Texas Instruments announced availability of two Wi-Fi modules in its SimpleLink family, the company’s low-power platform for the Internet of Things. The CC3100 gives developers the flexibility to program apps using any microcontroller, TI said, while the CC3200 integrates a programmable ARM Cortex M4 microcontroller, allowing customers to run their own code on-chip. By using the modules, developers can benefit from lower development costs, reduced time to market, and simplified procurement and certification, the company said.
The FCC dismissed the American Hotel & Lodging Association's, Marriott International's and Ryman Hospitality Properties’ petition for declaratory ruling on Wi-Fi containment capabilities, in an order in RM-11737 on Feb. 13. The hotel associations withdrew a request for declaratory ruling Jan. 30. In 2013, Marriott prevented guests at the Gaylord Opryland hotel in Nashville from bypassing the hotel’s Wi-Fi to use their own Wi-Fi hot spots, the Enforcement Bureau said in an Oct. 3, 2014, order. Marriott signed a consent decree to settle the $600,000 fine after the commission completed an investigation of the Wi-Fi jamming in 2013. The FCC issued two enforcement advisories, one Dec. 8, another Jan. 27, calling Wi-Fi jamming “a disturbing trend in which hotels and other commercial establishments block wireless consumers from using their own personal Wi-Fi hotspots on the commercial establishment’s premises.” Wi-Fi blocking violates Section 333 of the Communications Act, the FCC said. The commission shouldn't dismiss the petition or close the proceeding, Public Knowledge said in an opposition filed Friday. It suggested dismissing the petition with prejudice, because Marriott filed a request for declaratory ruling but didn't file a motion requesting that the commission dismiss the pleading. In Marriott's opinion, Section 333 doesn't apply to unlicensed devices operating under Part 15 and it has the right to use jamming technology for cybersecurity reasons, Public Knowledge said.
The near field communications technology (NFC) built into more than 500 million mobile phones can be tapped by retailers to boost the in-store shopping experience, the NFC Forum said last week, citing research from Strategy Analytics. According to the study, which included survey results from 1,000 end users, NFC technology was “overwhelmingly” preferred over competing communications technologies, including Bluetooth beacons and QR codes. Among the ways NFC suggested that retailers can implement NFC technology in stores are: for deals, Wi-Fi and rewards accounts; multimedia content and real-time store inventory; information about related products; NFC-enabled on-phone shopping carts; product information; and cartridge/toner refill and one-touch reorder capability.
Itron petitioned the FCC Wireless Bureau to reconsider its denial of the company’s requests for waivers from Sections 22.355, 22.515, and 22.531 of FCC rules -- co-channel protection requirements and effective radiated power (ERP) rules for its operations on the 931 MHz band. Waivers of the co-channel protection requirements are necessary for Itron to “engage in half-duplex transmissions to facilitate transmissions both to and from Itron’s meter module end points,” the company said Thursday in docket 13-195. The ERP waiver is necessary to permit Itron to operate fixed and mobile stations with an ERP of less than 2 watts to be subject to a frequency tolerance of 5 ppm rather than 1.5 ppm, the company said. The waivers would allow Itron to support automatic meter reading and advanced metering infrastructure systems that are “key components of modern smart grid infrastructure,” the company said. The Wireless Bureau denied Itron’s waiver request Jan. 13 because it said Itron hadn’t adequately explained how its proposed operations would protect co-channel site-based incumbents and co-channel geographic area licensees. Itron clarified in the petition how its proposed operations would protect incumbents and co-channel geographic area licensees.
Free Wi-Fi access will be provided to all guests staying at Hyatt-branded hotels and resorts worldwide as of Saturday, a Hyatt news release said. Guests will be able to obtain Wi-Fi for free on an unlimited number of mobile devices or laptops in guest rooms and social spaces at Hyatt hotels, it said. The sign-on process to access free Wi-Fi will vary by property. “It didn’t feel natural to put barriers around something travelers view as an essential part of their hotel stay,” said Vice President-Brands Kristine Rose. “Staying connected through technology is a critical part of productivity and keeping in touch with loved ones, especially while away traveling." Platinum and Diamond Hyatt Gold Passport members will be able to upgrade to premium Wi-Fi service for free whenever the upgrade is available. Guests not enrolled in loyalty programs can buy premium service, said the hotel chain. Marriott International was fined $600,000 by the FCC in October after that hotel chain was found to be blocking personal Wi-Fi networks at its Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville (see 1410060066). The hotel chain announced in January it would no longer block guests from using their personal Wi-Fi devices at any of its hotels (see 1501150064) in order to “protect personal data,” said Marriott International’s Global Chief Information Officer Bruce Hoffmeister.
The FCC authorized AT&T’s maximum bit rate program, the carrier said in a comment filed Friday that hasn’t yet appeared in docket 14-28. The Enforcement Bureau is considering whether to issue a notice of apparent liability against AT&T alleging that the company's public disclosure of its maximum bit rate program failed to satisfy the FCC's transparency rule and proposing statutory forfeitures, AT&T said in a motion to dismiss filed Jan. 5. The FCC endorsed managed bit rate programs in staff reports on AT&T, Comcast and T-Mobile, AT&T said. The company disclosed its network management program and informed customers that it may “slow speeds once an unlimited plan customer has used a set amount of data” through bill statements, emails, text messages and its website since 2011, it said. T-Mobile recently agreed to offer more accurate information to customers checking their mobile broadband speeds after reaching their monthly data caps (see 1411240062).
Nvidia’s automotive platforms for the connected car “remain on a sharp upward trajectory, registering better than 80 percent growth” over last year, Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress said Wednesday on an earnings call. “More than 7.5 million cars with our technology are now on the road, up from 4.7 million a year ago.” At CES, the company bowed Nvidia Drive, “a computing platform for next-generation advanced driver assistant systems and digital cockpits,” Kress said. Nvidia Drive “is basically a mobile super chip, a mobile super computer, with a ton of software on top,” CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said in Q&A. The platform enables “a very advanced digital cockpit,” Huang said. “You know that we're incredibly good at computer graphics, and the things that we can do in the car with more and more displays showing up in the car is pretty wonderful.”
Alternative early upgrade and no-contract wireless plans are disrupting the market’s traditional purchase model for handsets, said Parks Associates research released Thursday. A quarter of T-Mobile subscribers prefer the traditional two-year wireless contract model with a subsidized handset, while a third prefer to pay full price upfront and 31 percent would rather pay in monthly installments, Parks said. T-Mobile and AT&T “have tapped into the consumer desire for the latest and greatest smartphone with their early-upgrade programs,” said Harry Wang, Parks director-health and mobile product research. Some 14 percent of smartphone owners plan to upgrade to their next device more quickly than they did for their current device, with a quarter of them citing special operator incentives as the reason. “These alternative plans are one stone for two birds -- they help operators acquire new subscribers and retain loyal, high-value customers,” Wang said. The challenge for operators is to persuade smartphone users to upgrade early and buy more-profitable data plans while minimizing voluntary customer churn, he said.
There are “some limitations” to the FCC’s agreement with major U.S. wireless carriers to let customers switch networks on their mobile devices, Sherwin Siy, Public Knowledge vice president-legal affairs, said in a news release Wednesday. Those carriers kept a commitment to adopt policies within a year allowing customers to switch networks while keeping their existing devices, two FCC officials said in a Wednesday blog post (see 1502110050 and 1502120028). Consumers are still barred from unlocking their mobile phones, which was the “original source of concern,” Siy said. The Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, which allows such unlocking, is “only effective for a short period of time,” he said. Siy noted PK’s recent comments to the Copyright Office seeking to allow unlocking exemptions under Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 1201 (see 1502110062). PK hopes Congress will “ensure that such a change can be made permanently, and settle the matter once and for all," Siy said.
CTIA urged the FCC to ensure a new open Internet framework won’t hinder differentiated offerings and choices that mobile consumers currently have. The market currently relies on Communications Act Title I classification, and Title II with forbearance isn’t an appropriate framework for mobile wireless broadband, the association said in an ex parte notice filed Wednesday in docket 10-127. The commission can ensure stability and investment in the mobile broadband market with Section 706, it said. Section 332 keeps the commission from treating mobile broadband services as common carriers, it said. The filing included a white paper describing the importance of competition in an open Internet and the consumer benefits of a competitive mobile wireless industry.