February 2012

4G smartphone users are discovering their speedy broadband service also zips through battery life. The main culprit is spotty 4G service—even in the nation's largest cities—which requires the phones to search constantly for a signal, draining their batteries.

Fourth-generation service is just starting to take hold, but complaints about battery life could slow the push by wireless carriers to convert customers to the higher-speed networks. Smartphone makers, however, are working on ways to respond to the new power demands. Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp. are investing billions of dollars to expand their 4G networks over the next two to three years on a technological standard known as long-term evolution, or LTE, with the promise of speeds of as much as 10 times those of the ubiquitous 3G service. The spottiness of 4G stems at least in part from the measured approach carriers have taken to it, rolling out the service city by city. There were just 6.3 million subscribers of 4G LTE in the U.S. at the end of last year out of a total of 138.4 million smartphone users, according to research firm Informa Telecoms & Media.

A developing Senate plan that would bolster the government's ability to regulate the computer security of companies that run critical industries is drawing strong opposition from businesses that say it goes too far and security experts who believe it should have even more teeth.

Legislation set to come out in the days ahead is intended to ensure that computer systems running power plants and other essential parts of the country's infrastructure are protected from hackers, terrorists or other criminals. The Department of Homeland Security, with input from businesses, would select which companies to regulate; the agency would have the power to require better computer security, according to officials who described the bill. They spoke on condition of anonymity because lawmakers have not finalized all the details. Those are the most contentious parts of legislation designed to boost cybersecurity against the constant attacks that target U.S. government, corporate and personal computer networks and accounts. Authorities are increasingly worried that cybercriminals are trying to take over systems that control the inner workings of water, electrical, nuclear or other power plants.

We’ve measured utility poles; we’ve studied maps and surveyed neighborhoods; we’ve come up with a comprehensive set of detailed engineering plans; and we’ve eaten way too much barbecue. Now, starting today, we’re ready to lay fiber. As we build out Google Fiber, we’ll be taking thousands of miles of cables and stretching them across Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. Each cable contains many thin glass fibers, each about the width of a human hair. We’ll be taking these cables and weaving them into a fiber backbone -- a completely new high speed infrastructure that will ultimately be carrying Kansas Citians’ data at speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have today. At first, we’ll focus on building this solid fiber backbone. Then, as soon as we have an infrastructure that is up and running, we’ll be able to connect Google Fiber into homes across Kansas City! As we build, we’ll be sure to post more important updates and announcements right here.

[Commentary] Commentators once believed that flânerie would flourish online, but the sad state of today’s Internet suggests that they couldn’t have been more wrong.

Cyberflâneurs are few and far between, while the very practice of cyberflânerie seems at odds with the world of social media. What went wrong? And should we worry? In a way, we have all become such sandwich board men, walking the cyber-streets of Facebook with invisible advertisements hanging off our online selves. The only difference is that the digital nature of information has allowed us to merrily consume songs, films and books even as we advertise them, obliviously.