Connectivity & Cloud - Page 10

Safer Internet Day is upon us. Well, almost -- it's actually tomorrow, but Google is getting ahead of the game and encouraging its users to review their security settings as of today. In return, they'll reward you with 2GB free storage on Google Drive. Even better, it stacks with any previously rewarded extra storage, meaning you can have as much as 19GB total free storage as of today.

Reviewing your settings is simple: click here, then review your phone number, security question, connected devices, and account permissions, changing them or alterting Google to suspicious activity as necessary. Once done -- bam, free storage.

Well... Google is offering its super-fast optic-based 1Gbps Internet service for free to residents living in public housing, once the company hooks its Fiber lines up to the properties.

The news is coming directly from Google, from their new blog titled "Connecting Public Housing at Gigabit Speeds". It all started in July 2015 when Google partnered with ConnectHome - a joint initiative led by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the White House, where it wanted to speed up Internet adoption for families with school-aged children, living in public housing.

Soon, public housing tenants will be able to access 1Gbps up/down from Google, for free. Google will begin its free 1Gbps Fiber rollout starting with residents in West Bluff, an affordable housing community in Kansas City, Missouri. Around 100 homes have been connected to the service, but Google is working with nine low-income property regions that would eventually connect over 1,300 local families.

Google has a new ambitious plan to use solar-powered drones to zap high-speed internet from the heavens down to Earth.

According to reports from The Guardian, the secret project is called SkyBender, and is centralized in New Mexico's Gateway to Space terminal. Google's Project SkyBender is using solar-powered Solara 50 UAVs from the Google Titan division to experiment with high-speed millimeter-wave radio transmissions. The drones essentially beam the transmissions from the skies down to one of two targeted transceivers, bestowing wireless internet to a given area.

High-frequency millimeter-wave transmissions may ultimately pave the way for 5G technology; the signals are up to 40 times more efficient and powerful than 4G LTE, and can transmit up to multiple gigabits of data per second. "The huge advantage of millimetre wave is access to new spectrum because the existing cellphone spectrum is overcrowded. It's packed and there's nowhere else to go," said Jacques Rudell, a specialist from the University of Washington.

Set over a three-year period, Microsoft will be giving a cool $1 billion worth of cloud services to not for profit organizations and researchers, helping alleviate financial stress for companies and individuals who cannot otherwise afford the technological assistance that 'the cloud' has to offer.

Brad Smith, Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer, wrote that this helping hand will be spread over approximately 70,000 organizations before the end of 2017, with his company looking to donate around $350 million worth of cloud services to companies before the end of 2016.

This news follows the World Economic Forum at Davos in Switzerland, with experts questioning the global advantages of cloud services if poorer nations cannot access the helpfulness that it brings.

WhatsApp users rejoice: the cross-platform mobile messaging app is now totally free for everyone.

The Facebook-owned messaging titan announced today that it has removed all subscription fees from WhatsApp, and the service will be free to use for all users.

"We're happy to announce that WhatsApp will no longer charge subscription fees. For many years, we've asked some people to pay a fee for using WhatsApp after their first year. As we've grown, we've found that this approach hasn't worked well. Many WhatsApp users don't have a debit or credit card number and they worried they'd lose access to their friends and family after their first year. So over the next several weeks, we'll remove fees from the different versions of our app and WhatsApp will no longer charge you for our service."

CES 2016 - TP-Link has unveiled the world's first 802.11ad router that leverages three bands for a total speed of up to 7.2Gbps.

TP-Link's new Talon AD7200 router taps into the power of WiGig--the brand for Qualcomm's new 802.11ad standard--to deliver ultra-fast speeds. The Talon AD7200 sports a tri-band access point chipset that combines the monstrously-fast 60GHz WiGig with 802.11ac's 2.5GHz and 5GHz frequencies, totaling up to an insane speed of 7.2Gbps.

Although WiGig presents tremendous gains over traditional Wi-Fi, the new band can't penetrate walls and is limited to a single area. Luckily the Talon AD7200 will automatically switch over to the most efficient frequency at any given moment without interrupting tethered connections. So if you walk outside of WiGig's potent-but-limited range, the router will switch over to 802.11ac Wi-Fi without breaking a stride. The AD7200 also supports older frequencies including 802.11 a/b/g/n.

Microsoft's chief marketing officer Chris Capossela has stated on the Windows Weekly podcast that the end of of OneDrive unlimited storage announcement was rushed in order to do damage control.

"The way we did communication was very rushed because a major publication was going to print something that was very damaging and was not true, so we felt like we had to get in front of it," Capossela said.

"We had given ourselves a couple more months to get everything lined up [for removing unlimited storage] so we could do it all-in-one fell swoop. We were just not ready," he said, later continuing, "We just didn't do a good enough job ... to beat the story and get the communications in the shape they needed to be."

It looks like USB Type-C just took a step in the right direction, with the reversible USB port being upgraded to include the Thunderbolt 3 transfer protocol from Intel.

The latest USB Type-C based devices can be found in the new Dell XPS 12, XPS 13 and XPS 15 systems that were announced in October being the first to feature the new port. Intel has called Thunderbolt 3 "port nirvana" thanks to it being capable of transferring data at 40Gbps, twice as fast as Thunderbolt 2, and four times as fast as USB 3.1 which has a ceiling of 10Gbps.

Thunderbolt 3 is quick enough to transfer a 4K video in less than 30 seconds while the port itself can drive two 4K displays at 60Hz, and it can quick charge notebooks at up to 100W. Getting Thunderbolt 3 into the USB Type-C protocol is a big win for Intel, as Thunderbolt connectivity has never reached the high hopes of Intel, but direct integration with USB Type-C is something exciting for Thunderbolt and especially Intel.

A new technology medium called Li-Fi is ready to shake up the world of wireless connectivity, offering real-world speeds of 1Gbps--100 times the speeds of traditional Wi-Fi.

With 4K resolution just around the corner, the world's appetite data consumption is about to become much more voracious. Communications titans will need to find a new wireless solution to transmit ever-growing data-streams at an efficient rate, and eventually Wi-Fi will have to be left behind. In comes Li-Fi, the light-based technology that was able to hit insane 224 Gbps speeds in a lab environment.

Li-Fi uses the visible light spectrum to transmit data, meaning that everyday LED bulbs can be turned into portable hotspots. In order to transmit data, Li-Fi bulbs use modular pulses of light that flicker in nanoseconds to transmit data streams. Imagine having an intensely powerful and efficient Wi-Fi hotspot in every room of your house--that's the kind of potential that Li-Fi has.

If you live in the UK and have subpar Internet, that will hopefully all change in the next few years if the UK government has a say about the matter.

The UK government is working on a Universal Service Obligation that would see all UK residents with at least 10Mbps Internet connections by 2020, where providers would be required to connect you, even if you live in a remote area. Starting early next year, consultations will begin, where it will hopefully see Internet access being branded as a basic utility, just like electricity and water.

But even by 2017, the UK expects to have around 95% of people connected to broadband. But, this expansion needs to be large enough to encompass the rest of the UK residents, and at least 10Mbps. The UK government says the Internet would be "affordable", but didn't state where pricing will start.

Earlier this week, Microsoft elected to reel it in on OneDrive storage, making plans to alter its unlimited data for Office subscribers offer to a 1TB offer, and to remove its 100GB and 200GB options for newcomers. Users aren't happy, and have taken to Change.org and the OneDrive forums to voice this.

The Change.org petition suggests a 2TB offer for Office subscribers -- a compromise it says provides users with significant storage while remaining competitive with other cloud services. For other options, it wants the 100GB and 200GB plans and the 15GB camera bonus back.

"With storage being as cheap as it is today and other services like Windows 10 relying heavily on OneDrive, there is really no reason for Microsoft to reduce the storage amount on plans outside those with unlimited storage," it reads. "We hope OneDrive will retain its 100GB plan, 200GB plan, 15GB bonus, and consider a 2 TB limit for its Office subscribers so that Microsoft will continue bringing its great features that competitors lack in the 'Mobile first, Cloud first' world."

Microsoft today announced that big changes are coming to OneDrive. The company has been forced to pull its unlimited cloud in the face of extreme bandwidth usages, with some users racking up almost 100 TB worth of data.

When Microsoft rolled out its infinite cloud storage about a year ago, it wasn't prepared for nearly every Office 365 subscriber to take full advantage. Some users pushed the infinite data clause far past reasonable consideration by taking up "14,000 times the average user". As a result of the consistently massive surge in server use, the limitless data offer is now off the tables and now capped at 1TB. Free storage is also down to 5GB, and Microsoft is pulling bonus data options for sign-ups.

"We're no longer planning to offer unlimited storage to Office 365 Home, Personal, or University subscribers. Starting now, those subscriptions will include 1 TB of OneDrive storage."

Most people probably haven't even heard about MU-MIMO, but it's about to be a huge upgrade to Wi-Fi technology and speeds. We've been living with 802.11 a/b/g/n for a while, and even through the 5GHz upgrade, the overall speeds didn't leap near Gigabit, or 10GbE Ethernet.

The 'MU' in MU-MIMO stands for 'Multi-User', with it being the new Wave 2 specification of 802.11ac Wi-Fi technology. The big difference is that multiple data streams can be taken into consideration, with multiple antennas on the base station and client device blasting out data all at once. If there's four antennas on the base station, and four on your Wi-Fi card, then you can expect four streams of data simultaneously.

Anshel Sag, Staff Technologist and Technical Writer, took MU-MIMO for a spin in his research paper on MU-MIMO and 802.11ad Wi-Fi, with some interesting results. Sag reported: "In our own lab testing at Moor Insights & Strategy using off the shelf equipment at retail stores, MU-MIMO smartphones when paired with a MU-MIMO access point, experienced a 75% TCP (transmission control protocol) download performance uplift going from 260 Mbps bandwidth with three smartphones to 455 Mbps with three MUMIMO enabled smartphones. In fact, overall network bandwidth utilization actually increased as we added devices to the network, rather than decrease, which it did in the case of nonMU Wi-Fi which can partially attribute to the poor Wi-Fi performance in crowded areas".

Fujitsu has announced that it has developed a new wireless communications receiver, which is capable of massive transfer rates of up to 20 gigabits per second. The receiver is tiny enough that it will fit into a smartphone, super-powering data transfer rates.

The new chip would make smartphones and tablets capable of transferring 4K or even 8K video virtually instantly, with 8K resolution videos featuring 16x the resolution of 1080p. Fujitsu is calling its new chip the world's first compact 300GHz receiver, thanks to its insanely fast wireless communication abilities.

Fujitsu's new chip is smaller than 1 cubic centimeter, where it combines both a receiver-amplifier chip as well as a terahertz-band antenna. Because the chip has high sensitivity, transmissions ranges are much shorter - just 1m away. A Fujitsu spokesperson said: "It is the first time such a highly sensitive terahertz band receiver has been made small enough to fit into a current-generation cellular phone". The company hopes to have the chip being built commercially in 2020.

Gogo has just received approval from the FAA to offer consumers 70Mbps in-flight Wi-Fi, up from the much slower speeds of 9.8Mbps. The FAA only just this week approved the final Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) required to use it.

The new system was meant to be streaming content on planes already, but the FAA didn't provide the final STC required, but now that it has Gogo is free to offer 70Mbps Wi-Fi to its customers. Gogo has over 500 aircraft waiting on antenna upgrades, with the plan now being to have the new antennas installed by early 2016.

2Ku will be installing the new satellite antennas, where they'll also be future-proofed to work with new spot beam satellites. This upgrade is going to be huge, as it will increase the speeds from 70Mbps to 100Mbps. 100Mbps shared across a plane full of people might not seem like much, but it's better than nothing.

Semiconductor and microcontroller company Microchip Technology announced a partnership with Intel to utilize its Enhanced Privacy ID (EPID) technology in future products.

"Microchip has long recognized the importance of security in IoT applications," said Ian Harris, VP of Computing Products Group at Microchip. "Collaborating with Intel to integrate its proven Intel EPID technology demonstrates Microchip's steadfast commitment to providing the very best IoT solutions, by working to enable designers with the safe and secure interoperation of their 'things' with Intel's devices, gateways and servers."

The IoT marketplace is growing drastically, but privacy and cybersecurity remain two major hurdles that must be addressed accordingly. EPID can be used for device authentication, standardization, and helps protect end-user privacy. The need for data security is crucial for the widespread adoption of Things in the workplace and at home, so expect similar partnerships from Intel in the future.

Verizon has teased that it has successfully tested out its new, insanely fast fiber-optic technology that goes by the name of next-generation passive optical network, or NG-PON2.

This new technology is capable of blasting speeds to users at anywhere between 10Gbps and 80Gbps, enough to download many Blu-ray movies in just a few seconds. The new technology uses an optical line terminal (OLT) which is capable of generating four wavelengths of light, each capable of transmitting data at 10Gbps down, and 2.5Gbps up.

Verizon's impressive new technology is capable of transmitting both the current GPON (or Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network) as well as the new, insanely quick NG-PON2, simultaneously. The system is even capable of switching between the four wavelengths in the case of something going wrong, where it can quickly restore the 10Gbps connection.

A startup company from Germany wants you to forget about your regular house keys, and use a hands-free fob that has been named the Kiwi Ki.

The system operates using radio-frequency identification (RFID) and unlocks a house door as the resident approaches. The mechanism is available for less than $450, and each key fob requires a monthly fee.

"It is much more secure than a normal key. A normal key can be copied easily, sometimes just from a photograph," said Henryk Ploetz, a security analyst, in a statement to Euronews. "With this one you can't do that. That is the case for all contactless keys, but this one is as secure or more secure than all other contactless systems."

With many Americans wanting to get their grubby mitts on Google Fiber, there are going to be many simultaneously excited and disappointed with the news that Google is set to deliver its super-fast 1Gbps service to low-income properties.

Google will be rolling its Fiber service out to low-income housing in markets where it offers its Google Fiber service, including Atlanta, Durham, Nashville, and Kansas City. Best of all, it's going to be offered for, free. Yes, $0. Nothing. Nada. The Mountain View-based giant notes that households earning under $30,000 per year, roughly 26% of those have no Internet access at all.

A recent trial program pushed more than 90% of the residents in one public housing property sign up for Google Fiber. But offering up some free 1Gbps Internet for free, is going to be huge for the service, and those in low-income housing.

If you thought your current 4G speeds were good, they won't even begin to compare to what 5G will offer. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has agreed on the preliminary definitions of the future 5G standard, where the 12-member delegation decided on the new specification.

5G compliant networks will be capable of providing speeds of up to 20Gbps, or over 2GB/sec, which is 20x faster than the 1Gbps specification for 4G. This means that consumers will enjoy speeds of up to 1GB/sec on your smartphones, with the region being between 100MB/sec and 1GB/sec, which is insanity. This is a 10x to 100x increase in the speeds available on typical 4G networks.

This huge increase in speeds will usher in a new era of connectivity, allowing 4K resolution video streaming and beyond being more than capable from a 5G-capable smartphone. The final 5G standard will be confirmed in October, with the 193 ITU member countries all voting on the final spec. 5G should be tested in 2018 at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.