Telecommunications

An extraordinary library of original files, scripts, letters, diary entries and photographs from the early days of British television went under the hammer in London earlier this year.

An Alphabet X innovation lab project has been working on a high-speed wireless optical communications network that uses beams of light instead of cables or radio waves, and folks in Kenya will be the first to benefit from the fruits of these labors.

An internet-beaming balloon has broken a flight record, staying aloft in the stratosphere for 312 days straight. Developed and launched by Loon, the balloon circumnavigated the globe for 10 months, demonstrating the resilience of the network.

SpaceX began launching its Starlink satellites into orbit last year in a bid to eventually blanket the Earth in high-speed internet, and while the mega-constellation is far from complete, some are already tapping into the connectivity on offer.

A new internet speed record has been clocked at an incredible 178 terabits per second (Tb/s) – fast enough to download the entire Netflix library in under a second. It's achieved by modulating light in new ways before beaming it down optical fibers.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced and detailed a blueprint for a national quantum internet that would be super-fast and nigh on unhackable. The document describes four priority research areas, and five major milestones on the path.

After a long series of test runs and stints serving disaster-struck populations in Puerto Rico and Peru, Alphabet’s internet-beaming Project Loon balloons have taken on their first commercial task, providing thousands with connections in Kenya.

Researchers have demonstrated quantum entanglement on a small satellite orbiting Earth. The team developed a miniaturized device that produces pairs of photons that are inextricably linked, which could help launch a fast and secure quantum internet.

Radio waves travel poorly through the water, which makes it difficult for divers or submersibles to wirelessly transmit information to the surface. Scientists are trying to change that, though, by developing an underwater version of Wi-Fi.

Since many of us can no longer have face-to-face chats with family and friends, we've turned to online video meetups. Google is opening up its Meet video conferencing portal to everyone with a Google account for free.

Wi-Fi 6 is finally here. The FCC has officially adopted new rules that open up the 6 GHz band for use by regular routers and wireless devices. Basically, that means much faster Wi-Fi speeds for devices that make use of this new legroom.

Digital rights advocacy group Access Now has released its annual report revealing that governments around world are increasingly shutting down the internet, often to stifle dissent particularly during times of protest or elections.