Back in the dark ages the only way for most people to access the internet was with a slow dialup connection (or by visiting a college or other institution that actually had a faster T1 line).
Then along came DSL, one of the first technologies to offer broadband speeds. But in recent years cable, fiber optic, and even cellular connections have come to offer much faster speeds.
But there may be some life in DSL yet. New technology called G.fast could enable data transfers as fast as 1 Gbps over old fashioned twister copper phone lines.
Here’s a roundup of tech news from around the web. You can keep up on the latest news by following Liliputing on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook.
- Phone lines might not be obsolete… G.fast tech could bring DSL internet speeds up to 1Gbps
It’ll probably be a few years before G.fast technology is widely available, and it’s unlikely that you’ll actually see those maximum 1 Gbps speeds in real-world conditions right away. But there are an awful lot of copper lines already laid and G.fast technology could make them useful again, even for folks who might not have used a landline telephone in years. [CNET] - Microsoft’s future phones will use the “Lumia” name, but they’ll drop the “Nokia” branding
The move makes sense: while Microsoft acquired the rights to use the Nokia name for a few years when it acquired Nokia’s phone division, Nokia continues to exist as a separate company. Microsoft can build its own brand as it transitions away from the Nokia name. [The Verge] - Android TV ported (unofficially) to the Ouya micro-console
Have your eye on a Google Nexus Player, but don’t want to spend another $100 when you’ve already got an Ouya in your house? There might be an unofficial software port for that. It’s a work in progress and might never be as stable as a device that ships with Android 5.0 and Android TV. But where’s your sense of adventure? [XDA Developers] - Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact up for pre-order for $500
This 8 inch, waterproof tablet has a full HD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core CPU, 32Gb of storage, and 3GB of RAM. [Sony] - Someone has created a media player… from a Microsoft Excel sheet
Say you want to watch some videos at work, but your IT manager has locked down your PC so you can’t fire up anything but Office. No problem. This Excel spreadsheet functions as a music and video player. No, really. [Github]
But, G.fats is limited to short distances (few hundred meters)…
The problem is that telephone lines in most areas are aging. Most telcoms are already running fibre to most homes.
I would be using land lines but the landlord and/or Verizon had them all disconnected. The jacks and wires are all still intact though so I bet they could be reconnected. The move presumabaly was to force people into more expensive FiOS service. I decided to go with a cable modem instead. 🙂
Unfortunately, my only phone is my cell phone, so fax over landline is impossible here.
It appears that, buried in the Terms of Service for
ordering FiOS, Verizon has the right to disconnect
the copper wires that carry landline phones and DSL,
ostensibly to save in maintenance costs for said
copper wires. This is a great disservice as the
landlines have proven to provide reliable landline
phone service, useful in an emergency when cellular
service could be impaired or when an electrical power
outage occurs.
Also, for most of the world, copper wire is much more
prevalent than any of the other alternative high speed
Internet delivery technologies, including cellular. In fact,
the US probably has more LTE coverage and users than
any other country, with LTE-A (what the standards bodies
considered to be the real 4G, until the carriers lobbied
to get their LTE, higher speed HSPA to be labeled 4G)
in Verizon XLTE, Sprint Spark rollouts beginning. Most
of the world is still on 3G (HSPA), if not 2G (EDGE/GPRS).