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Google Fiber stops offering traditional TV service to new customers
If you're ready to sign up for Google Fiber but want TV service at the same time, you'll have to go online. Google has stopped selling conventional TV service to new customers as of today. Instead, it'll give customers the choice to sign up for YouTube TV (as announced in December) or the sports-oriented fuboTV. The company characterizes this as reflecting the modern reality. "Customers just don't need traditional TV," Google said.
Google Fiber drops its 100Mbps tier in favor of gigabit-only service
Google Fiber's main selling point has been its gigabit internet access, but there has usually been a low-cost option like the $50 100Mbps plan. However, that choice is going away. Google has announced that it no longer offers the 100Mbps tier to new customers -- it's either the $70 gigabit plan or nothing. If you ask the company, it's a reflection of evolving internet technology and usage habits.
AT&T says it's the first US network to reach 2Gbps speeds on 5G
The chest-thumping over 5G continues. AT&T has reported that it achieved the first 2Gbps speeds on a 5G network in the US. It achieved the feat using a Netgear mobile router on the carrier's public-facing network in the Atlanta area. The performance comes less than a month after the provider cracked the gigabit mark in multiple cities.
AT&T is the first 5G carrier in the US to reach gigabit speeds
The initial 5G rollout in the US has been underwhelming, in part because those vaunted gigabit-class speeds have been nowhere to be found. AT&T, at least, is inching closer to that goal. The provider has declared that it's the first US telecom to top 1Gbps on a mobile 5G network, achieving the feat in "multiple cities" using Netgear's 5G hotspot. In an interview with PCMag, the company's Igal Elbaz described it as a virtue of improving software.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon X24 modem will enable 2 Gbps LTE speeds
Even as the race toward real-world 5G picks up steam, LTE technology as it exists will remain crucial for most of us in the next few years. Qualcomm's latest gigabit LTE modem, the X24, can reach speeds of 2 Gbps (where supported by carriers) -- a significant jump from the 1.2 Gbps promised by its predecessor, the X20. And just as that modem was eventually embedded into the Snapdragon 845 chipset announced in December, it's likely that the X24 will be integrated in Qualcomm's next premium mobile chip, which we can expect to power many of next year's flagships. In fact, you can expect it to show up in commercial devices in the first half of 2019, according to the company's announcement video.
The iPhone 8 has a gigabit LTE modem (updated)
At first blush, iFixit's tech autopsy on the iPhone 8 didn't reveal anything particularly notable, besides some different screws and a way to remove the glass backing. So far, so meh. But then when it came to the laundry list of chips and modems all crammed inside Apple's latest smartphones, we noticed something. It looks like the company has made its first gigabit LTE phone, capable of substantially faster download speeds. Or at least, the iPhone 8 could have, if it had everything else.
Computex was a reminder that the age of the eSIM is upon us
Nestled inside your cellphone is a teensy sliver of plastic you almost certainly never think about. That's your SIM card -- the bit that basically stores your phone's identity and passes it along to whatever wireless carrier network you pay for. It's absolutely crucial to the way your phone operates, but wireless carriers and network companies have been plotting its demise for years. As far as they're all concerned, the future belongs to what's called an eSIM -- short for "embedded SIM" -- woven directly into the silicon fabric of a device's modem. Now, thanks to some crucial announcements made at Computex, we're getting a better sense of just how pervasive these things are going to be.
What is mobile gigabit, and why should you care?
You may have heard about this thing called a gigabit phone recently. The term was thrown around a lot during the launch of Samsung's Galaxy S8, since that's the first commercially available handset to support the technology. But gigabit will also be included on Sony's Xperia XZ Premium and other high-end phones, which means you'll probably hear about it a lot more later this year. And it's going to be a big deal.
Verizon's $70 Gigabit internet plan misses both targets
Yesterday Verizon announced the launch of Fios Gigabit Connection, as "the nation's largest deployment of gigabit Internet connection service." It even promised a $70 per month price standalone, however, as people tried to sign up a few shortcomings have become evident. First of all, it's not quite 1Gbps speed, with downloads reaching a maximum 940Mbps and uploads stopped at 880Mbps. Further, its pricing scheme is more complicated than the announcement advertised, with that $70 price (that doesn't include the charge for a modem or other fees) only available to new customers.
Google Fiber launches its first wireless gigabit project
A Denver apartment complex is the first to get gigabit internet speeds from Google via its wireless Webpass service rather than Fiber. Webpass specializes in multi-unit internet service using point-to-point wireless tech instead of cables. The company already offers its services in Boston, Chicago, Miami, San Diego, Oakland and San Francisco (above), but Denver is the first new city since Google acquired it last year.
ZTE's 'Gigabit' phone will bridge the LTE and 5G gap
You may think of 5G as the next fast wireless standard, with speeds ranging from 400 Mbps with AT&T all the way up to 5 Gbps and beyond. LTE isn't quite dead yet, though, and ZTE has launched the first device that supports the gigabit LTE standard just ahead of Mobile World Conference (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain. Called simply the ZTE Gigabit Phone, the company says it'll make "360 degree panoramic VR video, instant cloud storage ... and fast cache of ultra Hi-Fi music and movies possible."
Qualcomm plans to bring gigabit data speeds to your car
Remember last year, when Qualcomm pulled back the curtain on its X16 LTE modem? At the time, the chipmaker touted peak download speeds of up to 1Gbps for smartphones, even though gigabit speeds were (and are) basically impossible to experience in the wild. Still, the age of super high-speed wireless data is fast approaching, which is why Qualcomm just announced that it's bringing that X16 modem to cars. It will be a while before you get to torrent movies in a flash from the comfort of your Chevy, though: The modem is baked into a new module reference design that carmakers will likely adopt further down the line.
Rogers will launch IPTV in Canada with Comcast's X1 platform
Comcast has been very careful to call its X1 setup a "platform" and not simply a cable box, and now it's licensing the tech for use on an internet TV service. Canadian provider Rogers will roll out IPTV to its gigabit internet customers in 2018 using the X1 platform, although there's no word on whether or not it will include the Netflix app. Before that happens, however, Rogers says customers on its current cable setup can expect more 4K video and 4K DVR features in the next year.
America's fourth-largest cable co. will offer 10Gbps fiber
Altice USA may not be the most recognized ISP name out there, but the country's fourth-largest provider is about to get a big upgrade over the next five years or so. According to the company's roadmap, Altice plans to bring high-speed, 10 Gbps fiber lines directly to its 8.3 million customers starting in 2017.
New York City's free gigabit WiFi comes to Brooklyn
LinkNYC's free, gigabit-grade WiFi is all over large chunks of New York City, but there's a conspicuous Brooklyn-sized gap... or rather, there was. The communication network has switched on its first two Brooklyn kiosks, both of them on Fulton Street in the Bed-Stuy area. Don't worry about having to visit a small part of the borough to get no-cost internet access, though. There are nine other Brooklyn hotspots due to go online in the weeks ahead, including some near LIU-Brooklyn and Prospect Park.
Google to 'pause' its Fiber rollout
Google announced on Tuesday that it plans to "pause" the planned expansion of its Fiber high-speed internet service in the 10 cities it had been looking into and will eliminate a number of positions in those cities -- 9 percent of the division's total number of employees, according to Ars Technica.
Australia gets first dibs on Gigabit LTE network and router
We're still years away before 5G fully goes live, so for now, Qualcomm continues to build on top of current 4G LTE technology to bridge the gap. The latest development on this end is the launch of the Netgear Mobile Router MR1100, which is the first mobile device to feature Gigabit LTE connectivity thanks to Qualcomm's Snapdragon X16 LTE modem. If all goes well, the lucky folks in Australia will be the first to use this device, as it'll be launched on world's first Gigabit LTE network courtesy of Telstra and Ericsson. According to Qualcomm's announcement at its summit today, Telstra will be launching its new speedy service "in the coming months," which means it could be this year or next year.
AT&T's Project AirGig could be a wireless alternative to fiber
Bringing gigabit internet to rural areas is usually an expensive proposition -- but soon, it might not be. AT&T Labs today announced Project AirGig, a new wireless internet delivery system that carriers high speed internet service over power-lines without actually tapping into the physical wired infrastructure. More specifically, AT&T plans to mount hundreds of tiny radio stations atop telephone poles to bring high-speed internet to customers without laying down new cable.
Comcast begins gigabit internet trial in Chicago
Comcast has already revealed its plans to bring gigabit internet service to Atlanta and Nashville, and now it's now offering the option in Chicago on a trial basis. Like those other two cities, the cable company will use a DOCSIS 3.1 modem to deliver the 1Gbps speeds over its existing infrastructure. The new service is priced at $140 a month without a contract, plus any adds taxes and fees. As Consumerist notes, Comcast doesn't mention the option to sign up for three years and get a discounted rate, but it does say that it will "test promotional pricing during the trial period."
Google Fiber buys a gigabit ISP that uses fiber and wireless
Hoping Google Fiber will come your way soon? The Alphabet subsidiary just made an acquisition that could help it roll out high speed internet faster. It agreed to purchase Webpass, a company that currently has "tens of thousands" of customers for high speed internet in the Bay Area, San Diego, Chicago, Boston and Miami. Webpass is notable because it's used high-speed point-to-point wireless technology as well as fiber to link up apartment buildings and businesses without having to wait for a physical link, and offers its customers speeds of up to 1Gbps.
