Timothy Pearson, manager of a “secure computer design and manufacturing firm” in Illinois, wants the FTC to “put a stop” to manufacturer restrictions on third-party tech product repairs because they run counter to innovation and promote the discarding of perfectly workable electronics in the waste stream, he commented, as posted Friday to docket FTC-2019-0013. His was the first posted in the agency's inquiry, in preparation for a daylong workshop July 16, into how manufacturer “limitations” on third-party product repairs may affect consumer protections (see 1903130060). Pearson’s firm, which he didn’t name, has “run into significant problems from certain component vendors that overlap with right to repair legislation,” he said. “Certain vendors require all firmware components to be signed with their vendor key in order for the firmware to execute.” The practice “severely impairs the repair capability of their devices,” he said. It also adds e-waste “when the vendor is unwilling to fix known bugs in their firmware,” and instead recommends discarding the device and buying a “newer or more expensive” replacement, he said. When a vendor has virtual exclusivity in “a specific class of computing peripheral, this has the effect of not only stifling repair of entire classes of devices, but also encouraging foreign (usually Asian) companies to innovate where US citizens and corporations are locked out by vendor decisions,” he said. He alleged Nvidia’s “cryptographic signing” forces “continual replacement of otherwise functional" graphics cards. He blamed the “replace and discard” recommendations on its unwillingness, “for commercial reasons,” to fix “firmware-enforced driver bugs.” Nvidia didn’t comment Friday. The FTC is seeking "empirical" data by April 30 on third-party repair limitations to help staff prepare for the July workshop. Comments in the docket are due Sept.16.

Global shipments of fingerprint sensors for smartphones are expected to reach 1.26 billion units this year and increase at a 10.3 percent compound annual growth rate through 2023, despite competition from facial recognition, which will gain wider adoption, said ABI Research Thursday. Top smartphone brands like Apple, Huawei, LG, Samsung and Xiaomi are driving market acceptance of facial recognition, and those apps will rise at a 26.9 percent five-year CAGR, it said. “End-users certainly have a lot of biometric upgrades to look forward to in the coming years.”

How manufacturer “limitations” on third-party product repairs may affect consumer protections is the subject of an FTC workshop July 16 at Constitution Center (also webcast), said the agency Wednesday. Whether the restrictions impair consumer rights under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act will be among the issues the FTC wants to study, it said. The 1975 statute, which the agency enforces, was created to thwart manufacturers from using warranty disclaimers that dupe consumers. The FTC also wants to learn the impact the restrictions have on small and local businesses, and the extent to which consumers even know about the restrictions. So-called “right-to-repair” bills in several states (see 1704090001) threaten manufacturers with fines for restricting third-party repairs. The tech industry mobilized against the bills, on various grounds, including arguing that enabling product repairs through independent shops risks exposing trade secrets. The FTC seeks “empirical research” data by April 30 on the “prevalence and impact” of repair restrictions. Limitations may include “code” that disables products repaired by someone other than the manufacturer, or product designs that “inhibit repairs,” such as attaching batteries with proprietary glue that only the manufacturer can remove, it said. The commission also seeks public comment by Sept. 16 in docket FTC-2019-0013 via regulations.gov on issues related to repair restrictions.

Tidal Masters tracks are now available on the iPhone -- following availability on desktop PCs and Android devices, via Master Quality Authenticated decoding, said MQA Monday.

Samsung’s Galaxy S10 smartphone family trio hit Best Buy Friday with up to $650 back in enticements (up to $550 with trade-in, plus activation savings of $50 for Verizon, $100 for Sprint) or a buy-one-get-one offer with qualified activation, said the website. Verizon and Sprint offered a free Galaxy S10e (or $750 credit toward the S10 or S10+) with the purchase of any of the new S10 series phones; AT&T’s version of the BOGO deal tossed in a S10+ (or $1,000). Free extras include an AKG-tuned headset, USB-C and micro-USB connectors, screen protector and three months of SiriusXM Premier streaming. YouTube said Friday its Premium service will be offered free for four months with Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Tab S5e devices when those phones are available. Other Samsung Galaxy owners who activate a device through Feb. 29 can try YouTube Premium free for two months, it said.

Two Apple inventors devised a solution for protecting the "cavity" in a smartphone's input/output port against water and debris by coating the device's housing with “electrically conductive” film, said a patent application (2019/0069848) published Thursday at the Patent and Trademark Office. The deposited film can provide a robust “pathway” leading into and out of the housing, said the application, filed in September. The pathway “can be configured to relay sensor readings and/or power between the inside and outside of the housing," especially if it's fashioned from materials that are “unlikely to bend or deform,” it said. Housings made from glass, sapphire or ceramic substrates are more likely to hold their shape than aluminum, plus they “also have the advantage of being electrically insulating, thereby allowing the electrically conductive pathways to be deposited” directly on the substrates, it said. The film coating ideally should have a thickness between 0.5 and 10 microns, but the thickness can be “adjusted” up or down, depending how much electrical current is needed for the deployment, it said. Apple didn’t comment.

The smartphone market is spiraling toward its third straight year of declining shipments, reported IDC Wednesday. It's forecasting a 0.8 percent worldwide volume decline to 1.39 billion handsets, blaming longer replacement cycles, challenges in China and geopolitical headwinds. Second-half shipments are expected to reverse course, growing 2.3 percent from 2018 on a “new high for technological innovation” from foldable and 5G phones, said analyst Ryan Reith. The nascent 5G era is expected to “ramp quickly,” he said, and though uses for upgrading to a 5G device aren’t yet compelling, adoption is expected to reach “significant numbers” beginning next year. IDC expects 5G smartphone shipments to account for roughly one out of every four smartphones shipped globally in 2023 out of a total 1.54 billion. In 2019, 3G smartphone shipments will fall 25.4 percent to 57.5 million, while 4G phones inch ahead 0.2 percent to 1.3 billion with 95 percent market share, said IDC. Some 6.7 million 5G phones are forecast to ship this year, headed to 401.3 million in 2023 when 5G phones are forecast to grab 26 percent share vs. 72 percent for 4G models.

It’s “hard to imagine life” in Washington without a smartphone, but the dawning of 5G means “our mobile universe is about to expand in ways unimaginable 10 years ago,” wrote CTA President Gary Shapiro Monday in the Washington Examiner. The District’s Transportation Department is weighing “guidelines” to “facilitate the introduction of 5G throughout the city,” he said. 5G’s “innovations are right around the corner, as soon as we get the necessary infrastructure in place,” he said. ”It’s only fitting that we lead the way in implementing a new technology that, through the power of connectivity, will increase opportunities for everyone.” Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and D.C. council members need to be on board “to support 5G’s rollout,” said Shapiro.

Despite recent “buzz” about virtues of recruiting more women for key tech jobs, females own 5 percent of the tech startups in Silicon Valley and earn 28 percent of the computer science degrees at U.S. universities, IRYStec Software co-founder-Chief Technology Officer Tara Akhavan told a Society for Information Display webinar Wednesday. Women employed in “computing roles” peaked at 36 percent in 1991, declining steadily since, said Akhavan, SID marketing vice chair. “We’re going backwards.” Employee diversity adds “a huge amount of value,” she said. “Any business that invests in diversity has seen in a few years the growth and return on investment.” Preregistrations for SID’s Display Week May 12-17 in San Jose are up 10 percent over this date for last year's event, she said. Montreal-based IRYStec specializes in perceptual display technology designed to make screens “smarter, healthier and more readable” in all light conditions, said Akhavan on a YouTube video shot at last year's Display Week in Los Angeles. President Donald Trump’s immigration executive order two years ago blocking citizens of six Muslim-majority countries from getting new U.S. visas hit Akhavan when she was denied travel from Canada to Los Angeles for Display Week 2017 because she held an Iranian passport (see 1705230045). Akhavan helps produce Display Week’s annual Women in Tech forum.

Energous’ prospects for generating meaningful revenue from deliverables for its wireless charging technology took another hit in Q4 due to customers’ decisions to extend review processes, said CEO Steve Rizzone on a Wednesday earnings call. Rizzone had referred on previous calls to a “large engineering services payment” in conjunction with delivery of the first iteration of a system Energous had been developing to spec for a "key strategic partner," but it couldn’t invoice for delivery due to the customer's decision to extend the review and acceptance cycle. “We have no guarantee that they will integrate this technology at all, even though the relationship continues to move forward,” Rizzone said. A second CE company planned a Q2 2019 product launch, which would have “triggered a meaningful order” in Q4 for manufacturing ramps that didn't occur. That customer is refining its specs to improve its product's user experience and competitive position, said Rizzone, saying Energous expects a Q2 chip order. The company announced Wednesday a direct securities offering of $25 million, less $1.7 million in expenses, to finance working capital and other general and administrative purposes. The company’s Q4 revenue was $56,000; net loss was $12.5 million, it said. Shares plunged 24 percent Wednesday at $6.21. Rizzone highlighted positive news -- availability of the Oasis-RC personal sound amplification product from Delight and vivo’s Mobile World Congress announcement (see 1902250053) it plans to incorporate Energous’ distance charging in a future smartphone. More negative news came from the regulatory front where approvals for wireless charging distance technology in Asia “are extending out.” Rizzone has expressed hope that FCC approval in December 2017 (see 1712270024) would be a model for regulators in Japan, Korea and China, but those countries chose to do their own studies along the same lines as the FCC approval process, he said Wednesday. At CES last month, Energous demonstrated its wireless charging technology in prototypes from Vuzix, Qubercomm, IDT, Austar and Deutsche Telekom.