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DirecTV skips White Sox / Indians game due to "bandwidth constraints"
We already heard a chorus of boos from angry Red Sox / A's fans that missed some or all of the opening day of Major League Baseball, and now it seems the satcaster has disappointed fans of two other teams. Today's tilt between the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox isn't being broadcast via DirecTV on SportsTime Ohio HD as part of the Extra Innings package due to "bandwidth constraints." According to STO, DTV customers shouldn't have any issues seeing games for the rest of the season on the carrier, but the purported overload of sporting events has seemingly left no room for this one. Check the notice in full below.[Thanks, Dayton Guy] %Gallery-19746%
Qualcomm announces improvement in CDMA network capacity
Qualcomm's latest release has left us smothered in technobabble, but frankly, it's a breath of fresh air to not see any sort of vitriol spewed in Nokia's direction. Announced today, the aforesaid outfit has developed a method for improving capacity of CDMA2000 networks; more specifically, its technology will enable "operators to support more than double today's capacity of 35 simultaneous calls in 1.25MHz of spectrum while delivering the same level of voice quality." Unfortunately, the improvements are slated to be featured in Qualcomm's forthcoming Cell Site Modem CSM8xxx-series chipsets, which aren't supposed to go commercial before 2010. Oh future, you seem so far away.
Ping faster with Faster Ping
Recently members of my guild have been using a tool called Faster Ping to achieve better ping rates in game. My guild is a West Coast based guild, and attracts a lot of people from Hawaii and Australia, so they naturally have higher ping rates than those of us in the States. Faster Ping seems to be working wonders for them. It is not so much of an addon as it is a tool for Windows (though lots of people mistakingly call it an addon).My first reaction to this was what thinking this sounded like something out of the mouth of Cliff Clavin. I mean, how can a piece of software impact something that is mainly due to physical limits? Well, after thinking about it for a bit, and reading up on what the tool does, it can. WARNING! This paragraph will be the only one that contains technical content! Faster Ping works by removing the acknowledgement delay from TCP packets. This delay happens inside the kernel's TCP stack, and is a necessity for a lot of functions that go on inside a TCP stack. The other modification Faster Ping does is to remove delay in sending small packets (think anything less than a dozen or so bytes). These changes, at least theoretically, should not impact system stability if the Windows kernel has proper TCP/IP stack implementation. Okay, end technical content.
Internet payment plan based on usage to be tested in Texas
In a chilling bit of news for any net aficionado, Time Warner is reportedly planning to try out a new billing scheme where they would charge customers based on the amount of bandwidth they consume, instead of the more traditional flat service fee. According to the report on MSNBC, the measure is aimed at keeping the internet tubes clear of traffic caused by a small minority of "heavy users" who, while making up only five percent of total internet users, account for more than half of the total traffic. While bittorrent users are the most conspicuous target of this policy, gamers would most assuredly feel the pinch as well.What I find particularly striking about this announcement is that they are testing it out in Beaumont, Texas. Now, I can't say I know anything about Texas first-hand, because I've never had the privilege of visiting, but for some reason my intuition tells me that a town in southeast Texas between Houston and New Orleans isn't going to be the most connected area of the country. For all we know, their internet might very well be on a truck. It just seems like a bit of a sneaky tactic on the part of Time Warner to garner favor for a plan that will affect groups like gamers (and especially MMO players) disproportionately.[Via Guild Cafe]
Time Warner Cable to trial consumption-based internet billing
If you thought Comcast's alleged data throttling caused a ruckus, get a load of this. Reportedly, Time Warner Cable (partly owned by Time Warner, parent company of AOL, which owns Engadget) is gearing up to trial "consumption-based billing with subscribers in Beaumont, Texas later this year," which it hopes will "reduce congestion of its network by a minority of consumers who pay the same monthly fee as light users." According to a company spokesman, just five-percent of TWC customers suck up "more than half" of the bandwidth, but such a billing scheme could have some very nasty consequences. It's no secret that fetching television from the 'net is becoming entirely more mainstream, and with Apple pushing out "HD" rentals through its Apple TV, streaming video becoming more viable and Netflix freeing up its Watch Instantly feature, even consumers not considered lords of P2P could be hit with unexpected fees. 'Course, no prices have been divulged just yet, but seriously, does this not reek of paying for mobile time by the minute during the early 90s? Talk about taking two steps back.[Via The New York Times, image courtesy of JupiterImages]
Research firm says planned internet capacity upgrades will fall 60% short by 2010
A new study published by the Nemertes Research Group indicates that demand for bandwidth will outstrip capacity by 2010 -- and that planned infrastructure upgrades will fall some 60-70 percent short of making up the difference. Using a model it claims anticipates the next bandwidth-consuming innovation, Nemertes says that carriers and other infrastructure providers will have to spend at least an additional $42B over the estimated $72B it estimates is currently budgeted to prevent the bandwidth crunch from taking place -- but we're a little unclear on where those numbers are coming from, so don't start running your cable modem on overdrive just yet. Either way, it looks like network scaling is something we'll all be affected by over the next few years -- unless the shame of watching people make fools of themselves on YouTube is finally too much and we move to the beach for good.[Via Physorg]
Cox rolls out 1GHz across its network
Like every other cable operator, Cox Communications is looking for more bandwidth. Cox has already brought 70% of its customer base up to the 1GHz mark, and is upgrading the rest of its network up to the same bar. It's all part of the company's 2010 plan, which has some 200 SD (meh) and 100 HD (now we're talking!) channels as a goal. Good times ahead for their internet customers as well, with a boost in both the up and down directions to the tune of 25- and 4-Mbps, respectively. Add in a reduction in the number of analog channels clogging up the pipe and Cox is planning on bringing its node size from 650 to 250 homes, putting them within striking distance of the SDV "magic number."[Via Connected Home 2 Go]
Switched Digital Video's magic number
The biggest challenge content providers face today is bandwidth. Their customers are demanding more HD, but their network is tapped out. There's no silver bullet, but there are multiple small solutions that all add up. SDV or Switched Digital Video, is one of those and promises to free up to 50% of the utilized bandwidth by only sending the channels that're being watched rather than all the channels, all the time. Unfortunately there's a catch, not only is SDV currently incompatible with 3rd party CableCARD hosts, but to really see the benefits, cable has to reduce the number of subscribers per node. Current service groups are around 1000, but to really take advantage of SDV, the ratio between channels and subscribers needs to be closer to 1:1; so they'd have to deploy four times as many nodes to get there. Currently providers are just doing trials with SDV, but we can expect to see it widespread in 2008. Lets just hope they get that Tuning Resolver thingy ready by then.
Surprise: cable companies edging closer to bandwidth exigency
We know, it was a year ago yesterday that we had this very same conversation, but apparently, cable companies aren't heeding the advice of analysts. According to yet another study, this time by ABI Research, "cable providers will soon be faced with a serious bandwidth crunch" as more and more individuals look to online gaming, video-on-demand, and IPTV for enjoying their precious moments of leisure. Compounding the problem is the growing demand for more HD channels in the lineup, and considering that the satellite operators are already raising the bar, cable carriers can only play dumb for so much longer. Stan Schatt, VP and research director for ABI Research, was quoted as saying that "digital switching is key" to releasing some of the strain on current infrastructures, and while we aren't ones to believe that the influx of online TV delivery will debilitate the internet (or cable providers), something seemingly has to give -- and soon.[Via Slashdot]
Aussies criticizing Seven Network for compressing HD feeds
Same story, different continent. The compression bug has seemingly struck again, and this time its aggravating those Down Under who'd like to enjoy Seven Network's 1080i programming in all of its high-definition glory. After just recently flipping the switch to broadcast content in HD, a sect of Australians have already begun to grumble over the "relatively low amount of bandwidth the network has allocated to the high-definition channel." Of course, it should be noted that "most" viewers have seen no reason to get bent out of shape, but for those relaxing in Oz, what say ye on the Seven situation?
India could get free 2Mbps broadband internet by 2009
Entire cities getting free WiFi used to be quite the sensation, but now the real hotness is in connecting up an entire nation. According to IndiaTimes, the government is proposing that all citizens of India receive complimentary 2Mbps internet by 2009, and the service would be provided by the state-owned BSNL and MTNL. Officials backing the plan are hoping that giving all residents access to high-speed internet would "boost economic activity" as the citywide free WiFi implementations apparently have in America. The nation's department of telecom will purportedly be laying "an extensive optic cable network across the country, permitting the resale of bandwidth, setting up web hosting facilities within the country, and asking all internet service providers to connect to the National Internet Exchange of India." Unsurprisingly, this issue has created very polarized camps, as consumers cheer on the idea, current telecom providers are shaking at the mere thought of all future telephone calls being converted into free VoIP dialogue.[Via Slashdot]
Xtorrent 1.0 v40 released with per-torrent bandwidth throttling, list of big features to come
It isn't often that developers unveil their cards, but when they do, their user's ears typically perk up. Such is the case with Dave Watanabe's release of Xtorrent 1.0 v40 in which he announced two big new features now, and a few juicy ones coming down the road. As of this new version, Xtorrent Pro (the registered version) offers per-torrent bandwidth limits and support for the Azureus/utorrent compatible peer exchange, which should apparently help increase some transfer speeds.Using his crystal ball, however, Watanabe also announced three major features we can strike off the request list: selective file downloading, encryption, and torrentcast auto-downloading (though I should point out that Xtorrent can already subscribe to RSS feeds of torrents - it just doesn't auto-snag 'em yet). Dave announced that these features are "absolutely" planned for a future release (or spread out across more than one), though we'll all just have to sit tight as these things naturally fall under the tried and true "they'll be done when they're done" policy.
IBM demonstrates 160Gbps optical transceiver chipset
Innovative cooling solutions aren't the only things that IBM is showing off of late, as the firm is also demonstrating a wicked fast optical transceiver chipset at the 2007 Optical Fiber Conference. The prototype reportedly has the uncanny ability to "move information at speeds of 160Gbps," which should prove quite useful with all the streaming media we're growing more and more fond of with each passing day. IBM is apparently trying to "make optical connectivity viable for widespread use" by constructing an optical transceiver "with driver and receiver integrated circuits in current CMOS technology," and then adding in a few exotic materials to deliver a package measuring just 3.25- x 5.25-millimeters. As expected, no implementation dates were readily available, but considering that 100G Ethernet is just around the corner, we're sure IBM will have its act together in plenty of time.[Via Playfuls]
Samsung's GDDR4 graphics memory goes to 2000MHz
While Samsung has been dabbling in the RAM world quite a bit of late, kicking out the micro-sized OneDRAM and cellphone-bound gigabit-density DRAM, the firm is now officially loosing its 2000MHz GDDR4 RAM on the world. While the zippy memory is already found on ATI's Radeon X1950 card, it'll now be available en masse to graphics card producers in order to speed up current and future offerings "by up to 66-percent." By using 80-nanometer production technology, the memory boasts a 4Gbps throughout, which is nearly two-thirds higher than the widely used 2.4Gbps GDDR4 variety out now; additionally, it'll be offered to vendors in just a 512MB density, rock a 32-bit data bus configuration, and utilizes "JEDEC-approved standards for signal noise reduction to help attain the highest possible speed." No word on how much Sammy plans on charging speed-freaked manufacturers, nor how long it'll take for a kilowatt-burnin' card other than the X1950 to include such a luxury, but we wouldn't count on it being too much longer, regardless.[Via TGDaily]
CableLabs names 15Mbps as "safe harbor bitrate" for MPEG2 HD VOD
We already know how fond CableLabs is of HD VOD content, so it makes perfect sense that the gurus behind the scenes are aiming to provide media that satisfies the discerning eye of the HD viewer. Considering that nearly every HDTV owner has a sneaking suspicion that they're not getting the bandwidth they're paying for at times, CableLabs new specifications hope to ensure that HD VOD viewers don't get the "HD Lite" experience. While the recommended SD VOD rate remained steady at just 3.75Mbps, CableLabs has named 15Mbps the "safe harbor bitrate" to allow all forms of HD VOD content (including talking heads and fast-moving action films) to be seen at a quality that represents what HDTV should be about, including 5.1 audio and an absence of pixelation. Of course, these latest suggestions are entirely based on MPEG2 transfers, and could very well change if MPEG4 starts running the show, but at the very least it's good to see someone making sure we get our due bandwidth.
DSM to kick copper speeds up to 100 Mbps
While everyone's getting all excited by that FiOS, fiber-to-the-home, fiber-in-the-home or even Google's alleged DWDM -- there's another futuristic bandwidth project currently afoot, the Dynamic Spectrum Management. The advantage of DSM -- which aims to replace DSL if its creators have their way -- is to use current copper wiring to create 100Mbps service in the home by futzing with the way that signals and packets are processed and transferred. Naturally, if DSM turns out to work, it would likely be a much cheaper alternative to digging trenches for fiber in the ground. In any case, this requires a fair amount of cooperation between those telecom firms who control the pipes, and so today, a group of tech and telecom companies (including the Israeli firm ECI Telecom and the Spanish giant Telefonica), have joined forces to try to work out all of DSM's kinks. The consortium announced that it will receive €8 million ($10 million) in grant money over the next three years from the Chief Scientist Office of Israel. [Via Reuters]
SK Telecom launches HSDPA network with new Samsung SCH-W200
South Korean consumers looking for some serious mobile bandwidth need not wait until June to pick up one of LG's SH100 handsets that we brought you earlier today, because SK Telecom has just announced that their HSDPA network is live in 25 cities as of today, and that a new model from Samsung is available for the rollout. Besides 2G, 3G, and 3.5G data support, the new Samsung SCH-W200 -- which is the first of five impending HSDPA phones, including the SH100, that will available by year's end -- offers both a two megapixel as well as a VGA camera, S-DMB TV capabilities, MP3/AAC playback, text-to-speech, and perhaps most importantly with all these features, multitasking. Although theoretically capable of 12Mbps downstream traffic, SKT's HSDPA network will currently only deliver a relatively pokey 1.8Mbps to the W200 -- with 3.6Mbps promised for later this year -- but claims to be the only WCDMA network in the world to offer guaranteed video conferencing performance through circuit, and not packet, switching. Read- HSDPA rollout Read- HSDPA speeds (subscription required)Read- Samsung SCH-W200
Software lets neighbors securely share WiFi bandwidth
Instead of fighting about property lines and whose dog is keeping everyone up at night, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign want you and your neighbors to get together and share your WiFi signal in a method that supposedly delivers better performance to each individual user. Assistant computer science professor Haiyun Luo and graduate student Nathanael Thompson of the school's Systems, Wireless, and Networking Group have released a free download that analyzes local airwaves and exploits unused bandwidth from one network to complement ones experiencing heavy usage, but always gives users priority access to their own signal. Part of the two-year-old PERM project, the application uses flow-scheduling algorithms to determine bandwidth allocation, and has so-far undergone testing on Linux clients and with Linksys routers. Security is obviously a key concern in such a sharing setup, so PERM developed the software to both "preserve a user's privacy and security, and mitigate the free-riding problem."[Via PCWorld]
