My first broadband internet connection was DSL. After years of dialup, the ability to surf the web with speeds measured in MB rather than KB per second felt like living in the future.
But these days DSL is aging technology that’s been largely left behind by the proliferation of cable, fiber, and cellular technologies that bring even faster speeds.
DSL does have at least one advantage though – it’s delivered over existing phone lines, which means that some rural regions that may not be wired for fiber can still take advantage of DSL connections. Or at least they could if carriers weren’t moving on.
AT&T recently announced that it will stop selling new DSL service, and while the company says it’ll continue supporting existing customers, it’s not clear how long AT&T will keep that promise… or what will happen to customers who move or do anything else that would normally necessitate a change in service.
According to AT&T’s most recent financial report, the company still had 653 thousand DSL customers. That’s down from 838,000 a year earlier, and much, much lower than the 14.5 million people paying for the company’s newer broadband offerings.
Here’s a roundup of recent tech news from around the web.
- AT&T shelving DSL may leave hundreds of thousands hanging by a phone line [USA Today]
AT&T is no longer selling DSL internet plans, which makes sense since it’s largely outdated tech. But it was also the only “high-speed” option available in some rural parts of the US. - Pixel 2 and 2 XL reach end of life: Only one more update is planned [Android Police]
Today’s monthly security update was the last Google had promised to deliver for the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. But Google says it has one more update coming for those phones in December. Still have one? Might be time to upgrade or switch to custom ROMs. - Zeiss’ Android-powered ZX1 camera is available to pre-order on B&H for $6K [DPReview]
High-end cameras powered by android are still a thing. The Zeiss ZX1 is a full-frame camera with a 37.4MP image sensor, a 35mm lens, and a $6,000 price tag. Oh, and it has a 4.3 inch, 720p touchscreen display and Android-based software. - Ubuntu 20.10 (Groovy Gorilla) Final Beta released [Ubuntu]
Ubuntu 20.10 Groovy Gorilla final Beta released, with a stable release coming later this month, 9 months of support, and Linux 5.8 kernel, GNOME 3.38 desktop, and other updated packages. - New UP boards coming with Tiger Lake and Elkhart Lake [LinuxGizmos]
Aaeonn introduces new UP Boards (and a few other compact PC boards) featuring Intel Tiger Lake and Elkhart Lake (Atom, Celeron and Pentium) embedded chips. - How to install apps on a PinePhone running postmarketOS with the Phosh shell [LinuxSmartphones]
It’s all about the command line.
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