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In a recent statement by the FCC, mobile service providers will be shutting off their 3G networks as soon as January 2022 to focus on newer 5G networks. Once the shutoff occurs, any device that uses 3G will no longer use cellular data to connect to the internet, use data services, or send calls and texts, including calls to 911.

AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile have announced their timelines for phasing out 3G services.

• AT&T announced that it will finish shutting down its 3G network by February 2022.
• Verizon announced that will finish shutting down its 3G network by December 31, 2022.
• T-Mobile announced that it will finish shutting down Sprint's 3G network by January 1, 2022 and Sprint's LTE network by June 30, 2022. It also plans to shut down T-Mobile's 2G and 3G networks but has not yet announced a date.

If your mobile carrier is not listed here, you may still be affected. Many carriers, such as Cricket, Boost, Straight Talk, and several Lifeline mobile service providers, utilize AT&T's, Verizon's, and T-Mobile's networks. These dates mark the final shutoff periods, and other services may begin retirement sooner. Mobile companies have started reaching out to users with 3G devices to alert them of their imminent obsoletion. Service providers will be contacting 3G plan holders by text, phone, email, and mail. With the shutdown of 3G also comes the final nail in the coffin for 2G networks. 2G, only being supported by T-Mobile, will be terminated in December of 2022, almost a full year after their 3G networks go dark.

Despite the quickly approaching deadline, 3G has continued to be a popular option for cost-effective phone plans for basic phones from producers such as Nokia and LG. These phones can still be found for sale in stores such as Bestbuy and online marketplaces like Amazon. High-end phones from as earlier as six years ago may not be safe from this shutdown either. Phones such as the Samsung Galaxy were still providing 3G options to buyers in 2015.

3G is not just used by phones, however. Tablets, smartwatches, security devices, and GPS tracking systems that utilize 3G will have their connections fail if they have no other way of finding service.

While nothing is permanent, the death of 3G does not mean that we should be counting the days of 4G LTE. 4G is going to be around for quite some time and is not expected to be surpassed by 5G for at least a decade. 5G may be groundbreaking tech, but it's more costly than 4G for more data than average users need, has limited deployment, and is still only advised for early adopters. If 3G devices need to replacing, 4G LTE is a safe bet for the foreseeable future.

To learn more click the link below to read the statement from the FCC

Click Here

The old way of work wasn't the best, and you don't have to rewatch the Office for the 3rd since May to remember that. From time spent commuting, office environments biasing toward extroverted people, to abysmal floorplans with most people seated a mere 2 feet away, social distancing is looking luxurious.

If you're an employee working from home, I probably don't have to remind you. Employee experience insight companies Qualtrics and Robert Half report that workers don't want to leave remote work. Companies know this and reacting in expectedly appropriate and inappropriate ways:

• Starting in the summer of 2021, Spotify will introduce a "work from anywhere" model, allowing their employees to freely choose between working from home, an office, or a mix of the two.
• Google is reopening offices and expecting workers to return on September 1st, requiring their employees to formally apply to work from home. Odd when you consider that Google's G Suite has been a major player in remote working tools.
• Microsoft is said to fully reopen headquarters on July 6th, and they are taking a hybrid approach between working from home and in-location. It will be a great credibility booster for their enterprise applications Teams, Office 365, and cloud services if they land this transition.

Qualtrics rolled out data on a 4,000 subject study across the US, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. These respondents were employed throughout the pandemic. The respondents were employed throughout the pandemic. Thirty-five percent of respondents worked entirely remotely during the pandemic, and 46% worked at least some of the time remotely.

• Managers said 55% of their direct reports had been more productive working remotely. And 29% said those direct reports were as effective as they were in the office.
• 51% of employees believe they were more productive.
• Employees at companies who have been proactive about announcing post-pandemic plans are 88% more likely to say their overall well-being has improved.
• Flexible schedules and a lack of commuting time were the most significant productivity boosters, but control over the workspace, focus, and more privacy was also big.

• Your workforce has moved away. For employees that moved away during the pandemic, 47% of them don't plan on coming back.
• Hybrid wins out. Only 27% of workers want to go back to the office full time, but only 7% wish to work from home full time. Overall, 73% of workers want to work remotely one or two days a week.
• 70% of managers want a hybrid work arrangement compared to 59% of individual contributors.
• 46% want work layouts to change to include quiet and private workspaces, more flexible meeting areas, and more space between desks.

• Business travelers want to travel. 61% of workers want to return to their previous travel time or more, and 18% want to travel less. Good luck getting your CFO to agree to those expenses when sales productivity improved in many cases without it.
• A Robert Half study found that 49% of workers wanted a hybrid work arrangement. Many workers said they were concerned about relationships with coworkers and career advancement if they were utterly remote. According to Robert Half, one in three workers would look for a new job if required to be in the office full time.

With more than half of Americans having received a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 1 in 4 Americans fully vaccinated, we see an increasing number of companies trying to move back to a pre-pandemic view of work while others are evolving the views to fit the world today. It will be exciting to see which companies rise above the challenges and those who turned over and out.

If you have not updated your Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or computer yet), Apple is urging its customers to do so immediately. After researchers at Citizen Lab discovered a breach in Apple’s software, the security team at Apple went into action to address the matter and release an update. The origins of the spyware called Pegasus was developed by the NSO Group. The exploit is considered a “zero click remote exploit, which enables criminal elements and foreign adversaries to turn on the camera and microphone and record calls, texts and emails on any Apple device. 

Microsoft has gone to great lengths to improve their Teams app by adding new and improved features since businesses have moved to remote working one year ago. Microsoft's next step in developing a more robust videoconferencing service comes by adding PowerPoint Live to Teams.

Before this update drops, Teams meeting participants can only display their presentations by capturing their screen. But with the addition of PowerPoint Live, presenters can stream their presentations directly through the meeting app. Not only does this streamline presentations, but it allows speakers to "read the room" within the meeting and more easily view the meeting's chat for questions or comments.

The presenter needs to open the PowerPoint deck they want to show and then click on the Present in Teams button to use this feature. The feature is limited to Microsoft's customers with an Office 365 E3/A3, Office 365 E5/A5, or Microsoft 365 for Government license.

To aid Microsoft blogger Lishan Yu has released an article on the feature to help ease users in with a tutorial on the anticipated update. Yu also states that PowerPoint Live will first come to Teams in the beta channel version 2104 (Build 13926.20000) and later.

To read Lishan Yu's tutorial, Click Here.

To learn more about PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams, Click Here.

As the projected Fall release of Windows 11 approaches Microsoft has begun to offer up some previews into what's new.