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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.
San Antonio is getting Google Fiber
Nearly six months after the city cleared a steeplechase-worth of legal hurdles, Google has finally announced that it will be installing its ultrafast fiber-optic network in San Antonio, Texas. Google cites San Antonio's 1.4 million residents and thriving tech scene -- including the country's first all-digital library, the Bexar BiblioTech -- as reasons for the selection. The fact that San Antonio was recently chosen for the President Tech Hire and Connect Home initiatives didn't hurt, either. The company will spend the next few months coordinating with city leaders on how best to lay the 4,000 miles of necessary fiber-optic cable. There's no word yet on when the 1,000 Mbps service will actually begin.
iPod touch stolen, used by war vet for prosthetic hand control
The opinion people have about thieves in general is pretty low, but a thief who broke into the truck of 27-year-old Afghanistan war vet Staff Sgt. Ben Eberle deserves loathing of a special kind. The thief took an iPod touch especially configured with an app called i-limb, used to control a prosthetic hand like the one seen above that was worn by Eberle. Eberle lost both legs and his right hand in a bomb blast three years ago, and has been using the prosthetic with the help of i-limb and the iPod touch. Using the pinky on the prosthetic hand to manipulate the app, Eberle can adjust the hand in an amazing number of ways. The hand and the app -- and the iPod touch -- all work together as a unit. While the iPod touch is only worth about US$240, San Antonio, TX police say that the thief could be charged with felony theft between $20,000 and $100,000. That's because the prosthetic hand is essentially worthless without the iPod touch and will have to be replaced at a cost of about $75,000. The iPod touch has a special logo on the back of it from the manufacturer, Touch Bionics. San Antonio Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest of the thief, so if a reader happens to see the unique iPod touch, they can call 210-224-7867 with a tip and possibly help a vet recover some of his dexterity.
PAX South passes on sale ... right now!
It's official, PAX South passes are now on sale. The news come via the official PAX Twitter account. Those interested in grabbing passes can point their browser here, where you'll be placed in a virtual queue that will let you purchase a pass when the time comes. The queue was fairly short as of this writing, but given how quickly PAX badges tend to sell out, anyone wishing to attend the San Antonio conference best get while the gettin's good. PAX South goes down this January. [Image: Indie Mega Booth]
PAX South in San Antonio announced for January 23-25
PAX Prime, PAX East, PAX Australia and now ... PAX South. The new show will take place in January 2015. The announcement was just made at PAX East by Penny Arcade's Jerry Holkins. PAX South will run from January 23-25 at an undisclosed venue. "We've been hearing for years that those in the south had a tough time making it to the northern corners of the country," Penny Arcade President Robert Khoo explained during the conference. "PAX South has always been a matter of 'when' rather than 'if.'" This announcement makes us feel like we should start predicting future expansions to the PAX tour, since extra shows don't seem entirely out of the question. Anyone care to take a bet that PAX Antarctica is next on the list? What about PAX Atlantis, where Bioshock franchise owner 2K Games co-hosts the event in a recreation of Rapture, complete with splicers? Talk about untapped markets! Update: The location of PAX South is the Henry B. Gonzalez convention center. [Image: Penny Arcade]
San Antonio launching 'bookless' BiblioTech library in fall, places its eggs in digital basket
Hardbound books, apparently, are soooo 20th century -- at least for the upcoming BiblioTech library in San Antonio, Texas' south side. When the shiny, new public library opens its doors to bookworms this fall, visitors will notice something important missing: actual books. Instead, the facility will be serving up ebooks -- about 10,000 digital titles or so -- in an attempt to supplement the area's traditional library system with some new-school cool. To help users partake in its content, BiblioTech will also carry actual e-readers for users to check out. Footage of the media event shows what appears to be a Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch as the facility's e-reader of choice. Checked-out ebooks are also programmed to be accessible by the borrower for a two-week period. Going the digital route has certainly been a growing trend -- 3M recently launched a Cloud Library lending service while one Austrian town kicked off its own unique e-book repository based on stickers equipped with QR codes and NFC chips. As ongoing issues involving Penguin show, however, digital lending sadly still has some hurdles to overcome. UPDATE: A spokesperson for Bexar County says that the Nook featured in the event was just a prop and not the e-reader of choice for the project. A request for proposals is now before the Commissioners Court and is awaiting approval on Jan. 15. The project will be going through a public bidding process to procure its e-readers.
Play Black Ops 2, God of War: Ascension, Dead Space 3 and more at GameStop Expo
GameStop has posted some more details about its upcoming GameStop "EXPO." Usually, this event is reserved just for store managers and associates, but this year the US games retailer is opening it up to the public (the public, in this case, meaning PowerUp Rewards members willing to pay $35, or a $100 VIP fee).The Expo runs from 11am-4pm on August 29 in San Antonio, Texas, and during that time attendees will be able to play games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, God of War: Ascension, and Dead Space 3, among others. Devs will also be on hand for a number of games, Nintendo will show off the Wii U, and there will be giveaways, autograph signings, and lots more.Sounds like a fun afternoon in San Antonio. Though if it's anything like our local GameStop, look out for the mom trying to get her kid to leave without a game, the salesperson selling magazine subscriptions, and that guy in the corner who really, really wants to talk about how great Jak 2 was.
Google Offers expands to five new locales, hipsters in Portland nonchalantly recall being first
Despite Mountain View's efforts to the contrary, neither Google Wallet nor Offers, have yet to set the payment sector alight. That doesn't mean the search giant's throwing in the towel, as it vehemently expands the latter into five additional cities here in the United States. Residents of Charlotte, Kansas City, Milwaukee, San Antonio and Tampa will soon be able to participate in all sorts of discounted debauchery, joining bargain-hunters in the service's existing 33 locales. Those eager ought to hit the source links to begin, but before leaving, regale us with an outrageous tale involving a discount in the comments below.
Sprint encroaches on AT&T markets for first LTE upgrades: Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio
We knew good and well that Sprint was placing its future network bets on LTE, but up until now, we had no idea who would get first dibs. Sprint's own Dan Hesse just cleared up a quip that he gave to us back in July of 2011, noting that Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio would be first to get "4G LTE and 3G network upgrades by mid-2012," just in time for the first Sprint LTE phones to take advantage. If you're thinking those cities sound familiar, you're right; AT&T Mobility is headquartered in the ATL, and all three of those Texas communities were high on AT&T's list of launch markets, too. Here's hoping we hear of a few more markets in the run-up to Mobile World Congress in February.... Update: Sprint has just issued a proper release on the news (it's embedded after the break), with the key snippet as follows: "The launch of these metropolitan areas marks the next step in the company's overall network strategy, also known as Network Vision. Sprint customers can expect to enjoy ultra-fast data speeds, improved 3G voice and data quality, and stronger in-building signal penetration providing a more reliable wireless experience." [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
AT&T flips 4G LTE live, nearly 97 percent of America wonders where the party is
According to Ma Bell, AT&T covers 97 percent of all Americans. Of course, that's including those "one bar of EDGE" places that are uncovered so far as reality's concerned, but regardless of all that -- there's no denying that AT&T's LTE launch is on the subdued side. With Verizon rolling out five times more LTE markets this month than AT&T is even launching with, the country's largest GSM carrier definitely has some catching up to do. Regardless of the standings, the company appears to have (quietly) gone live with five LTE markets as of today, with Chicago, Atlanta, San Antonio, Dallas / Fort Worth and Houston getting first dibs. The source link below takes you to the new coverage map, as well as to a promise from the carrier to expand "4G LTE" (not to be confused with the other 4G, more accurately known as HSPA+) to 15 major metropolitan areas by the year's end. Notice how rural areas aren't mentioned, despite plenty of grandstanding near D.C.? Don't worry, guys -- it's just Rethinking Possible. [Thanks, Marcus]
Leaked Sprint WiMAX roadmap names new cities for 2009 rollout
Well, what do we have here? One of our readers sent us a screenshot from Sprint's Sales Portal that included the above roadmap for its WiMAX rollout this year. A number of the yet-to-be-launched cities we've already heard about -- Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Charlotte -- but to the best of our knowledge, the rest of them are brand new entries. Additionally, Baltimore residents can look forward to some sort of coverage update in the fourth quarter. We'd be lying if we said we weren't jealous that Salem (population 3,000) and Milledgeville (population 19,000) are getting the wireless network before most of us on staff, but the service has to start somewhere, right? No indication here of 2010 plans, but last we heard that included Boston, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Update: As tipster Carlos points out, Clearwire's website already has some coverage maps for some of the cities listed in the third quarter, as well as some markets not listed here.
Samsung shows off latest, biggest, bendiest AMOLED prototype
Today the flexible OLED is still a very rare thing, usually confined to dark corners of exhibitors booths at trade shows or grainy photos from some research facility. Sadly that doesn't look to change anytime in the immediate future, but Samsung is at least still making progress with the tech, demonstrating a new 6.5-inch flexible prototype at SID 2009 in San Antonio. It's bigger than the earlier examples we've seen from the company, and apparently a little bendier too, but beyond those juicy facts -- and knowing that it can display scenes from The Sound of Music -- we don't know a thing about it.
TWC adds in four HD channels in San Antonio, Texas
While the eyes of geek lovers in San Antonio, Texas may have been focused on CES this week, at least one local realized that a handful of fresh HD channels showed up. Effective immediately, locals can find KSAT HD (112), NBC-WOAI HD (104), Showtime HD (182), Showtime West HD (183), Starz HD (383), Starz West HD (388), TMC HD (186) and Universal HD (164) on the EPG, and if you're into SD content too, hit the read link to have a look at all sorts of new standard-def options. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Thanks, Jason]
TWC San Antonio to offer free Tuning Adapters, pre-orders now open
As switched digital video (SDV) rollouts continue, we're apt to hear more and more about how cable companies plan on handling the distribution of Tuning Adapters. We've already heard that Cox will be giving needy customers in Phoenix a TA for free, and Time Warner Cable New York recently sent out letters to CableCARD users informing them that their TAs may be handed out gratis. Now, we're seeing a pre-order page over at TWC's San Antonio site that clearly informs subscribers that the Tuning Adapter they request will be provided at no charge "later this year." If you're in or around this area and own a TiVo Series 3, TiVo HD or TiVo HD XL, now would probably be an excellent time to get your name on the list. For everyone else, have a look at your local carrier's page and let us know if it's doing something similar. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Thanks, Lawrence]Read - TWC San Antonio main siteRead - TWC San Antonio pre-order page
Time Warner Cable adds Cartoon Network HD in San Antonio
San Antonio's never short on HD channels from Time Warner Cable, but just in case locals in the area were getting fed up with the oodles they already have, here's another to keep you (or your kids, most likely) quiet. As of this week, Cartoon Network HD is being placed on slot 145, bringing the total HD channels in the region to 71 -- and that's not counting the 124 HD movie-on-demand channels and 337 HD free-on-demand titles. Can you detect a hint of bitterness? Sorry, we tried mightily to conceal it. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]
AT&T introduces U-verse Total Home DVR in San Antonio
San Antonio may have been one of the first locales to get U-verse TV service, but it's not quite the first to snag AT&T's Total Home DVR software. As the carrier continues to gift U-verse users with the ability to watch recorded programs on any connected TV in the house, this Texas town has become the latest to get loved. Where will AT&T head next with THDVR? Your guess is as good as ours.
Time Warner Cable, LIN TV bicker over retransmission fees
While we singled out TWC's spat with Dayton's own WDTN, the issue spreads much, much further. As of now, 15 LIN TV-owned stations are at risk of falling off of Time Warner Cable if the two can't reach an agreement before October 2nd. Since July of this year, LIN TV has attempted to extract a presumably large amount of cash from the carrier in order to seal the deal on a long-term agreement for both analog and high-def signals. As of now, local stations in Austin, Buffalo, Columbus, Dayton, Ft. Wayne, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Mobile, Springfield (MA), Terre Haute and Toledo are at risk, but we have a pretty good feeling that the two will eventually work it out. 'Course, TWC won't enjoy paying through the nose in order to do so, but hey, that's life. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Apple Store North Star: Your reports
Apple opened a new retail store in San Antonio, Texas earlier today, number 14 for the Lone Star State. As usual, we asked any TUAW readers who may have attended to share their reports and/or pictures. So, did you go, and if you did, how was it? Let us know in the comments. Here's hoping you scored a T-shirt!If you haven't gone down to the store yet, grab your camera and add anything especially interesting to our Flickr pool!
AT&T moves HQ to Dallas from San Antonio
What's that, you didn't know AT&T was based in Texas? Yeah, ever since all those mergers (re-)created AT&T, its HQ has been in the former SBC offices in San Antonio, which is why certain services tend to roll out there first. It looks like the Alamo City isn't quite big enough for Ma Bell, though -- it's just announced that it's moving its corporate headquarters to Dallas in order to be closer to the airport. Yes, the airport. Dallas-Fort Worth Internation is country's third-largest airport, and AT&T wants travel to and from HQ to be more convenient and cost-effective. AT&T also has about 1,300 different suppliers and vendors in the Dallas area who employ some 45,000 people, so moving closer to them seems like a no-brainer. The company's Telecom Operations unit is staying put, however, so only about 700 of the 6,000 workers currently in San Antonio will be schlepping across the state. The transition should be completed within the year -- here's hoping some of those cost savings make their way down to us.
New Texas Apple Store set to open
Apple is about to open their 14th retail store in Texas -- San Antonio's second -- this Saturday, June 28th. Apple Store North Star is located in the North Star Mall, next to Ann Taylor. You can get full driving directions here. The doors open at 10:00 AM. Two stores is pretty good, San Antonio, but Houston still has you beat with three.This store is pretty narrow at only 34 feet wide. Aren't things supposed to be bigger in Texas?[Via ifoAppleStore]
