Hasta La Gadget!

The UK House of Lords’ Communications Committee has suggested that all broadcast TV should be moved to the internet to free up wireless spectrum for cellphones. In its report, the panel found that whilst such a network would be cheaper and more efficient in the long run, it would also require extensive re-building of the country’s archaic communications infrastructure. Given that the analog-to-digital switchover is currently in progress, it seems unlikely that a further transition will be timetabled — especially since there are still concerns over the cost of bringing fiber-optic broadband to rural areas. Any change in the plan will need to be rubber-stamped by Government, but perhaps it’d be more amenable if they saw how good 8K video looks on one of those connections.

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Internet

House of Lords wants UK TV to go fully online and leave airwaves clear for cellphones originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 02:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google just kicked its Google Fiber efforts into overdrive. The company’s Kansas City effort is getting a full launch and now includes Google Fiber TV — a “real” TV service with recognizable channels and its own, fully searchable interface that mixes DVR results with Netflix and YouTube. As many as 500 shows can be stored in full 1080p HD, and several TVs within the home can tune in at the same time.. Not surprisingly, there’s also a major mobile component taking advantage of that 1Gbps fiber link, as users will have the option of browsing, sharing and eventually watching live TV directly from tablet apps. The company is also promising an ever-evolving service that includes Google+ video hangouts. For hardware, Google has its own dedicated Network Box with a four-port gigabit Ethernet router and 802.11n WiFi, a TV Box with live viewing and a WiFi access point as well as a Storage Box DVR with 2TB of data and the ability to record eight shows at once. Your remote control? A free, bundled Nexus 7 tablet, naturally.

The overall service will come with 1TB of Google Drive space, although it’s expensive to get started: there’s a $300 “construction fee” (currently being waived) to wire a home for the fiber optics. Three packages will be on offer, starting with a Gigabit + TV package that includes the essentials, all major channels and “hundreds” of fiber channels (plus on-demand content) for $120 a month. Skip traditional TV and it costs $70 a month — and if you’re a local resident willing to pony up the construction free, you can get 5Mbps internet access for free for “at least” seven years. Key institutions are getting the full gigabit access for free, as well. Only small slices of Kansas City in both Missouri and Kansas state should have access at first, but Google is conducting a six-week “rally” where the most people paying a $10 pre-registration fee dictate where Google Fiber goes next. Now if only other cities would go the same route.

Update: The full event replay is available for your inspection after the break.

Continue reading Google Fiber gets formal launch, adds Google Fiber TV (update: event video)

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Networking, Internet

Google Fiber gets formal launch, adds Google Fiber TV (update: event video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 12:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The folks in Kansas City, Kansas here in the United States are about to get the web at 100 times the speed most Americans have on average today. The release date for Google’s Fiber program has been set today at July 26th, a little over a week from today, this just a bit more than a year since the project was first announced. With speeds this fast, we’ll have to see what the city will do it it all – perhaps streaming video will become more popular than television at a rate greater than the rest of the world – speedy!

Though this announcement doesn’t include one whole heck of a lot more information on the system than we saw at the launch of this project, we can see that the end-goal for the situation is what Google set out for it to be. As Google vice president of Access Services Milo Medin said back in 2011, Google’s goal was and is, “is to deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today.”

Those of you in Kansas City that want to take part in this system can sign up at Google.com/Fiber – and Google will also be bringing more information on the project on the 26th of this month as well. For now have a peek at the presentation video that acts a bit more like a commercial than anything else above, and get ready for speed!

Have a peek below at our timeline of the history of Google Fiber as well – come to Minnesota next, please!

Google Fiber hits Kansas City in just over a week is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s almost become a truism that internet connections from the Asia-Pacific region to the rest of the world can be slow and lag-ridden, but that assumption is about to be knocked flat if Facebook and others in a Time Dotcom-led consortium have their way. The alliance is investing a combined $450 million into the Asia Pacific Gateway, a 6,214-mile undersea cable that will run between Japan, Malaysia and South Korea. The fiber optic pipe will not only help reduce the need to route large volumes of traffic through Singapore but, in many cases, send much of that traffic straight to American shores — a big help when Facebook and much of the web industry still hosts most of its content on the Eastern side of the ocean. Although faster speeds won’t be in place until the summer of 2014, by which point the more direct connections might be absolutely necessary, it still gives hope to those of us who want to poke friends and upload photos in record time.

Facebook and others invest in 6,214-mile Asia-Pacific undersea internet cable, friend request lag to plummet originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Jul 2012 21:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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