Month: March 2011

Inside the giant megawatt batteries that will power Russia’s Sochi Winter Olympic Games (video)

Clean and constant power is something that we take for granted here in the Americas. Sure, we’ve seen rolling blackouts in California before, and that outage in the Northeast back in 2003 was decidedly uncool, but those are the exception to the norm. Right now many Japanese citizens are dealing with power problems in the wake of the devastating tsunami, but in parts of Russia unreliable power is a decidedly reliable part of day-to-day life.

So, what’s going to happen when a couple-hundred-thousand fans from around the world swoop into Sochi in 2014, along with a flotilla of international media and all the world’s greatest athletes? The Winter Olympics will happen, and the power will flow. It has to, and it will thanks to that unassuming looking shipping container above. It’s being assembled at Ener1‘s facility outside of Indianapolis, and it’s actually a giant battery holding an amazing one megawatt-hour of power. That’s enough to juice 1,000 average homes for an hour, or to act as the mother of all UPS’s. Join us for a look inside and a video show how each of those packs is made.

Continue reading Inside the giant megawatt batteries that will power Russia’s Sochi Winter Olympic Games (video)

Filed under:

Inside the giant megawatt batteries that will power Russia’s Sochi Winter Olympic Games (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 13:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Google’s gigabit fiber network to be built in Kansas City, Kansas; people of Topeka reportedly crestfallen

We were just wondering what Google was doing with that super-fast gigabit network it promised to set up in one lucky city and here’s finally a fresh development. The winner has been chosen and it’s Kansas City, Kansas. Having the winning community in its own state will be quite the bitter pill for the people of Topeka to swallow, as they actually renamed their town to Google, Kansas, just to try and appease the Mountain View overlords. Hey, we’re sure Google knows best! An agreement has now been signed to roll out the fiber goodness in Kansas City, which should result in gigabit service becoming available to locals in 2012. A press event is scheduled for 1PM ET, which will be livestreamed at the YouTube link below, and you can check out the announcement video after the break while you wait.

Update: That livestream is rolling, folks! Google’s reps just said “this is the beginning and not the end.” Kansas City, Kansas, will be just the first market where this 1Gbps goodness will be installed. Guess there’s hope for the rest of us yet.

Continue reading Google’s gigabit fiber network to be built in Kansas City, Kansas; people of Topeka reportedly crestfallen

Google’s gigabit fiber network to be built in Kansas City, Kansas; people of Topeka reportedly crestfallen originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 12:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

The History Of Internet Usage And Speeds (Infographic)

Not a fan of infographics? Be gone!

For I felt compelled to share with you this infographic made by the folks over at Webhostingbuzz, visually showing how fast the Internet has made its way to the people of this world in the past 15 years – and how fast the Internet has become in some parts of it.

Here’s what stood out for me: the United States leads the world in broadband penetration, with Americans consuming way more gigabytes per month than Europeans or people in Japan and South Korea.

Read More

View article:
The History Of Internet Usage And Speeds (Infographic)