At an event in Beijing today, HP unveiled the Slate 21, a new all-in-one desktop with a 21.5-inch display, powered by the latest NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor. But unlike most all-in-one desktops, this one isn’t powered by a desktop operating system. Instead, it runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
Hutchison Whampoa, owner of Three U.K., has today acquired O2 Ireland in a deal worth €850 million ($1.1 billion). Telefonica, O2’s parent company, believes the move will “create a new competitive dynamic in the Irish market,” which Three can now claim 37.5% of with 2 million active subscribers.
People love large and shiny objects. So we can be forgiven for being absolutely blown away by Google’s idea of relaying IP across the skies via giant balloons to remote areas where Internet connectivity would otherwise not exist.
The most jaw-dropping aspect of the Loon project is the fact that the system uses algorithms to convert published windspeed and direction data into navigation using algorithms. (Balloons are moved by finding an altitude at which the air is moving in the right direction.)
So much about this project is dazzling — the scope and audacity of it; the solar-powered servers-in-the-sky; and the fact that balloons will deliver the Internet to remote areas — that the core aspect of Loon is easy to overlook.
The key thing about Loon is mesh networking.
According to a recent FCC filing, Samsung’s Galaxy Mega 6.3 has stopped by the Federal Communications Commission… again. However, on the second trip through, it is reported that the device had radios capable of working on AT&T’s 4G LTE network.
Sony looks set to deliver its next-generation SmartWatch at the Mobile Asia Expo in Shanghai next week after the Japanese company sent out a series of cryptic tweets all about watches. “One in three smartphone users want smart wrist wear,” the first read, accompanied by an #itstime hashtag.
