Posts in July 2015

You know Project Loon? Google's ambitious plan to provide cheap Internet access to underdeveloped parts of the world via a fleet of high altitude balloons? Well after years of testing and refining the technology, the company is finally ready to deploy it for real — and it's starting with the small island nation of Sri Lanka.

Foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera said officials signed an agreement with Google in the capital city of Colombo to launch the helium-filled, high-tech balloons over the country for the next few months. Google plans to begin releasing the balloons in the coming weeks, and hopes to have everything in place by March 2016 — at which point Sri Lanka will become the first country in the world to have universal Internet coverage.

“The entire Sri Lankan island — every village from (southern) Dondra to (northern) Point Pedro – will be covered with affordable high-speed Internet using Google Loon's balloon technology,” foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera said in a statement.

So why is Google starting with Sri Lanka? Well, in addition to being relatively small in terms of land area (the entire country is roughly the same size as West Virginia), Sri Lanka is home to over 20 million people — and only a small portion of them have access to the Web. Accoring to AFP, the country currently has about 2.8 million mobile Internet users and 606,000 fixed-line users. That's a lot of people that Google could bring online.

Once the company has its balloons up in the stratosphere (twice as high up as commercial airliners fly), local Internet providers will be able to tap into Loon connections to lower their operational costs. In turn, they're expected to offer cheaper services to residents.

This is just the beginning, too. If Google can pull off Loon in Sri Lanka, it'll likely begin rolling out the service in other countries with underdeveloped Internet infrastructure. Pretty soon, the World Wide Web will be truly worldwide.

SEE ALSO: Look inside a Google project so odd, it's literally called 'Project Loon'

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NOW WATCH: This massive wall of fans will suck carbon dioxide straight out of the air

-- For more information read the original article here.

One day after Apple CEO Tim Cook debunked reports that sales of the Apple Watch were slipping by saying in a conference call with analysts that in fact, June sales had outperformed both May and April -- including the original rush of pre-orders, new data from Strategy Analytics claims that not only has Apple handily stolen the crown of top smartwatch seller from Samsung in just its first full quarter, the company has outsold all rivals combined year-to-date....








-- For more information read the original article here.

The slow trickle of HomeKit-compatible accessories is reportedly linked to a high level of encryption mandated by Apple, said to be generating unusuable levels of lag in prototype Bluetooth products. -- For more information read the original article here.

Last week Chrysler quietly released a software update for its optional Uconnect in-car entertainment system. And while the official purpose was "to improve vehicle electronic security", Wired reports that the patch is really aimed at fixing a terrify... -- For more information read the original article here.

Apple today announced financial results for the third fiscal quarter and second calendar quarter of 2015. For the quarter, Apple posted revenue of $10.7 billion and net quarterly profit of $49.6 billion, or $1.85 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $37.4 billion and net quarterly profit of $7.7 billion, or $1.28 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.

Gross margin for the quarter was 39.7 percent compared to 39.4 percent in the year-ago quarter, with international sales accounting for 64 percent of revenue. Apple also declared an upcoming dividend payment of $0.52 per share, payable on August 13 to shareholders of record as of August 10.

Apple sold 47.5 million iPhones during the quarter, up from 35.2 million a year earlier, while Mac sales registered 4.8 million units, up from 4.4 million units in the year-ago quarter. iPad sales continued to decline, however, falling to 10.9 million from 13.3 million.“We had an amazing quarter, with iPhone revenue up 59 percent over last year, strong sales of Mac, all-time record revenue from services, driven by the App Store, and a great start for Apple Watch,” said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. “The excitement for Apple Music has been incredible, and we're looking forward to releasing iOS 9, OS X El Capitan and watchOS 2 to customers in the fall.”Apple's guidance for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 includes expected revenue of $49-51 billion and gross margin between 38.5 and 39.5 percent.

Apple will provide live streaming of its fiscal Q3 2015 financial results conference call at 2:00 PM Pacific, and MacRumors will update this story with coverage of the conference call highlights.

Conference call starts at 2:00 PM Pacific - No need to refresh

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Microsoft's earnings for the fourth quarter are in, and they show an operating loss of $2 billion, despite $22.2 billion in revenue (compared to $23.3 billion last year). A lot of that is due to the previously announced write-down for Nokia (and 7,80... -- For more information read the original article here.

While some critics within the tech media have heavily scrutinized the Apple Watch since its launch, new survey data shared by Techpinions suggests that the true mass market sentiment toward the wrist-worn device is overwhelmingly positive. In particular, the survey found that traditionally "non-tech" users liked the Apple Watch more than those with a closer connection to the tech industry.

According to research firm Wristly and Creative Strategies analyst Ben Bajarin, overall customer satisfaction with the Apple Watch is 97%, which is the highest customer satisfaction rating of any first-generation Apple product ever released. Wristly determined that rating by combining the "Very Satisfied/Delighted" (66%) and "Somewhat Satisfied" (31%) boxes together.



The survey data is based on the Wristly Apple Watch Owner Network, a diversified panel of over a thousand Apple Watch buyers. Wristly says that it asked respondents a series of pre-qualification questions to ensure that the panel did not skew towards only early adopters and instead represented a healthy range of consumers. Among those profiled, Wristly found 34% to be "tech insiders" and 53% to be "non-tech" users.What has been fascinating about the Wristly Apple Watch Panel is how diverse it is across the adoption cycle spectrum. We have those on the bleeding edge of adoption all the way through mainstream consumers who aren't buying it for the sake of Apple fanaticism or love of tech and gadgetry but because they saw the utility and usefulness of the product right off the bat. They are all represented in our panel.Apple Watch customer satisfaction was found to be higher than the original iPhone and iPad, which scored 92% and 91% ratings respectively, although satisfaction levels were contrasting among different types of users. "Non-tech" users and "tech insiders" were most satisfied with the Apple Watch, while "app builders" were slightly less satisfied, with less than half choosing the "Very Satisfied" box.


Apple has not publicly disclosed any official Apple Watch sales figures to date, and will be grouping the wrist-worn device under its "Other Products" category in quarterly earnings reports. Apple Watch global sales estimates range between 2.8 million and 5.7 million ahead of the company's third quarter fiscal results set to be announced on Tuesday at 1:30 PM Pacific.


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