Filed under: Portable Audio, Transportation

The good folks at Orbitcast have the rundown on what the FCC’s crackdown leaky FM modulators means for you and your next satellite radio; in short: more wires. The complete details on XM’s and Sirius‘ answers to the FCC’s demands have emerged in (what else?) FCC certification filings, with each company coming to similar solutions. Sirius’ FM Extender, seen above, requires you to affix a wire inside the vehicle as close to the external FM antenna as possible which, in most cases, means a wire on your front or rear windshield. XM’s FM coupler takes things one step further,with a coupling clip that attaches directly to the external antenna or sticks to an on-glass antenna. Not exactly an ideal solution in either case, though we tend to agree with Orbitcast’s assessment that professional installers have got to be digging it. Too bad, too, we were kind of digging on the short-range pirate radio stations we’d been broadcasting in traffic these last few years.

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

The FCC’s handed us yet another tasty morsel today: the new Logitech FreePulse Wireless headset, and what a headset she is. The minuscule looking device features Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR with A2DP (huzzah!) to control your iPod (via a dongle, of course) if that’s how you want swing it, or other A2DP-compliant devices like that swanky LG Fusic that you’ve got your eye on. And according to the user’s manual the FreePulse will also play nice with other MP3 players too, like that just-released Zune, for example. Unfortunately, the friendly Feds didn’t tell us when these ‘phones would be released, nor how much they would retail for. We do have to applaud Logitech for coming up with a name better than those other Bluetooth iPod packages that we’ve already seen, like the D.Muse iBlue and the horribly named iMuff.

[Via TGDaily]

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

As you probably already know, we can’t get enough of WiFi — naturally we prefer the free variety, but have been known to fork over a few bucks from time to time to get our fix. So when we found out that Continental Airlines was offering free WiFi service to members of its frequent flier service at Boston-Logan International Airport, needless to say, we were pretty stoked. Now, one might think that transit authorities would be all for keeping customers happy and pacified, but apparently that’s not the case with Massport, the governing body at Logan. According to Reuters, Massport instructed airlines in 2005 to unplug their wireless access points so that travelers could be graced with the new few-based system it was installing airport-wide. Not surprisingly, Continental said “no thanks,” kept its WiFi running, and filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission. This week, the FCC issued a proposed ruling to commissioners, which according to insiders, is likely to end up being in Continental’s favor, given that the Feds are the only ones who can tell you how to use your hard-earned unlicensed spectrum. Apparently that’s something Massport’s going to have to learn the hard way.

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Portable Audio

Let’s recap: Sirius gets us all in a tizzy by announcing its first “personal live satellite radio product,” then opens up the floodgates to pre-orders, and suddenly pulls the rug out from under the whole deal by demanding that retailers stop taking orders of the Stiletto 100 under further notice. The cause behind such a curious sequence of events might not be manufacturing hangups, supplier shortages, or any of the most common issues related with postponed launches — rather, the company may simply be waiting for an FCC ID number. Considering the agency hasn’t exactly been an ally in Sirius’ production process (nor XM’s, to be fair), we aren’t terribly surprised at the supposed culprit. A tiny, albeit powerful snippet of fine print within FCC guidelines prohibits the marketing of products that aren’t in good standing with the commission, which gives strong suspicion that Sirius is just holding its horses until the Stiletto 100 is granted its oh-so-honorable identification tag — whenever that may be.

[Via Orbitcast]

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Networking

In case you haven’t been following the exciting world of telecom regulation lately (and really, why would you?), the FCC recently mandated that DSL providers no longer have to pay into the Universal Service Fund that’s meant to subsidize rural and low-income phone service (and that may induce all kinds of pork-barrel spending, but that’s a whole other story right there). Anyway, the elimination of this surcharge was supposed to be passed along to consumers in the form of lower monthly bills — and many companies, including AT&T and Qwest, did just that — but the sneaky suits over at Verizon and BellSouth decided to keep charging customers almost the exact same fee, though for different reasons. Verizon claimed that it had “developed new operating costs” in the previous year, justifying this so-called “supplier surcharge,” while BellSouth began calling theirs a “regulatory cost recovery fee” — even though the USF contribution regulation no longer existed. Both companies offered up some confusing doublespeak as to why these new, identical fees came into play at the exact same time that the USF fee was withdrawn; ultimately, however, pressure from consumers, the media, and the FCC forced them to retract the charges from customers’ bills and issue credits where applicable. So in conclusion, we’re really starting to see an encouraging trend here: first Dell implements a massive battery recall following tons of negative publicity, then Foxconn stops picking on those “slanderous” journalists in the wake of a massive public outcry, and now the telcos have been forced to mend their greedy ways after everyone got wise to their shenanigans. Therefore, that old adage actually seems to be true: a lot of the time, it’s the squeaky wheel that really does get the grease.

Read- Verizon’s fee
Read- BellSouth’s fee
Read- BellSouth caves
Read- Verizon caves

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Filed under: Portable Audio

XM lovers rejoice! The FCC has finally determined that three XM radios with FM transmitters are in the clear. XM had to cease production back in late May to give time to the Feds to check out its products. Specifically, the FCC approved the Audiovox Xpress, the Delphi RoadyXT and the XM Sportscaster. XM has notified its manufacturers to get those conveyor belts rolling again, just in time for the holidy shopping season, which, by the way, is due to start any day now. Now that XM is back on track, free Bob Dylan for everyone! Well, that’s what we’d like for the holidays.

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Filed under: Features

We here at Engadget Mobile tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we've gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don't need). Enjoy!

Phones
Read - Samsung SGH-T619
Read - Samsung SCH-L310
Read - Samsung SGH-C327
Read - Ningbo Bird M19
Read - LG RD8000
Read - LG L600V
Read - LG RD3470
Read - Pantech & Curitel PC-7300L
Read - Alcatel OT-C560a
Read - Alcatel OT-C630a

Peripherals
Read - Sony TMR-BT10

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Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Cingular, Windows Mobile, GSM, GPRS, EDGE

Quick survey: who just sort of assumed that the Star Trek had been FCC approved for some time now? Yeah, us too. Turns out HTC's flipalicious WM5 Smartphone ("STAR100," as it's labeled here) passed muster not long ago, paving the way for Cingular to make good on its launch plans. So, if you picked up an imported unit in the past few months and you've been, uh, patiently awaiting FCC word to turn 'er on, consider this your seal of approval.

[Via phoneArena]

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Filed under: Home Entertainment

Nature abhors a vacuum, so now that the AMD/ATI deal has gone from rumor to reality, we're in dire need of another potential mega-merger to fill the void. Luckily for us, News Corp. owner and the real "king of all media" Rupert Murdoch recently made some tantalizing comments on the Charlie Rose Show that may indicate DirecTV's renewed interest in merging with Dish Network parent EchoStar. Although he obviously didn't come right out and say that the two companies were involved in talks of any sort, Murdoch did suggest that the television landscape has shifted enough since the last merger attempt in 2002 that "it would be much harder for the government to turn it down" this time around. However, he also cautioned that a deal would be difficult if EchoStar CEO Charlie Ergen -- whose clashes with News Corp. execs reportedly put the kibosh on merger talks all the way back in 1997 -- insisted on running the new entity as one of EchoStar's conditions. Ars Technica sums up the situation nicely by suggesting that although a merger would help both companies in their quest to offer broadband service should they succeed in picking up some spectrum at next month's FCC auction, government regulators would be unlikely to approve such a deal for the same reason as last time: there are still too many consumers out there whose only option is satellite TV, giving a combined DirecTV-Dish entity monopoly status in certain areas of the country. Long story short: there's an excellent chance that Murdoch would love a deal to go down, but chances are it ain't gonna happen.

[Via Ars Technica]

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Filed under: Peripherals, Wireless

Looks like Apple forgot to file for ye olde confidentiality agreement, but today an FCC filing showed off Apple’s latest device: the Mighty Mouse with Bluetooth. If anyone’s surprised, well, that’d be pretty silly of you being that a wireless / Bluetooth Mighty Mouse is what’s been asked for of Apple since day one of the peripheral’s release. So, who’s got odds that they’ll finally freaking fix those pitiful squeeze triggers on the side? By the way, for those not interested in poring over the manual, expect the “M6″ (the device’s listed codename) to be powered by AA cells — not by an internal rechargeable battery (i.e. don’t expect a little dock or USB plug, bucko).

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Transportation

Apparently someone should really investigate the FCC’s approval process, because this marks the second mishap in 2006 that has forced a satellite radio company to halt production of some of its radios. Not too far behind XM’s run-in with the law, Sirius is also facing scrutiny for their FM-transmitting devices. Apparently the emissions are too powerful for their own good (which might be a good thing, considering our Helix test unit’s FM transmitter was unbelievably underpowered), and the excessive output is beyond the regulations they were originally approved for — seems pretty straight forward. Although we aren’t certain of the exact radios affected in this filing, Sirius seems confident that the devices in question fully comply with FCC regulations (that stamp of approval is valid, right?) and this scuffle won’t require any major recalls or financial losses. Regardless of who dropped the ball here, the FCC is definitely making this a painful year to be a satellite radio provider.

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Filed under: Features

We here at Engadget Mobile tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol’ Federal Communications Commission’s site. Since we couldn’t possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we’ve gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don’t need). Enjoy!

Phones
Read - Samsung SGH-T629
Read - Samsung SCH-U520
Read - Samsung SGH-I610
Read - Samsung SGH-T519
Read - Alcatel OT-E801a
Read - LG MX240
Read - LG KG112

Peripherals
Read - Nextlink Bluespoon SPIDER
Read - G. G. Telecom Gg03t
Read - Sony DR-BT10CX
Read - Sony HWS-BTA2W
Read - Sony DR-BT30Q

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

So it looks like TiVo is finally getting ready to roll out the long-awaited Series 3 DVR Digital Media Recorder, and just in the nick of time, it would seem; from what we can tell, consumers are chomping at the bit to start capturing the growing variety of high definition broadcasts available to them, making HTPCs a more attractive alternative as the days, weeks, and months pass with no HD TiVo. Zatz Not Funny is reporting that the DVR giant recently sent letters to both the FCC and major cable operators stating that Series 3 boxes are already being beta tested around the country and will be available "soon," though no actual release date is given. According to the letters, the CableLabs-certified device will sport two separate UDCP CableCARD slots, and TiVo is concerned about reports that certain cable installers have been refusing to provide beta testers with the necessary support -- no big surprise, as the industry has never shown much love for CableCARDs in the first place. Now, of course, we all want to know how TiVo defines the word "soon" -- previous speculation has centered around a September or early October release -- but we've been covering this beat long enough to know that hazarding a guess is pretty much useless, and that we won't find out any more info until the company is good and ready to reveal its launch plans. [Warning: PDF link]

[Via Zatz Not Funny]

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Filed under: Handsets, Vertu

If we’re gonna drop a couple grand on a phone, the least it can do is give us quad-band GSM, right? As the Boy Genius told us a couple weeks back, Vertu’s new Constellation handset picks up where their previous efforts left off, packing GSM 850/900/1800/1900 plus EDGE data all 2003-like. We weren’t able to glean much from the draft manual (which still has Signature pictures in it), but the Constellation looks to rock a variant of Nokia’s S40 platform — we leave that to the world’s privileged to decide whether that’s an upgrade from the Signature and Ascent’s OS. Look for this little slice of leather-covered opulence to drop later this year; we’re sure you rich folk will find ways to shed some cash while you wait.

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Filed under: Misc

We know we give a lot of props to the FCC for outing unreleased products for us, but it turns out that’s not the only honorable activity they engage in. It seems LocateCell, a little operation selling wireless customers’ data (call logs and the like) against FCC regs, was issued a subpoena not too long ago inquiring into exactly how they were doing their evil deeds. They failed to respond in a timely fashion, earning the FCC’s wrath in the form of a $97,500 fine, the maximum amount that can be levied for this type of buffoonery. Of course, $97,500 ain’t that much for a lot of companies, and FCC chairman Kevin Martin is painfully aware, calling it “merely a cost of doing business” and looking to Congress to get that max fine bumped up a notch or two. Fortunately for anyone who values their privacy, LocateCell appears to have gone under anyway — their website’s now dead — but let’s just see these guys try to do business when they’re staring down the barrel of a million-dollar fine, eh?

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Listen up you thin form-factor Motorola lovers, the next phone to complement your Q, RAZR, and SLVR has just gotten one step closer to hitting the shelves by getting FCC approval. The phone, named the RAZR K1, has been approved as a quad-band GSM and EDGE phone. Check out all of our hip-hoppin’, be-boppin’ Canary coverage here.

Now it is time for a little off-topic discussion. So it seems every damn day another new device gets some kind of FCC approval. Does it honestly take a lot of work to get something approved from the FCC, or does some intern just sit at the FCC desk with a giant “approved” stamp? Any insiders know what kind of rigorous steps are involved in getting approved? Leave a comment or shoot me an email, you can find my e-mail address over on the left. Teach me a thing or two and you may earn yourself a comments invite. – Travis Hudson

FCC Approves Motorola Canary, Officially Called K1 [Phone Scoop]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video, Wireless

Looks like Samsung has a new one in the works; their YP-T9 DAP just got its FCC approval and it's looking mighty nice. The Yepp player measures 0.43-inches thick, and weighs a mere 1.7 ounces, but Samsung still managed a few extras. Most notable is the Bluetooth support for using wireless headphones, but there's plenty of other stuff like FM radio, voice recording, MP3