T-Mobile Raises Deprioritization Threshold To 30GB

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TmoNews: T-Mobile’s new deprioritization threshold is 30GB of usage in a single billing cycle. While T-Mo didn’t make an official announcement about the change, you can see in this cached page that the network management policy says 28GB: “Based on network statistics for the most recent quarter, customers who use more than 28GB of data during a billing cycle will have their data usage prioritized below other customers’ data usage for the remainder of the billing cycle in times and at locations where there are competing customer demands for network resources.” Navigating to the webpage today now says 30GB. What this change means is that if you use more than 30GB of data in one billing cycle, your data usage will be prioritized below others for the remainder of that billing cycle. The only time that you’re likely to see the effects of that, though, is when you’re at a location on the network that is congested, during which time you may see slower speeds. Once you move to a different location or the congestion goes down, your speeds will likely go back up. And once the new billing cycle rolls around, your usage will be reset. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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T-Mobile Raises Deprioritization Threshold To 30GB

Google’s New Compression Tool Uses 75% Less Bandwidth Without Sacrificing Image Quality

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Next Web: Google just released an image compression technology called RAISR (Rapid and Accurate Super Image Resolution) designed to save your precious data without sacrificing photo quality. Claiming to use up to 75 percent less bandwidth, RAISR analyzes both low and high-quality versions of the same image. Once analyzed, it learns what makes the larger version superior and simulates the differences on the smaller version. In essence, it’s using machine learning to create an Instagram-like filter to trick your eye into believing the lower-quality image is on par with its full-sized variant. Unfortunately for the majority of smartphone users, the tech only works on Google+ where Google claims to be upscaling over a billion images a week. If you don’t want to use Google+, you’ll just have to wait a little longer. Google plans to expand RAISR to more apps over the coming months. Hopefully that means Google Photos. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Google’s New Compression Tool Uses 75% Less Bandwidth Without Sacrificing Image Quality

JetBlue Giving All Passengers Free In-Flight ‘Fly-Fi’ High-Speed Wi-Fi

BrianFagioli quotes a report from BetaNews: Today, JetBlue announced something miraculous for travelers. Every one of its passengers will have access to free in-flight high-speed Wi-Fi, which it calls “Fly-Fi.” This is on every single aircraft in its fleet. In other words, if you are flying JetBlue, you get free high-speed internet “JetBlue’s Fly-Fi, which clocks in at broadband speeds beating sluggish and pricey Wi-Fi offerings onboard other carriers, keeps customers connected with an Internet experience similar to what they have at home, including the ability to stream video and use multiple devices at once. The service enables JetBlue to deliver Amazon Video streaming entertainment to customers onboard to their personal devices, as well as web surfing and chatting on favorite messaging apps, ” says JetBlue. The vice president of JetBlue, Jamie Perry, explains, “It’s 2017 and our customers expect to be connected everywhere, whether that be from the comfort of their sofa or 35, 000 feet above it. That’s why we’re so proud that JetBlue is now the only airline to offer free, high-speed Wi-Fi, live TV and movies for all customers on every plane.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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JetBlue Giving All Passengers Free In-Flight ‘Fly-Fi’ High-Speed Wi-Fi

Verizon and AT&T Prepare to Bring 5G To (Select) Markets In 2017

An anonymous reader quotes IEEE Spectrum: This year, Verizon and AT&T plan to deliver broadband internet to select homes or businesses using fixed wireless networks built with early 5G technologies. These 5G pilot programs will give the public its first glimpse into a wireless future that isn’t due to fully arrive until the early 2020s. With 5G, carriers hope to deliver data to smartphone users at speeds 10 times as fast as on today’s 4G networks, and with only 1 millisecond of delay… Over the past year, companies have completed a flurry of lab tests and trials to figure out what types of radios, antennas, and signal processing techniques will work best to deliver 5G in hopes of bringing those technologies and their capabilities to market as soon as possible. The article notes that standards groups are halfway through their eight-year process of finalizing technical specifications (set to finish in 2020), but “With so much cash on the line, and facing pressure from data-hungry customers, carriers are moving fast.” In Japan, NTT Docomo has even tested dozens of programmable antennas simultaneously transmitting signals, resulting in transmissions at 20 gigabits per second. “At that speed, a complete 2-hour, 1080p, high-definition movie can be transmitted in a second and a half.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Verizon and AT&T Prepare to Bring 5G To (Select) Markets In 2017

900M Android Devices Vulnerable To New ‘Quadrooter’ Security Flaw

An anonymous Slashdot reader quotes a report from CNET: Four newly-discovered vulnerabilities found in Android phones and tablets that ship with a Qualcomm chip could allow an attacker to take complete control of an affected device. The set of vulnerabilities, dubbed “Quadrooter, ” affects over 900 million phone and tablets, according to Check Point researchers who discovered the flaws. An attacker would have to trick a user into installing a malicious app, which wouldn’t require any special permissions. If successfully exploited, an attacker can gain root access, which gives the attacker full access to an affected Android device, its data, and its hardware — including its camera and microphone. The flaw even affects several of Google’s own Nexus devices, as well as the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, according to the article, as well as the Blackberry DTEK50, which the company describes as the “most secure Android smartphone.” CNET adds that “A patch that will fix one of the flaws will not be widely released until September, a Google spokesperson confirmed.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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900M Android Devices Vulnerable To New ‘Quadrooter’ Security Flaw

How NASA might build its very first warp drive

A few months ago, physicist Harold White stunned the aeronautics world when he announced that he and his team at NASA had begun work on the development of a faster-than-light warp drive. His proposed design, an ingenious re-imagining of an Alcubierre Drive, may eventually result in an engine that can transport a spacecraft to the nearest star in a matter of weeks — and all without violating Einstein’s law of relativity. We contacted White at NASA and asked him to explain how this real life warp drive could actually work. More »

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How NASA might build its very first warp drive