This Week in Tech – 10/8/2017
More Than 80% Of All Net Neutrality Comments Were Sent By Bots, Researchers Say
The Trump administration and its embattled FCC commissioner are on a mission to roll back the pro-net neutrality rules approved during the Obama years, despite the fact that most Americans support those safeguards. But there is a large number of entities that do not: telecom companies, their lobbyists, and hordes of bots…
Google Shows Off Wireless Headphones That It Says Can Translate Languages on the Fly
Google released a line of new products on Wednesday, including its first pair of premium wireless headphones, which can support live translation between languages…
Ajit Pai Gets New Term on FCC Despite Protest of Anti-Net Neutrality Plan
The US Senate today gave Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai another term on the FCC. Pai would have had to leave the FCC at the end of 2017 if the Senate hadn’t approved President Donald Trump’s request to give Pai a new term. Pai, who has proposed deregulating broadband providers and eliminating net neutrality rules, received a new five-year term retroactive to July 1, 2016…
Internet Speed Guarantees Must Be Realistic, Says Ofcom
The proposals give consumers the right to exit contracts penalty-free if speeds fall below a guaranteed minimum. Ofcom says there is a mismatch between what is advertised, and the speeds customers receive…
China Is Showing the World What Renewable Energy Dominance Looks Like, Says New IEA Report
The growth of solar energy continues to outpace forecasts and this growth, according to a report published today by the International Energy Agency, “is a China story.” While China today is far and away the global leader in solar generation, a decade ago, the country had just 100 megawatts of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity installed. That’s nothing. For reference, it’s actually less than is currently installed in the city of San Antonio. By the end of 2016, China had increased its solar PV capacity by nearly 800 times, with more than 77 gigawatts currently installed…
Elon Musk Says Tesla Could Rebuild Puerto Rico’s Power Grid With Batteries and Solar
After Puerto Rico was hit by two hurricanes back to back in just a few weeks, along with other islands in the Caribbean, most of their power grid was completely destroyed. Tesla quickly started quietly shipping Powerwalls there to try to get power back on to some houses with solar arrays…
Ikea Has Debuted an Indoor Farm That Grows Greens 3 Times as Fast as in a Garden
Ikea is known for its flat-pack kitchen tables, islands, and cabinets. Now the home-furnishings retailer is experimenting with a product that would allow it to harvest salad greens in-store. Space10, Ikea’s innovation lab, has designed a prototype of a mini-farm that can grow greens and herbs indoors…