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from the it-didn't-even-make-it-to-beta dept.
One of the Google X "moonshots", a plan to use solar-powered drone aircraft to provide Internet connectivity to rural areas, has been axed. Some of the engineers may be reassigned to Project Loon and other efforts:
Back in 2014 Google (now Alphabet) bought Titan Aerospace, a company specializing in solar-powered drones that could fly at high altitudes for long periods of time. The goal was to offer internet access to rural areas that lacked connectivity by beaming it down from on high. In that way it was similar to another moon shot, Project Loon, and to Facebook's Aquila.
Today, however, Alphabet confirmed to Business Insider that it had ended its exploration of solar-powered drones. In fact according to a spokesperson, the project ended almost a year ago. That would make it part of a big group of setbacks for X, formerly X Labs, the incubator for wild ideas that has suffered under the strict financial discipline being imposed by Alphabet and its CFO, Ruth Porat. Bloomberg offered a rundown of the high-level departures that have occurred since the creation of Alphabet as a holding company and the separation of X from Google
Also at 9to5Google and Bloomberg.
Previously: Google Releases New Project Loon Video
Google to Provide Sri Lanka with 3G Internet Using Balloons
Facebook's Laser Drones v Google's Net-Beaming Balloons
Google May Test Balloon Internet Service Over the United States
Google Testing Project Loon: Concerns Are Without "Factual Basis"
Google Asks for Airspace Access for Internet Balloons
(Score: 2, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday January 14 2017, @03:10PM
As somebody who works for Boston Dynamics (which merged with Titan Aerospace's crew after the acquisition)' wireless applications division, I had plenty of fond memories working with the higher-power transmitters in Project Loon. The Titan guys were great guys.
I remember one time Sergei Brin came into the shop and noticed something shiny on the ground. He said, "Ooh, a penny!" and dove greedily at it, seeking to grab it into his clutches. Well, that was no penny, but a charged capacitor that had broken off of a circuit! "Ooowwwww," he yelled as the capacitor discharged into his hand. The shop was laughing the whole day!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 14 2017, @03:35PM
You may be bigoted but you sure know how to spin a yarn :)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 14 2017, @04:02PM
Cute story, but I've never seen a capacitor that I'd mistake for a penny -- to start with caps aren't normally copper color?
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday January 14 2017, @04:15PM
You've never seen round metal-encapsulated high-capacity planar chip capacitors? Oh, that's right, you don't work in the cutting-edge of electronics like I do.
We're a whole different ballgame from your catchpenny Arduino-and-breadboard shop, son. Walk on home and take your ball with you!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 14 2017, @07:18PM
Please enlighten this old fossil AC!
I've just been through several eye-numbing Google image searches and have not seen any caps that look like a penny. Or are packaged in "button cell" style, without tell-tale leads. The other post with a little ceramic disc cap has the size & color right, but a handful of pF aren't going to give anyone a shock.
> We're a whole different ballgame from your catchpenny Arduino-and-breadboard shop ...
I'm more from the solder, wire-wrap and analog filter era...still have the wire wrap gun, unwrap tool and pre-stripped wire, somewhere in a box.
(Score: 2) by Spamalope on Saturday January 14 2017, @04:47PM
Ceramic disk capacitors can look a bit that way, though they aren't the strongest cap. Here is a picture of one with a penny.
http://www.bakersfieldads.net/Oildate-/Food-and-Foodservice-/High-voltage-ceramic-disc-capacitor-03UF-1-000V-5.jpg [bakersfieldads.net]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday January 14 2017, @07:00PM
Ha ha. Bullshit.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Saturday January 14 2017, @08:08PM
Glad to know his greed bit him at least once.