Google working on offering 10 gigabits per second Internet speed

Currently, Google Fiber service offers data speeds of 1 gigabit per second, and the search giant is working on technology to provide faster data transfer speeds.

Google is reportedly working on offering data transfer speeds of 10 gigabits per second as part of its project to develop ‘next generation’ of the Internet.

Currently, Google Fiber service offers data speeds of 1 gigabit per second, and the search giant is working on technology to provide faster data transfer speeds.

Google’s Chief Financial Officer, Patrick Pichette, said that the project was part of the search giant’s broader, long-term obsession with speed, USA Todayreports.

According to the report, faster speeds would increase the use of software as a service because users would be able to trust that critical applications that are data intensive would run smoothly over the Internet.

Mr. Pichette said that Google is trying to make the technology available in three years.

The report said that Google is not the only one working on this technology as last year, researchers in the UK announced that they achieved data transmission speeds of 10 gigabits per second using “li-fi“ — a wireless Internet connectivity technology that uses light.

Source : The Hindu

World's longest free Wi-Fi zone in Patna

PATNA: If you have an internet-enabled device and you are anywhere on the stretch from NIT-Patna on Ashok Rajpath to Danapur, you can now access the internet free of cost.

Once known as a backward state, Bihar has made a strong bid for a mention on the world's infotech map as chief minister Nitish Kumar unveiled the 20km free Wi-Fi zone, the longest across the globe, at a function christened e-Bihar summit in Patna on Wednesday. Kumar also unveiled a 'city surveillance and dial 100' scheme under which at least 100 CCTV cameras installed in different localities of the state capital became operational. A state data centre has also been opened for storing of the 'data' collected by these cameras.

Speaking on the occasion, CM Kumar announced an IT City would be developed on a 200-acre plot at Rajgir. He also said the government has in principle approved an infotech building on a plot of one lakh sq ft and another on a plot of 5 lakh sq ft in Patna. Besides, an infotech park is coming up on the outskirts of the city.

Kumar asked the information technology department officials to hold roadshows in select cities across the country to spread awareness about the progress made by Bihar in the field of information technology. "Our state should now be the IT industry's fave destination," he said.

The state's free Wi-Fi zone is the longest in the world since China's 3.5km zone was treated as the longest so far. The 'city surveillance and dial 100' project is first of its kind in the country as it integrates the surveillance of the city, vehicle tracking and dial 100 control centre schemes. An automated number plate recognition system has been installed on 11 roads, which will automatically note the registration number of the vehicles entering and exiting the city. "It was with this surveillance system's help that the Patna police rescued the son of a city-based trader from Ara within 24 hours of his kidnapping recently," CM Kumar said.

IT minister Shahid Ali Khan said free Wi-Fi facility would be provided at all the tourist spots in the state. Principal secretary (IT) N K Sinha said Bihar might be a late entrant to this sector but "we are on the cusp of IT revolution". Nasscom president R Chandrashekhar and Beltron MD Atul Sinha were among those who also spoke at the e-Bihar event.

Source : TOI

Why Facebook is buying WhatsApp for a whopping $19bn

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook is betting huge on mobile with an eye-popping cash-and-stock deal worth up to $19 billion for Internet Age smartphone messaging service WhatsApp.

The surprise, mega-deal announced on Wednesday bolsters the world's biggest social network -- which has more than 1.2 billion members -- with the 450-million-strong WhatsApp, which will be operated independently with its own board.

It fits with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's focus on being at the center of lifestyles in which billions of people around the world share whatever they wish over the internet using smartphones or tablets.

It is Facebook's biggest acquisition and comes less than two years after the California-based internet star raised $16 billion in the richest tech sector public stock offering.

Zuckerberg said that WhatsApp -- a cross-platform mobile app which allows users to exchange messages without having to pay telecom charges -- was worth the steep price because its blistering growth around the globe has it on a clear path to hit a billion users and beyond.

"Services with a billion people using them are all incredibly valuable," Zuckerberg said while discussing the purchase price during a conference call with analysts.

The deal came from a chat Zuckerberg had with WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum, whom he described as a "valuable thought partner" and friend of many years.

"Last Sunday evening, about 11 days ago, I proposed if we joined together that would help us really connect the rest of the world," Zuckerberg said.

"He thought about it over the course of the week, came back and said he was interested."

The purchase includes $12 billion in Facebook shares and $4 billion cash. It calls for an additional $3 billion in restricted stock units to be granted to WhatsApp founders and employees that will vest over four years.

Facebook reportedly sought to acquire another hot messaging firm, Snapchat, for $3 billion last year. In 2012 Facebook closed its deal for Instagram, worth some $1 billion at the time based on stock value. 'Powerful capabilities'
Koum, who joins Facebook's board under the deal, said: "WhatsApp's extremely high user engagement and rapid growth are driven by the simple, powerful and instantaneous messaging capabilities we provide."

In a blog post, Koum added: "Almost five years ago we started WhatsApp with a simple mission: building a cool product used globally by everybody. Nothing else mattered to us."

The tie-up gives WhatsApp "the flexibility to grow and expand," Koum said.

Zuckerberg and Koum, who both took part in the conference call, did not discuss details about WhatsApp revenue, saying the focus for the foreseeable future would be on growth, not making money.

WhatsApp software is available free, but after a year, users are asked to pay annual subscriptions of 99 cents each. Bubble fears
The acquisition represents likely the biggest-ever price for a tech startup, trumping the $8.5 billion paid for Skype -- which allows users to make voice and video calls over the Internet -- by Microsoft in 2011.

"The size of this deal is really massive and it will get people talking about a bubble," Greg Sterling at Opus Research told AFP.

Sterling said the deal is a risk for Facebook because "in social media you have a flavor of the month, and next year we might have another app with extremely rapid growth."

"I think (the high price tag) comes from the frustration of not being able to buy Snapchat, and then there is the youth factor," Sterling added.

"Facebook really needs to have vehicles to attract younger users, and Instagram is not going to do that by itself."

With this strategy, Sterling said Facebook "is becoming a kind of holding company for different social media properties that appeal to different groups."

Sterling said Facebook may have some ability to "monetize" WhatsApp by delivering ads over the messaging service.

Roger Kay at Endpoint Technologies said WhatsApp has become one of the most popular mobile applications worldwide "because it allows you to message anybody anywhere for free."

Kay said the deal makes sense on one level because of Facebook's record stock run-up.

"When you have a stock like that which has run up quickly and created a lot of paper value, it's good to trade that for other value," he told AFP.

"It's not obvious how they can get $12 billion out of this but it's been clear for a while that WhatsApp is very interesting. It reminds me a little bit of Skype."

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

WhatsApp for $19 billion

NEW YORK: Facebook Inc will buy fast-growing mobile-messaging startup WhatsApp for $19 billion in cash and stock, as the world's largest social network looks for ways to boost its popularity, especially among a younger crowd.


The acquisition of the hot messaging service with more than 450 million users around the world stunned many Silicon Valley observers with its lofty price tag.

But it underscores Facebook's determination to win the market for messaging, an indispensable utility in a mobile era.

Combining text messaging and social networking, messaging apps provide a quick way for smartphone users to trade everything from brief texts to flirtatious pictures to YouTube clips - bypassing the need to pay wireless carriers for messaging services.

And it helps Facebook tap teens who will eschew the mainstream social networks and prefer WhatsApp and rivals such as Line and WeChat, which have exploded in size as mobile messaging takes off.

"People are calling them 'Facebook Nevers,'" said Jeremy Liew, a partner at Lightspeed and an early investor in Snapchat.

WhatsApp is adding about a million users per day, Facebook co-founder and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg said on his page on Wednesday.

"WhatsApp will complement our existing chat and messaging services to provide new tools for our community," he wrote on his Facebook page. "Since WhatsApp and (Facebook) Messenger serve such different and important users, we will continue investing in both."

Smartphone-based messaging apps are now sweeping across North America, Asia and Europe.

"Communication is the one thing that you have to use daily, and it has a strong network effect," said Jonathan Teo, an early investor in Snapchat, another red-hot messaging company that flirted year ago with a multibillion dollar acquisition offer from Facebook.

"Facebook is more about content and has not yet fully figured out communication."

Even so, he balked at the price tag.

As part of the deal, WhatsApp co-founder and chief executive officer Jan Koum will join Facebook's board, and the social network will grant an additional $3 billion worth of restricted stock units to WhatsApp's founders, including Koum.

That is on top of the $16 billion in cash and stock that Facebook will pay.

"Goodness gracious, it's a good deal for WhatsApp," Teo said.

TERMS

Shares in Facebook slid 5 percent to $64.70 after hours, from a close of $68.06 on the Nasdaq.

Facebook said on Wednesday it will pay $4 billion in cash and about $12 billion in stock in its single largest acquisition, dwarfing the $1 billion it paid for photo-sharing app Instagram.

The price paid for Instagram, which with just 30 million users was already considered overvalued by many observers at the time.

Facebook promised to keep the WhatsApp brand and service, and pledged a $1 billion cash break-up fee if the deal falls through.

Facebook was advised by Allen & Co, while WhatsApp has enlisted Morgan Stanley for the deal

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com