Facebook To Start Testing Internet-Beaming Drones In 2015

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Facebook To Start Testing Internet-Beaming Drones In 2015

Posted by timothy on Thursday September 25, 2014 @02:10AM from the don't-worry-that's-next-year dept.

Zothecula writes There was an understandable amount of skepticism when Amazon announced its grand plans for delivery drones last year. But if the last twelve months are any indication, Jeff Bezos and his fellow tech heavyweights are actually kinda serious about the potential of unmanned aerial vehicles. Speaking at the Social Good Summit in New York on Monday, engineering director at Facebook Connectivity Lab, Yael Maguire, has further detailed the company's vision of internet-carrying drones, with plans to begin testing in 2015.

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Bezos quickly countered by Anonymous Coward · 2014-09-25 02:13 · Score: 1

.. by offering 40 percent off on tin foil hats, with free shipping.
Faecesbook by Anonymous Coward · 2014-09-25 02:18 · Score: 2, Informative

Anyone who uses faecesbook is a moron.
1. Re:Faecesbook by i+kan+reed · 2014-09-25 02:22 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  That's totally true, but Facebook has been making numerous attempts to get out of the "being facebook" game recently. I think that they're executives know as well as we do that individual social networks don't last forever, and they're trying to find long-term high tech areas to operate in too.
  It'd take more than my 10 fingers to count all the major tech companies that could be counted as "social networks" that are now mostly defunct.
2. Re:Faecesbook by PolygamousRanchKid+ · 2014-09-25 03:15 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Anyone who uses faecesbook is a moron.
  Isn't that what business on the Internet is all about: Making money from morons . . . ?
  As to Internet with Drones . . . it won't be a serious business until the porn providers start offering it. Porn is the bellwether of any Internet technology.
  
  --
  Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
3. Re:Faecesbook by i+kan+reed · 2014-09-25 03:28 · Score: 1
  
  No. And I suspect slashdot won't let me submit a 3 character response.
4. Re:Faecesbook by Anonymous Coward · 2014-09-25 05:13 · Score: 1
  
  I think that they're executives
  Did you do it on purpose?
  To be fair, his handle only claims that he kan reed. It never says he can write.
They're solar. by i+kan+reed · 2014-09-25 02:19 · Score: 1

Does the internet shut off at night, then?
1. Re:They're solar. by oodaloop · 2014-09-25 02:26 · Score: 1
  
  Batteries. Just store up internet during the day for night-time use. Done. Alternatively, don't use as much internet while sleeping.
  
  --
  Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
2. Re:They're solar. by i+kan+reed · 2014-09-25 02:29 · Score: 1
  
  Under totally ideal circumstances, how many hours of flight do you think a midsized glider could store in batteries? Just hypothetically. Keep in mind the more battery mass you add, the more power-draw it takes to keep it in the air. I suspect the answer is "quite a bit less than 8 hours".
3. Re:They're solar. by multimediavt · 2014-09-25 02:29 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Does the internet shut off at night, then?
  You know that's a very good question along with what wireless technology are they going to use? At more than 10 miles up there are no consumer grade wireless technologies that will work that far unless it's direct point to point, not omni. If you look at how ranges for WiFi tech have not improved with their speeds over time, I don't see this happening. Even going LTE or some cell tech you could get, at most, 2-5 km, or about 3-3.5 miles max. They want to start field testing this in at most five years. I just don't see it happening and I think that to assume nothing goes wrong and these things will always stay at 60k-90k altitude is folly as well. The first one of these to stray into a commercial airline route and collides with a passenger jet and the whole concept goes crumbling down. And Google and Balloons! OMG, if one of those fell into a plane, what a mess! I think this is a good idea on paper that has no chance of becoming reality.
4. Re:They're solar. by multimediavt · 2014-09-25 02:32 · Score: 1
  
  Come to think of it. I am surprised no commercial aircraft have been hit by falling space debris from dying satellites, given how much is up there.
5. Re: They're solar. by i+kan+reed · 2014-09-25 03:20 · Score: 2
  
  Nice. I love being proven wrong in ways that show promise for the world. Makes me happy.
6. Re: They're solar. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-09-25 04:02 · Score: 1
  
  Eleven days, so far...
  http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140922005174/en/Sion-Power%E2%80%99s-Lithium-Sulfur-Batteries-Power-High-Altitude#.VCQxENspA0M
  That thing is:
  1. High altitude
  2. Not delivering payloads to customers
7. Re:They're solar. by randomErr · 2014-09-25 04:03 · Score: 1
  
  I suppose you could do a low earth orbit fly keep you craft in day as long as possible.
  
  --
  You say things that offend me and I can deal with it. Can you?
8. Re:They're solar. by easyTree · 2014-09-25 04:58 · Score: 1
  
  Stop blowing on the vapourware!
  
  --
  Requiem for the American Dream
9. Re: They're solar. by WWJohnBrowningDo · 2014-09-25 05:23 · Score: 1
  
  That thing is:
  1. High altitude
  So is Facebook's proposed aircraft.
  
  2. Not delivering payloads to customers
  That's why the Facebook version has three times the wingspan at 60 meters, to carry the extra battery for nighttime operations.
Gotta like the pro-level bullshit. by Eevee · 2014-09-25 02:23 · Score: 1

From the article:

Maguire, in conversation with Mashable CEO Pete Cashmore, likened the vehicles to planes rather than drones, a word that does carry some negative connotations.
Drone means there's no pilot; they take surplus/retired conventional planes, such as a Phantom and turn them into a, yes, drone. (And stick a Q in front of the designation so it's now a QF-4,)
1. Re:Gotta like the pro-level bullshit. by oodaloop · 2014-09-25 02:29 · Score: 1
  
  Who's the "they" to whom you are referring? TFA makes no mention of F-4s.
  
  --
  Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
2. Re:Gotta like the pro-level bullshit. by ColdWetDog · 2014-09-25 03:52 · Score: 1
  
  Now that would be cool. Drone F4's flying over the country for hours. The tinfoil crow would be absolutely apoplectic.
  
  --
  Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
3. Re:Gotta like the pro-level bullshit. by timeOday · 2014-09-25 04:29 · Score: 1
  
  I disagree, because the word "drone" is increasingly associated with taking video, which raises a lot of concerns with people, and is in fact NOT part of the mission of delivering Internet access.
  And, yes, I realize that is not how the word was used in the military for decades.
Pirate-bay by Anonymous Coward · 2014-09-25 02:31 · Score: 1

Didn't pirate-bay announce something like this a couple of years ago?
Nice, but... by rodrigoandrade · 2014-09-25 02:38 · Score: 1

Will I be able to do non-Facebook stuff with it? (Google, Spotify, Steam, etc.)
1. Re:Nice, but... by De+Lemming · 2014-09-25 03:58 · Score: 1
  
  If their first project with Internet.org is an indication, only after you pay up. The "free internet" project in Zambia gives people only access to 13 websites (including Facebook, of course) for free, and if they want to exit the walled garden (e.g. by clicking on a link in Facebook), they have to pay. Also, Facebook didn't invest money in the project, the local (private) operator pays for this so they can get more paying customers later on.
Can't escape! by Anonymous Coward · 2014-09-25 03:22 · Score: 1

Oh great. So now, even if I don't agree to Facebook's terms and conditions, and don't have an account, they are going to fly a drone over my head and (presumably) follow my every move anyway. Is it legal to throw stones at someone else's drone if it flies over your property?
Electric Fly Swatters by ilsaloving · 2014-09-25 03:39 · Score: 1

And in 2016, giant electric fly swatters will become the must-have item.
Denial of service by Kazoo+the+Clown · 2014-09-25 04:29 · Score: 2

Start looking for denial of service attacks that constitute an army of comandeered drones swarming around its intended target. Just imagine what pwning the Amazon drone fleet would net you...
1. Re:Denial of service by multimediavt · 2014-09-25 08:23 · Score: 1
  
  Start looking for denial of service attacks that constitute an army of comandeered drones swarming around its intended target. Just imagine what pwning the Amazon drone fleet would net you...
  Severe jail time?
2. Re:Denial of service by Kazoo+the+Clown · 2014-09-25 09:03 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, but what a way to go...
Awesome by easyTree · 2014-09-25 04:56 · Score: 1

Now goatherds in the middle of nowhere will be able to buy V!@gra via spamail.
More generally, the marketeers must be creaming themselves over the market growth opportunities.

--
Requiem for the American Dream
Re:Drones are Evil by Kazoo+the+Clown · 2014-09-25 09:07 · Score: 1

I moved to a quiet small town whose police dept doesn't have air power. That's why it's quiet. Police don't seem to have too much trouble catching the bad guys without it. And you're telling me we're going to have drones buzzing overhead? Some of the good-ol'-boys around here are gonna go skeet shootin', I betcha...