Pashalis said:
On that note: Google recently announced that they want to send out a fleet of 180 satellites, that will enable them to Wi-Fi any part of the planet, no matter how remote
_http://www.hangthebankers.com/google-to-wi-fi-entire-planet-with-180-satellites/
More on Google's attempts for Wi-Fi in the sky. Add Comcast on the ground and both working with the Military-Industrial-Complex.
Google works with “former military operations people” to develop its WiFi drone army…
_http://pando.com/2014/06/18/googles-works-with-former-military-operations-people-to-develop-its-wifi-drone-army/
Wednesday June 18, 2014 - A few days ago, Wired’s Steven Levy wrote about the latest developments from Google’s Project Loon — an audacious and frightening attempt to launch a balloon-drone army high up in the atmosphere.
The plan is to create nothing less than a global WiFi network, powered by hundreds of balloons circling the globe at an altitude of 60,000 ft. Google envisions Loon delivering (and surveilling) Internet connectivity to the poor, rural unconnected masses around the world, not to mention filling in Internet/mobile dead spots in Silicon Valley’s own backyard. Who knows, it might even compete with existing cellular phone services one day.
Writes Levy: With the advances made over the last year, Google has a clearer idea of how it might eventually make money with Loon. In addition to connecting the last few billion (and often cash-poor) Internet users, the project might serve already-connected people with fat wallets by partnering with existing providers to deliver a super-roaming experience. “It’s not limited to rural areas,” Teller says. “Even in the middle of Silicon Valley you can lose connections while driving; large buildings and hills can block the signals. Balloons can fill in dead spots.”
If hundreds of Google spy balloons constantly hovering overhead isn’t scary enough, Levy pointed out that the company is working with “former military operations people” in order to track down and find every downed balloon in order to study their failures and improve the reliability of its so far sub-performing balloon technology.
I guess it’s not surprising, given Google’s history of close collaboration with the military-industrial complex.
But I’m curious exactly what kind of “former military operations people” is Google working with? What country? And what military? Or is it private security contractors like Blackwater/Academi? Or maybe the secretive CIA-connected Blackbird Technologies, which specializes in hi-tech tracking and search & rescue missions and has partnered with Google before?
I asked Google for comment but, as usual, they’re not saying a word.
A few days ago, Wired’s Steven Levy wrote about the latest developments from Google’s Project Loon
_http://www.wired.com/2014/06/google-balloons-year-later/
Google’s Balloon Internet Experiment, One Year Later
Monday June 16, 2014 - When Google announced Project Loon on June 15 last year, a lot of people were skeptical. But Google reports that since then, it has been able to extend balloon flight times and add mobile connectivity to the service. As a result, Google’s expectations are flying even higher than the 60,000-foot strata where its balloons live.
Since the first public test flights in New Zealand, Google’s balloons have clocked over a million and half kilometers. Increasing the crafts’ endurance has been a key challenge. One balloon expert originally scoffed at the claim that Loon balloons would eventually keep going for an average of 100 days. “Absolutely impossible—even three weeks is rare,” said Per Lindstrand, known for his highly publicized forays with entrepreneur Richard Branson. Indeed, during the first New Zealand tests, the balloons generally lasted only a few days.
Google bumped up flight durations by extensively analyzing its failures. Using former military operations people, it took pains to recover nearly every downed balloon. Google’s testing procedures also got a boost from winter’s polar vortex: Ground temperatures in South Dakota, where some of the balloons are manufactured, went as low as -40 degrees Celsius, about the same as what balloons encounter at 60,000 feet. So Google could test the inflated materials at leisure. Ultimately, Loon engineers concluded that one of the biggest factors in failure were small, almost undetectable leaks in the polymer skins that must withstand huge atmospheric pressure and up to 100 mph winds. Even a pinhole can shorten a balloon’s lifespan to a few days.
Google also improved Loon flight times by dramatically upgrading the altitude control system, increasing the vertical range of the balloons so they can catch more favorable winds. (Its balloons “steer” their way around the world by placing themselves in wind currents headed in the right direction.) As a result, it’s not unusual for Google to keep balloons flying for 75 days. One craft, dubbed Ibis 152 (Google uses bird species to nickname its balloons), has been aloft over 100 days and is still flying. An earlier balloon, Ibis 162, circled the globe three times before descending. (It completed one circumnavigation in 22 days, a world record.)
When Loon began, Teller’s biggest worry was that powerful telecommunications companies would view the project as a threat and attempt to snuff the project. But in part because LTE makes it possible for Google to interweave its service with existing mobile data networks—standard service in cities, Loon connectivity in more remote areas—the reaction has been the opposite. “Every telco wants to partner with us,” Cassidy says. Google is working with the regional giant Vivo and Telebras in its Brazil tests. It’s also working with Vodaphone in New Zealand. “They’re teaching us about what they need and how they can help,” Teller says.
Cassidy ticks off the goals for the next year: routine flights of 100 days, 100 balloons in the air at once (that’s four times the previous high), and then a full ring of between 300 to 400 balloons circling the globe to offer continuous service to a targeted area. Teller predicts that Loon may actually make enough progress to become operational, at least in the guise of a pilot program. Just where this will happen and how many people it will serve, he doesn’t say.
Still, Google seems to be hedging its bets on how to connect the world. Last April, it bought Titan Aerospace, a two-year-old company that makes high-altitude, solar powered drones that offer a non-inflatable approach to wireless Internet. (Facebook reportedly also bid on Titan; not long afterward it bought another drone company, Ascenta.). And earlier this month Google paid $500 million to acquire Skybox Imaging, a startup that makes low-cost satellites; though the orbiting payloads will be mainly used to augments its mapping operations, Google also said that the technology might eventually help improve Internet access.