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FCC Spectrum Auction Postponed Due to Legal Hiccups

October 25, 2014 By Janet Vasquez Leave a Comment

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The United States’ Federal Communications Commission had to postpone its major auction over low-frequency airwaves until 2016 because of ongoing legal issues surrounding it. This auction, which should have originally taken place in the middle of 2015, will be postponed due to the complexity of the matter as well as the court challenges currently pending.

Gary Epstein, the Incentive Auction Task Force chairman of the FCC, has made the postponement public in a written post.

“Earlier this week, the court issued a briefing schedule in which the final briefs are not due until late January 2015. Oral arguments will follow at a later date yet to be determined, with a decision not likely until mid-2015. “

Epstein wrote in his post.

Within the incentive auction, wireless carriers will be allowed to acquire airwaves tagged as “beach front property”, which is a very desirable location for both their strength and reach. The auction is seen as the FCC’s most complicated project to date and as such, several economic, political and engineering considerations need to be balanced before commencing. Moreover, there is something else that the FCC needs to address: broadcasters must be convinced to give up the aforementioned airwaves.

“We are confident we will prevail in court, but given the reality of that schedule, the complexity of designing and implementing the auction, and the need for all auction participants to have certainty well in advance of the auction, we now anticipate accepting applications for the auction in the fall of 2015 and starting the auction in early 2016. Despite this brief delay, we remain focused on the path to successfully implementing the incentive auction.”

he added.

In the meantime, T-Mobile will have time to push to place bidding restrictions on Verizon and AT&T while the FCC will also have more time to convince TV station owners to also participate in the auction. The National Association of Broadcasters has filed a petition to the U.S. Court of Appeals, asking that the District of Columbia Circuit begin reviewing components of the postponed auction.

While the final briefs have been pushed back to the end of January 2015, the National Association of Broadcasters denies that the lawsuit had anything to do with the delay in the auction.

“We look forward to a speedy resolution of our legal challenge and a successful auction that preserves access to free and local TV for every American,”

Dennis Wharton, spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters said.

Kobo Arc 7 HD and Kobo Arc 10 HD Clears FCC, US Launch Expected Soon

October 21, 2013 By Deborah Cobing Leave a Comment

A visit to the FCC site would give details about two new entries, one being the Kobo Arc 7 HD and the Kobo Arc 10 HD. Both of these form the latest from the Canadian company with which it wishes to take on the likes of the new 2013 Nexus 7 or the Kindle Fire HDX. The same also goes for the new upcoming iPad Mini 2 as well. That they figure at the FCC site indicates that a market launch is imminent and is expected to happen soon enough.

The listing at the site deals mainly with the wireless connectivity aspects of the two tablet devices which might too technical in nature for the common public. But then, FCC documents are rarely revealing in nature. It also has the user manuals which though detailing the rudimentary issues like how to power up and shut down the set or how to enable airplane mode of operation. There is however drawings and diagrams of the device also available in the user manual uploaded at the site that may be of interest to those who are technically inclined.

The general specifications of the two sets are well known by now. The Kobo Arc 10 gets its name from the 10 inch screen that it sports. The screen resolution is 2560 x 1600 pixels which is quite decent to speak of. It is powered by an NVIDIA Tegra 4 quad core processor which together with its 2 GB RAM ensures brisk performance. Internal memory of the device is 16 GB and users would get about 9.5 hours of operation, which it must be said is quite decent considering the pixel rich display the tablet comes with. All this at a price tag of around $400.

The Kobo Arc 7 HD on the other hand is aimed at the budget tablet segment. Priced at $199, the Arc 7 HD is powered by a NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad core processor. The screen size is 7 inch with a resolution factor of 1920 x 1200 pixels. It has on board RAM of 1 GB and internal memory is 16 GB, with the latter being expandable to 32 GB.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 US Release Date Discussed : Verizon And T-Mobile Versions Clears FCC

September 13, 2013 By Jack M. Robinson Leave a Comment

Galaxy Note 3 from Verizon is set to be available for US consumers on 10^th October. The on contract price tag that the carrier have set for the Galaxy Note 3 is $299 while those opting for the off contract product would have to pay $699. The release date and price set by Verizon matches up with that of AT&T. The other significant development on this is that the Verizon and T-Mobile version of the Note 3 has already acquired the necessary FCC certification, which can be considered the last major hurdle before their eventual release in the market.

At the price users would get a 1080p capable 5.7 inch display. This marks a big jump over specifications of the Galaxy Note 2 that offers a 5.5 inch display having 720p resolution. Further, users would experience a better viewing time as the Galaxy Note 3 comes with the Adapt Display feature which caters for ambient lighting while setting display brightness.

Other interesting features of the Galaxy Note 3 are its faux leather back which in turn is removable. The device would be upgradable by memory capacity to 64 GB for which the rear panel would need to be detached. This would also be required when swapping battery pack.

The S pen which comes with the device opens up Air Command automatically. With this application, users’ can choose between Action Memo, Scrapbook, Screen Write, S Finder and Pen Window panel for using the S Pen. The app also caters for easier selection of utility applications with the S pen. There is also the feature by which alarms and event lists set on the device gets highlighted on screen at the set date and time, calling the users’ attention. Apps from Galaxy Gear have been confirmed for compatibility on this device.

Coming to the other carriers in the US, while T-Mobile has stated Oct 2 as the launch date for the Note 3, others such as US Cellular and Sprint are mum on the issue so far. The Note 3 versions for AT&T, US Cellular and Sprint is yet to make it past FCC which means a release from these carriers isn’t forthcoming anytime soon.

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