Dolby shares closed 9 percent higher Thursday at $70.20 following a strong fiscal Q1 earnings report that came in at the high end of the company's forecast range. Fiscal Q1 revenue was $287.8 million, compared with $266.3 million in the year-ago quarter, said the company.

Apple’s much-heralded HomePod introduction will land the company 10 percent market share this year, said Strategy Analytics in a Wednesday report. Apple is hoping its “music-first” approach will help HomePod make “inroads into Amazon and Google's early market lead,” it said. But Apple “starts a long way behind its rivals in the smart speaker market and faces a significant challenge when it comes to taking consumer mindshare away from Amazon and Google,” it said. “Amazon and Google are rapidly building their presence in the home thanks to their collaborative and open-source approach. Apple risks either missing out completely on the lucrative connected home market or at best becoming a niche player unless it urgently refocuses investment on improving its AI [artificial intelligence] assistant capabilities and significantly broadens its HomeKit ecosystem."

FCC Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee reports don’t do enough to recognize concerns of state and local governments, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said at day two of BDAC’s meeting called to finalize much of its work. BDAC approved a report from its streamlining federal siting working group and spent much of the rest of the session discussing the model codes for states and for municipalities. Tuesday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the agency will take quick action on the BDAC recommendations (see 1801230043).

Apple’s much-heralded HomePod introduction will land the company 10 percent market share this year, said Strategy Analytics in a Wednesday report. Apple is hoping its “music-first” approach will help HomePod make “inroads into Amazon and Google's early market lead,” it said. But Apple “starts a long way behind its rivals in the smart speaker market and faces a significant challenge when it comes to taking consumer mindshare away from Amazon and Google,” it said. “Amazon and Google are rapidly building their presence in the home thanks to their collaborative and open-source approach. Apple risks either missing out completely on the lucrative connected home market or at best becoming a niche player unless it urgently refocuses investment on improving its AI [artificial intelligence] assistant capabilities and significantly broadens its HomeKit ecosystem."

FCC Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee reports don’t do enough to recognize concerns of state and local governments, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said at day two of BDAC’s meeting called to finalize much of its work. BDAC approved a report from its streamlining federal siting working group and spent much of the rest of the session discussing the model codes for states and for municipalities. Tuesday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the agency will take quick action on the BDAC recommendations (see 1801230043).

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai vowed at BDAC’s Tuesday meeting to take up recommendations by the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee. Local government members slammed the committee’s work. AT&T battled at length with competitor Google Fiber over one-touch, make-ready (OTMR) policy recommended by one working group, and the panel voted 24-2 to require the practice for simple pole-attachment work.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai vowed at BDAC’s Tuesday meeting to take up recommendations by the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee. Local government members slammed the committee’s work. AT&T battled at length with competitor Google Fiber over one-touch, make-ready (OTMR) policy recommended by one working group, and the panel voted 24-2 to require the practice for simple pole-attachment work.

Energous patents and applications reveal theoretical detail on WattUp power-at-a-distance RF wireless-charging technology that landed FCC certification last month (see 1712270024). On questions about how WattUp distance-charging can in practice be used without interfering with wireless devices, Energous said it changed its system to successfully address any such “coexistence” issues. One wave may be transmitted at 5.7 GHz and another at 5.8 GHz. This is in the band originally reserved internationally for use with industrial, scientific and medical equipment, now also widely used for low-power, short-range communication devices such as cordless phones, Bluetooth links, near-field communication devices and Wi-Fi. In a patent application (2017/0373725) coincidentally published two days after Energous landed FCC OK, inventors from Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea fleshed out risks of wireless power technology causing interference. “In general,” interference will result when a “wireless power transfer apparatus uses the same frequency band as a wireless communication system such as Wi-Fi,” said the application. One could make the wireless-charging system behave more like a Wi-Fi communications network and continually exchange handshake signals that check whether the communications airspace is “clear to send” so it can avoid “collisions” with wireless devices, it said. An Energous spokeswoman responded that WattUp uses the 913 MHz band for transmission of power, not 5.8 GHz. “WattUp will launch and operate in the 900MHz band,” because it has two main advantages over 5.8 GHz “for non-contact, charging at a distance,” she said: 900 MHz offers better safety about how energy is absorbed by the human body, and “coexistence” with other devices is improved in 900 MHz.

Energous patents and applications reveal theoretical detail on WattUp power-at-a-distance RF wireless-charging technology that landed FCC certification last month (see 1712270024). On questions about how WattUp distance-charging can in practice be used without interfering with wireless devices, Energous said it changed its system to successfully address any such “coexistence” issues. One wave may be transmitted at 5.7 GHz and another at 5.8 GHz. This is in the band originally reserved internationally for use with industrial, scientific and medical equipment, now also widely used for low-power, short-range communication devices such as cordless phones, Bluetooth links, near-field communication devices and Wi-Fi. In a patent application (2017/0373725) coincidentally published two days after Energous landed FCC OK, inventors from Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea fleshed out risks of wireless power technology causing interference. “In general,” interference will result when a “wireless power transfer apparatus uses the same frequency band as a wireless communication system such as Wi-Fi,” said the application. One could make the wireless-charging system behave more like a Wi-Fi communications network and continually exchange handshake signals that check whether the communications airspace is “clear to send” so it can avoid “collisions” with wireless devices, it said. An Energous spokeswoman responded that WattUp uses the 913 MHz band for transmission of power, not 5.8 GHz. “WattUp will launch and operate in the 900MHz band,” because it has two main advantages over 5.8 GHz “for non-contact, charging at a distance,” she said: 900 MHz offers better safety about how energy is absorbed by the human body, and “coexistence” with other devices is improved in 900 MHz.

Scores of Energous patents and applications reveal plenty of theoretical detail on the new WattUp power-at-a-distance RF wireless-charging technology the company showcased at CES (see 1801080049) and landed FCC certification for last month (see 1712270024). Asked how WattUp distance-charging can in practice be used without interfering with wireless devices, Energous said it changed its system to successfully address any “coexistence” issues. The company won't, however, disclose publicly how it specifically will avoid interference with Zigbee products operating in the same band.