The FCC seeks comment on how to best distribute a $3.2 billion emergency broadband connectivity fund (see 2012210055), said a Wireline Bureau public notice Monday. Comments are due Jan. 25, replies Feb. 16, in docket 20-445. The funds are part of Congress' latest COVID-19 relief bill. Providers seeking to participate must be designated as eligible telecom carriers or approved by the commission. Eligible households will receive a discount of up to $50 monthly, those on tribal lands up to $75. "Our staff is moving quickly to stand up this program so we can quickly direct funding to consumers who need the help," said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said: "We need to find ways to get 100% of us connected in this country and this program is an essential part of making that happen.”

New Samsung QLED TVs launching globally in 2021 will support a new "HDR10+ Adaptive" feature that adjusts the screen to ambient room light, said the manufacturer Wednesday. “HDR10+ Adaptive supports Filmmaker Mode and adapts to brighter rooms so customers can enjoy a true cinematic experience with HDR10+ movies and television programs in any environment at home,” said Samsung, main developer of the HDR10+ dynamic-metadata technology.

Sonos landed a U.S. patent Tuesday for a tunable “music discovery dial” on a user's “command device” by emulating the functionality of an old-fashioned radio, says the patent (10,877,726), based on a May 18 application. For users who might want to “stumble across something that they would not normally listen to,” modern graphical user interfaces or voice commands may lead users “to listen to the same music over and over,” it says. The invented command device may include a dial to facilitate tuning to different streaming audio channels, “similar to how rotating the frequency dial of a radio tunes the radio to different stations,” it says. Unlike the dial on a traditional radio, the command device can be personalized via a user’s “playback history,” says the patent. “Using such history, streaming audio channels can be configured to include music that is unexpected or new for a particular user, rather than just generally out-of-the-mainstream.” Sonos didn't comment on commercialization plans.

Sonos landed a U.S. patent Tuesday for a tunable “music discovery dial” on a user's “command device” by emulating the functionality of an old-fashioned radio, says the patent (10,877,726), based on a May 18 application. For users who might want to “stumble across something that they would not normally listen to,” modern graphical user interfaces or voice commands may lead users “to listen to the same music over and over,” it says. The invented command device may include a dial to facilitate tuning to different streaming audio channels, “similar to how rotating the frequency dial of a radio tunes the radio to different stations,” it says. Unlike the dial on a traditional radio, the command device can be personalized via a user’s “playback history,” says the patent. “Using such history, streaming audio channels can be configured to include music that is unexpected or new for a particular user, rather than just generally out-of-the-mainstream.” Sonos didn't comment on commercialization plans.

Sonos landed a U.S. patent Tuesday for a tunable “music discovery dial” on a user's “command device” for reducing the stress of finding and playing back streamed digital audio content by emulating the functionality of an old-fashioned radio. Though streaming audio services have made accessing audio content easier “by placing millions of audio tracks a click or tap away, music discovery using such services is harder than ever,” says the patent (10,877,726), based on a May 18 application. “For many users, instant access to millions of songs can feel like an unmanageable degree of choice. If a user knows what song they want to hear, they can play that song in a myriad of ways, such as by searching for that song, by selecting that song from a saved playlist, or by speaking a voice command to play that song.” But for users who might want to “stumble across something that they would not normally listen to,” modern graphical user interfaces or voice commands don’t work well because they may lead users “to listen to the same music over and over,” it says. To ease music discovery, the invented command device may include a dial to facilitate tuning to different streaming audio channels, “similar to how rotating the frequency dial of a radio tunes the radio to different stations,” it says. “In contrast to the millions of songs available from a streaming audio service, the number of streaming audio channels of a dial can be limited to a manageable degree of choice.” Unlike the dial on a traditional radio, the command device can be personalized via a user’s “playback history,” says the patent. “Using such history, streaming audio channels can be configured to include music that is unexpected or new for a particular user, rather than just generally out-of-the-mainstream.” Sonos didn't comment on commercialization plans.

CTIA and groups representing small carriers sought reconsideration of the FCC’s October 5G Fund order, approved over partial dissents by Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks (see 2010270034). Recon petitions were posted Tuesday in docket 20-32. CTIA asked the FCC to revise the noncompliance penalty to limit potential recovery of prior funding to the support an eligible telecom carrier failed to spend in compliance with fund requirements. “The Order imposes an unreasonable and unprecedented penalty … on mobile wireless ETCs that do not meet the newly-adopted deployment requirements, or that voluntarily relinquish future support -- even if the ETC’s actual spending complied” with the order's minimum 5G spending requirements, CTIA said: The penalties are “unreasonable and inconsistent with permissible spending rules." The Rural Wireless Association and NTCA jointly asked the FCC to rethink whether funds should be available for areas served by unsubsidized 4G networks. “That an unsubsidized 4G LTE network may be deployed in a particular area provides no guarantee or even reasonable assurance that 5G service meeting the required performance metrics will be deployed there, nor is there any basis for concluding that the deployment of 5G service to such an area is likely to occur,” the groups said: “History consistently instructs that rural areas are almost never served with the latest generation of service unless and until a small rural carrier based in that area begins to provide such service.” Smith Bagley asked the FCC to rethink a decision not to mandate special-case treatment for remote tribal lands. “The Commission denied special case treatment … without considering the substantial evidence placed into the record over many years demonstrating dire demographic and economic conditions” there, the carrier said: “The Commission has no factual basis for its view that conditions in Alaska are so unique that special treatment such as an ‘Alaska Plan’ is not warranted elsewhere.”

CTIA and groups representing small carriers sought reconsideration of the FCC’s October 5G Fund order, approved over partial dissents by Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks (see 2010270034). Recon petitions were posted Tuesday in docket 20-32. CTIA asked the FCC to revise the noncompliance penalty to limit potential recovery of prior funding to the support an eligible telecom carrier failed to spend in compliance with fund requirements. “The Order imposes an unreasonable and unprecedented penalty … on mobile wireless ETCs that do not meet the newly-adopted deployment requirements, or that voluntarily relinquish future support -- even if the ETC’s actual spending complied” with the order's minimum 5G spending requirements, CTIA said: The penalties are “unreasonable and inconsistent with permissible spending rules." The Rural Wireless Association and NTCA jointly asked the FCC to rethink whether funds should be available for areas served by unsubsidized 4G networks. “That an unsubsidized 4G LTE network may be deployed in a particular area provides no guarantee or even reasonable assurance that 5G service meeting the required performance metrics will be deployed there, nor is there any basis for concluding that the deployment of 5G service to such an area is likely to occur,” the groups said: “History consistently instructs that rural areas are almost never served with the latest generation of service unless and until a small rural carrier based in that area begins to provide such service.” Smith Bagley asked the FCC to rethink a decision not to mandate special-case treatment for remote tribal lands. “The Commission denied special case treatment … without considering the substantial evidence placed into the record over many years demonstrating dire demographic and economic conditions” there, the carrier said: “The Commission has no factual basis for its view that conditions in Alaska are so unique that special treatment such as an ‘Alaska Plan’ is not warranted elsewhere.”

The Enterprise Wireless Alliance asked the FCC to immediately lift the nearly nine-year T-band freeze, after President Donald Trump signed into law (see 2012280052) the FY 2021 appropriations and COVID-19 aid omnibus bill, which includes a repeal of the mandate that the FCC auction the spectrum. EWA said its members -- business/industrial land transportation (B/ILT) licensees -- should have the first shot at the band. But industry officials said the FCC will have to weigh interests because public safety agencies are also interested in expanding there.

The International Trade Commission will consider a ban on imports of automobiles with vehicle control systems that infringe patents held by Jaguar Land Rover, it said in a notice released Dec. 28 (ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-1235). Jaguar says Porsche, Volkswagen, Lamborghini and Audi are importing vehicles that copy its patented Terrain Response technology. Specifically, Lamborghini’s Urus; Porsche’s Cayenne; Audi’s Q8, Q7, Q5, A6 Allroad and e-tron; and Volkswagen’s Tiguan vehicles use the infringing technology, Jaguar said in its complaint. The ITC will consider a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders banning importation and sale by the following respondents to the investigation:

The FCC Wireless and Public Safety bureaus delayed comment deadlines on the 4.9 GHz Further NPRM approved by commissioners 3-2 in September. Comments are now due Jan. 13, replies Feb. 12, in docket 07-100. Revised rules for the band permit one statewide licensee per state “to lease some or all of its spectrum rights to third parties, including commercial, critical infrastructure, and other users, thus making up to 50 megahertz of mid-band spectrum available for more intensive use.” The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and Land Mobile Communications Council sought delays of the original deadlines -- Dec. 29 and Jan. 29. The bureau provided more time but not as much as the groups wanted.