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Alphabet will 'wind down' Loon's internet-broadcasting balloons
Google's parent company is shutting down its balloon internet project.
Google AI is now piloting Loon's internet-beaming balloons
The reinforcement learning model guides balloons much more efficiently.
Alphabet’s Loon sets a new record for longest stratospheric flight
Google Parent Alphabet has revealed that one of its Loon balloons spent 312 days aloft, breaking its previous stratospheric flight record of 223 days, by a wide margin.
Alphabet's Loon balloons are helping scientists study gravity waves
To compile their report, professor Sheshadri and her team used data that Alphabet's Loon balloons collected over 6,811 separate 48-hour periods between 2014 and 2018.
Loon's balloon-powered internet service is live in Kenya
Loon's balloon-powered 4G internet service is now live in Kenya.
Alphabet's balloon-powered Loon internet comes to Mozambique
Alphabet has announced that Loon will soon provide its balloon-powered 4G internet service to several regions in Mozambique. The company has teamed with local carrier Vodacom to serve the Cabo Delgado and Niassa provinces, two vast regions that currently have spotty or no internet coverage.
Alphabet's Loon, telecoms unite to boost high-altitude internet
Alphabet's Loon just got a big boost from telecoms in its bid to provide high-altitude internet to the world. The company has partnered with several industry giants to form the HAPS Alliance, a group devoted to promoting the use of stratospheric vehicles for internet access. Most of the allies are telecoms like Deutsche Telekom, SoftBank, Bharti Airtel, China Telecom and Telefonica, although the group also includes a diverse range of equipment makers like Airbus, AeroVironment, Ericsson, Intelsat and Nokia.
Alphabet's Loon turned a stratospheric aircraft into an internet drone
Alphabet's Loon is known for its internet balloons, but it worked on an entirely balloon-less project as part of its partnership with Softbank's HAPSMobile. The two formed "a long-term strategic relationship" in April 2019, with HAPSMobile investing $125 million in the Alphabet company. Now, the partners have announced that they've successfully designed and developed a communications payload for HAPSMobile's solar-powered stratospheric unmanned aircraft system, the HAWK30.
Loon will bring balloon-powered internet to the Amazon rainforest
Google's parent company Alphabet is continuing its mission is to bring internet to underserved areas through its Loon balloon-based internet service. Earlier this year, the company reached a milestone of over 1 million total hours of balloon stratospheric flight, and signed a contract to offer commercial service in Kenya. Today, Loon announced it would also be bringing internet to areas of Peru.
After Math: Never stop not watching
I don't know about y'all, but I'm spending this weekend stomping Nazis in the new Wolfenstein title (assuming it ever finished downloading). But if exacting revenge on some of modern history's most notorious villains isn't really your thing, we are still living in the Golden Age of Television -- well, at least technically. We've seemingly traded in our 600 channels for a half dozen individual streaming subscriptions and there's somehow still nothing on but Game of Thrones. Here are some of highlights from Engadget's entertainment coverage this week.
Alphabet's internet balloons have spent a million hours in the stratosphere
The fledgling internet balloon industry just marked an important achievement. Alphabet's Loon has recorded over 1 million hours of stratospheric flight for its balloons, covering about 24.9 million miles. The figures aren't completely shocking when they've been pressed into service for hard-hit areas like Puerto Rico and Peru, but it's still significant when the technology only graduated from project status one year earlier.
Alphabet's Loon could provide internet in Kenya this year
Alphabet's internet-delivering balloon service, Loon, expects to begin commercial service in Kenya sometime this year. The company just received approval from Kenyan officials to begin flying and testing over the country, and a Loon spokesperson said commercial service could be available in the coming months.
Alphabet's balloons broadcast LTE two days after Peruvian quake
When a magnitude 8.0 earthquake hit Peru Sunday, the Alphabet spinoff Loon was quick to respond. Within 48 hours, Loon delivered its internet-relaying balloons and began providing LTE coverage to users below. While more balloons are on the way, Loon says the speed at which it responded is a testament to the company's potential.
Telesat inks satellite internet deals with Loon and Blue Origin
Canadian telecom Telesat has inked a couple of deals that could boost its aim to become a key player in the satellite internet field. It's planning to establish a low-earth orbit network of 292 satellites, with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin helping to deploy them. Telesat will also use Alphabet-owned Loon's networking system to make sure the satellites work in harmony.
Alphabet's Loon forms advisory board to score internet balloon deals
Alphabet's Loon knows it needs to land carrier deals if it's going to turn internet balloons into a viable business, and that means tapping industry veterans who know how to make those deals. To that end, it just formed an advisory board that will help it find partners. The initial three members aren't household names, but you'll definitely know the companies they've worked for -- it's almost a who's-who of wireless.
Alphabet's Loon internet balloons broadcast their strongest signal yet
Mere months after shedding its "project" moniker, Google's internet-by-balloon moonshot, Loon has hit another milestone. Last month, the tech juggernaut pushed data packets across seven of its balloons at a distance of nearly 1,000 kilometers. Previously, the record was 100 kilometers across two balloons, according to a Medium post from Loon.
Alphabet's Loon internet balloons are making their way to Kenya
Alphabet has announced Loon's first commercial deal in Africa merely a few days after the former X lab experiment finally became a full-fledged company. According to Reuters, the new subsidiary will deploy internet-relaying balloons in Kenya starting next year in partnership with local provider Telkom Kenya. The partnership will bring high-speed internet access to rural communities in the country, particularly those in remote locations ISPs can't service.
Alphabet's Loon and Wing are now more than just 'projects'
Google parent company Alphabet's internet-delivering balloon service and its drone delivery project have graduated from X programs to full-fledged businesses at Alphabet. From here, Alphabet says that Loon will maintain its mission of working with carriers worldwide to deliver internet to underserved areas. Wing will similarly continue building out its network of delivery UAVs, not to mention its air-traffic control system for the unmanned aircraft.
Google accused of stealing the idea for Project Loon
Did Google engineers steal the idea of Project Loon from a company that was already testing weather balloons to distribute the internet? That's what Space Data Corporation alleges, having filed a lawsuit against the search engine in California this Monday. According to the complaint, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Google X representatives met with SDC way back in 2007. At the time, it looked as if Google might invest in SDC, and as part of the negotiations, both parties signed an NDA. Space Data then shared its top-secret research on how to make the system work in reality -- thinking that its ideas were protected by the agreement.
Google's solar plane crashed earlier this month in New Mexico
According to Bloomberg Business, the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating an incident wherein Google's solar-powered Solara 50 plane reportedly crashed shortly after takeoff. The event occurred on May 1st at a private airfield outside of Albuquerque and no injuries were reported. Recent Google acquisition Titan Aerospace built the 50-meter-wide (164 ft) drone as part of an ambitious Google plan to deliver global internet connectivity via stratospheric drones.
