Google moves into broadband with Kansas fibre

Google made its foray into the US broadband market, promising
access speeds more than 100 times faster than those of traditional cable companies.

The ultra-high speed Google Fiber service was unveiled in Kansas City, Missouri, with installations starting in September, executives said. Google hopes to roll out the service to other cities later.

"Access is the next frontier that needs to be opened," Google chief financial officer Patrick Pichette said. "We're going to do it profitably. That is our plan."

"We are at a crossroad," he added, noting that internet speeds had leveled out for broadband since around 2000. "We at Google... believe there is no need to wait."

Access is the next frontier that needs to be opened

Google said it also intends to roll out product packages for businesses, but would not provide details.

Google Fiber costs $120 a month for a package of TV, 1GBit/sec broadband and one terabyte of cloud storage. Google is also offering an internet-only package priced at $70 a month. Google is charging a $300 installation fee, saying consumers should treat it as a "home improvement" cost.

The initial service area includes central Kansas City, Missouri and all of the city of neighboring Kansas City, Kansas.

Features and freebie

Google Fiber includes such features as the ability to record eight TV shows at a time and store up to 500 hours of high definition programming. Users can choose to use a tablet or smartphone as a voice-activated remote control.

Google is offering its Nexus 7 tablet with the Google TV app to early users of the service.

Google said it is setting up a six-week "rally" for consumers to vote on where the first fiber communities, or "fiberhoods," should be installed in the Kansas City area.

Consumers must pay $10 to register their household online for service. About 50 "neighbours" will need to register in order for their area to be eligible for installation services, according to Google executives.

Whether or not consumers will embrace the new offerings remains to be seen. But officials said they are confident Kansas City will be a showcase of success for a larger rollout.

"Google is a very different company," said Kevin Lo, general manager of Google Access. "And this is not a short-term project."

Source: Google moves into broadband with Kansas fibre | Broadband | News | PC Pro http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/broadband/376093/google-moves-into-broadband-with-kansas-fibre#ixzz21pIvBY5d

Razer BlackWidow 2013 Mechanical Gaming Keyboards

Razer updates its BlackWidow family of mechanical keyboards with the two improved models and one new edition. The BlackWidow 2013 and BlackWidow Ultimate 2013 both feature mechanical keys with 50 g actuation force and enhanced anti-ghosting supporting up to 10 simultaneous key presses in gaming mode. They also have five additional dedicated macro keys, audio/mic jacs and a braided fiber cable. The Ultimate model adds green backlighting and an anti-fingerprint matte black finish.

The BlackWidow Tournament Edition 2013, with an ultra-minimalist setup, is designed for gamers looking for mechanical gaming keyboard with just features needed to win. Its tenkeyless design makes it lighter and more compact, which is ideal for gamers who want transportability for LAN parties and tournaments. The Tournament Edition has mechanical keys with 50 g actuation force, anti-ghosting capability for 6 simultaneous key presses, 10 key presses in gaming mode, and 20 customizable software profiles with on the fly switching. The keyboard’s braided USb cable can be detached for added portability and a sleeve is included for protection.

Along with these standard models, all three mechanical keyboard also come in Stealth versions, which feature brown mechanical switches for superior tactility and faster response that only requires an actuation force of 45 g and a reduced actuation of 2 mm.

All Razer’s new BlackWidow 2013 gaming keyboards offer fully programmable keys with on-the-fly macro recording and 1000 Hz Ultrapolling. They are Synapse 2.0-enabled. The BlackWidow 2013/Stealth will be available for $99.99, and the BlackWidow Ultimate 2013/Stealth for $139.99. The Tournament Edition is priced at $79.99. All of them will be released in August.

Source:http://www.itechnews.net/2012/07/26/razer-blackwidow-2013-mechanical-gaming-keyboards/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ItechNewsNet+%28ITech+News+Net%29

Sprint Motorola PHOTON Q 4G LTE QWERTY Smartpone

Sprint debuts its first 4G LTE smartphone, the Motorola PHOTON Q 4G LTE with side-slide QWERTY keyboard. In addition to the WiMAX network, Sprint is rolling out its LTE 4G network and the PHOTON Q is the carrier’s first LTE-enabled device. The MOTO phone also features international capability supporting also CDMA 1900/800, 3G WCMDA/HSDPA 21.1Mbps 850/1900/2100 and quad-band GSM/EDGE mobile networks.

Powered by dual-core 1.5GHz processor and 1GB RAM, the PHOTON Q runs on Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system and comes with MOTO’s SmartActions app to intelligently automates routine, everyday tasks for you. It has a five-row full QWERTY keyboard, a 4.3-inch ColorBoost 540×960 touchscreen LCD display, a 8 Megapixel auto focus camera with flash and Ful HD 1080p video recording, and a 720p HD front-facing camera for video chat. The LTE handset has 8GB of internal storage and supports microSD/SDHC up to 32GB. It also supports Bluetooth 3.0, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, GPS/AGPS as well as NFC (Near Field Communication) for Android Beam.

The PHOTON Q 4G LTE has HDMI output and features mirror mode to bring the screen from the phone to your HDTV. Sprint will announce pricing and availability of the smartphone within next few weeks.

Source:http://www.itechnews.net/2012/07/27/sprint-motorola-photon-q-4g-lte-qwerty-smartpone/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ItechNewsNet+%28ITech+News+Net%29