A public-private partnership is necessary to encourage broadband coverage in rural Maine, says Shenna Bellows, a state senator who is sponsoring the Maine Broadband Initiative. The bill got a public hearing today, and has support from Janet Mills, Maine's governor.

AT&T has upgraded its network in Miami ahead of the Feb. 2 Super Bowl, the telecom announced saying it spent more than $85 million making permanent and short-term improvements in and around the stadium as well as hotels, arenas, airports and convention centers. The moves have also boosted the coverage of AT&T's FirstNet emergency response network.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and OneWeb are asking the Federal Communications Commission to approve OneWeb's application to add 1,260 satellites to its proposed broadband constellation. OneWeb has authorization for 720 satellites currently.

Skylo, a startup that connects internet-of-things devices to satellite networks, raised $103 million in a Series B funding round led by SoftBank. The company says a key advantage of its technology is that it is far less expensive than what other IoT-satellite providers charge.

Samsung is promising to take the wrinkles out of clothes while steam-sanitizing them -- all within 30 minutes -- with its new AirDresser, a unit small enough to fit into closets. The appliance can be managed with Samsung's SmartThings app.

Residents of homes with broadband still use television sets to watch a majority of their video content and spend nearly 20 hours a week doing so on average, as video viewing overall rose by 33% last year, Parks Associates reports. The research firm also says the number of broadband homes that pay for a subscription video on demand service has hit 71% and plateaued there.

Motorola is likely to release a new smartphone with an internally stored stylus within the next few months, a published report says. The phone's other features include a navigation system that responds to gestures and a screen that covers the entire front surface.

The $129 HMD Nokia 2.3 smartphone is now available in the US. The 6.2-inch Android device includes dual rear cameras, as well as the front camera, along with a micro SD slot, a headphone jack and support for FM radio, though it has no fingerprint reader and does not support NFC tap-and-pay technology.

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