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The next generation of wireless networking will be called WiFi 6
Not all WiFi is created equal, and determining which generation of WiFi technology your devices use can be pretty complicated. Did you know that 802.11n predates 802.11ac, for example? For those that don't, the Wi-Fi Alliance is about to make things easier, introducing the next version of WiFi -- 802.11ax -- simply as "WiFi 6."
Mobile customers claim Verizon capped Netflix and YouTube speeds
A week after millions of Americans contacted the FCC to preserve net neutrality, Verizon Wireless customers have reported lower speeds than expected when using Netflix. Some users in a Reddit thread noted their connections were capped at 10Mbps, as well as those who checked using Netflix's speed-testing tool Fast.com. Verizon mobile customers have also reported reduced speeds on YouTube resulting in lower-quality video; In response, the telecom admitted it has been temporarily testing a new video optimization system, which it claims shouldn't affect viewing quality.
Facebook's News Feed will adapt to your connection speed
Facebook is really trying to show News Feed stories you might want to see, even if you're on a slow internet connection. Last year, it tweaked its algorithms to serve up stories by caching them on your device if internet speeds slow down. While this guarantees you have some kind of content, it means you might get old or irrelevant articles. So, Facebook devised a new ranking system that weighs "both new stories from the server and unseen stories from the persistent cache." The result should be posts you're more interested in reading, even if you're stuck on a train or in a refugee camp.
United Airlines sues site that found loophole for cheap tickets
You know how it's often cheaper to fly from Chicago to Paris by booking a flight to Dubai, and then just getting off at the stopover, which happens to be Paris? Well, you do now thanks to a lawsuit from United Airlines and booking site Orbitz -- they're suing a site called Skiplagged, which arranges "hidden city" connection discounts. Here's how it works: airlines often charge more for popular routes like Chicago/Paris than for less popular, but much longer, multi-connection routes like Chicago/Dubai. Skiplagged susses out such routes and steers you to the cheaper tickets -- you just need to get out at the "hidden city" stopover.
ArcheAge scrambles to fix disconnection issues after update
ArcheAge launched a big update yesterday filled with exciting new features -- chiefly, new territories that players can capture, build castles upon, lay siege to, and so forth. At least, you would be able to do any of these things if you were one of the lucky few players capable of logging into the game, which has not been the case for a great many players since the update went live yesterday thanks to serious disconnection issues. As of 7:45 a.m. EST this morning, the official Trion post on the subject says the studio has devised a new build to correct the issue, and the servers were brought down early this morning to apply the patch (they're back up now). However, that might not be enough to pacify the players who are agitating for a rollback under the perception that the update's new territory was claimed while significant portions of the playerbase were forced offline. We'll have more on this situation as it develops. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in! Our own AA players are in the same boat!]
Verizon slaps Netflix with cease and desist letter over error message (Update: Netflix responds!)
In this digital age, it can be nice to receive a letter. Not so much if you're Netflix, and the letter is a cease and desist from an angry Verizon. The contents of said letter are in relation to claims from Netflix (as published on Quartz) that error messages some customers on Verizon were receiving were due to their ISP, and not its own infrastructure. The actual error read "The Verizon network is crowded right now." Verizon on the other hand claims there's "no basis" for the movie streaming service to assert that the errors are coming from its end, but stops short of suggesting it's actually Netflix that's at fault. Barely a month after that deal for direct access, and already the relationship seems to be turning sour.
Hacker attacks on websites shot up 75 percent last quarter
Akamai Technologies' State of the Internet report for Q4 2013 has just arrived, and one stat stands out like a bad rash: DDoS (denial of service) attacks were up 75 percent over last quarter, and 23 percent from the year before. Most of the targets were enterprises, and Akamai said that the likelihood of a repeat hack is one in three -- a 35 percent bump over last year. Such numbers have no doubt fueled demand for services like Google's Project Shield, which shelter businesses behind massive cloud servers that can easily absorb an onslaught. As for the countries of origin? The dubious winner of that prize (by far) was China with 43 percent of all attacks, followed by the US and Canada. The latter nation saw a not-very-polite 2500 percent bump in DDoS attacks over last year -- hopefully not a trend.
PS4 launch puts strain on Playstation Network
Some users are having problems connecting to the PlayStation Network, after Sony noted a "very high volume" on the service following the midnight launch of the PS4. There's no word yet as to when these issues are likely to clear up. With hundred of thousands of new consoles in the wild, and a significant 308MB firmware patch to download, it's perhaps unsurprising to see issues at this stage. Sony said it thanks users for their patience, and through its Ask PlayStation account asked them to "please sit tight" for the time being. That account directs people to a PlayStation Forum thread for further updates, and we'll be keeping an eye on how things develop too. Update 12PM ET: PS4 owners will receive a notification that "Sony Entertainment Network is currently undergoing maintenance."
Disconnects and latency issues and Patch 5.3
No one likes high latency, least of all someone playing an MMO that can demand reaction time the way World of Warcraft can, especially in raids. But even out in the world, latency can be a killer. So when people started reporting issues with connections to World of Warcraft soon after patch 5.3 launched, it got a lot of players noticing. In a six page forum thread there's been a lot of lively discussion of what's going on - whether it's on Blizzard's end, or somewhere between the computers of the affected players and the Blizzard servers. If you remember the Lagpocalypse post, you know how complicated these issues can get. MVP forum poster Lissanna posted an interesting walkthrough of her own attempts to find the culprit today, and explained why despite some forum poster dissatisfaction that it is indeed helpful to run a traceroute and pathping and post the results to the tech support forums, since it gives Blizzard an idea of who to talk to about these issues. If they don't know who's being affected, where those people are, and more importantly where the issue is physically located there's not much they can do to help. So if you're having the same problem, giving Blizzard as much information as possible is definitely helpful in terms of getting this sorted out. I've seen people in my raids disconnect on every single boss so far while I haven't had the issue at all myself, suggesting the problem isn't on Blizzard's end but is out there somewhere in the path the data takes between Blizzard and the players. Hopefully it can be solved soon.
The entire nation of Syria goes offline yet again
Entire countries can go offline. Syria's done it before, and now it appears that the troubled nation has dropped its web connection again, according to Google's Transparency Report and other online sources. The outage appears to have begun just before 3PM ET, according to Google's report, and has yet to be resolved nearly three hours later. It's not entirely clear what's caused the outage, but based on educated speculation surrounding previous incidents, it wouldn't be out of the question to conclude that the government was behind this latest interruption. For now, the country remains in the dark -- we'll update this post just as soon as that's resolved.
Google confirms Glass will work with iPhone
Google held an event this week to show off its upcoming "Google Glass" interactive headset/system, and from that meeting came one important note for us iOS fans. Google confirmed that the system will definitely work with Apple's iPhone. The exact details of the relationship aren't clear, but there are of course a number of ways your iPhone could work with Google's glasses, from simply acting as a Bluetooth headset, to a more complex relationship with a Google app, sharing information or even an Internet connection back and forth. Obviously, Apple and Google aren't on the best terms at the moment, with Apple forcefully uprooting its deal with Google Maps to go with a more native solution. But Apple's also been very open to having Google apps on the App Store, so Google may work out some sort of solution where Glass plugs in through the Bluetooth connection or even right through the Lightning connector. At any rate, it sounds like your iPhone and Google Glass will play nice. Consumer versions of the Glass units are expected later on this year, though the price will be steep -- somewhere around US$1,500, according to the speculation. The tech will only get cheaper, so it might not be long at all before you're wearing your interactive glasses and connecting to your iPhone.
iHome offers a few Bluetooth solutions and a boombox at CES 2013
iHome is one of the biggest iOS accessory sellers out there, and they always have a huge presence at CES, with a big booth showing off all of the company's latest and greatest wares. Unfortunately, the product lines can often be hard to navigate -- lately, the company has insisted on using a numbering system for each of its products rather than individual names, instead relying on the popular "iHome" brand as an identifier. But there are some good products in there, among all of the relatively standard docks and connector cables that a lot of other CES vendors share. Like a lot of accessory makers, Lightning is probably the biggest story around iHome's booth, as it's just now releasing docks and connectors designed to work with Apple's new standard. So for all of the old docks out there previously, there's now a Lightning version available that will fit together with your iPhone 5, the latest iPad or the iPad mini. Bluetooth speakers are also a big deal for iHome lately, with one of the most popular being the IBT 97, a clock dock powered by a Bluetooth connection, with an extra USB port in the back for charging. The IBT 30 is very impressive as well: It's a Bluetooth speaker with a rechargeable base on it, so you can use the device as a speaker wherever you want, and simply return it to the base when it needs a charge. The iP4 is one of the company's most popular products this year: It's a retro boombox-style stereo system that's been seen out and about in famous performers' hands. There's a standard Lightning version now, along with a Bluetooth version, each available for about US$199 or so. And finally, the IBT 52 (ugh, these names) isn't the most iOS-specific device we saw, but it is handy. The IBT 52 is a little unit with a cord that leads off to a 3.5-inch plug, and it can be plugged into any speaker system in your house to make it Bluetooth-enabled, allowing you to send music from your iOS device to a stereo system that doesn't already have Bluetooth inside of it. It's a pretty handy little device, and it could be very useful for those of us with older stereo systems when it releases later on this year in May for $49.
MMObility: Data caps, throttled signals, and blocked sites
One of the main reasons I enjoy covering mobile MMOs is the fact that many gamers have access to a poor connection at best, and my articles might offer these fellow geeks a selection of games to play. I often take some of the things in my life for granted, like my healthy dogs or the one cup of coffee I have in the morning, but I never take my internet connection for granted, especially when I'm reminded every time I pay the bill just how much it costs me. It's an awesome 150/65 Mb/s, and I tend to get speeds pretty close to that. I often tell people that because my wife works at home with me, our internet connection is our "work vehicle." But many of my friends complain about having a really bad connection to the internet. Some of it is the result of location, but a lot is because companies can actually throttle the signal, providing unlimited yet barely workable internet. While there are several titles out there that are playable on almost any connection, throttling can kill gaming for many of us. So just how bad is it?
AT&T U-Verse iPad app adds more streaming video, more sports
AT&T has updated its U-Verse cable content app for iOS with more content than ever, allowing access to various video content, information like sports scores, and even the ability to share viewing habits over Twitter and Facebook to its users. In addition to all of that new material, the iPhone and iPod touch versions of the app will now work like digital remote controls (though the iPad version already had this functionality), allowing you to control your TV and box right through your iOS device. It sounds great, obviously, for anyone currently using the U-Verse app. The free update is available for download right now. One other funny note: The screenshots above are straight from the official App Store page for AT&T's official app. Of course the app in the shots is connected to WiFi as well (and you'll have to be connected to your local WiFi network to use the digital remote features), but anyone else think it's amusing that AT&T's own iPhone screenshots don't show full bars on the connection?
Spectrum Interactive brings WiFi hotspots to London's phone boxes
London's red telephone boxes are iconic, sure, but just how relevant can they be in this century? Spectrum Interactive has a solution that both ensures their preservation and provides customers in search of internet a free ticket online. The company has converted some 1,800 pay phones throughout London into WiFi hotspots, offering passersby a free connection so long as they provide their mobile numbers and download an e-coupon for a nearby store. Spectrum initially began testing the program with the help of Nokia late last year, and while it's amassed an impressive number of WiFi access points, it's lost the support of its Finnish partner, and is still assessing how willing local businesses are to pay for getting coupons in the service. On top of that, there's the whole issue of how many people will think to scope out phone booths rather than, say, an internet cafe. Here's hoping Spectrum has some very flashy signs on the windows. [Image credit: Elliott Brown, Flickr]
New undersea cables planned for arctic passageways, frozen gamers dream of lower pings
Hot on the heels of our own reporting of cables in the South Pacific (or the lack thereof), in flies a report that at least two new undersea cables are being planned for the arctic. According to New Scientist, a pair of lengthy fiber optic wires will be laid through the Northwest Passage above North America, connecting Japan to the United Kingdom. Moreover, a third cable is planned along the Russian coastline, with the longest of these links to purportedly become "the world's longest single stretch of optical fiber." A number of outfits are on the list to help out, and when complete, the latency between Tokyo and London should be reduced between 168ms and 230ms. The cost for such luxury? An estimated $600 million to $1.5 billion for each line. In other words, totally worth it.
Satellite web surfing at 40Mbps with ViaSat SurfBeam 2 Pro (video)
If you've been relying on a satellite modem for your daily dose of the Internet, you're probably all too familiar with sub-1Mbps download speeds and an overall painful experience. That's exactly why we've been so impressed with ViaSat and its new 12Mbps down, 3Mbps up Exede residential satellite broadband product. Yesterday, we journeyed deep into Camp Pendleton near San Diego to test out those 12/3Mbps speeds on the go-anywhere SurfBeam 2 Pro Portable, and now we're back to play around with the enterprise setup's more stationary sibling, the SurfBeam 2 Pro. The modem functions in much the same way as ViaSat's less-expensive household version, though there's a bit more horsepower under the hood.The sample we saw at the company's Carlsbad, CA headquarters is also provisioned for faster service, delivering throughput in excess of 40Mbps down, letting you transfer files from the web at speeds you'd typically only be able to meet with a fiber connection. That may be a bit excessive for regular web use, but if you need to download software, movies or other large files in remote areas, that extra speed will likely be more than welcome. Join us past the break for a quick look a Exede, followed by a demo of the enterprise version and its 40Mbps downloads.
Live from Camp Pendleton with ViaSat SurfBeam 2 Pro Portable (video)
There's no power outlet, land-based internet connection or even a decent cell signal in sight, yet we're posting this live, at fast broadband speeds. We're miles deep into Camp Pendleton, connected to ViaSat's SurfBeam 2 Pro Portable mobile satellite transceiver and sending data to and from ViaSat-1 located more than 20,000 miles above our heads. SurfBeam 2 wasn't designed for us to kick back and surf the web in the middle of nowhere at speeds that we could barely achieve while tethered to a cable connection just a few years ago, but we're doing just that, with ViaSat's roughly $20,000 go-anywhere satellite broadband rig. We first heard about Pro Portable last month at CES, which the company is marketing towards military, emergency management personnel and even broadcasters -- that's right, the sat truck of the future fits inside a hand-carry suitcase, and sends HD video from the world's most remote locations right back to broadcast centers at record speed, nearly eliminating that lag that makes certain CNN reports painful to watch.Pro Portable really can go anywhere -- disassembled, it fits inside a fairly modest suitcase, but screw it together and you have a full-size dish. There's also a four-port Ethernet router and an optional battery pack, which provides up to four hours of juice. Think of it as Exede broadband for far-off-the-grid types. Sadly, Pro Portable isn't priced low enough to make its way into your on-the-go blogger kit, but it costs a small fraction of the million dollars you can spend on a sat truck, which rents for thousands of dollars a day. It's also far more transportable and discrete, offering consistent 12 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds nearly anywhere in North America. How can SurfBeam 2 hold up during a bandwidth-intensive HD upload? See for yourself just past the break -- our 230MB hands-on video made its way from the ground to space and back to Viddler in just shy of 13 minutes, and our Skype video call looked fantastic, without any noticeable lag.
Israel announces plans to build national broadband network, increases fiber intake
Israel is home to a burgeoning tech industry, but the country's broadband infrastructure hasn't really been able to keep pace. In terms of broadband penetration, in fact, Israel ranks just 21st out of 34 developed nations, according to statistics gathered by the OECD. All this may be changing, however, now that the country's state-run electric company has announced plans to create a new national broadband network. According to the AP, the forthcoming network will use so-called fiber to the home (FTTH) technology, which is capable of providing connections at speeds of between 100Mbps and 1Gbps. That would be about ten to 100 times faster than the connections most Israelis have today, and could offer obvious benefits to a wide array of businesses and industries. The electric company is aiming to have 10 percent of the country connected to its new network by next year, and to have two-thirds covered within the next seven years.
O2 launches LTE trial across UK ahead of next year's 4G spectrum auction
BT's gonna have to make some room at the 4G table, now that O2 has launched its very own LTE trial across the UK. Today, the provider dipped its toes into the LTE pool for the first time within London, a little less than a year after announcing a similar test across Germany. The nine-month trial will begin at 25 test locations across London, before spreading out to encompass a full 40 square kilometers and some 1,000 participants. Obviously, not all customers will be able to grab a slice of the pie, but those who do receive one of Samsung's B3730 modems will benefit from connection speeds of up to 100Mbps. According to the company, that should allow users to download a 500MB file in just one minute, compared to the five minutes it would take on a normal 3G connection. Time will only tell whether these dreams become a reality, but O2 is certainly hoping to benefit from the feedback it receives from its guinea pigs, ahead of next year's 4G spectrum auction. Find out more, in the full PR after the break.
