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Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals
Memory Lane - Wi-Fi’s long road
September 4, 2012 10:45 pm | by Stewart Schley, media and technology writer | Articles | CommentsIn the lore of the wireless broadband technology known as Wi-Fi, the recognized “father” of the category is Victor Hayes, a former NCR Corp. engineer from the Netherlands who first chaired the famous 802.11 Working Group of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Capital Currents - The FCC’s ‘annual’ report on video competition
September 4, 2012 10:05 pm | by Jeffrey Krauss, president of Telecommunications and Technology Policy | Articles | CommentsThe FCC recently released its 14th “Annual Assessment of the Status of Competition in the Market for the Delivery of Video Programming.” The most interesting part to me was the back story, and the nearly five-year interval between the 13th report and the 14th.
New Products - September 2012
September 4, 2012 9:54 pm | by CED Magazine | Products | CommentsThomson Video Networks' ViBE VS7000 multi-screen video platform has been enhanced with new features, SeaChange demonstrated the latest innovations of its Nucleus soft box gateway, and Volicon’s loudness monitoring and logging solution is now available on its Observer Scout platform.
Time Warner Cable tabs Ruckus for Wi-Fi connectivity at DNC
September 4, 2012 2:28 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsTime Warner Cable is hooking up attendees at the Democratic National Convention with Wi-Fi gear from Ruckus Wireless. TWC has installed Ruckus’ ZoneFlex family of Smart Wireless LAN (WLAN) systems to deliver high-speed Wi-Fi throughout the 19,000-seat Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C.
Fitch: Sprint, T-Mobile merger 'makes sense'
September 4, 2012 2:26 pm | by Maisie Ramsay, Wireless Week | News | CommentsA top ratings agency says there's still a chance for Sprint to merge with T-Mobile USA despite years of failing to come to fruition. T-Mobile had long been an acquisition target of Sprint before AT&T threw down a $39 billion offer to buy the German-owned operator, a bid that failed amid government opposition.
Tokyo court: Samsung didn't infringe Apple patent
August 31, 2012 12:21 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA Tokyo court dismissed Apple's claim that Samsung had infringed on its patent. The Japanese court case addressed only the synchronizing technology that allows media players to share data with personal computers and was not comparable in scope to the much larger victory that Apple won in the U.S. last week.
Pac-12 Networks opens coverage without DirecTV
August 31, 2012 12:19 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Pac-12 Networks opened it football coverage with the Utah-Northern Colorado game, with DirecTV subscribers unable to watch because of a distribution stalemate. The network also televised the Arizona State-Northern Arizona game and has exclusive rights to 15 nonconference games and 20 Pac-12 games this season.
Bain-owned cable STB company files for bankruptcy
August 31, 2012 12:16 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA cable box repair company owned by the private equity firm Bain Capital is filing for bankruptcy protection, citing weakened demand for its services in recent years. Contec Holdings said it will continue to operate as usual during its Chapter 11 reorganization.
TiVo's Q2 loss narrows on DVR subscriber gains
August 30, 2012 2:03 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsTiVo whittled its losses as more subscribers signed up for the digital video recorders that turned the company into a household name. The results were highlighted by a gain of 230,000 subscribers. That left TiVo with 2.7 million subscribers.
Country Cablevision going all-fiber
August 29, 2012 2:51 pm | by Brian Santo | News | CommentsArmed with a broadband stimulus award, the rural N.C. provider is installing equipment from Clearfield to pursue its FTTH build-out. Country Cablevision has begun deploying Clearfield’s FieldSmart Fiber Scalability Center (FSC) as part of its fiber-optic broadband network build.
FAA to study use of electronics on planes
August 28, 2012 2:38 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsIt's going to be a while before airline passengers can use iPads and other electronic devices during the whole flight. The Federal Aviation Administration is starting a process to study the issue, with a timeline that means it will take at least until March 2013 for a recommendation – and maybe longer for action.
Appeals Court backs ActiveVideo’s win against Verizon
August 27, 2012 3:18 pm | by Brian Santo | News | CommentsThe final judgment includes some minor quibbles with lower court decisions, essentially upholding ActiveVideo’s position – and the $260M in damages Verizon owes the vendor for patent infringement. ActiveVideo charged that Verizon’s FiOS VOD service infringed on four of its patents.
Summary of Apple's $1B verdict
August 27, 2012 2:52 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsApple claimed Samsung Electronics' smartphones and computer tablets "slavishly copied" the iPhones and iPads. Samsung countered with its own claims that Apple used its wireless technology without proper compensation. A nine-person jury unanimously agreed with Apple and ordered Samsung to pay $1 billion.
FCC clears ‘substantially modified' Verizon AWS deal
August 24, 2012 3:02 pm | by Maisie Ramsay, Wireless Week | News | CommentsThe FCC has officially approved Verizon Wireless' AWS deal, sealing a transaction that gives the operator a substantial amount of spectrum for its LTE network. The Commission released its final order clearing the spectrum sale yesterday. The document formalizes a number of Verizon's voluntary commitments around divestitures, network construction and data roaming.
FTC: Dish Network broke telemarketing rules
August 24, 2012 2:53 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Federal Trade Commission filed a suit against Dish Network, charging the satellite-television provider with breaking laws barring telemarketing calls. The FTC said telemarketers from Dish Network kept calling people in an attempt to sell the satellite television service, even after they had been asked to stop.
