Hasta La Gadget!

Just over a week ago we caught a glimpse of a device that claimed to be a Telus-branded version of the 4.3-inch HTC Desire HD, a beast that has yet to make the leap to North America and doesn’t officially exist in any variants that fully support the 3G frequencies used there. Well, now we’ve got the smoking gun in the form of an FCC approval for a device with model number PD98120 that supports WCDMA Bands II and V, which means it’s ripe for uses on AT&T, Bell, Telus, and Rogers (sorry, T-Mobile). The original European version of the Desire HD is the PD98100 — and the DLNA’s certification site actually refers to the phone as the “PD98 series” — so we think we can safely say that’s what we’re looking at here, particularly considering that the FCC label location document shows a device laid out in the Desire HD’s very unusual way. It’s anything but a slam dunk that AT&T might take an interest in this… but yeah, Telus subscribers, you can probably start saving your cash now.

HTC Desire HD gets FCC approval with North American 3G, might be for Telus originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Dec 2010 14:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As you can imagine, the thought of a marriage between a broadband / cable TV service provider and a content provider for television and movies has more than a few folks concerned, which is why it’s taken a while for the FCC and its erstwhile chairman Julius “Caesar” Genachowski to draft the conditions under which it would let Comcast snatch up 51 percent of NBC Universal. According to the Wall Street Journal, the FCC wants to require that Comcast make any content owned by itself and NBCU available to competitors (including streaming video providers) “at reasonable, nondiscriminatory terms.” Additionally, Comcast will be barred from prioritizing its own video streams above others or interfering with rival Internet traffic. Of course, without the actual announcement, it’s hard to know what impact this will have on everyone involved (especially Hulu), although with any luck the actual proposal will see the light of day soon enough. Even then, it will need to be approved, which could happen early next year.

FCC proposes rules for NBC-Comcast deal originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Dec 2010 06:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s a fine Christmas Eve present from Uncle Sam: the FCC has just released the full text of the net neutrality rules it passed earlier this week by a hotly-debated 3-2 vote. The rules are basically what we expected: the three basic rules require ISPs to be transparent about their network management practices, and further forbid them from blocking any lawful application or service or discriminating against different types of traffic. The biggest tweak comes in the language around paid prioritization, which would let some companies pay for selectively faster access to an ISP’s customers — the FCC is pretty clear that such arrangements will be heavily scrutinized and probably won’t pass muster. And then, of course, there’s wireless, which is subject only to the transparency and no-blocking rules; the FCC decided to take “measured steps” with mobile because it believes that is still too new and fluid. We’ll have a full breakdown later today, but hit the source and check out the full rules yourself — you’re going to be hearing a lot about them over the next few weeks.

[Thanks, Phil]

FCC releases full net neutrality rules originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Dec 2010 10:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rest assured that we’re working on a full analysis of the FCC’s major net neutrality decision today, but the Commission hasn’t actually released the full text of the order yet, and we just came across something in the press release we wanted to break out: one of the specific reasons the FCC gives for regulating wireless broadband more lightly than wireline is the release of Android. Seriously — the release says that only “measured steps” to regulating wireless are necessary because “open operating systems like Android” have been released, and that it wants to see how Verizon and other 700MHz spectrum winners handle the hotly-contested openness requirement when building out 4G. Here’s the full quote:

Further, we recognize that there have been meaningful recent moves toward openness, including the introduction of open operating systems like Android. In addition, we anticipate soon seeing the effects on the market of the openness conditions we imposed on mobile providers that operate on upper 700 MHz C-Block spectrum, which includes Verizon Wireless, one of the largest mobile wireless carriers in the U.S.

In light of these considerations, we conclude it is appropriate to take measured steps at this time to protect the openness of the Internet when accessed through mobile broadband.

Now, we obviously love Android, and there’s no doubt that Google’s OS has been part of some wonderfully furious competition in the mobile space recently. But we’re not sure any of that has anything to do with net neutrality — it doesn’t matter how open your OS is when you’re stuck with a filtered and throttled connection, and it’s a pretty huge stretch to think Android’s openness (however you want to define it) has anything to do with network access itself. And let’s not forget that the primary proponent of the 700MHz open-access rules was Google, which promptly flip-flopped on the issue when it became Verizon’s policy BFF after the Droid launch — if we were slightly more paranoid, we’d be pretty sure there’s a link between the FCC’s Android mention and the combined furious lobbying of Google and Verizon. Nice try, boys — but how about you make with the actual rules now?

FCC: We didn’t impose stricter net neutrality regulations on wireless because Android is open originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mysterious Sony VAIO tablet PC drops by the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 11:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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