Charter Communications' annual shareholder meeting this year will be held virtually due to the pandemic, it said Tuesday. It meets April 28, it said.

More than half of U.S. broadband households say they value technology more than before COVID-19, social distancing and stay-at-home orders, said Parks Associates Wednesday. Intention to buy consumer electronics in the next 12 months is 5% higher than a year ago, and 21% of households subscribed to at least one new over-the-top video service in the past three months. Some 70% of consumers report following social distancing rules, 30% are following shelter-in-place orders or “otherwise self-quarantining,” and 28% of heads of broadband households over 75 report self-quarantining. The survey was fielded March 8-April 3.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr noted on Twitter he had been blocked from following Lijian Zhao, spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry of China. Carr is a recurring critic of how that nation has silenced those criticizing its handling of COVID-19 (see 2004100062). “No higher honor than getting blocked by the chief propagandist of the communist regime in China,” Carr tweeted. China's embassy in Washington didn't comment.

Q1 shipments of PCs, including desktops, laptops and workstations, declined 9.8% globally to 53.2 million, reported IDC. It blamed the “stark decline” on “reduced supply” from the COVID-19 outbreak in China, the world's largest supplier of PCs. Inventories were “somewhat limited” in Q1 as consumers flooded retail for connectivity tools for telework and distance learning as the U.S. began sheltering in place, said IDC Monday. “A few vendors and retailers were able to keep up with the additional demand as the threat of increased tariffs last year led to some inventory stockpiling at the end of 2019. It fears “this bump in demand may be short lived as many fear the worst is yet to come and this could lead to both consumers and businesses tightening spending in the coming months."

The Scripps Research Institute and Stanford Medicine are working with Fitbit, using the wearable maker’s data to help detect, track and contain infectious diseases like COVID-19, said the company Tuesday. They are inviting other institutions to join the effort and share learning with researchers. Early evidence shows wearables can help predict the onset of an infectious disease like the flu before symptoms start, Fitbit said, and the consortium's goal is "to unlock similar potential via leading research institutions in response to COVID-19." Scripps recently launched an app-based research program to analyze participants’ wearable health data to detect the emergence of the flu, coronavirus and other fast-spreading viral illnesses.

The Library of Congress canceled all scheduled public events until July 1 due to COVID-1. It previously closed buildings and facilities to the public until further notice (see 2003270007).

Infinite Electronics makes 60-72 face shields weekly at its Hayden, Idaho, facility to help West Coast medical facilities facing COVID-19 shortages, Katee Schalau, technical content specialist, emailed us Tuesday. The electronic components maker announced last week it’s using a printing design developed by 3D printer maker Budmen Industries to donate face shields.

Demand for PCs soared in Q1, driven by remote working and global lockdown measures, but the coronavirus caused “severe delays in production and logistical issues," leading to a global decline of 8% in shipments year on year, said Canalys Friday. Vendors shipped 53.7 million desktops, notebooks and workstations. PC makers started 2020 facing a constrained supply of Intel processors caused by a “botched transition to 10-nanometer nodes," said analyst Rushabh Doshi. The outbreak exacerbated the shortage when factories in China temporarily shut. The analyst predicts PC vendors report “healthy profits,” with operating margins for most reaching highs. Lenovo continued to lead, shipping 12.8 million units, followed by HP with 11.7 million and Dell with 10.5 million. Apple was hit hardest, tumbling 20% to 3.2 million.

The Media Institute April 27 luncheon with FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly was moved to June 25, the institute emailed us Monday. That's the second delay due to COVID. Initially, the event was to have been March 25.

“Keeping Britain connected” is the “biggest contribution” Huawei can make in the U.K’s effort to defeat COVID-19, said Vice President Victor Zhang in an “open letter” Monday. “Despite this, there has been groundless criticism from some about Huawei’s involvement in the UK’s 5G rollout,” he said. “Disrupting our involvement in the 5G rollout would do Britain a disservice.” Once the crisis passes, “we look forward to continuing to play our role as a key partner in improving the networks, benefiting the economy and ultimately everyone in the UK, ending the postcode lottery of good connectivity,” he said. “Right now, by keeping Britain online, we are able to play our part in helping the country through this difficult period.”