For busy people, here's a recap of last week's industry news, including a few interesting items worth perusing.

Companies and Products

Anadigics announced designs wins and volume production for 2.4 GHz (AND0281) and 5 GHz (AND0581S) Wi-Fi front-end ICs in Buffalo's dual-band router.

Analog Devices reported fiscal Q3 revenue up 5 percent sequentially to $863.4 million. However, communications market revenue was down for the third straight quarter, to $142.3 million, reflecting wireless infrastructure weakness in China and North America.

The FCC voted to deny DISH's attempt to get $3.3 billion in small business credits in the AWS spectrum auction earlier this year. About the two "small business firms" that won the licenses, the FCC said:

Both SNR and Northstar have a financial dependency on DISH of unprecedented size and scope, DISH’s managerial responsibilities include virtually all of the functions required of a wireless network licensee, and DISH has “investor protections” that extend well beyond those deemed necessary by the other investors in both Applicants.

Read the full FCC order.

Mimicking Apple's approach to product development, Google is introducing a user-friendly dual-band Wi-Fi router. Named OnHub, the unit is priced at $200.

Keysight reported Q3 FY15 revenue of $665 million, 12 percent below the same period last year due to the well known softness in China as well as an unfavorable foreign exchange rate. Nonetheless, their non-GAAP earnings of $0.55 per share beat guidance. Q4 revenue is forecast to grow 14 percent sequentially at the midpoint of guidance, which would be slightly below last year's Q4.

It's business as usual for Anite following the Keysight acquisition. "Anite has a winning formula. That's why we are pleased to have acquired them," said Guy Séné, Keysight senior vice president of worldwide sales and the measurement solutions business.

MACOM completed the sale of it's automotive business to Autoliv and updated Q4 guidance to eliminate the automotive revenue. Fiscal Q4 revenue is now expected to increase between 1.0 and 4.5 percent sequentially. MACOM announced the sale in July.

Qorvo will convert its 4-inch GaN line in Texas to 6-inch within the next year. James Klein, president of Qorvo's Infrastructure and Defense Products segment discussed the rationale for this move and other aspects of their business with Microwave Journal.

Sprint is eliminating cell phone contracts and subsidies, joining Verizon and T-Mobile. Will AT&T follow, making this the new business model in the U.S.?

While Google Fiber's 1 Gbps FTTH service sounds pretty impressive, Verizon has demonstrated 10 Gbps using NG-PON2. But don't call to schedule an installation just yet.

Markets and Technology

Wireless

Nokia shares their approach to minimizing the energy consumed by wireless networks. This ia a big deal as data consumption and the number of connections continue to grow.

Even if you work for a network equipment manufacturer like Nokia, adequate cellular coverage can be a problem. In his ongoing search for bandwidth, Tarmo Virki tells how he secured 1 GB per day on the island of Saaremaa in Estonia.

UAVs

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Pentagon plans to step up drone operations, with the Air Force flying up to 60 missions a day by 2019.

Despite being half-a-globe away and safe, drone pilots have a high incidence of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Hear about this and more about drones on Reuter's War College podcast.

The cover feature in the August issue of Microwave Journal provides a European perspective of the state of drones, more formally called remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS).

China

What's going on in China? Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, provides his view of the economic and political tensions.

China's military is globally weak, regionally strong, another interesting discussion on the War College podcast.

Despite our iPhones, we westerners should be envious of the features of the Chinese smartphone ecosystem.

Space

From the DSCOVR spacecraft, one million miles out, watch the dark side of the moon transit the earth:

And we'll end with this deeply philosophical question: in this wireless age, why do we still use business cards? The Washington Post considered the question.