Future Technologies

The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem.  There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity—jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month’s income.  Solving these problems isn’t simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we’re unveiling our latest  moonshot  from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access We believe that it might actually be possible to build a ring of balloons, flying around the globe on the stratospheric winds, that provides Internet access to the earth below. It’s very early days, but we’ve built a system that uses balloons, carr...

Hitting a target at 1,000 yards is a skill only possessed by a few elite snipers. But all that is about to change, thanks to a high-tech bullet guidance system created by Texas gun manufacturer TrackingPoint. For better or worse, almost anyone with $20,000 to burn can soon have the skills of a special forces assassin. At the heart of TrackingPoint’s sophisticated firearms, dubbed the XactSystem, is the company’s “networked tracking scope,” which sports a color heads up display, and instantly monitors a wide variety of factors, including wind speed and direction, target distance, gravity, the rotation of the earth, and more, to calculate when and how to accurately fire the ammunition. TrackingPoint’s so-called smart rifles, which range from $22,500 to $27,500, even pack built-in Wi-Fi, which allows shooters to transmit live video of their shots to an iPad, then upload them to YouTube or social networks. “They like to post videos; they like to be in constant communication w...

STORY HIGHLIGHTS Apple's new operating system for mobile devices includes app for cars It is designed to make sure drivers are not distracted Look for it in 2014 in up to a dozen car brands The new operating system will come to cars where it can controlled by voice Apple's new operating system for its popular mobile devices goes well beyond iPhone and iPad. It will be showing up in new cars. It's called iOS 7 and will be available to download this fall. The new operating system features a number of design changes to the devices' interface. It also adds a new application that will let an iPhone5 display a few essential functions through a car's multimedia system. It's called "iOS in the Car." It "seamlessly integrates your iOS device — and the iOS experience — with your in-dash system. If your vehicle is equipped with iOS in the Car, you can connect your iPhone 5 and interact with it using the car's b...

SAN FRANCISCO —Think Apple's critics struck a raw nerve with the company? "Can't innovate anymore, my ass." That's from Phil Schiller, Apple senior vice president for worldwide marketing, speaking on stage at the company's annual Worldwide Developers Conference. Schiller was essentially talking about Apple's new tubular-designed Mac Pro, the kind of powerful computer used by developers who make up much of the WWDC audience. But he might as well have been addressing Apple's most vocal detractors, those who say that Samsung is now the company that Apple used to be, and that Tim Cook isn't Steve Jobs. These are the fickle what-have-you-done-for-me-lately types who wonder whether the company that forever altered the tech landscape with the Mac, iPod and iTunes, iPhone and iPad has somehow lost its mojo. As if pumping out game-changing hardware is some sort of divine obligation. There were no true game-changers introduced at WWDC, though thi...

The U.S. Army is finishing a series of independent tests on suit prototypes that soldiers could wear under their uniforms and help them carry combat loads that can often exceed 100 pounds. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency — the lab the Pentagon depends on to develop next generation equipment — has spent two years working toward developing a suit that supplements a soldier’s muscles to help the soldier carry his gear and equipment over all types of terrain. Army officials had soldiers test out the prototypes while carrying a 61-pound load on a treadmill ( video below ). Scientists and engineers wanted to see if the prototypes could “reduce forces on the body, decrease fatigue, stabilize joints, and help soldiers maintain a natural gait under a heavy load,” according to a DARPA statement. The program is called Warrior Web and part of the military’s larger effort to lighten the load for troops and reduce the number of muscular and skeletal injuries that have ravag...