Items tagged with FCC
Earlier this year, we heard rumors that a Palm-branded smartphone would making its way to Americans in late 2018. TCL, which breathed new life into BlackBerry smartphones, is also the driving force behind this Palm resurrection, having purchased the rights to the brand back in 2015. Now, we're receiving more evidence that a smartphone launch is imminent. The PVG100 smartphone manufactured by the TCL subsidiary Palm Ventures Group has been certified by both the Wi-Fi Alliance and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). One of the interesting things gleaned from its Wi-Fi Certified Interoperability...
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Samsung is getting ready to release another smartwatch, and there are plenty of rumors and speculation leading up to the launch. There is also some conflicting information out there. The name is no longer one of them—in a new listing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Samsung refers to its upcoming wearable as the Galaxy Watch. It's a brand new listing with the FCC, so the information can be considered up-to-date and representative of the current build, and likely the final build since its presumably headed to market soon. On top of that, this is not the first semi-official...
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Alphabet says that going into the ambitious rollout of its Google Fiber internet that it knew things would be costly, hard to pull off, and slow-going. What the search giant didn’t expect going into Google Fiber rollout was how hard it would be to gain timely access to space on a utility pole to install its equipment. Google says that one of the bigger challenges it encountered with utility poles had to do with making the poles ready for the new attachments. Google says that the "Make Ready" portion of the install currently involves a sequential process that means multiple crews coming...
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In recent months, we've heard reports that a new, low-cost Surface tablet will be released to the public very soon. Now even more evidence of the entry-level tablet has passed through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The things that clue us in to the fact that this is an entry-level device is that it comes with a 24-watt power supply versus the 36-watt power supply found on the current-generation Surface Pro tablets. In addition, a 7.5v battery is used instead of a 7.66v battery. Both of these are indicators that the power needs of this tablet are as great as its Surface...
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The backlash against the FCC has been stiff ever since the regulatory agency voted to eliminate the rules back in May 2017. Protestors tried everything to get the FCC to go back on its decision to eliminate the rules, include a “Break the Internet” day but the FCC has plowed on. This year the U.S. Senate voted to repeal the FCC’s decision on killing net neutrality, but this was seen as a largely symbolic victory. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai As of today, the end of net neutrality is official. Under the new rules, internet providers are no longer required to offer equal access to...
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Supporters of net neutrality will be thrilled to hear that the U.S. Senate has voted to restore the net neutrality rules that the FCC announced that it would kill off back in April. A Senate vote was held today, and the Senators came down 52-47 to restore the net neutrality rules. The Senate vote was very close with all 49 Democrats voting to restore net neutrality rules along with three Republicans senators -- Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK) and John Kennedy (LA) . Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana said that his vote came down to whether he and others should trust the local...
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The FCC is often a good place to get a glimpse of a new gadget before it gets official. This is exactly what has happened with an alleged new Google-branded device that looks like a beefed-up Chromecast that has landed on the FCC for testing. What we know of the device thanks to the FCC is that it runs Android TV and comes with a remote control. The manufacturer of the device is listed as Shenzhen SEI Robotics Co. Ltd. and the model number printed on the materials is SN5B6AD. We know the device will support 4K resolution thanks to the identifier the FCC uses "4K ATV Stick." The helpful Google Assistant...
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In the eyes of the National Rifle Association (NRA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai "saved the Internet" by shooting down net neutrality rules that were implemented under the previous administration. Apparently the NRA was so pleased by this that it felt compelled to gift Pai a real life gun, a "Kentucky handmade long gun," as part of its Charlton Heston Courage Under Fire Award. The NRA presented the award at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland on Friday. American Conservative Union (ACU) executive director Dan Schneider was part of the ceremony,...
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The FCC “Restoring Internet Freedom” order has been entered in the Federal Register. This is the order that makes massive changes to the Net Neutrality rules that required all internet traffic to be treated equally. The order was published this morning and opens the doors for legal battles to start in earnest. There is no doubt that intense debates and legal battles will ensue over the order and there are strong opinions and feelings on both sides of the Net Neutrality argument. FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel issued a statement today: The FCC’s net neutrality decision is...
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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ordered a resident in Brooklyn, New York to cease his Bitcoin mining operation after it was discovered that the hardware he was using to mine Bitcoin was causing interference with 4G LTE signals on T-Mobile's wireless network. If that is truly the case, this incident adds a new wrinkle to the already controversial world of cryptocurrency. In a letter to the person responsible, the FCC said it used "direction finding techniques" to locate the source of the offending hardware, in this case an Antminer s5 Bitcoin miner, a popular mining ASIC that is...
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Just a little over a week after making history with the successful launch of Falcon Heavy, SpaceX is once again in the news. This time around, the company has gained FCC approval to lay the groundwork for a satellite-based internet service called Starlink. When we think of satellite internet, problems with latency often crop into our minds. This is because traditional satellites that are capable of delivering internet and TV service operate in a geostationary orbit (GEO) at an altitude of around 36,000 kilometers. However, the satellites that will form the backbone off Starlink will orbit the earth...
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The FCC has been catching heat in its current form for making changes to existing regulations governing broadband internet access. The big change the FCC made was to eliminate the net neutrality rules that forced ISPs to treat all traffic equally, no matter the service or application. Another place where the FCC was considering a big change was with a plan that could have weakened the definition of what speed and type connection qualifies as "broadband." Thankfully, the FCC is stepping away from a new classification that would change the definition of broadband. The draft 2018 Broadband Deployment...
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When Apple first announced its HomePod smart speaker in June of last year, the company said it would be available to purchase starting in December, initially in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Well, December has come and gone and we are not into early 2018, which is the new launch time frame listed on the HomePod's product page. To go along with that, the FCC has made public documents Apple filed with the agency, suggesting a release is imminent. The documents are actually dated September 27, but have just now been released. That being the case, the hardware likely has not...
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It's our job to be impartial and report on the news from an unbiased perspective, but boy does the Federal Communications Commission and its chairman Ajit Pai make that difficult. Apparently it was not enough that the FCC voted 3-2 to erase net neutrality regulations, ignoring popular opinion as well as pleas from the Internet's pioneers. Now the FCC wants to lower the broadband speed standard in a roundabout sort of way. The wireless standard proposed is 10Mbps down and 1Mbps up. That's less than half of the current land-based broadband standard, which was bumped up to 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up...
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