Internet using dongle

"Fixed-wing drones are more reliable when it comes to flying longer distance due to their low consumption of battery power," says Chris Sanz, CEO of Skycatch. A big balloon with hot air is much riskier to keep in the air and moves more slowly. On the other hand, balloons are far safer and more commonplace. "One danger I can think of is one of these drones falling into a populated area," says Sanz. At 165 feet wide and weighing in at 350 pounds, a Solara could do a lot of damage if it fell out of the sky. … [Read more...] about Google’s balloons versus Facebook’s drones: the dogfight to send internet from the sky

Though Google's been conducting test flights for Loon, it soon plans to put more in the air at once and for longer periods of time. According to Wired, it wants to quadruple its current figures to 100 balloons in the air for 100 days each. Eventually, it'll elevate that to between 300 and 400 balloons, enough to continually offer service to its still-unnamed target area. … [Read more...] about Google wants to start beaming internet from its high-altitude balloons next year

Google has unveil what it's calling its "latest moonshot" out of the Google X labs. It's called "Project Loon," and as reported last month, it involved sending up a huge number of giant balloons to beam down internet access to remote regions around the globe. Google says that balloons make sense for this purpose — they're cheap to deploy and can provide wireless coverage in areas that would otherwise be difficult to serve due to geography. … [Read more...] about Google unveils ‘Project Loon,’ an experiment to bring balloon-powered internet to ‘the entire world’

“The road to commercial viability has proven much longer and riskier than hoped,” Astro Teller, who leads X, wrote in the blog. “In the coming months, we’ll begin winding down operations and it will no longer be an Other Bet within Alphabet.” … [Read more...] about Alphabet is shutting down Loon, its internet balloon company

Avoiding vaccine-related fraudThe FBI urges people to be wary of any email, text message or phone call that comes from a sender you don't recognize and offers information about the coronavirus vaccine. As with any message from an unknown sender, don't click, download or share your password. Get your information about vaccines from official sources, like state and local health departments, the Food and Drug Administration and your doctor. … [Read more...] about Phishing scams use the promise of COVID-19 vaccines to trick you