphics will increase interest and adoption,” Cozza said. Burgeoning developments in 360-degree and depth-sensing imaging “will provide enhancements to and the availability of environmental mapping capabilities,” she said. “In addition, 3D and 360-degree imaging devices can further accelerate this trend.” Head-mounted displays using AR and VR are expected to sell 40 million units by 2020, “which provides the highest revenue opportunity, together with smartwatches,” she said.

An FCC rule to collect information for Form 611-T related to eligibility for designated entity benefits under spectrum auction bidding rules was approved by the Office of Management and Budget and will take effect July 8, said a commission summary of the rule published in the Federal Register Wednesday.