On December 16-17, 2011, the House and Senate agreed to the conference report on H.R. 2055, a bill to provide appropriations for most federal government agencies1 for the remainder of fiscal year 2012, including the DHS (which includes CBP, ICE, and TSA). Although H.R. 2055 contains $11.7 billion for CBP, an increase of $362 million over the FY 2011 level, FY 2012 funding would be reduced for automation modernization, international cargo screening, C-TPAT, etc. (Note that some press reports suggest that the President wants an agreement on the payroll tax cut before he will sign H.R. 2055 into law.)
The FCC may certify Spectrum Bridge as the first TV white spaces database with permission to start commercial operations in the U.S., industry and agency officials told us last week. That could lead to deployment of the first commercially available white spaces technology as early as Q1. The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology earlier this year completed a 45-day public trial of the Spectrum Bridge database and this month began a 45-day trial of rival database provider Telcordia Technologies, making those the first two of the 10 commission-designated database operators to be ready for trials. White spaces devices, including one produced by Spectrum Bridge’s partner KTS, are being tested in the OET lab, and could soon be certified for commercial use as well, said industry executives. Wireless providers and equipment makers see FCC approval of white spaces databases and radios that connect with the databases as potentially opening a market with $5 billion to $7 billion in annual sales. They say the market would be initially for broadband from fixed locations in rural areas, and eventually if the technology is proven to work for portable, unlicensed devices capable of getting broadband service. “This technology could be a very good opportunity to introduce cost-effective high-speed broadband into some underserved or unserved rural communities,” said John Malyar, Telcordia’s chief architect of interconnection solutions. “There’s a large opportunity here for looking at other applications of this, with the personal portables or even the machine-to-machine communications, both here and in other parts of the world. Showing that a database can support dynamic spectrum access has broader applications than just the TV bands frequencies.” Hardware producer Carlson Wireless expects to submit its second-generation white spaces device to the FCC for testing in January, CEO Jim Carlson said. “It’s a real chicken and egg situation.” Until the database and the equipment are both certified, companies are only able to do field tests under experimental licenses from the commission. Ultimately, the databases must all be able to interoperate with each other, once they've all passed FCC muster. Carlson has been testing rural broadband and hot spots on Native American tribal lands. “Our passion in this is to get the rural users of this country, including the Native Americans and businesses and farms, to be connected so we can be economically more viable,” he said. An FCC spokesman declined to comment. Companies are waiting for the FCC to act on petitions for reconsideration, as well as objections raised by NAB and requests from the equipment makers for flexibility in the fixed transmitter height requirements and a relaxed adjacent channel spectrum mask, to allow greater throughput. NAB’s comments were largely logistical and broadcasters primarily want assurance that the FCC will continue to monitor implementation and guard against interference, said Victor Tawil, the association’s senior vice president of technology. Ultimately, the commercial space could contain multiple possible databases and radios so that
The 3DS remained Japan’s best-selling videogame system, as sales soared to 350,300 from 206,000 the prior week (CED Dec 12 p6), according to Media Create data for the week ended Dec. 11. It was helped by the one-two-three punch of Capcom’s Monster Hunter 3G, which easily became Japan’s best-selling videogame in its first week available, and continued strong demand for Nintendo’s Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land, all for the handheld 3D system. Capcom sold 522,000 copies of Monster Hunter 3G. Mario Kart 7, the prior week’s No. 1 game, dipped to No. 2, sales falling to 183,800 from 423,600. Super Mario 3D Land remained No. 3, but sales grew to 89,700 from 73,900. Cumulative 3DS hardware sales grew to an estimated 3.2 million in Japan. All weekly sales estimates are rounded to the nearest 100. The PSP moved up one to No. 2 on the hardware chart, sales improving to 51,200 from 39,500. The Wii moved up one to No. 3, sales growing to 46,000 from 31,100. The PS3 fell two to No. 4 despite sales increasing to 44,700 from 40,700. Every other system trailed far behind again. The DSi LL remained No. 5, sales improving to 4,000 from 2,900. The Xbox 360 repeated at No. 6, sales growing to 3,200 from 1,700. The DSi was again No. 7, sales increasing to 2,600 from 1,500. The PS2 remained No. 8, sales dipping to 1,300 from 1,500. The DS Lite repeated at No. 9, sales again well below 100. Rounding out the top five on the software chart were two games for the PS3: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim from Bethesda Softworks at No. 4 in its first week, moving 75,900 copies, and Namco Bandai’s Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs., down three in its second week, sales tumbling to 56,600 from 349,800.
The FCC may certify Spectrum Bridge as the first TV white spaces database with permission to start commercial operations in the U.S., industry and agency officials told us last week. That could lead to deployment of the first commercially available white spaces technology as early as Q1. The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology earlier this year completed a 45-day public trial of the Spectrum Bridge database(CD Nov 14 p13) and this month began a 45-day trial of rival database provider Telcordia Technologies, making those the first two of the 10 commission-designated database operators to be ready for trials. White spaces devices, including one produced by Spectrum Bridge’s partner KTS, are being tested in the OET lab, and could soon be certified for commercial use as well, said industry executives.
The FCC may certify Spectrum Bridge as the first TV white spaces database with permission to start commercial operations in the U.S., industry and agency officials told us last week. That could lead to deployment of the first commercially available white spaces technology as early as Q1.
The White House’s “We the People” website gives users an opportunity to electronically sign a petition on allowing airline passengers to use the Amazon Kindle, iPad, iPhone, Android phones and other devices in “airline mode” during takeoffs and landings (http://xrl.us/bmj76n). The petition offers the public a chance to weigh in on whether the White House should instruct the FAA to revise its rules in this area. “To date, there is no evidence that electromagnetic interference, in any way, affects aviation equipment,” the petition states. “Studies to date conclude that there’s little risk to allowing electronic devices to be used during takeoff and landing. Despite passengers ‘bending the rules’ or forgetting to turn off devices on planes for years, there’s been no known incident of an air accident caused by electromagnetic interference from devices.” The petition includes a goal of 25,000 signatures by Jan. 3. Only 1,360 had signed on by our deadline.
The White House’s “We the People” website gives users an opportunity to electronically sign a petition on allowing airline passengers to use the Amazon Kindle, iPad, iPhone, Android phones and other devices in “airline mode” during takeoffs and landings (http://xrl.us/bmj76n). The petition offers the public a chance to weigh in on whether the White House should instruct the FAA to revise its rules in this area. “To date, there is no evidence that electromagnetic interference, in any way, affects aviation equipment,” the petition states. “Studies to date conclude that there’s little risk to allowing electronic devices to be used during takeoff and landing. Despite passengers ‘bending the rules’ or forgetting to turn off devices on planes for years, there’s been no known incident of an air accident caused by electromagnetic interference from devices.” The petition includes a goal of 25,000 signatures by Jan. 3. Only 1,360 had signed on by our deadline.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim from Bethesda Softworks moved up four to become the best-selling game in the U.K. its fifth week available, according to the Association for U.K. Interactive Entertainment (UKIE) Games Charts compiled by GfK Chart-Track for the week ended Saturday. Sales of the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC game soared 145 percent from the prior week, driven by retail price cutting, UKIE said. Activision’s multiplatform Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 dipped one to No. 2 in its fifth week as sales fell 7 percent from the prior week. Ubisoft, Electronic Arts and Nintendo each had two games in the top 10. Ubisoft’s were Just Dance 3 for the Wii, 360 and PS3, up one at No. 3 in its ninth week as sales jumped 67 percent, and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations for the 360, PS3 and PC, down two, No. 5, fourth week, sales down 5 percent. Its ABBA: You Can Dance for the Wii entered the top 20 at No. 20. EA’s two games in the top 10 were the multiplatform FIFA 12, down two, No. 4, 11th week despite sales growing 24 percent, and Battlefield 3 for the 360 and PS3, up three, No. 6, seventh week, sales up 30 percent. Nintendo’s were its Professor Layton and the Last Specter for the DS, No. 7 again in the game’s third week, sales up 5 percent, and Mario Kart 7 for the 3DS, down two, No. 10, second week, sales down 1 percent. Its Super Mario 3D Land for the 3DS fell out of the top 10 in week four, dropping two to No. 12. Rounding out the top 10 were THQ’s Saints Row: The Third for the 360 and PS3, down two, No. 8, fourth week, sales down 2 percent, and Sony Computer Entertainment’s 3D Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception for the PS3, up seven, No. 9, sixth week. Sales of the Sony game soared 81 percent from the prior week, allowing it to return to the top 10 after an absence of three weeks, “thanks to some price promotional activity,” UKIE said.
At the December 5, 2011 COAC meeting, COAC and CBP officials discussed various issues related to the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), including a C-TPAT pilot for exporters. COAC and CBP are also working to gather information on providing tiering benefits to C-TPAT highway carriers. In addition, CBP is urging COAC input on enhancements to the C-TPAT web portal.
The Xbox 360 repeated as the best-selling videogame system in the U.S. for the fourth straight month despite continued strength from the PS3 and 3DS following late summer price cuts on those systems, according to data released late Friday by NPD. Wii and DS sales improved from October this year, but were weaker than November 2010. PSP sales continued to be weak, an industry source said Monday.