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Lilbits 7-07-2020: Xiaomi Mi TV Stick gets FCC certification, Google Loon goes live in Kenya

The Xiaomi Mi TV Stick is expected to be one of the smallest Android TV devices to date, packing the guts of a powerful media streamer into a small stick that plugs into the HDMI port of your television. In May Xiaomi confirmed it was planning to bring the Mi TV Stick to market this […]

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Google’s Loon Balloons Just Beamed Data Over 1000 Kilometers

Google launched Project Loon five years ago in its quest to deliver Internet access to underserved areas of the globe. Now a standalone subsidiary of Alphabet, Loon announced a major breakthrough this week. They managed to transmit data over 1000 kilometers (620 miles). That’s ten times farther than Loon’s previous best, although it’s worth noting […]

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Lilbits 318: US throws ZTE a lifeline (after almost drowning it)

After banning US companies from selling goods to ZTE in April, causing the Chinese electronics company to basically suspend most operations, the United States Department of Commerce has signed an agreement with the company that could lead to the sanctions being lifted. The company reached an agreement with the Commerce Department last month that includes ZTE […]

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High-speed internet delivered by lasers coming to rural India (thanks to Alphabet’s Project Loon)

Alphabet’s Project Loon technology uses hot air balloons to deliver internet access to places where it might not otherwise be available, including rural communities or hurricane-damaged Peurto Rico. But Alphabet is working with Indian internet service provider AP State FiberNet to deliver high-speed internet service to millions of customers in India’s Andhra Pradesh state without […]

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Google’s Project Loon balloons can now deliver internet to precise locations

For the past few years Google has been working on an idea so crazy it’s called Project Loon. The concept? Internet access delivered around the globe by a series of balloons. Originally the goal was to create a fleet of balloons that would fly around the world and hand off the connections automatically so that as […]

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Lilbits (6-16-2014): Testing new Bay Trail gear

A number of new products featuring Intel Bay Trail processors are hitting the streets this summer, including Chromebooks, Windows tablets, Android tablets, and 2-in-1 systems. Thanks to some devices Asus and Acer loaned me, I’ll be testing some of each in the coming weeks. Today an Acer Switch 10 Windows 2-in-1, Asus C200 Chromebook, Asus […]

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Google to test its balloon-powered internet network in California (Project Loon)

Google’s latest crazy idea to change the world involves using balloons to blanket hard-to-reach areas with internet access. It’s called Project Loon, and in June the company announced it had already been running a limited test in New Zealand. Now it looks like Google is ready to expand that test — and this time it’s […]

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Project Loon: Google wants to provide internet access to all… with balloons

About two thirds of the people on the planet don’t have access to the internet. Plenty of people have ideas about how to change that — it’s cheaper to build 3G cellular towers in some parts of the world than to lay new cable or telephone wires, for instance. But Google has another idea: Balloons. […]