Hasta La Gadget!

It’s no secret that Hurricane Sandy has worked a number on communications infrastructure, but now a time-lapse video created by Renesys gives us a clearer picture of when and where internet outages occurred as the storm made landfall. Green squares on the map above indicate that 99.95 percent of networks in the area are reachable, while red squares denote that more than five percent of networks are down. In Manhattan’s case, Renesys estimates that there was only a ten percent failure, which it considers impressive since power was cut to much of the island. Ten percent may not sound like a huge outage, but the firm points out that population density makes it equivalent to taking a country the size of Austria off the grid. As for the 90 percent of networks in the borough that stayed online, they survived thanks to generator power. If you’d like to witness the playback of outages between October 29th and 30th, head past the jump for the video.

Continue reading Time-lapse map shows internet outages as Hurricane Sandy makes landfall (video)

Filed under: Internet

Time-lapse map shows internet outages as Hurricane Sandy makes landfall (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Nov 2012 16:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, telecommunication giants AT&T and T-Mobile are now working together to allow network roaming in areas severely damaged by the storm, especially New York and New Jersey. This means that AT&T and T-Mobile customers will now be able to place calls on either of the networks without any changes to their current rate plans and service agreements.

Both carriers are using the latest network technology that are based on Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) standards which allows sharing of voice and data traffic.

It’s important to note that both carriers were previously denied to merge last year. AT&T attempted to acquire T-Mobile for $39 billion in 2011. The deal, which could change the game, was eventually denied by the federal regulators. But in spite of the failed merger, it’s nice to hear that both carriers are still working together hand in hand.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: AT&T and T-Mobile opens up networks in New York and New Jersey to ease communications woes, Samsung Galaxy Note 2 variants for AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon stop by the FCC,

Communication has been all too spotty across much of New York City and New Jersey since Hurricane Sandy struck the region, and those who can get through on their cellphones have found themselves on particularly crowded networks. AT&T and T-Mobile are providing some much-needed, if temporary, relief: the two have struck a deal to share their GSM and 3G networks in the area with no roaming fees or plan changes while the networks come back, with the best-functioning network taking precedence in any given connection. A return to the normal state of affairs hasn’t been fixed in stone and will likely depend on many, many factors, but it’s a much appreciated gesture for residents who might not have a choice to relocate for a vital phone call.

Continue reading AT&T and T-Mobile temporarily share networks in New York City and New Jersey, shoulder the post-hurricane load

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, AT&T, T-Mobile

AT&T and T-Mobile temporarily share networks in New York City and New Jersey, shoulder the post-hurricane load originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Oct 2012 15:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gadgets aren’t everything: I learned that last night as I watched while hurricane Sandy batter NYC. The newest tablet computer seems unimportant when so many people are in significant danger. But the storm’s over now, and it’s back to technology!

While some people were hurt, a lot of people got out OK and things are slowly going back to normal. However, most of Lower Manhattan is still without power, and that means some people are getting desperate for a gadget charge. I present to you a unidentified New Yorker, generously offering his power strip to other desperate New Yorkers. Look at all those phones he’s charging! Sure, he might not be dragging people out of flooded cars, but to someone who needed to call their mother or husband or brother, he was a little bit of a hero today. It’s great to see people helping other people out, and more people should do this, especially as our gadgets become our life lines.

Photo by Jen Vandermeer.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Mickey Mouse Owns Darth Vader, Star Wars 7 Coming in 2015, Notorious Cyberspy Caught By His Own Malware,

Yesterday, as the front-edge of Hurricane Sandy started bearing down on New York and newscasters were talking about, “Idiot surfers risking their lives,” I was one of those idiots. Sorry. I had a camera to test. More »