fiber

Rumor: Apple to add carbon fiber body to iPad 2

If you're like me, you can hardly sit still in anticipation of Apple's announcement on March 2, which is sure to include all the juicy details of the iPad 2, the second-generation touch-screen tablet that is sure to trounce any of the recent influx of iPad competitors.

Now that we have a solid date for the announcement, the last few rumors are making their way around the Web.

Apple's current aluminum construction of the iPad may (a big stress on the word may, here) switch to a lighter, more durable, carbon fiber body. This is according to … Read more

Google delays decision on local fiber networks

Google has delayed the selection process for its Google Fiber project to bring fast wired networks to a few lucky communities in the U.S.

When it first announced the program earlier this year, Google had hoped to make a decision by the end of the year but isn't ready to pull the trigger, said Milo Medin, Google's new vice president of access services, in a blog post. Google now hopes to inform the winners in "early 2011," he said, noting that submissions are still closed.

Google's project involves building high-speed broadband infrastructure at speeds &… Read more

Global broadband subscription growth on the rise

Propelled by demand for high-speed Internet in China, worldwide broadband subscriptions should show a healthy jump for the third quarter, says research firm iSuppli.

The number of new broadband subscribers in the quarter is expected to rise by 5.8 percent to reach 16.5 million, according to figures released yesterday by iSuppli. That's a rally from the second quarter when the number of new subscribers actually dropped by 6.6 percent to 15.6 million. It also means the third-quarter numbers are catching up with the 16.7 million new subscribers captured in the first quarter of the … Read more

GM engineers develop sunscreen for the Corvette

Exposed-weave carbon fiber now has a fighting chance against UV rays. The lightweight material, used to give the Corvette better speed and handling, can be protected by a new clear coat that is sprayed on like paint.

This industry-first technology acts as a sunscreen for the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. "Everyone said it couldn't be done, and we were crazy for trying," Mark Voss, senior design engineer for the ZR1 said today in a press announcement. He and his team worked for three years on their own time to develop the clear coat.

Carbon fiber is one-fifth the … Read more

Stanford in line for Google fiber network

The first town on Google's list to receive a fiber broadband network is a very familiar one to the company's co-founders.

Stanford is the first area Google has picked to get a high-speed broadband network, it announced today. The network, which could deliver speeds up to 1 gigabit a second, will be built for residents of Stanford's Residential Subdivision, an area adjacent to the California institution where members of the university faculty and staff live. Construction is expected to begin in early 2011, Google said.

Google stressed that this is not, however, the first town to receive … Read more

Latency matters even across the ocean

When I wrote a research note entitled "Latency Matters!" in 2002, I was primarily reacting to the tendency of computer system vendors to highlight how much data they could move around rather than how quickly that data could get from point A to point B. This made comparing server designs--one of my main areas of focus at the time--difficult given that the speed, rather than the amount, of data movement within and between various subsystems was often the more important metric. As I wrote:

Latency is the time that elapses between a request for data and its delivery. … Read more

Hunters shoot down Google cables

To some Americans, guns don't exist in order to kill other people, they exist as an expression of freedom.

Nothing explains this better than the news that hunters in Oregon have been using Google for target practice. Let me be clear, I have no firm knowledge that they know their targets belong to those heady liberals from the Bay Area. However, who could not conjecture whether the reported shooting of Google's fiber across this fair state may have something to do with political freedom?

According to IT News, Google has been driven underground by the highly accurate shooting … Read more

Aussie stalemate leaves broadband plans in the air

Australia's dead-heat election over the weekend has left both the Labor and Coalition parties scrambling to try to form a government. Meanwhile, the National Broadband Network Co. suggests it may stop the early-stage roll-out of a fiber optic network across the country until it knows who will be heading the next government.

Labor backs the fiber-optic plan, while the Coalition party has pledged to ax the government-owned National Broadband Network and instead pursue a more austere network investment plan based on rolling out competitive backhaul, fixing ADSL2+ blackspots, and connecting underserved areas with wireless broadband.

Is this the best iPad case?

A few of us here at CNET have been fiddling around with various iPad cases, trying to find ones to recommend to readers. I've been personally looking for cases that combine decent protection with the ability to prop your iPad up at various angles--and that includes placing the iPad in a portrait or landscape position.

While the JavoEdge Axis series isn't quite perfect, there's a lot to like about it. For starters, the model I tested, the Fiber Axis, has a clean, modern design that's eye-catching (it at least impressed editor Dan Ackerman, which is hard … Read more

iPhone 4: What now?

When Apple holds its press conference regarding iPhone 4 on Friday, we will either get a lesson in publicity or a lesson in humility. The company is known for being great at one and not so great at the other. I'll let you guess which is which.

Consumer Reports dealt Apple a painful blow this week when the publication decided it could not recommend the iPhone 4 due to antenna and reception issues. We came up with the same results in our tests. This is not something Apple can be flippant about, but the company is in uncharted territory … Read more