Nearly “every big tech company” at CES used the event to announce a product “that can be worn close to or on the body,” Riddhi Patel, DisplaySearch research director-consumer insights, said Wednesday in a blog post. Wearables “are available in all shapes and sizes,” whether buckled onto the wrist or “stuck to the body” with adhesives, and they’re capable of “monitoring everything from movement of the body to vital medical information to sleep patterns,” she said. “However, we are no closer to answering the question of what problem these devices really solve, or indeed what their enduring value will be.” Contrary to speculation last fall that the Apple Watch would deliver a killer app, the product, as introduced, “did not result in a Eureka moment,” she said. “These are exciting times, and all this leads me to believe that the near future holds a lot of promise for both consumers and the wearable value chain. Maybe the next CES will see some players dropping out of the market, some having more established plans, and some emerging as clear leaders as the industry slowly discovers where lasting value lies.”
The FCC is on the right track as it moves forward on new location accuracy rules for wireless calls made indoors, said Thera Bradshaw, executive director of Hawaii’s Enhanced 9-1-1 Board, in an email. Bradshaw said she has been a public safety official for more than 30 years and supports Chairman Tom Wheeler’s approach on location accuracy (see 1501130062). “I welcome the opportunity to work with a proactive FCC that is really passionate about tackling location accuracy in order to find people when they need help,” she said. “This Wheeler led FCC is doing just that in their efforts to produce meaningful accurate indoor and outdoor location to achieve a dispatchable address. By putting aside efforts to establish blame and staying the course, bringing all stakeholders into the discussion, the Commission will succeed in attaining the goal of an accurate location when people call 911, sooner rather than later.”
Eatoni, a software-based keyboard company, announced a “pure swipe keyboard” designed for typing on a smart watch. With the Eatoni keyboard app, letters are arranged around a watch face and each letter is selected with a swipe, the company said. “With practice, you can input an entire word in a single fluid motion,” the company said in a Tuesday news release. Typing a few characters enables users to “meaningfully respond” to a notification, search for a contact, launch an app or play a game, Eatoni said. "The more a smart watch helps you keep your phone in your pocket or purse, the more successful it will be," CEO Howard Gutowitz said.
Smartphone and tablet apps are becoming the norm during in-store shopping, said a Cisco study released at the National Retail Federation convention. Nearly half of U.S. consumers, and 42 percent in the U.K., said they’re using smartphones to augment their shopping experience, Cisco said. A third of U.S. shoppers are using independent shopping apps on a mobile device at least once a week, it said, and 55 percent of U.S. shoppers use retailer-specific apps while shopping. Lisa Fretwell, Cisco Consulting Services managing director-retail, said consumers are interested more in a “hyper-relevant” shopping experience than in a “hyper-personalized” experience, where they receive what they want when they want it versus a personalized experience of “knowing your name.” Consumers are becoming more accepting about giving up personal information as more connected devices enter their lives, Fretwell told us. To get offers relevant to them in a “value exchange,” consumers are increasingly willing to share purchase history and location data, she said. As part of the survey of 1,240 retail consumers in the U.S. and U.K. during October and November, Cisco tested shopping concepts with consumers to help determine the Internet of Things “value that is up for grabs” in terms of revenue “uplift” and employee productivity. Some 53 percent of consumers were interested in same-day home delivery of orders placed online and were willing to pay up to $5 per delivery, Cisco said. Four in 10 said they’d be willing to use a secure locker to pick up orders they had placed online, it said. Nearly three-fourths of respondents said they’d use a smartphone to scan products for customized offers and promotions in stores, and 63 percent were interested in “augmented reality apps” to help locate products in a store. Nearly 60 percent said they’d use augmented reality apps to get more product information such as online consumer reviews, it said. Six in 10 of those surveyed said they would like to scan barcodes on items while shopping to track items and pay at a self-service checkout terminal, said the study. Nearly half wanted to be able to store several payment cards on smartphones and smart watches so they could pay in stores by swiping the device at checkout, Cisco said,
The FCC Wireless Bureau rejected a request by the Land Mobile Communications Council (LMCC), filed Monday, seeking postponement of the pre-coordination and application filing deadlines for 800 MHz band expansion band (815-16/860-61 MHz) and guard band (816-17/861-62 MHz) channels. The LMCC asked for 120-day extensions of both. “In effect,” LMCC seeks a stay of the bureau's decision to permit pre-coordination for the expansion band and guard band channels starting Wednesday and the filing of applications beginning Feb. 10, the bureau said Tuesday. “A stay is grantable if the petitioner can show that (i) it is likely to prevail on the merits; (ii) it will suffer irreparable harm, absent a stay; (iii) other interested parties will not be harmed if the stay is granted; and (iv) the public interest would favor a grant of the stay,” the bureau said. “LMCC fails to meet this standard.”
Verizon used the North American International Auto Show to announce a retrofit connected-vehicle service called Verizon Vehicle that will be available this spring to more than 200 million older cars (1996 and later) regardless of the user’s wireless carrier. The subscription-based service will launch in Q2 and offer drivers GPS-directed roadside assistance; automatic urgent incident alerts to a Verizon member care center in case of an accident; one-button connection to a live agent in case of emergency; an “auto health system” with predictive diagnostics to translate messages such as “check engine”; a mechanic’s hotline for immediate assistance; parking and meter tools to help drivers locate a vehicle and keep tabs on time left on a meter; maintenance alerts; and stolen vehicle location assistance, Verizon said Tuesday. The subscription-based service operates through an OBD (on-board diagnostics) reader that can mount in a vehicle’s under-dash diagnostic port, a Bluetooth-enabled speaker that attaches to the visor and a free smartphone app. Subscribers can choose to use the app or have the service contact them -- by phone, text, push notification or email -- if a problem is detected with the vehicle, Verizon said. The speaker offers one-button push connection to the member care group, the mechanics hotline and roadside assistance -- as well as a second button for SOS emergency situations, Verizon said. Subscriptions are $14.99 monthly with a two-year contract, and equipment is included in the subscription price, it said. Verizon is offering the first month of service for free with pre-orders, it said.
The FCC Wireless Bureau gave commenters an additional two weeks to weigh in on the FCC’s proposed competitive bidding rules for the TV incentive auction. In December, the bureau already had delayed the initial deadline for filing comments on the Oct. 1 competitive bidding rules NPRM (see 1412080075). Comments were due Dec. 29, replies Jan. 20. The new deadlines were moved to Jan. 23 for comments, Feb. 12 for replies. The latest deadlines are Feb. 6 and Feb. 26, respectively. The bureau cited the fact that the AWS-3 auction is still in progress. Extending the deadlines "should continue to serve our objective of increasing the likelihood that interested parties will be able to take into account more complete information about the results of the bidding,” the bureau said Tuesday.
Zero rating narrows, rather than widens, the digital divide, Daniel Lyons, associate professor at Boston College Law School, said Monday on the American Enterprise Institute's tech blog. Lyons said offerings by Sprint and T-Mobile of zero-rated services are helpful rather than harmful to competition. The zero-rating question is seen as one of the toughest facing the FCC as it moves forward on net neutrality rules (see 1411140046). “Sprint and T-Mobile lack the scale and spectrum holdings they would need to compete head-on with Verizon and AT&T. Instead, each is introducing a differentiated product to appeal to customers who are not satisfied with traditional wireless broadband plans,” Lyons wrote. “Sprint’s social media plans target cost-conscious customers who want to access Facebook or Twitter on-the-go, but who are unwilling or unable to pay for full mobile Internet access. Similarly, T-Mobile’s streaming audio bundle appeals to heavy music consumers who would otherwise have to purchase larger data bundles or forego [sic] mobile music altogether on the larger carriers’ plans.”
The FCC Wireless Bureau extended by two weeks the comment deadline on a Nov. 21 public notice seeking to refresh the record on wireless hearing aid compatibility rules. Comments are now due Feb. 5, replies Feb. 20. CTIA, the Hearing Loss Association of America and the Telecommunications Industry Association sought a 30-day delay, the bureau noted Monday. The groups said the extension would allow “a more robust record” to develop, the bureau said. It opted instead for 14 days, saying "we believe the additional time will facilitate careful and deliberate considerations of these matters.”
U.S. Cellular will start testing its Voice over LTE service in two or three unidentified markets this year, a U.S. Cellular spokeswoman said Friday. The company also will focus on completing its 4G network.