network
Latest
Uber will introduce a 'clean air fee' to all London rides
Uber has been consistently vocal about its green aspirations. From electric scooters to its own EV charging networks, the company's eco-friendly ambitions reached a pinnacle last year when it announced its "Clean Air Plan" for the city of London. Now, it's revealed more about what this plan will look like.
How to optimize your online gaming setup
Whether you play Fortnite, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds or Overwatch, you're going to want as little latency as possible between your hands and the game's servers. While you can't really account for how reliable your ISP is, by making a few smart choices you can ensure that your side of the equation is as speedy as possible. Everything from your controller to your keyboard and mouse to your display and router can affect how long it takes for a game to recognize when you put a few rounds at an enemy. It might not seem like a big deal at first, but every millisecond of delay adds up and could mean the difference between that ever-elusive chicken dinner in PUBG and going home hungry. Let's take a look at a few things you can do to optimize your online gaming experience at home.
This mesh WiFi router can track motion to protect your family
Back at CEATEC in October, I came across Origin Wireless and its clever algorithm that can turn any WiFi mesh network into a simple home security plus well-being monitoring system, and that's without using cameras or wearables -- just plug and play. At the time, I saw a working demo that left me impressed, but here at Computex, the company has moved its setup to a real-life environment (a lovely hotel room high up in Taipei), and I was finally able to try its fall detection. Better yet, it turns out that Origin Wireless has already been working with Qualcomm to integrate its technology into the ASUS Lyra router, meaning we're one step closer to seeing these features outside the lab.
Eero lets you test new Mesh WiFi features in its app
Eero really upped the ante with its debut WiFi system. Its mesh network promised to blanket your home in coverage and get rid of dead spots once and for all, so it wasn't a surprise that the company soon saw competition from the likes of Google and Linksys. Now, in a bid to continue setting itself apart from the masses (and avoid future layoffs), it's launched Eero Labs, an "innovation playground" for your Eero network. Through Labs you'll be able to tinker with all the features the company is testing -- they're disabled by default, just toggle them on or off through the Eero Labs menu in the app.
China's tests for a global satellite network will start this year
Last month SpaceX launched a couple of satellites to test plans for a global internet provider (you can watch another non-internet satellite launch tonight), and now the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) said it will perform a test of its own later this year. CASIC Second Academy president Zhang Zhongyang announced today that the first satellite will be placed in low-Earth orbit to test its broadband tech, capable of transmitting 500MB per second, to prep for the Hongyun project's planned 156 satellites. After the first one goes up, four satellites will launch before 2020, with the full network scheduled to be in place by 2022 providing coverage around the world. While most satellites orbit at about 36,000 km above the Earth, these will stay at just 1,000 km. The Nation quotes Zhang saying "Hongyun will enable our users to enjoy broadband internet service no matter whether they are in the desert, on the sea or onboard an airliner."
CBS launches 24/7 sports streaming network for news and analysis
Today, CBS launched CBS Sports HQ, a new sports-focused streaming network meant to be complementary to CBS Sports and CBS Sports Network programming. The 24-hour, free streaming network will feature sports news, game previews, highlights and post-game analysis and is accessible through a number of platforms at launch. Along with being able to jump into live programming, CBS Sports HQ visitors will also be able go back and watch previous segments with the network's DVR-like functionality.
White House says it’s not considering a national 5G network
Yesterday, Axios reported that the Trump administration was considering the option of a government-controlled 5G network. Documents obtained by Axios showed that Trump's national security team had proposed a couple of options, including one where the US government funds and constructs a single network, aimed at protecting US networks from Chinese cyberattacks. However, Recode now reports that those documents were outdated and their proposed plans are not actively being considered by the administration.
ASUS will use routers you already own for a mesh WiFi setup
Getting WiFi to every corner of your home is made much easier these days with a mesh network, which uses a specialized router and individual nodes that can configure themselves. Companies like Netgear, Samsung and ASUS all have kits of varying price that can help you make one in your own home, but you generally have to purchase a whole new set of devices to make it work. Now, ASUS is offering AiMesh, a system that uses your current ASUS routers to create a mesh network without pricey extra hardware.
Ofcom pressured to fix lingering mobile not-spots
Last week, Ofcom published its annual assessment of UK mobile and broadband coverage. It was generally positive: so-called "superfast" internet (classified as 30Mbit/s download speeds or higher) is now available in 91 percent of homes, up from 89 percent last year. Similarly, mobile coverage has risen across the UK. But in a scathing letter, Lord Andrew Adonis, chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission, has called on the regulator to draft an action plan "for radically improving mobile coverage in the short to medium term." In short, he believes progress is too slow and carriers should be pressured to do more.
Bloomberg’s Twitter-based news network launches December 18th
Bloomberg is launching its 24-hour rolling news network, based on Twitter, on December 18th. The project -- originally announced in May -- has got substantial weight behind it, with Goldman Sachs, Infiniti, TD Ameritrade, CA Technologies, AT&T and CME Group each contributing up to $3 million to the partnership. Around 50 reporters will work on the site.
Comcast's nationwide outage was caused by a configuration error
Yesterday, folks across the country reported that Comcast internet was down -- an unusually large outage that lasted around 90 minutes. It turns out that the problem was caused by Level 3, an enterprise ISP that provides the backbone for other internet providers like Verizon, Comcast and RCN. "Our network experienced a service disruption affecting some of our customers," the firm said in a statement. "The disruption was caused by a configuration error."
Google wants to help developers make better websites
Developers already have access to a number of tools that let them see how real-world users experience their websites, but until now they weren't able to see how their website user experience compared to others. Enter the Chrome User Experience Report, a public dataset of key user experience metrics gleaned from Chrome users who have opted in to usage statistic reporting.
T-Mobile pulls advertisement claiming it has the fastest network (updated)
It looks like T-Mobile will no longer be able to claim that its network is faster, newer or better than Verizon's. The National Advertising Division (NAD), part of the Better Business Bureau that reviews advertising for truthfulness, recommended that T-Mobile discontinue advertisements that claim as such. Verizon brought the challenge to the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council in lieu of a court case. NAD says that during the course of its review, T-Mobile discontinued the commercial that featured the claims. (See update below for T-Mobile's explanation below on why the ads were pulled)
Verizon cutoffs mark an uncertain future for rural customers
Last week, some Verizon customers in rural areas received unexpected news. The carrier would be terminating their service as of October 17th because they were using a "significant amount of data while roaming off the Verizon Wireless network." These users were roaming because their "primary place of use" was outside the company's service area.
Apple at odds with Indian regulators over anti-spam app
In a classic case of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, Apple's refusal to approve the Indian government's anti-spam iPhone app is causing uproar on both sides. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has been pushing unsuccessfully to get its "Do Not Disturb" software included in the App Store, and Apple refuses to budge on the matter, claiming it violates the company's privacy policy.
AT&T brings fixed 5G trials to three more cities
AT&T is expanding its fixed wireless 5G trials to new cities around the US in a bid to master the technology before its official standards are released. In addition to the previous test city of Austin, the company will roll out trials in Waco, Texas; Kalamazoo, Michigan; and South Bend, Indiana by the end of the year.
Tidal’s ‘On Air’ podcast network features five exclusive shows
Jay Z's forthcoming album isn't the only new content coming to Tidal this month. The streaming music site announced Tuesday that it is following the lead of Google Play, Deezer, and Spotify and now offering podcasts to its subscribers.
AT&T paid $1.6 billion to own the next generation of wireless
For all intents and purposes, it looks like AT&T is going to own a majority of 5G wireless connections in the US. The company has announced that it has acquired Straight Path Communications for $1.6 billion. Not familiar with the name? That's totally understandable. "Straight Path is the largest commercial holder of the 39 GHz spectrum, with about 95 percent of the total licenses commercially available, as well as a significant holder of 28 GHz in major markets, including New York and San Francisco," the company's website reads.
Google will help mobile carriers run their networks better
If you didn't think that Google was into everything before, wait until it's providing the infrastructure for your mobile network. The company has announced that it's building tools for cellular carriers to use to run their businesses. Businesses such as India's Bharti Airtel and South Korea's SK Telecom have both signed up to use Google's new platform for network services.
Researchers give driverless cars better cooperation skills
Are you really ready to ride with just a robot at the wheel? To make self-driving cars safer, researchers from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland want them to communicate both with each other and non-robotic vehicles to avoid any nasty surprises. As such, they rigged up three vehicles, including a robotic truck and non-autonomous vehicle, to function as one unit on a real road. By working in a team and using each others' sensors, the vehicles were able to anticipate each others' moves, making lane change maneuvers safer.
