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Connectivity, Communications & Cloud - Page 8

The latest and most important Connectivity, Communications & Cloud news - Page 8.

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Elon Musk's Starlink internet service accepting $99 pre-orders

Anthony Garreffa | Feb 10, 2021 8:40 PM CST

If you are stuck in an area without great internet, Elon Musk is here to save the day with SpaceX and its satellite internet service Starlink, which you can now pre-order for $99.

Elon Musk's Starlink internet service accepting $99 pre-orders

Starlink will be offering satellite internet to many, but not all people -- where you can enter your home address into their website to see if you'll be able to access the Starlink satellite internet service. Depending on the area, Starlink's website will let you pre-order for $99 with SpaceX saying it is "targeting coverage in your area in mid to late 2021".

At first, Starlink will offer satellite internet coverage for users in the US, Canada, and the UK but countries like Australia will also be enjoying SpaceX's gift of high-speed internet later on in the year. SpaceX notes on its website that pre-orders are "fully refundable" but does note that "placing a deposit does not guarantee service" and that it "orders may take 6 months or more to fulfill" depending on where you live.

Continue reading: Elon Musk's Starlink internet service accepting $99 pre-orders (full post)

HDMI 2.1 cables with 4K 120Hz, 8K 60Hz support flood into the market

Anthony Garreffa | Jan 7, 2021 12:47 AM CST

If you're in the market for a new super-awesome 4K 120Hz gaming TV or monster 8K 60Hz TV then you're going to need a good quality HDMI 2.1 cable -- and now, that's something that'll be easier to buy moving forward.

HDMI 2.1 cables with 4K 120Hz, 8K 60Hz support flood into the market

Rob Tobias, CEO and president of HDMI Licensing Administrator, Inc. (HDMI LA) explains: "It's exciting to see so many new products available with these new features. And with the launch of the latest gaming consoles, consumers can now enjoy a thrilling HDMI 2.1 end-to-end experience with consoles, AVR's, cables, TVs and monitors. With shipments of HDMI products reaching almost 10 billion since it launched in 2002, HDMI technology continues to be the universal interface for consumer electronics products".

HDMI 2.1 houses many technologies that make it the new enthusiast standard, offering not just 4K120 and 8K60 support but features including Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and Quick Frame Transport (QFT).

Continue reading: HDMI 2.1 cables with 4K 120Hz, 8K 60Hz support flood into the market (full post)

Yardian Pro Smart Sprinkler Controller: green thumbs go tech thumbs

Sponsored Content | Oct 15, 2020 4:52 AM CDT

Aeon Matrix has recently launched its new Yardian Pro, the latest in its smart sprinkler range that lets you take full control of your backyard. Aeon Matrix is continuing to deliver on its mission of bringing smart technology to improve the quality of life and world sustainability with its new Yardian Pro.

Yardian Pro Smart Sprinkler Controller: green thumbs go tech thumbs

The new Yardian Pro has improved Wi-Fi that will provide much-improved signal coverage, and if the newly-boosted Wi-Fi coverage isn't up to your standards, Aeon Matrix have added an RJ45 ethernet port to the new Yardian Pro smart sprinkler system.

The company has added in some control buttons that let you control your Yardian Pro smart sprinkler system, providing users with the choice of up to 12 minutes watering duration.

Continue reading: Yardian Pro Smart Sprinkler Controller: green thumbs go tech thumbs (full post)

SpaceX on Starlink tests: latency low enough for hardcore gamers

Anthony Garreffa | Sep 4, 2020 8:30 PM CDT

SpaceX has some big claims about its revolutionary satellite internet deployment, with Starlink satellites packing "super low latency and download speeds greater than 100 mbps".

SpaceX on Starlink tests: latency low enough for hardcore gamers

Starlink consists of around 12,000 satellites orbiting in low orbit around the Earth, blasting super-fast internet down to the ground. A bunch of personal antennas on the ground are what you'd be connecting to, which is being touted a "UFO on a stick".

Kate Tice, the senior program reliability engineer at SpaceX, explains: "The Starlink team has been collecting latency statistics and performing standard speed tests of the system. This means that we're checking how fast data travels from the satellites to our customers, and then back to the rest of the internet. Initial results have been good".

Continue reading: SpaceX on Starlink tests: latency low enough for hardcore gamers (full post)

Samsung: 6G is coming and will replicate people, places, and our world

Anthony Garreffa | Jul 18, 2020 11:09 PM CDT

We could have 6G technology being deployed by 2028 says Samsung, with the company saying 6G would make it possible to "replicate people, devices, objects, systems, and even places in a virtual world".

Samsung: 6G is coming and will replicate people, places, and our world

Samsung explains it all in a new research paper, with the company saying that 6G will deliver in a few different services. First, we have immersive extended reality (XR), high-fidelity mobile holograms, and digital replicas.

The paper teases: "With the help of advanced sensors, AI, and communication technologies, it will be possible to replicate physical entities, including people, devices, objects, systems, and even places, in a virtual world".

Continue reading: Samsung: 6G is coming and will replicate people, places, and our world (full post)

Intel announces Thunderbolt 4, isn't much better than Thunderbolt 3

Anthony Garreffa | Jul 8, 2020 8:17 PM CDT

Intel has just announced the new generation of Thunderbolt, with the new Thunderbolt 4 standard being virtually identical to Thunderbolt 3 -- but Intel being Intel, we have Thunderbolt 4. Check it out:

Intel announces Thunderbolt 4, isn't much better than Thunderbolt 3

What does Thunderbolt 4 do exactly? What is Intel's aim with Thunderbolt 4 is to boost up the minimum performance requirements, provide a couple of improvements, and USB4 specifications. The new Thunderbolt 4 standard supports dual 4K displays (versus just one 4K display on TB3) but now you can also connect a single 8K display over a single Thunderbolt 4 connection. Impressive.

Jason Ziller, Intel general manager of the Client Connectivity Division explains: "Thunderbolt provides consumers with a leading connectivity standard across a range of devices, helping to advance computing experiences and delivering on the promise of USB-C with simplicity, performance, and reliability. The arrival of Thunderbolt 4 underscores how Intel is advancing the PC ecosystem toward truly universal connectivity solutions".

Continue reading: Intel announces Thunderbolt 4, isn't much better than Thunderbolt 3 (full post)

5GBioShield: USB drive that costs $416, protects you from 5G radiation

Anthony Garreffa | May 28, 2020 9:11 AM CDT

If you are scared of 5G radiation then you really need to look at buying this $416 product called 5GBioShield, from a UK-based company that says when the 5GBioShield is plugged in, it'll emit a protective shield with a 40-meter diameter that cancels out 5G radiation.

5GBioShield: USB drive that costs $416, protects you from 5G radiation

The company explains its 5GBioShield: "It harmonizes all harmful frequencies into life affirming frequencies". The drive itself is pwoered by "quantum nano-layer technology" that 5GBioShield says will "balance the imbalanced electric oscillations arising from all electric fog induced by all devices such as: laptops, cordless phones, wlan, tablets, etc".

But that's when IT security company Pen Test Partners steps in, as they purchased and tested the 5GBioShield. The firm said that the USB drive was "virtually identical" to a normal USB flash drive that you can buy wholesale form China for just $6. Yeah, there's nothing special going on -- it's like the Alex Jones of USB sticks.

Continue reading: 5GBioShield: USB drive that costs $416, protects you from 5G radiation (full post)

This 44.2Tbps internet connection is 1 million times faster than yours

Anthony Garreffa | May 23, 2020 12:27 AM CDT

No matter where you are, no matter who you are, no matter how much money you've got -- you do not have an internet connection anywhere near this good.

This 44.2Tbps internet connection is 1 million times faster than yours

Australian researchers have developed a new internet connection that is capable of driving up to a truly mind-boggling 44.2 Tbps, or 44 terabits per second. This is around 1 million times faster than the average American's internet speed, which is around 50Mbps. 1 million times faster, just let that sink in.

How is it done? Through using an optical device known as as "microcomb" that replaces the traditional 80 lasers or so found inside of modern telecom equipment. Phys.org explains a microcomb as it: "generates very sharp and equidistant frequency lines in a tiny microphotonic chip".

Continue reading: This 44.2Tbps internet connection is 1 million times faster than yours (full post)

Google uses your location data to ensure you obey stay-at-home orders

Anthony Garreffa | Apr 7, 2020 10:22 PM CDT

We know governments of the world are wanting to use as much power at their disposal to track, and hopefully stem the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus -- but how far is too far? We last heard the talks were happening to use mobile data to track users' location, but it seems this is now in full effect.

Google uses your location data to ensure you obey stay-at-home orders

Google is now using Google Maps location data from people who have previously agreed to share their history, to see who is staying and working at home. In Google's new COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports, the search giant is using anonymized data from people in 131 countries, in order to see their movement trends.

Google adds that "No personally identifiable information will be made available at any point". Because we haven't heard that before.

Continue reading: Google uses your location data to ensure you obey stay-at-home orders (full post)

21 million Chinese phone users vanished NOT attributed to coronavirus

Anthony Garreffa | Mar 31, 2020 4:20 AM CDT

It was just over 24 hours ago that we wrote the story that 21 million phones in China vanishing over coronavirus, but it seems the Associated Press noticed my story and 'fact checked' it.

21 million Chinese phone users vanished NOT attributed to coronavirus

The Associated Press has the "claim" of questioning the "Drop in cellphone users in China is proof that the coronavirus has killed 21 million in the country, far more than the official count". AP has their own "assessment" on this, where Arijeta Lajka writes: "False. The decline in cellphone users is not linked to the number of people who died after being infected with coronavirus. Major cellphone carriers in China attributed the drop to people with multiple phone numbers canceling some service during the outbreak".

AP talked with a representative of China Mobile, who said that the situation is indeed related to the COVID-19 outbreak, it was "not related to deaths, but changes in lifestyle". A China Mobile spokesperson said: "It was mainly due to reduced business and social activities resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak. Many customers in China have multiple SIM cards and it is common that they use their non-primary SIM cards to do these activities".

Continue reading: 21 million Chinese phone users vanished NOT attributed to coronavirus (full post)

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