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Huawei tests 2Tbps data transmission over Vodafone's German network, calls it a 'first'
As terabit speeds go, Huawei's latest fiber feat falls on the lower end of recent industry achievements. At 2Tbps, the Chinese company's field test -- one it's hailing as a "world's first" -- comes nowhere close to the 100Tbps-plus experiments conducted by the likes of NEC and NICT. But top speed isn't entirely the point here; real-world performance is. By leveraging existing fiber infrastructure owned by Vodafone across portions of lower Germany, Huawei was able to successfully demonstrate two record-breaking, 200G transmissions: one spanning 1,500km and the other 3,325km over an "ultra-long-haul solution." To give you a bit of perspective on just what sort of data haul theoretical networks of this kind can achieve, Huawei claims this ultra-fast connection is "equivalent to downloading 40 HD videos in one second." Impressive, indeed. But don't go ditching that TWC wideband or FiOS contract just yet. While it's nice to know this tech exists, practical deployment is still a ways off. Until then, gigabit's the buzz word.
Google tests searches that include Calendar, Drive in results
Google has been testing an expanded search that includes Gmail results ever since August, and it's been enough of a hit that the company is swinging for the fences with an expanded test. The new version lets Gmail members find Calendar appointments and Drive files through the autocomplete results in the search box. Visit the main Google page and the results won't be quite as broad, but they'll include both the previous trial's Gmail information as well as Drive -- thankfully, tucked to the side rather than dominating the main page. Any individual, English-literate Google fans can join the new trial to get early access and find that long lost spreadsheet in the cloud.
Boston Dynamics shows a quieter, more thoroughbred AlphaDog to DARPA and the Marines (video)
When we last saw Boston Dynamics' AlphaDog (aka LS3), it was strutting through outdoor trials with the subtlety of a nuclear missile: for all that noise, it might as well have been holding a "shoot here please" sign broadcasting American soldiers' positions to everyone in the forest. Several months later, the company is showing both DARPA and the Marine Corps a refined version of its load-carrying robot that has clearly been through a few rounds of obedience school. While we still wouldn't call the four-legged hauler stealthy, it's quiet enough to avoid the role of bullet magnet and lets nearby troops chat at reasonable volumes. And yes, there's new tricks as well. AlphaDog can speed up its travel over difficult surfaces and move at up to a 5MPH jog, all while it's following a human squad. DARPA and the Marines recently began testing and improving the robot over a two-year period that should culminate in an Advanced Warfighting Experiment with the Marines to test viability under stress. If AlphaDog passes that bar, there's a good chance many on-foot soldiers will have a mechanical companion -- and quite a weight lifted off of their shoulders.
Namco Bandai announces Tekken Tag Tournament 2 field tests in US arcades
"But wait," we hear you say from the other side of the Internet. "Isn't the American arcade scene dead? Haven't coin-op establishments gone the way of the dodo? What kind of fool do you take me for? Hey I'm talkin' to you!" Chill, friend! It's true that the American arcade is not as prolific as it once was, but the scene is far from dead. In fact, the U.S. of A.'s fighting game community has gone to great lengths to preserve its arcade heritage, and the scene is doing so well that Namco Bandai will be testing the latest entry in the Tekken series across our amber waves of grain. Announced during Northeast Championship XII, the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 field test will take place in 5 different arcades across the nation: Next Level Arcade in New York City, Round One Entertainment in City of Industry, CA, Super Arcade in Walnut, CA, Fun Works in Honolulu, HI and Arcade UFO in Austin, TX. As Austin is positively bursting with Joystiq editors, we'll be keeping an eye out for scheduling information as it becomes available. For now, we're just going to sit back and daydream about punching a robot with a bear. Mmmmm, satisfying.
NTT DoCoMo begins lightning fast LTE-Advanced field tests
LTE may only just be launching in countries like the US and Sweden, but NTT DoCoMo recently announced that it's starting to field test the better, faster, stronger LTE-Advanced. The Japanese carrier is experimenting with the new technology in the cities of Yokosuka and Sagamihara and gathering data to evaluate performance in indoor vs. outdoor environments. LTE-Advanced is backwards-compatible with NTT DoCoMo's existing LTE network, but reaches speeds up to 1Gbps down and 200Mbps up. No word on when the carrier plans to make the new technology available to its customers.
OLPC project readies first large-scale XO test
The OLPC project has shipped a few test units here or there, but it's finally ramping things up in the lead-up to July, when they'll start producing five million of the lime-green things. This shipment, however, is quite a bit more modest than that: 2,500 laptops are heading to Brazil, Uruguay, Libya, Rwanda, Pakistan, Thailand and possibly Ethiopia and the West Bank. Soon after that will come Indonesia and a few other countries. Strangely, this Reuters report still seems to imply that the pull-string "salad spinner" generator is new on the scene, or perhaps not even ready yet, which doesn't bode well for the project that is no doubt in need of finalizing designs. But no matter, all we needed to know was that these things were finally getting into the hands of OLPC clients around the world that are the ones that will actually be committing these absurd amounts of dollars to their children's education, who cares if they work![Thanks, Sparky]
