Comments are due March 3, replies March 20, in docket 12-108 on the FCC’s request for feedback on proposals from consumer groups on the factors for determining when closed caption display settings are accessible (see 2301240044), said Wednesday’s Federal Register. Groups such as Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the National Association of the Deaf want the agency to weigh “proximity, discoverability, previewability, and consistency and persistence” in the display settings. CTA expressed concern about the proposal.

Emergency SOS service via satellite on the iPhone 14 is now available in France, Germany, Ireland and the U.K., Apple said Tuesday. The service, employing Globalstar's satellite network, went live in November (see 2211150058). Apple said the handsets connect directly to satellites through custom components and software, while users get routed to relay centers that contact public safety answering points on their behalf.

New York electronics retailer B&H Foto & Electronics should stop marketing seven FM transmitters that are capable of broadcasting outside the FM band and/or lack FCC equipment authorization, the FCC Enforcement Bureau ordered Wednesday. The seven are the Rolls HR70 FM broadcast transmitter, Scosche BTFreq hands-free car kit with FM transmitter, Scosche Universal Bluetooth hands-free car kit with FM transmitter, Scosche Bluetooth hands-free car kit with FM transmitter and USB charging port, Scosche BTFreq Pro Bluetooth FM Transmitter with Power Delivery, HyperGear IntelliCast FM transmitter and car charger and Aluratek Universal Bluetooth audio receiver and FM transmitter, it said. B&H didn't comment.

The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security is “aware of” reports Huawei is attempting to circumvent U.S. restrictions on semiconductor exports to the company by providing money for Chinese startup Pengxinwei (PXW) IC Manufacturing to build a chip manufacturing plant in Shenzhen that’s expected to largely distribute its products to Huawei, a department official said Tuesday. Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Marco Rubio of Florida and four other GOP senators urged President Joe Biden Monday to “halt” the PXW construction plans (see 2210170078) and Commerce is “working with the White House” to respond to those concerns, a spokesperson said: “BIS is conducting a review of existing policies related to China and will potentially seek to employ a variety of legal, regulatory, and, when relevant, enforcement tools to keep advanced technologies out of the wrong hands.” The bureau is “taking a comprehensive approach to implement additional actions necessary related to technologies, end-uses, and end-users to protect U.S. national security and foreign policy interests,” the spokesperson said.

New mobile devices sold in the EU must have common chargers by the end of 2024, with laptops requiring the same USB Type-C charging port by 2026, after the European Parliament approved the proposal Tuesday. The measure covers mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones and headsets, handheld videogame consoles and portable speakers, e-readers, keyboards, mice, portable navigation systems and earbuds. Laptops rechargeable via wired cable, with a power delivery of up to 100 watts, will also have to be equipped with a USB Type-C port. The law is part of an EU effort to cut waste and help consumers make sustainable choices, parliament said. EU lawmakers voted to broaden the scope of the original European Commission proposal (see 2201260044) by including more devices, and to ensure the same rule applies to future wireless technologies, said rapporteur Alex Agius Saliba (of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, and Malta) at a briefing. By 2024, the EC must harmonize interoperability requirements for wireless technology standards to prevent companies from continuing to sell their proprietary technology: "Proprietary solutions will be a thing of the past." The rules will apply to all non-EU companies seeking to sell products within the EU single market. The law isn't retrospective, and older chargers will be phased out, he said. The measure is likely to have ramifications outside the EU because it makes no sense for producers to make chargers solely for European markets, he said. The law is expected to save buyers up to 250 million euros ($248 million) a year on unnecessary charger purchases and cut down on the 11,000 tons of e-waste generated by disposed-of and unused chargers annually, parliament said. The rule now needs formal approval from EU governments.

The smart TV “is basically a computer on the wall,” said Vizio Chief Financial Officer Adam Townsend at an investor conference last week, discussing the growing role of the connected TV (CTV) in the home. Commenting on the recent launch of the company’s Vizio Account payment platform, Townsend said the platform in the early stages is a way for customers to consolidate their premium streaming accounts in one payment location. In the future, the company wants the platform to enable “interaction, transactions and commerce.” The goal is to expand the TV’s role from a device that simply displays video to one that enables commerce activity including sports betting and food delivery orders. He also envisioned the platform enabling a personal training session “where you’re connected to that TV with a smartwatch, and there are sensors, and they know your telemetry,” he said. Vizio wants to “facilitate the transaction from a financial standpoint.” Townsend said Vizio is “laying the track in these early days of where the CTV business is headed. The smart TV “won’t just be limited to streaming video and being an entertainment device. It’s going to be a personal life-enhancing device.” Vizio’s targeting data with its automatic content recognition technology is key to driving ad growth, Townsend said. The ability to have a “complete data set on viewership and behavior” has become very valuable to Vizio on two fronts, Townsend said. It allows the company to sell targeted advertising for what it says is a better user experience with more relevant ads, enabling a higher cost per thousand impressions. The company also licenses portions of data to companies including Nielsen, Comscore, VideoAmp and 605 that are building measurement solutions for the CTV market using Vizio's data. “When Nielsen thinks about how to measure around traditional linear TV and CTV, our data is increasingly becoming the cornerstone to that product,” Townsend said.

Energous got an FCC Part 18 grant of equipment authorization for 15 watts of conducted wireless power transfer, the company said Wednesday. CEO Cesar Johnston called the approval a “landmark” for Energous, because it allows 15 times more wireless power transfer than previously allowed “without distance limitations.” Energous’ WattUp PowerBridge transmitters, which can charge multiple devices simultaneously at a distance using RF-based wireless power, send at 1- , 5.5- and 15 watts; they also are a data link for connected IoT devices such as sensors, electronic shelf labels (ESLs), IoT tags for asset tracking and batteryless devices, the company said. Energous positions its wireless power technology as an alternative to replaceable batteries, which it says are affected by temperature and frequency of use and require power cables that can add logistical issues and cost. Energous posted Q2 revenue of $233,000 Wednesday, up from $185,000 in the year-ago quarter.

Q2 smartphone shipments declined 8.7% year over year to 286 million handsets, about 3.5% lower than previously forecast, reported IDC Thursday. "What started as a supply-constrained industry earlier this year has turned into a demand-constrained market," said IDC. "While supply improved as capacity and production was ramped up, roaring inflation and economic uncertainty has seriously dampened consumer spending and increased inventory across all regions.” Smartphone OEMs have cut back orders for the rest of the year, with Chinese vendors “making the biggest cuts as their largest market continues to struggle,” it said. Though IDC expects demand to start to recover toward year-end, “the outlook for the 2022 smartphone market will definitely be revised down a few points,” it said. “We continue to believe that any reduction today is not demand that is lost, but simply pushed forward." Qualcomm expects global handset shipments in calendar 2022 to decline by “a mid-single-digit percentage” year over year, said the chipmaker Wednesday (see 2207280003).

Three prominent cardiologists and StopAfib.org, an atrial fibrillation patient advocacy organization, came to Apple’s defense Wednesday, urging the International Trade Commission in docket 337-TA-1266 not to ban imports of the Apple Watch, Series 4 through 6, for infringing two AliveCor electrocardiogram patents. ITC Administrative Law Judge Cameron Elliot, in a June 27 initial determination, found Apple guilty of Tariff Act Section 337 violations (see 2207140030). The “irregular pulse notification” alerts on the Apple Watch “can effectively identify people with atrial fibrillation who were not previously aware of this condition,” wrote Marco Perez, Stanford University associate professor of cardiovascular medicine and a board-certified cardiac electrophysiologist. As a clinician who manages patients with atrial fibrillation daily, Perez can attest that “many of these patients either did not have symptoms and were therefore unaware of a problem, or did have symptoms such as palpitations, but were previously dismissed or just could not be diagnosed by other means,” he said. Thanks to the cardiac alerts they received on the Apple Watch, said Perez, “many of these patients now have received treatment earlier than they would have otherwise, which has lowered their risk of stroke and has ameliorated their symptoms.” Hugh Calkins, cardiology professor at Johns Hopkins University, and Richard Milani, vice chairman of the Cardiology Department at Ochsner Health System in New Orleans, gave similar Apple Watch endorsements, as did StopAfib.org CEO Mellanie True Hills. Removing the Apple Watch and its cardiac alerts as an “option” could have “devastating effects on the atrial fibrillation patient community and their family members,” said Hills. But the Medical Device Manufacturers Association was alone among those commenting to urge the ITC to enforce its proposed import ban on the Apple Watch. In Apple’s “push to extend the reach of its consumer products” into the health and wellness space, it has “disregarded the patent rights of innovators,” said the group. The recommended import ban “is in the public interest given the need to protect the patent rights of medical device innovators from the threat of companies such as Apple who can afford to engage in ‘efficient infringement’ as a business strategy,” it said. Apple didn’t comment.

Despite the “changing market” for PCs, Microsoft continues to see more PCs shipped than pre-COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s “taking share,” said CEO Satya Nadella on an earnings call Tuesday for fiscal Q4 ended June 30. “We are seeing higher monthly usage of Windows 11 applications with increased time spent across creative work, collaboration, gaming, media and writing code as people rely on the PC for its unique productivity capabilities, rich interactive experiences and to stay connected,” he said. The “extended production shutdowns” in China due to COVID-19 that continued through May, plus the “deteriorating” PC market in June, “contributed to a negative Windows OEM revenue impact of more than $300 million,” said Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood. Revenue in Microsoft’s personal computing segment was up 2% year over year to $14.4 billion, she said: “Segment results were below our guidance range.” Microsoft sees its Windows OEM revenue declining by high-single digits in its fiscal Q1 ending Sept. 30, assuming that “the trends we saw in June continue through Q1,” said Hood.