Who will stop Facebook ? In its first 10 years of life, the numbers say, social friendship network has been a real steamroller, able to win over users and multi-million dollar investment with extraordinary ease.
From parts of Menlo Park, however, no one seems geared to living annuity. Historical courses and resorts are there to witness how easy it is in technology, go from the altar to the dust, even for really high-caliber. Mark Zuckerberg does not want to take any chances and has already made it clear that he had planned all lines that here in the next 10 years will guide the development of her child.
Aquila, a drone to fight the digital divide
It starts from a fact: after reaching in a smooth enough and a half billion of” friends ” ( 1650000000 , to be precise) will not be easy to acquire new followers. The novelty effect can be said to be vanished: Today everyone knows what Facebook ; those who have not yet signed is because it does not want to expose themselves or because it does not enjoy the necessary conditions (economic or infrastructure) to connect to the Internet.
The figures speak for themselves: 60% of the world population does not You can access the Web , of these almost half (1.6 billion users) live in disadvantaged areas of the planet so as to render virtually impossible the development of conventional connectivity solutions. Facebook, however, does not give up. After declaring his program for combat the digital divide in the world , the company is ready to explain what – specifically – plans to expand its user base.
All watching Aquila, with upturned NAS
It begins with Aquila, unmanned aircraft powered by solar energy which should become the next internal connectivity source for many people who are now living in remote areas difficult to reach by cables and antennas. The huge drone, designed within the so-called Connectivity Lab (the secret laboratories made by Facebook to propose alternative development models to the existing connectivity systems) has the computation yesterday its first real flight tests: 90 minute at low altitude flight. This is the first of a series of tests aimed at assessing the efficiency of the medium and its ability to offer broadband effectively at affordable prices.
In the plans of Facebook, in fact, Eagle will be able to cover very large areas (up to nearly 100 kilometers in diameter) connectivity irradiating laser beams and millimeter wave systems. One of the most interesting aspects of the project as it pertains to the consumption of the airplane: at cruising speed, it said in a statement, we are in the order of 5000 Watt, almost the equivalent of three hair dryer or an oven to high-end micro-waves.
If the autonomy will be maintained at these levels, Eagle will be able to fly continuously (ie without stopping) for a maximum three months, a absolute record for the genre, if you consider that the world of unmanned flight record is currently two weeks. Ser achieve certain standards of reliability is the main unknown of the project, no less important is the level of commitment in all other fields (security, primarily legislation) that projects such as these bear a dowry.
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