Samsung's latest stand-alone turnkey security system offers protection for booting, isolated storage and mobile payments, it said Tuesday. The chip is Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level 6+ certified, it said. Consumers expect smartphones to be highly secure to protect personal data and enable mobile banking, stock trading and cryptocurrency transactions, said Dongho Shin, Samsung senior vice president-system LSI marketing, calling the S3FV9RR chip a “deadbolt on smart devices." The chip is due in Q3.

Intel is buying Rivet Networks, a provider of software and cloud-based technologies for Wi-Fi networks. The companies partnered to build the Wi-Fi 6-based Killer AX1650, said to deliver speed, intelligence and control for gamers and performance PC users. The Rivet team will be part of Intel’s client computing group, and its key products will integrate into Intel’s PC Wi-Fi portfolio, blogged Chris Walker, general manager of the group. Intel will license Rivet software to customers and develop new solutions for “broader PC connectivity enhancement,” he said Wednesday.

Vuzix now has hands-free voice support for Skype for Business, Zoom and Zoom for Healthcare, for its M400 smart glasses, said the company Wednesday: An operating system update lets users access the apps, enter passwords and join meetings by voice.

Two major smart home manufacturers are integrating with each other's products. Lutron lighting and shading control products will integrate with iOS and Android apps and with Crestron Home touch screens. Crestron software will automatically detect Lutron hardware on the customer’s network. That will help audiovisual dealers “deliver the best user experience” to clients, “regardless of what brand of lighting controls and shades are installed,” said John Clancy, Lutron vice president-residential. "Crestron and Lutron products are used together so often." It's “great news for integrators,” said Chief Operating Officer Franklin Karp of Audio Video Systems in Plainview, New York, in an email to us Monday.

The FCC's Ligado order (see 2004200011) leans heavily on so-called "co-existence agreements" between the company and GPS manufacturers, but Garmin never signed such an agreement, just a technical agreement in 2015 to settle litigation brought by Ligado, Garmin said in a docket 11-109 posting Monday. That settlement doesn't endorse Ligado's proposal, and Garmin doesn't endorse Ligado's license modification applications, it said. "The FCC’s apparent peremptory dismissal of ... well-documented concerns [such as possible interference to certified aviation devices] is troubling," as is rejection of the 1 dB noise floor standard for gauging harmful interference, Garmin said. Ligado emailed that “over two years ago, the FAA established the parameters to protect certified aviation; those exact parameters were adopted in the FCC’s order. Ligado trusts that the FCC and the FAA got it right, and stands ready to implement pursuant to the conditions of the Order. This appears to be another attempt to persuade anyone that’s still listening that 1 dB is an internationally accepted standard -- it’s not -- and it is not the way anyone has ever measured harmful interference from operations in spectrum that is 23 MHz away. Just because they keep saying it, does not make it a fact.”

Sixty-one percent of consumers rank smartphones and smart TV remotes (45 percent) as top devices for voice control, said a Thursday Syntiant report based on a Caravan survey. Over a quarter of consumers, led by Generation X and baby boomers, cited smart thermostats, doorbells and microwave ovens as devices they control by voice vs. touch screens or other tactile interfaces. Millennials (28%) and Generation Z (18%) consumers control gaming devices and smartwatches by voice. Privacy (27%) is the top concern consumers have about voice control, followed by security (23%), functionality (19%) and ease of use (15%). The survey was done April 22-24.

Smartphones could overtake TVs within a year as the most-owned tech product in U.S. households, said a Wednesday CTA report. Smartphones are now owned by 92% of homes -- a point higher than 2019 -- while the number of U.S. homes with a TV dropped 2 points, said a poll of 2,612 U.S. adults March 31-April 6. Household laptop ownership was 76%. Smart home technologies gained household penetration, with smart speakers having the highest penetration at 39%, up 8 points. Some 22% of households plan to buy a smart speaker over the next 12 months -- 69% repeat owners, 31% first-time buyers. Products with the highest level of buying interest are portable battery chargers (39% of households), smartphones (36%) and wireless earbuds (27%). Twenty-four percent plan to buy TVs, 23% laptops and 21% videogame consoles, it said.

Dialog Semiconductor's ultra-low-power Wi-Fi SoC can enable up to five-year battery operation from continuously connected devices, it announced Monday. The DA16200 was engineered for devices including connected door locks, thermostats and security video cameras that require “always on” Wi-Fi connectivity, it said. The company also announced the DA16600 module, which combines Wi-Fi from the DA16200 and Bluetooth Low Energy capabilities from its SmartBond TINY DA14531 SoC. The combo Wi-Fi and BLE module is said to eliminate issues caused by the coexistence of two radios at 2.4 GHz in the same design.

Commercial deployment updates in 12 categories of ATSC 3.0 products and services are included in the new 3.0 “progress report” (see 2004220004) going live Monday at the ATSC website in time for the virtual NAB Show Express event Tuesday and Wednesday. More than four dozen ATSC members submitted a total of 80 entries.

Energous announced availability of the PowerHub developer kit to manufacturers for integration of wireless charging at distances up to 1 foot. Target products include smart speakers, game consoles and access points, said the company Thursday. The kit incorporates non-beamforming technology with one antenna and a power amplifier, similar to one certified by the FCC last month (see 2004210058); manufacturers have to secure regulatory certification for products in markets where they are sold. The kit broadcasts power to multiple receiving devices. CEO Steve Rizzone said on a Wednesday Q1 call the Primo-W hearing aid from NewSound (see 2002280015), expected to ship last month, was delayed by COVID-19. It should start shipping to consumers in a few months. Energous said American Equus announced a health tracking sensor with its charging technology for equestrians that measures a horse's vitals; it’s due in Q4. Energous shares closed down 8.6% Thursday to $2.01.