Third place behind Apple and Samsung in the tablet wars is “up for grabs” among Amazon, Asus, Lenovo and other emerging vendors, ABI Research said Wednesday (http://bit.ly/10lBnlY). Lenovo in particular “is working to gain ground in the market,” and in 2019 is expected to ship 21 million tablets, or 7.3 percent of the global market, ABI said. This “would land it solidly in third place,” it said. Lenovo remains the world’s biggest PC supplier, but now sells more smartphones and tablets than it does PCs, and is the world’s third-largest tablet supplier, Lenovo itself said in the runup to the IFA show last month in Berlin. During 2013, the tablet market “exploded with new devices overwhelming consumers,” ABI said. “Leading tablet vendors quickly dominated the market, but are now feeling the squeeze and quickly losing market share control,” creating a “stall” in more advanced and mature markets like North America and Western Europe, it said. “This stall is giving other vendors the opportunity to close the prominent gap and claim third place. The dent emerging vendors are creating in the market is impressive, but continuing that success is going to be the real challenge.”

The FCC, acting at Verizon’s request, agreed to drop conditions imposed on various transactions involving Verizon Wireless due to Verizon Wireless’s then-partial foreign ownership by the U.K.’s Vodafone. Verizon had told the FCC the conditions were no longer relevant since Verizon now owns all of its wireless subsidiary. The agency agreed “that a material change in circumstance has occurred and that the basis for these conditions no longer exists,” said a Wednesday order from the Wireless and International bureaus (http://bit.ly/1BA7klV). In February, Verizon completed a $150 billion deal to buy out Vodafone’s 45 percent of Verizon Wireless.

PCIA’s members are very concerned about the lack of training available for wireless technicians, which is why the group got involved in efforts at Virginia State University in Petersburg to promote industry training (CD Sept 30 p10), said PCIA President Jonathan Adelstein in an interview. “Right now no training schools or community colleges are teaching how to install wireless infrastructure, but the field is growing rapidly with 4G and other upgrades that are going on,” he said. “There’s a need for a much larger workforce.” The U.S. education system has not kept up with the need for trained workers, he said. “We're hearing directly from our members that this is a problem.” Adelstein said PCIA has also created an apprenticeship program through the Department of Labor that will give workers on-the-job training. As carriers seek to “densify” their networks, antennas are getting closer to customers and other antennas, he said. “We need more people in the field who can deal with this congestion of both data traffic and antennas,” he said. Workers need to understand basic radio frequency principles as networks get more complex, he said. Adelstein also said PCIA is pleased the FCC plans to take on streamlining rules for distributed antenna systems and small cells (CD Sept 20 p3). “PCIA has been working for years on this very proceeding,” he said.

Global shipments of branded tablets will rise by a “disappointing” 2.5 percent in 2014, ABI Research said Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1tegvnG). Apple and Samsung continued to lead branded vendors in unit share during 2014’s first half, but with “mixed fortunes,” it said. First-half unit shipments of iPads fell 13 percent from a year earlier, while Samsung units were up 26 percent, it said. “The roller coaster ride from the leading two tablet vendors has market watchers looking to other vendors to create sustainable growth,” it said. “All eyes are on Lenovo as it is one of few to demonstrate consistent growth over the past year.” Lenovo remains the world’s biggest PC supplier, but now sells more smartphones and tablets than it does PCs, and is the world’s third-largest tablet supplier, Lenovo said in the run-up to the IFA show last month in Berlin. Meanwhile, DisplaySearch similarly sees tablet shipments rising only 2 percent this year, the company said Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1uagAwO). That’s a marked downgrade from the 14 percent growth DisplaySearch predicted in a previous forecast, the company said. It sees tablet demand growing by single digits through 2018.

Delphi Automotive will acquire media connectivity module supplier Unwired Technology in a deal that’s expected to close in Q4, terms undisclosed, the companies said Tuesday (http://bit.ly/YI7w5Z). “Media connectivity is a high-growth segment as auto manufacturers respond quickly to consumers’ increasing desire to integrate their smartphones and tablets in their vehicles,” said Delphi CEO Rodney O'Neal in a statement. “Unwired’s products strengthen our overall electrical architecture and electrical connector offerings, which is supporting increased electronics content per vehicle.” As CE products become more advanced, “automakers are integrating increasingly complex modules and hubs,” Delphi said. Unwired’s connectivity products provide two-way data connections between smartphones and tablets and in-car infotainment systems, “allowing consumers to safely access content in the vehicle,” it said. “These media connectivity modules can handle multiple devices, provide high-speed charging capabilities and enable seamless access to content through emerging infotainment software solutions."

The Department of Justice brought its first-ever criminal case against so-called “stalking apps,” which use spyware to track smartphones, said a Monday DOJ news release (http://1.usa.gov/1pomOUo). The maker and CEO of the app StealthGenie was indicted in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. “Apps like StealthGenie are expressly designed for use by stalkers and domestic abusers who want to know every detail of a victim’s personal life -- all without the victim’s knowledge,” said Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell. StealthGenie -- hosted at a Virginia data center but run by Hammad Akbar in Lahore, Pakistan -- contained spyware that can also intercept communications to and from smartphones. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., reintroduced in March the Location Privacy Protection Act to ban stalking apps and the secret collection of location data (S-2171), later holding a hearing on the issue in the Privacy, Technology and the Law Subcommittee that he chairs (CD June 5 p8). “People ought to be able to control who can access their sensitive information, and stalking apps on cell phones directly violate that principle,” Franken said in a Tuesday statement. “There is no federal law banning the secret collection of location data.” Akbar could not be reached for comment. DOJ did not comment on whether it was pursuing action against similar spyware apps. Several other spyware app companies we contacted did not comment.

The FCC Wireless Bureau gave AT&T part of what it sought when it asked for a waiver of commission rules for a test in Florida of power spectral density (PSD) as an alternative to effective radiated power (ERP) for determining base station power limits. AT&T sought a waiver in July 2013 (http://bit.ly/154X4It, proposing an ERP limit of 250 watts/MHz in non-rural areas and 500 watts/MHz in rural areas. Tuesday, the bureau approved the interim waiver for three Florida markets for AT&T’s Cellular B block spectrum, but with a maximum ERP limit of 125 watts/MHz. The bureau imposed other restrictions, including that a base station must immediately shut down following complaints of interference to a public safety licensee. “We believe it is in the public interest to foster the development of advanced technologies in the Cellular Service, thereby allowing AT&T to launch LTE services and offer its subscribers’ access to these valuable broadband wireless services,” the bureau said (http://bit.ly/1vuBqHw). “A partial grant also furthers the Commission’s goal of increasing regulatory parity in technical rules when possible for competing CMRS services.” The order came in docket 13-202.

Wireless is thriving in Africa, with innovation there “an amazingly positive story,” said FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn in remarks on African Immigrants Heritage Month, posted by the commission Tuesday (http://fcc.us/1yxYj0o). Communications in Africa is an “American dream,” Clyburn said. “Among the many nations, there is a young consumer population that has grown up with wireless devices and a yearning for connectivity to the world,” she said. “There is a thriving entrepreneurial spirit that is driving innovation and new products.” Clyburn said Americans shouldn’t forget that Africa produces “much of the raw material that makes communication and computer hardware devices actually operate.”

Public Knowledge posted an electronic petition Tuesday giving the public a chance to tell the FCC to impose tougher wireless 911 location accuracy rules. “I am writing to urge the Commission to adopt strong E911 rules to protect the public and ensure first responders can successfully reach people in need,” the petition said (http://bit.ly/1v0vQdH). The lack of strong rules “makes it extremely difficult for first responders to accurately locate people calling indoors from a mobile phone,” said a Public Knowledge spokesman. While first responders may be able to find a block or apartment [building] with less specific information, “they won’t often know what floor or apartment number to look for,” he said.

DisplaySearch estimated the flexible AMOLED display in the Apple Watch costs several times more to make than equivalently sized LCD displays, and more than the more-established glass-based AMOLEDs currently used in smartphones, the company said Monday (http://bit.ly/1rycJZz). DisplaySearch estimates it costs $7.86 to produce the display for the Apple Watch, which is believed to use a 1.5-inch-diagonal AMOLED fabricated on a plastic substrate, protected by a proprietary thin and flexible solid-phase plastic seal. The touch panel interface, cover lens and other items add $19.55 to the total, DisplaySearch said. Accounting for the panel yield rate and other manufacturing costs, the total display system costs are estimated to be $27.41, it said. The smart watch craze “is expected to spur tremendous growth in OLED display shipments this year,” DisplaySearch said. It forecasts that worldwide OLED smart watch display shipments will exceed 11 million units in 2014, for a year-over-year increase of 450 percent. Shipments of AMOLED panels for the Apple Watch alone are expected to reach 8 million units this year, as Apple builds up inventory for the 2015 launch, it said.