Google's Project Skybender reportedly blasting 5G into New Mexico; IDC: Tablet market slowed 10.1% last year

More wireless news from across the Web:

> Samsung will reportedly release a virtual reality camera. SamMobile article

> According to a new report from The Information, Google is eyeing a more direct role in the development of it Nexus phones. The Information article

> Yahoo will reportedly cut 15 percent of its workforce. Reuters article

> Jon Wilkins, the FCC's managing director, will succeed Roger Sherman as the chief of the FCC's Wireless Bureau. B&C article

> Red Hat is working to entice the developers who used Facebook's Parse platform to its own application platform, following Facebook's announcement that it would shutter Parse. Post

> According to Strategy Analytics, the global smartphone applications processor market declined 9 percent year-over-year to reach $5.3 billion in the third quarter of 2015, with Qualcomm, Apple, MediaTek, Samsung LSI and Spreadtrum capturing the top five revenue rankings. Report

> According to research firm IDC, the tablet market declined 10.1 percent last year as both Apple and Samsung lost share. VentureBeat article

> Apple recently acquired Flyby Media, a startup focused on augmented reality. NYT article

> Samsung scheduled its "unpacked" event at the upcoming Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain, on Feb. 21. The company is widely expected to announce its new Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. Phandroid article

> Federated Wireless said it scored $22 million in new funding. Release

> According to a new report, Windows 10 Mobile will benefit from the way Windows app development is changing. ZDNet article

> Google's Project SkyBender reportedly is testing in New Mexico with drones to beam millimeter wave signals for wireless connections. Daily Mail article

> Microsoft is reportedly considering building an underwater data center. NYT article

Telecom News

> Google Fiber is in the process of testing a new voice service with some of its FTTH customers. Article

> iRis Networks, a middle mile provider that serves 250 rural communities in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama, is going to build three new key fiber routes totaling 897 new miles. Article

Wireless Tech News

> The FCC granted a special temporary authority (STA) to Qualcomm Technologies to conduct "very small scale performance evaluation" tests of LTE-U equipment at two Verizon sites in Oklahoma City, Okla., and Raleigh, N.C. Article

> Google wants the FCC to allow expanded use of millimeter wave spectrum on a lightly licensed or unlicensed basis and use sharing technologies to manage different types of users. Article

> Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile are picking apart the FCC's millimeter wave proposals. Article

> The preparations that AT&T and Verizon made for Super Bowl 50 have been well documented, but a peek inside Verizon's Super Bowl command room shows just how much the high-profile game will test cellular networks like no other NFL game. Article

> Not only does AT&T have New York City's parks covered with Wi-Fi, but it's in the process of rolling out AT&T Wi-Fi Passpoint that incorporates Hotspot 2.0 technology. Article

European Wireless News

> Nokia pledged to showcase industry-first LTE Advanced and LTE Advanced Pro innovations that improve the capacity of TD- and FDD-LTE networks at the forthcoming Mobile World Congress. Article

> Jolla, the Finnish mobile company that developed the Sailfish operating system (OS), is ending the crowd-funded Jolla Tablet program and said it now has a refund process in place for backers that do not end up receiving a tablet. Article

Cable News

> Nexstar Broadcasting Group has blacked out nine network affiliates on Cox Communications after the two sides failed to come to agreement on broadcast retransmission licensing. Article

And finally… A netbook, an iPad Pro, and the Surface walk into a bar. Article