Panasonic commercialized an encapsulation material with a “high dielectric constant” for fashioning smaller and thinner fingerprint recognition sensors to be embedded in mobile devices, the company said in a Tuesday announcement. Panasonic will start “full-scale mass production” of the material next month, it said. Panasonic sees fingerprint recognition features being embedded in more and more smartphones, it said. Sapphire glass conventionally has been used in the fingerprint contact part of packages for existing capacitive fingerprint recognition sensors due to its high dielectric constant, Panasonic said. But that has “drawbacks,” including the difficulty of making the sensor packages smaller and thinner to fit sleeker smartphone form factors, it said. Sapphire glass-based sensors also require complex “manufacturing processes,” it said. There’s a “booming market” for fingerprint sensors in smartphones, tablets and notebook computers, IHS said in a December report. “Their use in the iPhone 5 in 2013 was followed by adoption by many other OEMs in 2014 and 2015,” IHS said. “These sensors are becoming a standard feature in high-end smart phones, with further growth expected.”
Drawback
A duty drawback is a refund by CBP of the duties, taxes, or fees paid on imported goods, which were imposed upon importation as prescribed in 19 U.S.C. 1313(d). More broadly, a drawback also includes the refund or remission of other excise taxes pursuant to other provisions of law.
As the IP transition continues, state regulators are concerned about network capacity reliability, service quality, device and service interoperability, services for individuals with disabilities, service functionality, communications security, coverage area and public safety answering point and 911 services, said Robin Ancona, Michigan Public Service Commission Telecom Division director. Education and outreach are also concerns, and state regulators want to know what their role is versus the FCC's role, she said Saturday at the NARUC meeting in Washington. Ancona said one of the most important parts of the transition is advance notice to consumers to let them voice concerns. Michigan has also encountered some rights of way problems, she said.
Content-Centric Networking/Named Data Networking (CCN/NDN) could solve a lot of the drawbacks inherent to IP when it becomes ready for deployment in three to five years, CableLabs said in a white paper released Monday. CCN/NDN "promises to significantly improve network scalability, performance and reduce cost over a network built on the Internet Protocol," CableLabs said. With HTTP/IP being ubiquitous in networks, it may "seem daunting to consider the use of a non-IP protocol," it said, though the likelihood is that technology and time will bring a replacement. Replacing HTTP/IP with CCN would require phasing it in to avoid disruptions and cost, and the replacement itself requires CCN-HTTP translation and CCN/IP tunneling technologies, CableLabs said. CCN/NDN still has some issues to be worked out, CableLabs said, including optimized CCN router and cache implementation, congestion avoidance and network control, it said. In a blog post Monday, CableLabs Distinguished Technologist Greg White said CCN/NDN "provides a more elegantly scalable, faster, and more efficient network infrastructure for the majority of traffic on the Internet today" by moving from a "host-centric" network approach, involving delivering data from one specific host to another, to a "content-centric" approach that identifies and routes content by the use of globally unique names. "To get a sense of how big a mind shift this is, consider this: in CCN/NDN devices don’t have addresses at all," White said. "A device can retrieve content by requesting it by name, without needing to have a way of identifying a server where that content is stored, or even identifying itself." CableLabs is experimenting with CCN/NDN and looking into applications that could drive its adoption, said White, who wrote the white paper with CableLabs Lead Architect-Advanced Technology Group Greg Rutz.
LAS VEGAS -- Amid well publicized reports of IoT security breaches and privacy concerns about big data, consumers still show a willingness to share private information, said speakers on a privacy and security panel during Parks Associates’ Connections Summit at CES Wednesday. Consumers say privacy is a burning issue, said Parks analyst Brad Russell, but “they’re not that concerned because they keep checking that terms of service box.”
Creative Commons (CC) urged the U.S. Copyright Office Friday to reconsider its proposed extended collective licensing (ECL) pilot program for mass digitization projects, saying in a filing that the fair use doctrine has actually been strengthened via recent court decisions “that have increased the certainty with which a number of entities can engage in mass digitization.” The Authors Alliance has similarly urged CO to reconsider implementing ECL (see 1510090057). Other countries that have or are considering an ECL program “do not have a flexible and reliable exception or limitation on which those engaging in mass digitization can dependably rely,” CC said. ECL programs “have many drawbacks (such as the often low levels of representation among collecting societies, the existence of sectors without collective rights management, the difficulties of agreeing on remuneration, and the sometimes-opaque methods of distribution of licensing fees) that European cultural heritage institutions are willing to accept because they have no other option,” CC said. “U.S. institutions -- such as university libraries -- can rely on fair use.”
CLEVELAND -- ATSC President Mark Richer thinks commercial launches of ATSC 3.0 TVs and broadcast services (see 1504130028) are possible by the end of the decade, perhaps sooner, he said Thursday at field trials to showcase the LG-Zenith-GatesAir Futurecast technology proposal for ATSC 3.0. Richer was among a group of several dozen broadcast industry dignitaries, including Lynn Claudy, NAB senior vice president-technology, and ATSC Chairman Glenn Reitmeier of NBCUniversal invited to Cleveland to witness the Futurecast field trials in action.
The use of a promotional model for demos doesn't constitute a "permissible use" under drawback rules permitting refunds of customs duties for unused goods, Customs and Border Protection ruled. CBP said in the just-released May 28 ruling, HQ H258306, that demos of Anritsu network testing devices before sale go beyond incidental usage and don't qualify as unused merchandise. Anritsu is a Japanese manufacturer of network test and measurement equipment for the telecom industry. The company's U.S. sales personnel generates interest in Anritsu products through the use of promotional models imported into America. The company lets potential customers test the models, either through letting the prospect take a device home or within a lab setting, said CBP.
Adding cloud DVR service as a feature option is a way for operators to add revenue and take advantage of the surging video market, according to a Parks Associates webcast. Cloud DVR can also be used to retain or lure new customers who want the flexibility of time-shifted viewing without the drawbacks of a hard drive-based DVR, said Parks analyst Brett Sappington.
As Illinois' Telecom Act is set to expire this year, a coalition of businesses and organizations, including AT&T, is trying to convince the Illinois Commerce Commission to update it, said Mark Denzler, Illinois Manufacturers’ Association vice president. The state needs modern infrastructure and a wireless system, he said. “When you modernize the act, it will allow the telecommunications companies to make further investments in the wireless technology," Denzler said.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler plans to oppose all three of the FCC transparency proposals that House Republicans have offered in draft form. Wheeler and Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, a Republican favoring these overhauls, will testify before the House Communications Subcommittee Thursday at 2 p.m. in 2123 Rayburn.