Smartphone vendors shipped 342 million handsets globally in Q2, 1.8 percent less than they shipped in the same year-earlier quarter, said IDC Tuesday. It was the third straight quarter of year-over-year declines and only the fourth quarterly decrease in the history of the product, it said: “IDC believes this is the result of churn in some highly penetrated markets, although many high growth markets still exist and should return smartphone shipments to overall growth.” Huawei was Q2's big winner, as its 41 percent shipments increase to 54.2 million smartphones enabled it to leapfrog Apple into a solid No. 2 position behind Samsung, said IDC. It was the first quarter since 2010's Q2 in which Apple wasn't the No. 1 or No. 2 brand, it said. An IHS Markit analysis had a nearly identical take on the Q2 smartphone landscape, agreeing with IDC that total shipments declined 1.8 percent. IHS also tracked Huawei’s meteoric rise in the standings, saying the brand “managed to grow over the previous year in most regions, except in North America.” Huawei is “shifting to more value-added models, by launching new flagship smartphones with the latest features,” and “beating competitors to market” in the process, said IHS. Its P20 Pro is the first flagship smartphone model equipped with triple cameras, it said. Huawei’s “increasing brand recognition in Europe and Asia is enabling the company to challenge Samsung in many price segments,” it said.

Asus is taking preorders for the ZenFone 5Z, said the company Monday. Features include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor and dual Sony IMX363 cameras offering automatic scene detection, real-time portrait effects, 4K video, artificial intelligence photo learning and “real-time beautification,” said the company. AI Charging is said to maximize battery life by monitoring the user’s charging habits and slowing the battery's aging process. The phone supports Hi-Res Audio files up to 24-bit/192 kHz and DTS Headphone:X for 7.1-channel virtual surround, said Asus. The five-magnet stereo speakers are driven by smart amplifiers said to ensure maximum volume while protecting the speakers from damage. The $499 phone will be available Aug. 6 from Amazon, the Asus Store, B&H Photo and Newegg.

The Supreme Court’s recent decision rejecting a California disclosure law in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra is a “ringing endorsement” of CTIA's view that the First Amendment “protects the rights of commercial speakers to speak and to remain silent,” the association said Thursday in a brief (in Pacer) at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. CTIA is challenging an RF disclosure ordinance in Berkeley; the 9th Circuit earlier disagreed with CTIA, but the Supreme Court directed the appeals court to take another look, given NIFLA (see 1807110023). The Supreme Court “held that the State’s asserted goal of enabling pregnant women to make more informed choices about health care services could not justify forcing these facilities to speak when they would prefer to remain silent on those issues,” CTIA said. “NIFLA thus confirms that commercial speech -- including both the right to speak and the right to refrain from speaking -- is entitled to First Amendment protection in its own right and not, as the City contends, based solely on its value to listeners.” Whereas California tried to require crisis pregnancy centers to make “entirely accurate” statements, Berkeley wants carriers to “disseminate a government-drafted, misleading, inflammatory, and controversial opinion about cell phone safety and radiation while evading any serious constitutional scrutiny,” CTIA said. Berkeley’s response is due Aug.16.

The FCC will let the Federal Emergency Management Agency do the first nationwide test of wireless emergency alerts to wireless devices using the presidential level code on Sept. 20, with Oct. 3 a back-up date. FEMA requested a waiver (see 1807110033) so carriers would be able to participate in the test, to start at 2:18 p.m. EDT and be transmitted throughout the U.S. and its territories. The test “presents a unique circumstance that justifies a waiver of the Commission’s rules,” the Public Safety Bureau said. “We agree with FEMA, as noted in its letter, that it is important to ‘determine if carrier WEA configuration, systems, and networks can and will process a Presidential WEA delivering the message via all WEA enabled cell sites with minimal latency.’”

Sprint deployed more outdoor small cells in its most-recent quarter than in the previous two years combined and now has thousands, said Scott Santi, head-network deployment and operations. “With our massive Next-Gen Network investment we’ve significantly ramped up our numbers,” Santi blogged Tuesday. “We also use small cells indoors, from hotels to airports, stadiums to concerts halls and more. We have several types of small cells, including the award-winning Sprint Magic Box." He said "this low cost, self-configuring all-wireless small cell provides indoor coverage averaging up to 30,000 square feet. And it improves data speeds on average” by 200 percent.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency plans the first nationwide test of wireless emergency alerts to wireless devices using the presidential level code on Sept. 20, FEMA said in an FCC filing. FEMA sought waiver of FCC rules to let wireless carriers participate in the test, to start at 2:18 p.m. EDT and be transmitted throughout the U.S. and its territories. On the same day, FEMA said it plans the fourth in a series of nationwide tests of the emergency alert system, to start at 2:20 p.m. EDT. The WEA test “is necessary because it will determine if carrier WEA configuration, systems, and networks can and will process a Presidential WEA delivering the message via all WEA enabled cell sites with minimal latency,” FEMA said in docket 15-91. “FEMA proposes to conduct this test in September in conjunction with National Preparedness Month.” FEMA said tests of public alert and warning systems can “assess the operational readiness of the infrastructure for distribution of a national message and determine what technological improvements need to be made.” The WEA test will instruct wireless subscribers: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”

CTIA’s brief is due July 26 at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on the impact of the recent Supreme Court opinion in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra on CTIA's challenge of an RF disclosure ordinance in Berkeley, California (see 1807090016). The court Tuesday granted (in Pacer) the wireless association’s request for an eight-day extension, also making Berkeley’s brief due Aug. 16.

CTIA sought eight more days to file briefs at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on the impact of the recent Supreme Court opinion in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra on CTIA’s challenge of an RF disclosure ordinance in Berkeley, California (see 1807060008). CTIA wants until July 26, which would make Berkeley’s brief due Aug. 16, the wireless association said Friday. CTIA wants more time because it has “significant briefing commitments” in several courts and attorneys have prescheduled vacations and medical appointments, the group said (in Pacer). Berkeley consented.

The 9th U.S. Court of Appeals sought supplemental briefs from CTIA and Berkeley, California, on the impact of the recent Supreme Court opinion in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra on CTIA’s challenge of Berkeley’s RF disclosure ordinance. CTIA should file by July 18 and Berkeley 21 days later, no later than Aug. 8, the appeals court said in a Thursday order (in Pacer). Last month, the Supreme Court sent CTIA v. Berkeley back to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reflect on the high court's 2018 ruling that 2015 California state law requiring crisis pregnancy centers to disclose all available medical options to pregnant women violated free speech claims (see 1806280064). CTIA praised remand to the 9th Circuit, but Berkeley said the NIFLA ruling has no effect on the wireless case (see 1806290035).

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is “pleased to hear” Samsung “stepped up to unlock” FM chips in its Galaxy S9 smartphones, he tweeted Friday, citing an AndroidCommunity.com report. “When disaster strikes, FM-enabled handsets can help save lives,” said Pai. “Hope others take notice and follow Samsung’s lead.” Samsung didn’t comment, nor did representatives of NextRadio, the Emmis Communications FM-reception smartphone app.