Hasta La Gadget!

When we talk about space travel, chances are we would think of it being one of the most high tech situations where one can be in. Unfortunately, that is not the case across the board. For instance, actual communications between the Earth and moon still happen to be static-filled, just like as they were back in the 1960s. NASA might have something to turn things around though, after they have successfully got a lunar broadband connection up and running. Yes sir, this spanking new connection might happen to be in the testing phase at the moment, but it would certainly go great lengths to enable scientists to collect more data from spacecraft as well as rovers, while enabling astronauts to maintain good communications as they travel farther and farther away from Earth.

One thing about radio is, it is highly dependable, but the Earth has more or less moved on from there already. Broadband could be the new vehicle of communication, where it sends data in pulses of laser light. Don Cornwell, project manager for the new communications system at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, shared, “Our Internet is completely powered by pulsed lasers that run through optical fibers in big cities.”

Does this mean we will be able to see the first Facebook update from space using this new medium soon?

Broadband Connectivity Arrives In Space original content from Ubergizmo.

Though rural dwellers are often broadband-poor, there seems to be plenty of companies lining up to serve them in the UK. Regulator Ofcom just announced participants for its “white space” or unused spectrum trials, including Microsoft, Google, Click4Internet and British Telecom. Redmond’s going to test WiFi-like services to underserved Glasgow, while Click4internet will assess rural broadband in remote or tricky locations. Google has signed on as a potential database provider, and other use cases like traffic management will be tested by BT and others. Ofcom wants to launch such services by next year and released a blueprint detailing how existing mobile and digital terrestrial TV spectrums could be divvied up. To see all the companies and what each plans to do, check the source.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Wireless, Internet

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Source: Ofcom

Now that AT&T is actually laying down fiber-optic line in Austin, we have yet another reason to be jealous of Texas’ weird city. According to Ma Bell, “tens of thousands” will be getting 300Mbps downloads (and uploads), the “fastest internet speeds available” in town to the general public, come December. Those subscribers can snag a free upgrade to gigabit service — GigaPower, as the company calls it — when it’s available in the middle of next year. Oh, and if you want a say in where the ultra-fast service travels, make your neighborhood proud by voting at AT&T’s website. For some reason though, we don’t imagine Google will be casting any ballots.

[Original image credit: Adriano Aurielo Araujo / Flickr]

Filed under: Internet, AT&T

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Source: AT&T

Verizon Wireless, along with Novatel Wireless have announced the immediate availability of the 4G LTE Broadband Router with Voice. Similar to older model LTE routers, this one will allow the user to share Verizon LTE connectivity throughout their home. This router, as the name implies, brings the additional voice support. And in this case, Verizon […]

In 2011, a United Nations commission came to a powerful conclusion: access to broadband internet is a basic human right, matched by the likes of housing, sustenance and healthcare. Arguments can be made that widespread access has transformed entire economies while kick-starting others, with Finland even going so far as to command its ISPs to provide 1 Mbps connections to all homes regardless of location. Both the United States and the United Kingdom have similarly ambitious plans, and all three of these countries have one particular catalyst in common: funds.

The harsh reality, however, is the economies that stand to gain the most from sweeping internet adoption are also the least equipped to enable it. In early 2010, the European Bank estimated that a project to roll out passive optical fiber to 33 cities in the Netherlands would cost nearly €290 million. The mission driving such funding? “To stimulate innovation and keep Europe at the forefront of internet usage.” It’s the answer to a problem that could undoubtedly be categorized as “first world,” but consider this: Internet World Stats found that 92.9 percent of The Netherlands’ population routinely used the world wide web in 2012. Let’s just say it’s easier to invest in an initiative that you’re certain nearly 9 in 10 citizens will use.

In the whole of Africa, just 15.6 percent of residents are connected to the internet, which is under half of the world average. It’s also home to vast, inhospitable landscapes that are economically inviable to crisscross with fiber. All of that being said, nearly a sixth of the globe’s population resides on the continent, representing a monumental opportunity for something — anything — to connect the next billion people. As it turns out, there are actions presently ongoing to make a significant mark in the course of history. Google, Microsoft, Carlson Wireless, Tertiary Education and Research Network of South Africa (TENET) and a host of other powerful entities are collaborating to bring high-speed internet to an underserved continent via TV white spaces — a low-cost, highly adaptable technology that’s poised to explode. For now, Cape Town, South Africa, is acting as a proving ground for what will eventually be a far larger experiment. The core goal is actually quite simple: to beam hope to a disconnected society, with unused bands between TV channels acting as the medium. %Gallery-slideshow67067%

Filed under: Networking, Internet, Mobile, Google

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