1. Google tapped China’s Lenovo to build its first Tango smartphones. Tango uses 3-D scanning to superimpose information about a location onto the image seen when a user looks through the camera lens. It is also expected to provide navigation indoors. Lenovo bought Motorola Mobility from Google for $2.9 billion.
2. Microsoft is set to become a mobile virtual network operator. The company is launching a new cellular data app for Windows designed to let Windows device users buy cellular data as they need it when reliable Wi-Fi is not available. The app works only with Windows 10 devices and requires a Microsoft SIM card. Microsoft did not say which carrier is supplying the cellular service.
3. AT&T is testing wireless local loop service in an effort to bring high-speed Internet service to rural America. The carrier is reportedly paying people to install directional antennas on rooftops in order to redistribute a cell signal into their homes. Tests are underway in Alabama, Georgia, Kansas and Virginia.
4. The state of New York is turning up the heat on Transit Wireless, the company that is connecting the world’s largest subway system. Governor Andrew Cuomo now wants Wi-Fi in each of the subway’s 278 stations this year; the original deadline was next year. A distributed antenna system for cellular is also a big part of the Transit Wireless project, and the company still has until next year to complete that task.
5. Uber is partnering with a company that provides consumers with information about public transportation. TransLoc, which has an app for tracking buses, said the goal is to let commuters use Uber to get to and from their bus stops. Separately, Uber said this week it will cut the prices for consumers and pay for drivers by 10% because this is a slow time of year.
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