Google has released a new video showcasing the latest advances in Project Loon.
The internet-providing balloons are able to be kept afloat for up to 100 days at a time now, and the balloons can now be built in hours instead of days. Having thousands of balloons afloat at a time can push signal into areas that can't easily access internet services.
The behind-the-scenes video features project lead Mike Cassidy explaining the challenges faced during the project, as well as how Google has overcome them to help making balloon-powdered internet for all a reality.
"When we launched Project Loon in 2013 we hoped to answer a single question - could balloons be used to connect people to the Internet?" Google said of its update video. "Proving that this was possible in our New Zealand launch then led the team to start asking a much larger question - how can we make this work for everyone, no matter where they are in the world? How do you manufacture enough balloons to be able to provide coverage anywhere in the world and then launch them and control them so that there is always a balloon overhead to provide connection to the user on the ground?"
Google recently acquired Titan Aerospace, a company that's now working with the Loon team to launch unmanned gliders into the air to provide low-cost internet access to developing countries.
Source: http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/04/20/googles-balloon-powered-internet-nearly-ready-to-take-off
