An FCC filing spotted by Dutch site TabletGuide.nl (via Engadget) suggests that Google may be working on a new streaming media player to replace the Nexus Q, the device Google announced, shipped to pre-order customers free of charge and then withdrew from the market.
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We recently delivered a comprehensive summary of everything we know about Google’s rumored Motorola X Fon, and today is looks like a device labeled Motorola XT1058 has appeared in official FCC filings as discovered by AndroidGuys.com.
The Federal Communications Commission has officially approved the $1.5 billiondeal to merge T-Mobile USA with MetroPCS. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski issued a statement on the approval of the transaction, saying the deal will “benefit millions of American consumers and help the U.S maintain the global leadership in mobile it has regained in recent years.”
“With today’s approval, America’s mobile market continues to strengthen, moving toward robust competition and revitalized competitors. We are seeing billions more in network investment, while the courts have upheld key FCC decisions to accelerate broadband build-out, promote competition, and benefit consumers, including our broadband data roaming and pole attachment rules. Today’s action will benefit millions of American consumers and help the U.S maintain the global leadership in mobile it has regained in recent years.
“Mobile broadband is a key engine of economic growth, with U.S. annual wireless capital investment up 40% over the last four years, the largest increase in the world, and few sectors having more potential to create jobs. In this fast-moving space, of course challenges remain, including the need to unleash even more spectrum for mobile broadband and continuing to promote competition and protect consumers. The Commission will stay focused on these vital goals.”
ASUS has played a somewhat important role in the Android ecosystem that includes its Nexus 7 endeavor with none other than Google. The Taiwan-based company looks to go further, as Engadget spotted a Federal Communications Commission filing this weekend that exposed its plan to release a Google TV device. The FCC approved ASUS’ new adapter, dubbed the “Qube”, which is not really like any other Google TV device we’ve seen before. The Qube is more Roku-like, acting as a USB dongle that could pair with an Android-based smartphone and separate keyboard or touchpad.
T-Mobile just announced plans to exchange and purchase spectrum from Verizon Wireless in a deal the carrier claimed would improve its “spectrum position in 15 of the top 25 markets” that covers 60 million people. T-Mobile said the spectrum would help enhance its 4G network and advance the rollout of its LTE service. The agreement includes spectrum that Verizon planned to acquire from several cable companies, so T-Mobile will first have to wait for the Federal Communications Commission and U.S. Department of Justice to approve the deal:
“This agreement will provide T-Mobile with critical AWS spectrum, enhancing both network capacity and performance and allowing us to meet the growing consumer demand for 4G mobile broadband,” T-Mobile CEO and President Philipp Humm said. “This is good for T-Mobile and good for consumers because it will enable T-Mobile to compete even more vigorously with other wireless carriers. We anticipate FCC approval later this summer, in time for us to incorporate this new spectrum into our network modernization and the rollout of LTE services next year.”
T-Mobile mentioned a few of the cities that would benefit if the agreement goes through:
T-Mobile will gain spectrum covering 60 million people — notably in Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; Detroit; Minneapolis; Seattle; Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Milwaukee; Charlotte, N.C.; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Greensboro, N.C.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Rochester, N.Y
In February, the story broke that Google and other advertising companies were bypassing iOS Safari’s privacy settings and continuing to track users without their consent. Google quickly disabled its code responsible for the tracking after a story from The Wall Street Journal published, and Apple then claimed it was “working to put a stop” to the issue.
Now, a new report from Mercury News claimed the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is considering whether to fine Google over the incident. The decision is expected in the next 30 days:
The Federal Trade Commission is deep into an investigation of Google’s actions in bypassing the default privacy settings of Apple’s (AAPL) Safari browser for Google users, according to sources familiar with ongoing negotiations between the company and the government… Within the next 30 days, the FTC could order the Mountain View search giant to pay an even larger fine in the Safari case than the penalty the Federal Communications Commission hit Google with Friday, say the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The report is referring to Google being recently fined $25,000 by the FCC after it allegedly “deliberately impeded and delayed” an investigation related to Street View cars. The heart of the Safari bypassing investigation is whether the company is violating a previous privacy agreement made with the FTC following controversy over the failed “Buzz” service. The report claimed Google could face up to $16,000 per violation per day for violating the agreement. Google said to Mercury News today it would “cooperate with any officials who have questions” and explained making its +1 compatible on mobile Safari created the issue:
Last month, we heard from Google’s Senior Vice President of Chrome Sundar Pichai who told Cnet that new, faster Chromebooks are on the way. Today, we might be getting our first look at a new Sony VAIO Chromebook thanks to a Federal Communications Commission filing for the “Sony VAIO VCC111 Series” that references the ability to “start Chrome OS” (via Laptop Reviews). Adding more proof that this is a Chromebook —and not a Windows machine— is the lack of a Windows key and chrome accents on the back cover. However, the VAIO Chromebook does feature an 11.6-inch Samsung display, HDMI port, microphone and headphone jacks, SD card slot, and two USB 2.0 ports. The filing also mentioned a “T25” CPU. Laptop Reviews speculated the CPU could be NVidia’s Tegra 250 T25 ARM-based processor, which would mean it is the first non-Intel processor in a Chromebook.
A rumor debuted yesterday that claimed Google is currently developing and testing a streaming home-entertainment system in many of its employee’s homes. Today, a new temporary Federal Communications Commission license awarded to Google revealed that the company is testing a “next generation personal communication device,” whether it is connected to the home-entertainment system or not. A total 102 units of this prototype are in employee’s homes across Mountain View, Los Angeles, New York, and Massachusetts’ areas. The request is specifically for the use of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in the prototype. (via The Verge)
This prototype could also certainly be Google’s new personal HUD glasses that we told you about earlier this week. Our sources said the Google X crew is developing them, and they could ship in a beta like Chromebook did. We also told you that the glasses will sport Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, so today’s FCC request could certainly be the glasses.
A report from GigaOM today noted Google is requesting permission from the Federal Communications Commission to test an unknown “entertainment device.” The trials will take place in the homes of Google employees, and see tests of the mystery device connecting to home electronic equipment over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to test it on home networks in real world situations. Other than that, there is not much we learned from the Google’s filing with the FCC from December (below).
We told you about one yet to be unveiled product we heard Google has in the works with our recent story about the company’s wearable glasses with a heads up display and computer interface. We will have much more on those this coming week…
Google is requesting the trials take place with up to 252 devices from Jan. 17 to July 17 in various locations including Mountain View, New York, Cambridge, Mass., and Los Angeles. Google’s description of the mystery product from the FCC filing is below:
Rep. Edward Markey, a prominent U.S. lawmaker on privacy issues, announced earlier this week he was concerned with Google’s new privacy policy, and he further addressed his worries on Thursday by calling for a probe into Google’s handling of consumer data.
Google’s offerings include its globally popular search engine, Gmail, YouTube, Search plus Your World, Google+, and more, which are streamlined under the merging of 60 privacy policies intended to “mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience.” The unified policy’s primary objective is to assemble and integrate information from across Google’s products and services as a single throng of data that the Mountain View, Calif.-based Company can use to target advertising dollars.
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Markey released a Jan. 26 statement contending that the new policy changes should allot premium consumer control, and in the meantime, he plans to ask the Federal Communications Commission to investigate if such options exists for Google users:
“All consumers should have the right to say no to sharing of their personal information, particularly when young people are involved. Google’s new privacy policy should enable consumers to opt-out if they don’t want their use of YouTube to morph into YouTrack. Consumers – not corporations – should have control over their own personal information, especially for children and teens. I plan to ask the Federal Trade Commission whether Google’s planned changes to its privacy policy violate Google’s recent settlement with the agency.”
More information is available below.
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Google launched a revamped homepage, but it is still in the trial phase and only a limited number of users have access to the new design. Meanwhile, some experts and lawmakers are claiming Google’s recent face lift intends to promote more of the company’s businesses without cluttering the homepage.
The website’s redesign has undergone various changes since its initial debut over a month ago. The current version omits the black menu bar that runs horizontal along the top of the website, and it is now replaced by a gray Google logo. Upon clicking the new graphic, seven services under the search engine appear with an option to view 13 more services.
The core seven services in the trial design are Google Plus, Search, Images, Maps, YouTube, News, Gmail and Documents. The “More” tab below the vertical menu reveals options for Calendar, Translator, Mobile, Books, Music, Offers, Wallet, Shopping, Blogger, Reader, Finance, Photos, and Videos.
Google users can also change the background image of their homepage with the trial design, and they can access iGoogle or their Google Plus notification center and Settings options from the main search page.
Announced at IFA this year, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 has yet to make its way into our hands, most likely due to on going legal battles. Tonight we have good news however; the Galaxy Tab 7.7 passed through the desk of the FCC this afternoon, giving us pretty nice diagrams of the device. There’s no indication of carrier bands in this instance. We’re sure there’s more to come, but in the mean time check out our hands-on of the Galaxy Tab 7.7 after the break:
UPDATE 1 [Wednesday, August 31, 2011 at 12:17pm EST]:AT&T has provided us with the official line regarding this development, found at the bottom of this article.
Bloomberg reports that the U.S. government has made a move to block the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile USA valued at $39 billion:
The U.S. government sued to block AT&T Inc.’s proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc., saying the deal would “substantially lessen competition” in the wireless market.
The publication writes that the Justice Department filed a complaint Wednesday in federal court in Washington. The government is arguing that the proposed transaction would effectively legitimize duopoly in the country, adding in its filing that “AT&T’s elimination of T-Mobile as an independent, low- priced rival would remove a significant competitive force from the market”.
The government’s reasoning resonates with Sprint, the nation’s third-largest wireless operator, which asked Uncle Sam to intervene on the grounds that the resulting super carrier would prevent any meaningful competition on the market. AT&T denied Sprint’s accusations and said the merger would lead to fewer dropped calls and cheaper data plans for customers.
This is my next has a statement from FCC chairman Julius Genachowski who expressed “serious concerns” about competition:
By filing suit today, the Department of Justice has concluded that AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile would substantially lessen competition in violation of the antitrust laws. Competition is an essential component of the FCC’s statutory public interest analysis, and although our process is not complete, the record before this agency also raises serious concerns about the impact of the proposed transaction on competition. Vibrant competition in wireless services is vital to innovation, investment, economic growth and job creation, and to drive our global leadership in mobile. Competition fosters consumer benefits, including more choices, better service and lower prices.
If the transaction does indeed get rejected, T-Mobile USA will walk out with…
Android Central has received an exclusive screenshot that points to an August 4th launch date for the Droid Bionic. The Droid Bionic was announced at CES last January, and has seen hardware reconstruction since then. Motorola calls the changes ‘expanded features, functionality and an improved form factor’, but we don’t have any details past that. The screenshot above also points to a July 14th release date for the Droid 3.
The Bionic has already received FCC approval, so it’s just a matter of time before we see this phone hitting the LTE waves. Of course this date could always change. If you haven’t seen this phone yet, check out the press image after the break.
For those of you looking for a smaller alternative to the Samsung Galaxy 10.1, your wait is coming to an end very soon. DroidMatters is reporting that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 has just passed through the FCC certified with AT&T bands, under the name A3L-GTP7300.
The device is reportedly packing 8.9-inch 1280×800 display, Honeycomb, 1GB of RAM, Tegra 2 dual-core processor, 3-megapixel rear-camera, 2-megapixel front-camera, and 16/32/64GB of internal space. You can bank on a 3G version of the 8.9 being out very soon, but we are also thinking there is going to be a Wi-Fi version too. Check out the hush hush agreement that the FCC obviously messed up on below:
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The HTC Evo 3D has passed through the FCC’s desk packing AWS bands, reports TmoNews. Interestingly, these AWS bands point to T-Mobile’s 4G network. But as we have experienced before, something going through the FCC doesn’t necessarily mean its coming out anytime soon.
The EVO series has been exclusive with Sprint since the EVO’s release. This FCC filing definitely points to this device going to T-Mobile, breaking Sprint exclusivity. We’ll keep you updated if this phone actually hits or not, but in the mean time read our review of the device.
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Television maker Vizio wasn’t kidding when they announced Android smartphones and tablets at CES 2011 in January. According to Wireless Goodness, their first Android-powered smartphone has received a blessing from the Federal Communications Commission. The device carries the VPHN1044G label, but they plan to sell it under the more user-friendly Vizio Phone moniker.
It’s a four-inch (854-by-480 pixels) Android superphone that comes with your regular perks, including a 1GHz processor, HDMI video output, microSD cards support and more. The FCC filing reveals support for the 850 and 1900 MHz bands, suggesting a launch on AT&T’s 3G network in the US.
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