Today’s Tech Sightings:
A Google Project Loon balloon is on display at the Air Force Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand, June 16, 2013. Google hopes its balloons will bring Internet access to two-thirds of the world’s population. (AFP)
Alphabet, Indonesian Firms to Expand Web Access via Balloons
Three Indonesian telecommunications firms and Google’s holding company, Alphabet, signed an agreement Wednesday to use Google’s solar-powered balloons to expand Internet access. In 2016, Alphabet’s Project Loon will launch hundreds of balloons over the archipelago nation, comprised of more than 17,000 islands, to test the best ways to fill connectivity gaps for the country’s 250 million citizens.
Google’s Latest Street View Imagery Lets You Scale Malaysia’s Highest Mountain
Malaysia’s eastern state of Sabah is the latest addition to Google’s Street View images. The new imagery includes Mount Kinabalu, the country’s highest mountain and a UNESCO world heritage site. The addition of new locations to Street View also coincides with a push toward virtual reality (VR) with the Google Cardboard VR viewer.
Apple’s Biggest Threat Could Be … Apple
Tech behemoth Apple continues to rack up record earnings. But writer Bob O’Donnell argues that Apple, which continues to fashion itself as a single-product company, could fall prey to its own resources if it does not diversify its revenue sources. This, he says, is particularly true in parts of the world where smartphone sales are slumping or where Apple products are too expensive for consumers.
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