Nearly 90% of movie theater locations are open globally for the first time since COVID-19, said Comscore Wednesday: Openings coincide with the release of blockbusters including Universal's F9, which has generated over $500 million. Paramount's A Quiet Place Part II, Disney's Cruella, Warner Bros.' The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Sony's Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway and Lionsgate's The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard collectively generated over $1.3 billion at the box office, it said.

Amazon got Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization for a COVID-19 test collection kit for at home, it said Tuesday. Amazon’s in-house lab processes the tests using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, which Amazon said is considered the “gold standard” diagnostic approach by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The kit grew out of Amazon’s in-house COVID-19 testing program. Though the kit was shown as “in stock” at Amazon.com, red lettering told us the item “cannot be shipped to your selected delivery location [New York]. Please choose a different delivery location.” A Washington, D.C., ZIP code showed it available for shipping. Amazon didn’t respond to questions.

The FCC Wireline Bureau granted an extension for some potential Covid-19 telehealth program applicants, said an order Tuesday in docket 20-89. Potential applicants that began and saved a draft application in the filing system before 12 p.m. EDT May 6 or contacted the Universal Service Administrative Co. in writing within two weeks of the filing deadline to request additional time can submit an application by 11:59 p.m. EDT July 6.

More than $34.6 million of the FCC’s $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program has been claimed, the Universal Service Administrative Co. reported Monday. Of that, $311,873 was spent on connected devices. Total support claimed includes May reimbursement claims that providers certified by June 15, as the FCC granted EBB providers a one-month extension to submit reimbursement claims (see 2106080046). Nearly 3.1 million households have enrolled.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit returns to in-person arguments Aug. 30 with new COVID-19 health and safety protocols, said the court Tuesday. Fully vaccinated individuals "may forgo wearing masks and physical distancing," but people who are not fully vaccinated "must continue to wear masks and observe physical distancing," it said. The protocols assume all oral arguments after Sept. 1 will be in person, but lawyers may file motions for leave to appear remotely if they declare under penalty of perjury that their physical presence would expose them or their households to an "unacceptable risk of developing serious health complications from COVID-19," it said. The court plans two test runs of the new protocols in July.

A spring survey of 500 event planners by Mediasite Events and BizBash indicated hybrid events will be a “new norm,” they said Thursday. Three-quarters of planners expect to replace in-person events with virtual equivalents in 2021 and beyond; 40% are planning for hybrid events combining both. That compares with a 2019 survey where 33% didn’t use any form of video for events. Challenges loom, said the study. After a year of videoconferencing calls, “screen fatigue is real,” said Mediasite. When asked to identify top areas of frustration with hybrid events, 61% of respondents said it's “lack of attendee engagement.”

USTelecom asked the FCC to reject Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition’s request for clarification of Emergency Connectivity Fund rules, said a letter posted Wednesday in docket 21-93. SHLB asked for clarification whether applicants can receive funding to deploy their own networks if existing services aren’t available at a reasonable price. SHLB’s request is “clearly contrary” to the ECF allowing limited exception for new infrastructure deployment if no commercially available services are in an area, USTelecom said: “The request circumvents both the policies underlying the creation of the ECF as well as the commission’s procedural requirements in requesting reconsideration of a commission order.” SHLB Executive Director John Windhausen said he was "a bit flabbergasted" by USTelecom's filing. "If these decisions are just going to be made on a case-by-case basis without further guidance, as USTelecom apparently prefers, then many applications run the risk of being denied because of uncertainties in the rules and policies, which would not be good government," Windhausen said: "We would hope USTelecom would join with SHLB in helping this program succeed rather than blocking this clarification request.”

Walmart had to “unlearn” how to serve customers, Global Chief Technology Officer and Chief Development Officer Suresh Kumar told a National Retail Federation webinar Tuesday. Data and insights “became our lifelines,” he said. He cited machine learning and AI that “helped us make smart decisions a lot faster.” With the holiday sales season ahead, Kumar said the retailer “doubled down” on omnichannel shopping processes that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated. He cited machine learning, data, edge computing and augmented reality coming together in its app that's used by employees. Online volume scaled exponentially during the pandemic, and machine learning helped deploy stores as fulfillment hubs, said Kumar. Sam’s Club customers use computer vision to shop and check out using smartphones, without using bar codes. Voice technology will have an increasing role at Walmart, said Kumar. It's a natural extension of the user interface that’s more intuitive and efficient than typing, he said. “Voice is going to free us a lot further.”

Nokia will let its 92,000 employees in 130 countries continue to work remotely up to three days a week after Jan. 1, increasing support for “flexible working hours and fully virtual working,” said the company Tuesday. Nokia canvassed employees in late 2020, and 91% said they maintained or increased their productivity working from home. The average employee wants to work two to three days a week remotely, up from an average of two before COVID-19. And 81% still prefer to come into the office “for at least some of the time during their working week to collaborate and connect with colleagues,” said Nokia.

Walmart condensed four years of e-commerce evolution into the past year, Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner told a National Retail Federation virtual conference Monday. Retailers said they look to bring customers back to stores, while riding the surge in pandemic-driven e-commerce growth. The public COVID-19 health crisis spurred combining in-store shopping, online shopping and pickup, and delivery to home, Furner said: Walmart wants to be positioned to do “anything a customer needs... at any time.” If consumers are shopping both physically and virtually, they expect goods be “delivered in the way they want it, when they want it,” the executive said. “We have to be able to handle the complexity of the supply chain in the background.”