Hasta La Gadget!

Politicians do love themselves a sharp and emotive turn of phrase, of which few are as good as “bill shock.” That’s the term the FCC has used to sum up all those instances when you’ve had unexpected surcharges on your monthly wireless bill, caused by unknowingly going outside the bounds of your geographical coverage or monthly allowance. Seeing this issue as something it could help alleviate, the Commission set up a Consumer Task Force back in May in an effort to seek out solutions, and now it has returned with perhaps the most obvious one: getting your network operator to shoot out a voice or text message warning you when you’re about to incur costs outside of your normal plan. That’s basically what AT&T already does with iPad owners approaching their monthly data limits, which the federales see as a good practice that should be extended across all carriers. We can see no good reason why it shouldn’t.

FCC set to approve rules compelling carriers to alert you when you’re about to go over your limit originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 03:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Okay, we know what you’re saying: why would a Europe-bound device be getting FCC certification? Well, really, it’s a simple matter of making sure that devices capable of roaming stateside are compliant with all the necessary rules and regulations… and it’s on that note that we direct your attention to this P102UEU model that’s just been approved. In Palm parlance, “P102” refers to the model — most likely the rumored Pre 2 in this case — and “UEU” means that it’s a UMTS 3G device destined for the EU. As you might recall, the similarly-styled P102UNA and P102EWW (North American UMTS and CDMA, respectively) were just spotted in TÜV Rheinland’s database not long ago, so yeah, all signs are pointing to an announce pretty shortly.

Update: PreCentral‘s forum members have swarmed upon the filing and rooted out some juicy details — it’s almost certainly a slider since the unit was tested in both open and closed positions, it’s got an 1150mAh battery (the same capacity as the current Pre / Pre Plus), and thanks to some part number matching, it seems it has exactly the same rear cover (Touchstone-compatible, naturally) as the current models, so odds are good we’re not going to see much form factor innovation here. Most notably, though, the processor is listed at 1GHz, though it’s not clear which specific core is in use; TI’s OMAP3600 series (the same that’s found in the Droid 2 and Droid X) seems probable, though.

Palm ‘P102UEU’ hits FCC: the European Pre 2? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 22:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yeah, we’ve been to this rodeo before… kind of. If you’ll recall, prisons have had one heck of a time getting the Feds to sign off on a new law that would allow cellphone jamming equipment to be installed on their premises, and due to a 1934 law that allows only federal agencies to jam public airways, they’ve had little choice but to sit and wait. A bill is resting in the House right now that would allow pilot jamming programs to commence, but given that it’s unlikely to go anywhere anytime soon, South Carolina’s prison director (Jon Ozmint) is eying something else. In fact, he’s already trying something else. A “managed access” trial has begun in the Palmetto State (as well as Mississippi), which routes mobile calls originating in the prison to a third-party provider that check’s each number to see if it’s on a whitelist; if it doesn’t make the cut, the call is blocked. Jon’s still pushing for jamming, but it looks as if this second-rate system may just be good enough to convince most criminals to stop trying to reach the outside world. Or at least add yet another level of frustration to their lives.

[Image courtesy of Wired]

‘Managed access’ trial screens prison phone calls without jamming the airwaves originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 20:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s something that’ll surely send Birthers and Roswellians into a tizzy. The FCC quietly changed its long-standing recommendation that consumers concerned with cellphone radiation should purchase phones with lower SAR levels — SAR meaning Specific Absorption Rate or the rate at which at which energy is absorbed by the body. The revision to the FCC website was made last week without any formal announcement. Odd, given the brouhaha created when the city of San Francisco passed a law requiring retailers to display SAR values next to cellphones as part of “right to know” safety campaign. A move that caused the CTIA to pull its fall event out of The City only to replace it with a big fat lawsuit. Here’s a snippet from the FCC Consumer Fact sheet about SAR for Cellphones:

Many people mistakenly assume that using a cell phone with a lower reported SAR value necessarily decreases a user’s exposure to RF emissions, or is somehow “safer” than using a cell phone with a high SAR value. While SAR values are an important tool in judging the maximum possible exposure to RF energy from a particular model of cell phone, a single SAR value does not provide sufficient information about the amount of RF exposure under typical usage conditions to reliably compare individual cell phone models. Rather, the SAR values collected by the FCC are intended only to ensure that the cell phone does not exceed the FCC’s maximum permissible exposure levels even when operating in conditions which result in the device’s highest possible – but not its typical – RF energy absorption for a user.

So why the sudden, unannounced change? Collusion between the cellphone industry’s lobbying machine and big gov? Doubtful, the claification certainly makes sense to us. Besides, The Washington Post says no, citing a source familiar with the FCC’s decision. Great, case closed then.

FCC quietly changes guidance on cellphone radiation risks, further isolates San Francisco law originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Oct 2010 04:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Still trying to get up to speed on the whole net neutrality situation? Check out the intro above for a recap of the basics — it ran during the last Engadget Show as part of our interview with Columbia law professor and noted net neutrality advocate Tim Wu. Then, head after the break for both cuts of the interview — the edited piece that aired with the show and the uncut half-hour version. If you’ve got the time we highly recommend the full-flavor edition — it’s seriously interesting stuff, and Tim’s not afraid to speak his mind on one of the most important tech issues of our time.

Update: And here’s a downloadable copy, for those who were asking.

Continue reading Engadget explains net neutrality — and our full interview with Professor Tim Wu!

Engadget explains net neutrality — and our full interview with Professor Tim Wu! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Sep 2010 18:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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