Mojio will introduce a cloud-based device in time for the holiday selling seasons that will let most vehicles manufactured after 1996 become connected cars via AT&T’s wireless network, Mojio said Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1riGtYU). The Mojio device plugs into any car’s onboard diagnostic port, which is found on most cars made after 1996. With AT&T’s wireless network connectivity, car owners will be able to locate, monitor and diagnose their car from an iPhone or Android smartphone. Unlike other aftermarket connected car devices, Mojio is built on an open platform that supports an ecosystem “where developers can focus on continually improving the driver experience by creating apps that run on Mojio’s platform,” it said. Third-party apps in development include parking payments, automated trip expensing, simplified car rental and home automation connections, it said. The Mojio device will be available for $149, which includes the first year of service, it said. The second year will cost $4.99 a month, it said.

The Patent and Trademark Office invalidated a patent on smartphone screen rotation held by Rotatable Technologies, said Rackspace Vice President-Intellectual Property Van Lindberg in a Monday blog post (http://bit.ly/1wFYe6h). Rotatable Technologies had sued Rackspace for infringement of the patent, Lindberg said. Instead of settling, Rackspace challenged the patent in an inter partes review at the PTO, a feature recently created after the 2011 passage of the America Invents Act (CD July 31 p9). “This means that Rackspace will not pay one penny to this troll, nor will Apple, Netflix, Electronic Arts, Target, Whole Foods or any of the other companies sued by Rotatable for how they use screen rotation technology in their apps,” Lindberg said. “Without changes in the law we believe that the only way to end the plague of patent trolls is by fighting every troll that comes at us -- and we encourage all others to do the same.” Patent law revamp efforts stalled in 2013 (CD May 23 p3). Rotatable didn’t comment.

MuckRock released a document it said was obtained by a member in which the FBI acknowledged the Tacoma, Washington, Police Department’s use of StingRay cellphone tracking equipment. MuckRack released the copy of a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) between Tacoma and the Justice Department Monday. StingRay devices are cell site simulators, manufactured by Harris, which “trick mobile phones into connecting to a StingRay as if it were a cell tower,” MuckRock said (http://bit.ly/1slLxiJ). “This allows police to determine the cell phone’s location, and thus its owner’s.” The document is heavily redacted, with four of six pages completely blacked out. The FBI requires state and local police to sign an NDA before it can acquire a cellphone eavesdropping and tracking technology, said the FBI letter released through a Freedom of Information Act request by MuckRock, the news site that submits FOIA requests (http://bit.ly/XUNmoG). The document comes from 2012 and shows the FBI asking the Tacoma police to agree to the NDA before acquiring the StingRay tracking technology. According to other FOIA requests made by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the FBI has used StingRay since at least 1995 (http://bit.ly/1mqEX8f). The FBI, Harris and Tacoma police had no immediate comment.

Representatives of Google and Microsoft urged the FCC to adopt technical rules permitting the use of three 801.11af channels in the 600 MHz band following the TV incentive auction, in a series of meetings with commission officials. The companies elaborated on their arguments in an ex parte filing in docket 12-268. The companies urged that the rules allow the operation of Mode 1 and 2 personal/portable unlicensed devices in the duplex gap, the lower guard band and Channel 37, the filing said (http://bit.ly/1uEzbyS). They argued that a database should be allowed to determine unlicensed device operation based on the device’s location-accuracy capabilities so devices with better accuracy can operate in appropriate locations, rather than preserving the current rule, which mandates that all devices establish location within +/- 50 meters. Unlicensed systems should be allowed to determine areas where devices can operate in the broadcast band using both the database and sensing, Google and Microsoft said.

Mobile Future warned the White House against subjecting wireless carriers to the same net neutrality rules imposed on wireline providers, in comments submitted Tuesday to the Obama administration’s Office of Science and Technology Policy and National Economic Council’s request for information on an administration innovation strategy. “Subjecting wireless broadband networks to rules that dictate how wired networks are designed and operated would be a mistake,” Mobile Future said (http://bit.ly/1mqZlWL). “It is imperative that the FCC keep this urgent demand-versus-capacity challenge in mind as it considers adding new net neutrality rules to the books. Everyone supports an open Internet. That’s why -- despite the call for more regulation -- not a single formal net neutrality complaint has been filed with the [FCC] since the adoption of its 2010 Open Internet Order.” Mobile Future blasted the possibility of subjecting “the entire mobile ecosystem to Title II regulations written to micromanage the businesses of local telephone monopolies. One can hardly envision a more anti-innovation approach, and the Administration should flatly and publicly reject these extreme calls.” Mobile Future urged the administration to focus on freeing up more spectrum for an expansion of mobile broadband. The Partnership for American Innovation, with Apple, IBM and Microsoft among members, also commented, highlighting the importance of a strong intellectual property system and a properly functioning patent system. “Heated rhetoric often based on the bad behavior of a few patent assertion entities has fueled an environment where a company is demonized for good faith enforcement of its hard-earned, legitimate property rights,” said the partnership (http://bit.ly/Y2AMEn). “The corresponding policy discussions lead our country away from a balanced IP system that enables collaboration and innovation. If this lopsided model of innovation is adopted, we risk creating a system where foreign competitors gain a competitive advantage by patenting their ideas while copying American IP without consequence.”

The U.S. machine-to-machine (M2M) market is 10 percent of all mobile connections in the automotive and utilities sectors, a GSMA report said (http://bit.ly/1sV4bsb). The U.S. had 35 million connections, or 19 percent of all global M2M connections at the end of 2013, GSMA said in a news release Monday (http://bit.ly/1v04KEw). The U.S. is expected to reach 41 million connections this year, it said, driven by advances in the automotive, utilities, and oil and gas sectors. The U.S. M2M market is still in its early stages of development and needs to address significant challenges to fulfill its potential, GSMA said. The market lacks standardization, and there is little cooperation between the private and public sectors in many parts of the M2M economy, it said.

Though details “are not yet clear” on President Barack Obama’s forthcoming executive order on privacy concerns about commercial drones, it’s expected to “task” the NTIA with convening a multistakeholder process to develop privacy guidelines, “likely either in the form of best practices or a voluntary code of conduct,” said Wiley Rein lawyers Kathleen Kirby and Ari Meltzer in a blog post Friday (http://bit.ly/1poKN4V). “Best practices generally are not enforceable,” they said. “A voluntary code of conduct, however, is legally enforceable against companies that affirmatively commit to follow it. While the decision to adopt a code of conduct is voluntary, a public pledge to follow the code generally would amount to a representation enforceable by the FTC under its consumer protection authority.” There are incentives to adopting voluntary codes of conduct, as NTIA has done in its previous proceedings, they said. “Companies build consumer trust by engaging with consumers and other stakeholders in multi-stakeholder processes and by adopting privacy codes of conduct developed during those discussions,” they said. “Enforceable codes of conduct provide the public clear, understandable baseline protections and offer businesses greater certainty about how agreed upon privacy principles apply to them. Indeed, in any enforcement action based on conduct covered by a code, the FTC likely would consider a company’s adherence to such a code favorably. In the absence of a generally agreed upon code of conduct, the FTC could enforce privacy guidelines on a case-by-case basis, with less predictability and thus greater risk for businesses."

MediaTek launched MediaTek Labs, a global initiative that allows developers “of any background or skill level” to create wearables and Internet of Things devices, the chip maker said Monday (http://bit.ly/1wGFNhL). Its launch will open up “a new world of possibilities for everyone -- from hobbyists and students through to professional developers and designers -- to unleash their creativity and innovation,” the company said. “We believe that the innovation enabled by MediaTek Labs will drive the next wave of consumer gadgets and apps that will connect billions of things and people around the world."

The FCC sought more information from companies involved in AT&T’s proposal to buy AWS-1 licenses, as well as adding customers and related assets, from Plateau Wireless. The small carrier serves New Mexico and West Texas. The FCC sent information requests Monday to AT&T (http://bit.ly/1x2mhiP) and Plateau (http://bit.ly/1siGRu8). Among the questions for Plateau: “Explain in detail the decision made by Plateau Wireless to assign the spectrum, customers and network assets that are the subject of this application to AT&T, including any attempts made to enter into a sale of this wireless business or alternative arrangements with parties other than AT&T.” Plateau indicated in June it plans to exit the wireless business, selling its remaining assets, to concentrate on its wireline business, according to media reports.

Apple’s shortage of the iPhone 6 is good for business on eBay, we found by monitoring various auctions for the four-day-old phones. Apple said Monday it sold more than the available 10 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models in the three days after the phones went on sale in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the U.K. “We could have sold many more iPhones with greater supply and we are working hard to fill orders as quickly as possible,” said CEO Tim Cook in a statement (http://bit.ly/1tV4wzg). Business was brisk at eBay Monday, which featured the new Apple phones on its landing page. Our midday search for the iPhone 6 brought up 1,913 results. The lowest price we found was $700 for a 16 GB model of the 4.7-inch version with the disclaimer in the product description, “Long story short I got scammed by a seller. The phone is being financed through tmobile and will eventually be blocked on their network... . It has or will eventually have a BAD IMEI (International Mobile Station Equipment Identity).” The item condition was listed as “for parts or not working” and 17 people were watching the item, which had a day to go in its “buy it now” auction. We saw an auction for a new, unlocked 64 GB 6 Plus silver phone end at $2,550 Monday, surging more than $1,000 in the last 40 minutes of bidding, which began Friday at $400. The phone’s suggested retail price is $399 at the Apple website.