speed

Italy to launch Ferrari-style high-speed train

Next time you're stuck in traffic on the highway, consider those lucky Italians. Some will get to ride in style next week when services on the slick Italo high-speed train kick off.

Operated by Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori (NTV), the Italo debuts April 28 and will connect Milan, Rome, and Naples. It's being billed as the most advanced train in Europe.

It has a top speed of 186 mph -- not the fastest in the world but still respectable. The record for fastest commercial service depends on several factors, but Shanghai's Maglev Train can run at 268 mph. … Read more

Google artists create a real-time 'Wind Map'

Two technology artists who head Google's "Big Picture" visualization research group debuted a new project this week that shows a time-lapse animation of wind speeds across the U.S.

"An invisible, ancient source of energy surrounds us--energy that powered the first explorations of the world, and that may be a key to the future," the artists wrote in a post yesterday. "This map shows you the delicate tracery of wind flowing over the US right now."

The black map, simply named "Wind Map," displays white streaks that show varying wind speeds … Read more

iPad testing goes global

We tested the cellular speed of Apple's new iPad in four different cities: San Francisco, London, Singapore, and Sydney.

The first test used the Speedtest.net app to test theoretical download speeds measured in megabits per second. The country whose iPad achieves the highest number wins the test. OK, I guess you can't really "win" a test, unless it's a con-test!! Yeah, so this wasn't just a test, but also became a friendly competition between countries.… Read more

Test your reading speed with Speed Reading III

Speed-reading programs are older than computer programs, but they're a natural when teamed up as software. Speed Reading III is a simple, free tool that tests your reading speed but not your comprehension. It's designed to help you increase your reading speed and concentration, which can boost comprehension. The basic idea isn't to try to read every word as fast as you can but to focus on a midpoint and see how well you understand the message.

Speed Reading III opens with a plain and simple interface containing a text message that describes the basics of reading … Read more

New iPad not quite running circles around iPad 2

At this point in the performance narrative of i...Things, I've gotten accustomed to each new iteration of the iPad or iPhone being demonstrably faster than the last. I'm not talking strictly about frame rates in games either. App load times, movie encoding, and app download speeds are all things that seem to noticeably improve with each new iOS device.

However, with the announcement that the new iPad's A5X processor would only see an upgrade in its graphical capabilities over the A5, I have to admit to being more than a bit disappointed.… Read more

New iPad 4G real-world speed test: You're the winner

Despite its mundane and nondescriptive name, the new iPad (third generation) is actually the first 4G device from Apple.

The iPhone 4S and the iPhone 4 are both 3G devices. The fact that iOS 5.1 makes AT&T's iPhone 4S show a 4G signal only makes it more confusing, and now you probably don't know what 4G is anymore.

I do, however. How, you might ask? Well, it's simple: 4G is fast, and putting a Ferrari logo on your Honda Civic won't make it a racing car. No offense to the Civic; it's great on gas, but it's speed we're talking about here. So let me say this once again: the new iPad is the first 4G device from Apple.

A couple of months ago, I had a chance to roam around San Francisco with the new iPhone 4S from all supported carriers and found that none offered cellular Internet speeds even close to those of the slowest 4G device. Now, I just did the same thing with the new iPad, both AT&T and Verizon versions, and it was quite the opposite story. … Read more

Bad data connection could explain too-fast neutrinos

A relatively mundane data-link problem could explain last year's surprising finding that subatomic particles called neutrinos appeared to violate physics laws by traveling faster than the speed of light.

Problems with a fiber-optic link in the Opera experiment "could have led to an underestimate of the time of flight of the neutrinos," CERN, the European nuclear physics center that generated the neutrinos for the experiment, said in a statement today. The fiber fed GPS location data into the experiment's master clock.

Too short a travel time to the destination--Italy's National Institute of Nuclear Physics lab … Read more

Google points to Iowa for sowing satellite antenna farm

Google announced earlier this month that it was gearing up to start laying fiber-optic lines in Kansas City, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo., to deliver very high-speed Internet access to residents. Now, the Web giant is setting it sights on Iowa, according to Data Center Knowledge.

"We are building a very small earth station project that is right next to our data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa," says Google spokesperson Jenna Wandres.

If all goes according to Google's plans, the antennas would receive feeds from broadcast networks and even be bundled with the high-speed fiber service, according … Read more

Brazil sues Twitter users over speed trap and traffic tweets

Twitter might have to decide quickly whether to start its new policy of removing tweets on a country-by-country basis.

Today, the attorney general of Brazil filed a preliminary injunction to block tweets and suspend the accounts of Twitter users who use the social-networking site to warn people about radar locations, speed traps, and DUI checkpoints in the Brazilian state of Goias, according to the news group O Globo.

The Brazilian government claims that these Twitter users are putting people in danger since police can't properly do their jobs and that the users are also breaking the country's penal, … Read more