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The Daily Roundup for 04.17.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
'World's fastest' home internet service hits Japan with Sony's help, 2 Gbps down
Google Fiber might be making waves with its 1Gbps speeds, but it's no match for what's being hailed as the world's fastest commercially-provided home internet service: Nuro. Launched in Japan yesterday by Sony-supported ISP So-net, the fiber connection pulls down data at 2 Gbps, and sends it up at 1 Gbps. An optical network unit (ONU) given to Nuro customers comes outfitted with three Gigabit ethernet ports and supports 450 Mbps over 802.11 a/b/g/n. When hitched to a two-year contract, web surfers will be set back 4,980 yen ($51) per month and pony up a required 52,500 yen (roughly $540) installation fee, which is currently being waived for folks who apply online. Those lucky enough to call the Land of the Rising Sun home can register their house, apartment or small business to receive the blazing hookup, so long as they're located within Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Tokyo, Kanagawa or Saitama. Click the bordering source link for more details on signing up.
The Weekly Roundup for 04.08.2013
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
The Daily Roundup for 04.12.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
AT&T announces plans for 1Gbps fiber service in Austin, Texas; Google gets immediate competition
First thought: "Ha!" Second thought: "Oh, wait -- competition is an excellent thing." While it's highly probable that AT&T is looking to both overshadow Google's launch party and maintain a foothold in one of its most prized states, the outfit's terse announcement of an impending 1Gbps fiber network should honestly be seen as nothing but excellent news for residents of Austin. Merely hours after Google and the city of Austin jointly made clear that Google Fiber would be hitting up local homes in mid-2014, Ma Bell has made public its "intent" to built a 1 Gigabit fiber network in the same area. AT&T's expanded fiber plans in Austin anticipate it will be granted the "same terms and conditions as Google on issues such as geographic scope of offerings, rights of way, permitting, state licenses and any investment incentives." Of course, it's seriously unlikely AT&T will offer up basic fiber connections for free in the way that Google's doing, but on a macro level, we certainly hope this type of one-upping continues in more towns across the country. And, more specifically, that AT&T continues to roll out fiber networks on its own accord in various locales; with FiOS expansion indefinitely paused, we sure need someone to step up and keep the dream alive.
Google Fiber is officially coming to Austin, Texas
Hear that? It's Austin, being weird enough to add yet another reason to live within its city limits. As rumored, Google Fiber will be rolling down to one of Texas' most esteemed towns in the near future, joining the Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri metro as the only locales (so far) in the US of A offering the outfit's Fiber-based TV, phone and 1Gbps broadband services. Mum's the word on an exact rollout, but we'll update this post as we learn more.
Rumors suggest Austin, Texas is next up for a Google Fiber rollout (update: so does its website)
The major problem most of us have with Google Fiber is that we can't get it, but that could change soon for residents of Austin, Texas. According to reports by VentureBeat and KVUE News in Austin, invites are going out for an event on Tuesday at 11 AM put on by Google and the city. Anonymous sources indicate that's where the two will announce plans to bring the TV and high speed internet hookup's plans for expansion Until we hear differently however, Google Fiber's rollout is still only confirmed for the Kansas City area, so plan your living arrangements accordingly. Update: A tipster informs us that the news section on the Google Fiber "Cities" page is currently (3AM ET) flashing a "Google Fiber's Next Stop: Austin, Texas" header. While author "SoAndSo" is not particularly well known, we'd figure this removes any remaining doubt where the service is landing next. [Thanks, Chris]
The Daily Roundup for 03.20.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Google Fiber to expand its footprint (slightly) beyond Kansas City to Olathe, KS
While our zipcodes still haven't popped up on Google's gigabit-connected list, it announced tonight that Google Fiber is coming to the Kansas City suburb of Olathe, KS. The Olathe City Council approved an agreement allowing the expansion earlier this evening, although there's no word on timing for the deployment just yet. The internet / TV service Google provides will be competing with Comcast locally, as opposed to incumbent Time Warner in many of the previous areas. As you can see from the map above, this is technically beyond the initial rollout announced, which should thrill residents of what Wikipedia tells us is the fourth largest Kansas City suburb and hometown of NFL running back Darren Sproles. Still, despite Google calling this hopefully the first of several announcements for additional KC-area cities it will still require a move to this particular corner of the Great Plains.
Cuba confirms Alba-1 fiber hook-up to Venezuela, internet remains on lockdown
Cuba may only be positioned 100 or so miles from Key West, but the US embargo meant an undersea fiber link to North America hasn't been a possibility. Earlier this week, though, we began to see discussion regarding traffic passing through a connection to Venezuela, and ETECSA, a government-owned telecom provider, has now confirmed that a 994-mile cable has been operational since August, though in a limited capacity. On January 10th, ETECSA stepped up its utilization, testing the connection using "real traffic." The $70-million Alba-1 cable, which has a reported lifespan of 25 years, was completed in February 2011, though it's not clear when, or if, citizens will see any benefit -- a statement explained that it "will not automatically mean an increase in access." That's not great news for Cubans, but at least Hugo Chavez now has the possibility of a direct link to his home country -- with a Netflix subscription and a VPN tunnel to the good ole US of A, his recovery could be a little more speedy.
Cuba's undersea fiber cable potentially sees consumer internet use for first time
An underwater fiber cable linking Cuba and Venezuela has given the island a hard connection to the internet since 2011, but reports have said that only government bodies from both countries have used the line. According to internet and network analysis firm Renesys, the cable lit up with activity last week with data flowing through it between Telefonica and the nation's state telecom company, Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (ETECSA). Presumably, this could signal use by the average joe. Traceroutes into Cuba through the new Telefonica path show markedly lower latencies than the Caribbean country's existing satellite-reliant connections, hinting that the cable has been flipped on -- at least in one direction. It appears that the ETECSA is using the line for inbound data while leaning on satellites for outbound traffic. Despite the clues, a GlobalPost correspondent in Cuba says there has been no perceptible improvement in internet speeds as of yet. Castro and Co. may not have said a peep about the development, but the new Telefonica path surfaced the very same day Cuba nixed the requirement of exit visas for citizens to travel outside its borders. Hit the source link for network stats and the nitty gritty details. [Image credit: Phil Guest, Flickr]
Google selects five additional Kansas City markets for Fiber rollout
It's not just in Kansas City anymore -- it's in the surrounding neighborhoods. Google's rolling out its Fiber service to five more areas in the midwestern municipality starting in the new year. After putting the finishing touches on installations in the Dub's Dread area, households in Piper Schools, Delaware Ridge, Painted Hills, Open Door and Arrowhead will be next on deck to sign-up for Mountain View's nascent TV and internet services. Google's provided an updated chart with installation boundaries and respective deadlines for eligible homes, instructing denizens of these fiberhoods to select from among three available packages: Gigabit + TV plan, Gigabit Internet Plan or Free Internet Plan. And if hedging your bets on a untested service has you wary of signing on the dotted line, the search giant's also arranged for prospective subs to demo its fiber optic wares at the appropriately dubbed Fiber Space. Click on the source below for more details and an opportunity to be next in line for Google's great digital expansion.
Gigabit Squared heading high-speed fiber and wireless internet initiative in Seattle
Seattle may have lost its high-velocity hoops team, but that doesn't mean it's satisfied with anything but speedy internet. The city has come to an agreement with Gigabit Squared (GB2) to build an unnecessarily wordy "fiber-to-the-home/fiber-to-the-business broadband network." With the University of Washington taking care of "community leadership" (as part of the Gig. U initiative), GB2 plans to utilize Seattle's excess fiber infrastructure, and create more, to deliver new internet options in three ways. In addition to the wired fiber network, the Gigabit Seattle project sees the development of a "dedicated gigabit broadband wireless umbrella" for beaming up to 1 Gbps from radio transmitters to others in direct view, as well as municipal WiFi-like services. At this stage, only 12 "demonstration" areas are earmarked in the proposal, although the radio-based wireless "umbrella" has the potential to extend that coverage. Gigabit Squared now needs to find the cash to get going if it wants to meet the distant operational target of "year-end 2014." It's worth remembering that plenty of city-wide internet initiatives have failed before this one, and only a Memorandum of Understanding and a Letter of Intent have been signed by all the involved parties -- agreements which aren't necessarily binding. Full details of the plan are available in PR form and at the source link below, or if you're done with prose, a map of the 12 demo neighborhoods hopefully getting hooked up can be found after the break. [Thanks, Gavin]
Netflix's ISP rankings confirm the expected: Google Fiber is 'the most consistently fast ISP in America'
Like there was ever any doubt, right? Netflix -- which serves up over one billion hours of video streaming to some 30 million members per month -- owes it to itself to keep track of which ISPs are killing it, and which simply need to be killed. Now, the outfit's finally ready to begin publishing its findings, ranking America's major Internet Service Providers based upon "actual performance across all Netflix streams." The shocker to end all shockers? "Google Fiber is now the most consistently fast ISP in America, according to actual user experience on Netflix streams in November." Of note, however, Verizon's fiber-based FiOS offering came mighty close. Of course, Google's Fiber isn't available outside of the Kansas Cities region, while Verizon has (loosely) confirmed that it has no plans to expand the existing FiOS infrastructure beyond the 13 states that were lucky enough to get it. Broadly, cable shows better than DSL, while AT&T's U-verse -- dubbed a "hybrid fiber-DSL service" -- ranked quite poorly compared to both Google Fiber and FiOS. Head on over to the source for the full rundown, and feel free to begin the relocation process to Kansas. Good internet, good barbecue, Collin Klein -- what's not to love?
Google mulled adding home phone service in Kansas City fiber packages, backed away due to 'regulations'
One can only imagine the insane amount of red tape you'd have to endure in order to launch as a new Internet Service Provider, but evidently that pales in comparison to setting up shop as a new phone provider. According to a report from the Kansas City Business Journal, Google "considered offering phone services with its ultra-fast Internet and TV packages" in the Kansas Cities, but it backed away from the idea after "doing some digging into federal and state regulations." Milo Medin, vice president of Google Access Services, had this to say: "We looked at doing that. The cost of actually delivering telephone services is almost nothing. However, in the United States, there are all of these special rules that apply." It was also noted that Milo didn't feel as if the lack of a home phone option would be a huge detriment to everything else Google was doing, and considering the decline in landline connections these days, we can't say we disagree.
NTT cuts fiber internet prices in Japan, may be reacting to an LTE generation
As manic as LTE adoption has been in the US, it could be triggering a full-fledged generational rift in Japan. NTT is cutting prices for fiber-to-the-home internet access by as much as 34 percent in the midst of falling landline subscriptions, and Australia's Delimiter hears from unofficial sources at the provider that the cuts may be in response to youth being enamored with 4G on their phones. The tipsters believe that many of the younger set are picking one expensive LTE plan, even with data caps, instead of paying for two services; a price drop would be an attempt to keep at least a few of these wireless rebels onboard. Take the assertions with a grain of salt when there's no official statements to match, but there's no doubt that 4G demand is booming when NTT's own DoCoMo just landed its 7 millionth Xi contract. We only wish American wired and wireless carriers would be so accommodating of our temptation to cut the cord.
EarthLink completes fiber broadband rollout in Eastern Tennessee
Anyone familiar with the unglamorous circumstances of Elvis Presley's passing might agree he needed a little more fiber in his diet. That would've been the case if 'the King' was of this generation, as the state he called home is pretty well wired these days, and even more so now EarthLink has completed its "Eastern Tennessee Broadband Project." Over 500 miles of fiber optics have been installed in "underserved areas," offering up to 10 Gbps speeds to businesses and institutions, with some 'last mile' providers already claiming their stake. Bon appétit, Tennessee. [Image credit: Royce DeGrie / Getty Images]
EE details UK 4G pricing: Unlimited calls, texts and 500MB of data starts at £36
We've seen the speeds, we know the handsets and now we know how much it'll cost you to be among the first to try 4G in the UK. EE has outlined its contract and handset pricing from October 30th, with all of the bundles including unlimited calls and texts. Yep, the new carrier is breaking it down by data, with its entry-level 500MB bundle starting at £36 for 24 months. You'll have to make an initial payment for most handsets, although the Ascend P1 will be free from the 1GB bundle upwards. Data allowances go up to 8GB for £56 per month, although users can add even more, with an extra 50MB costing £3, or up to 4GB for £20. Now, if you're looking to get Apple's latest on 4G, it'll set you back at least £20 on the highest data plan. Already got your LTE-ready iPhone 5? Then you'll have to wait until 9th November, when the network will start offering SIM-only 12-month plans priced from £21. The 4G network will also offer its phones on 12 month contracts for an additional £10 on top of the prices shown above. EE will let users who bought comparable non-4G versions in the last six months (like the One X or Galaxy S III) to exchange their devices for a one-off payment of £100. Alongside the all these pricing details, the Orange/ T-Mobile team-up also spilled the beans on some service features for its new customers -- and we've got it all covered after the break, including a quick hands-on with its Film store service.
Sprint network outage leads to flight delays with Alaska Airlines
A network outage that leaves folks without data for a few hours is one thing, but some Sprint problems today are causing some bigger issues than usual in one part of the US. Alaska Airlines is reporting flight delays at several airports, including Portland International Airport, as a result of the outage that is says began at 7:30AM Pacific time when a fiber cable was cut in Wisconsin. The AP is further reporting that Alaska Airlines President and CEO Brad Tilden says the airline expects to have a full resolution by 5PM local time, and that it may have a partial solution by noon. The reports that we've received from Sprint users also suggest that the outage is largely confined to the Northwest. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Update: We've gotten an official statement from a Sprint spokesperson on the matter, confirming that two separate fiber cuts have disrupted service in parts of Oregon, Washington and Northern California. The complete statement is as follows: Some Sprint customers in parts of Oregon, Washington and Northern California are experiencing a disruption in data and voice services. This is the result of two separate fiber cuts on Sprint's network in the northwestern and midwestern U.S. Sprint network technicians are working to repair these cuts and re-route network traffic so service can be restored as soon as possible. Update 2: Alaska Airlines says its flights are now running close to normal. Travelers, rejoice!
Chicago mayor targets affordable gigabit broadband, free WiFi throughout city parks
If Rahm Emanuel has his way, then Chicago's broadband access may very well give Kansas City a run for its money. The mayor of the Windy City has now revealed a rather ambitious initiative that would (ideally) overhaul the city's broadband infrastructure and provide affordable, gigabit-class fiber internet to areas that primarily serve industry, higher education and entrepreneurial startups. The idea came to Emanuel through Eric Schmidt, who suggested the upgrade be coordinated alongside the city's overhaul of its aging water / sewer system. Before any of this can happen, however, Chicago must first secure commitments from companies that would be willing to install and pay for the new upgrades. As a potential incentive, it's been suggested by Crain's Chicago Business that the city may offer some of its own unused fiber resources on a favorable lease. In addition to the hopes for ultra-fast broadband, Emanuel's project, dubbed the Chicago Broadband Challenge, also seeks to extend low-cost, high-speed internet to underserved areas of the city and to bring free WiFi access to all public spaces such as parks and plazas. Although mostly a token gesture, mayor Emanuel announced the immediate availability of free WiFi in Chicago's Millennium Park. The city is currently soliciting plans and proposals of how to approach the ambitious project, and you're invited to become a bit more familiar with these grand ambitions with the PR and source links below. [Chicago photo credit: Nimesh M / Flickr]
