New Technology Info

Our network speeds are moving faster than they ever have before. It seems that today, we have the ability to hop on the internet and get the results that we’re looking for in a matter of seconds. For those that didn’t think it could get faster, we’ve got something for you. This is WiGig, a new wireless standard that is set to excel beyond the fast wireless speeds that we know now. 

You might think to yourself, “well, I already have WiFi, so how would this apply to me?”

Buckle your seatbelts, as we’re about to dive into to the fastest network speeds you’ve ever seen.

When was WiGig First Introduced?

WiGig came about in May of 2009, and was known as the Wireless Gigabit Alliance. The idea behind the company was to create and promote the IEEE 802.11ad protocol, which would take consumer wireless communications a step further to the millimeter wave band. 1.0 WiGig was completed in December of the same year.

In 2010, they opened up their WiGig Alliance Adopter Program to better cooperate with current technologies for multi-gigabit wireless networking. Over the years, the protocol has been better refined to catch up with manufacturers so that families can begin using it too.

What is WiGig?

WiGig is essentially a new wireless standard that is made to create higher wireless speeds. Similar to 801.11ac in terms of speed, this new wireless standard is set to work off of a different frequency. Your standard wireless internet utilizes either 2.4GHz or 5GHz bands, while WiGig is set to use 60GHz. 

So yes, the main point is that WiGig will create faster internet speeds for all users. In fact, WiGig is set to bring speeds up to a whopping 8GB per second, which is more than enough to download just about anything that you could think of in mere seconds. Of course, with 60GHz, WiGig could easily transfer at speeds of 50GB per second, though most consumer devices aren’t able to handle that kind of transfer speed.

As of now, WiGig is being used for high-resolution virtual reality, and could also be used for high-resolution wireless streaming content or massive data transfers.

WiGig in Movies and Pop Culture

So far, WiGig has not been seen in any movies, nor has it been used in any pop culture references. As time goes on, we can maybe expect to see this device become more commonplace, meaning it will end up showing up in more and more movies.

Links to Related Articles

To learn more about WiGig and how it can improve your internet speeds, check out the following:

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/what-is-wigig/

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wi-fi-alliancer-and-wigigtm-alliance-to-cooperate-on-expansion-of-wi-fi-technologies-93250859.html

https://www.howtogeek.com/371328/what-is-wigig-and-how-is-it-different-from-wi-fi-6/

Conclusion

WiGig can currently be used as an addition to regular Wi-Fi, though you have to have a device that supports WiGig, as many do not. There are now a few companies on the market that are selling WiGig routers if you have a WiGig-enabled laptop. While the devices are still fairly new, we can expect to see it become common in the next few years or so. More and more devices that support the 802.11ay standard are set to come out in 2019, so make sure to keep your eye out!

Picture this: it’s 2005 and you’ve written the bulk of an essay that’s due tomorrow when your computer suddenly crashes. Your heart sinks into your stomach as you realize that you hadn’t saved the document. Cloud computing has eliminated the stress surrounding moments like these, so that losing data due to a hardware malfunction is almost a thing of the past. 

Head in The Sky

The idea of “the cloud” is now as ubiquitous as the Internet, but it wasn’t always a native concept. Now, digital laymen and pros alike understand that cloud computing means accessing files, data, and programs via the Internet rather than your computer’s hard drive, as was the way of the past. 

This allows you to essentially outsource your entire digital life (be it personal or professional)—your computer may crash, but the Internet won’t, so it’s a safety net protecting you from any unforeseen tragedies. The act of cloud computing means accessing your data and programs exclusively via the internet, rather than doing any local computing at all. 

A $2 Million Question

The first hint of cloud computing came in 1963, before personal computers were even a thought, when the Defense and Research Projects Agency gave MIT $2 million to find a way that multiple people could access a computer at once. The solution was a massive memory machine that looks nothing like the modern vision of cloud computing.

In the 1990s, the idea of virtual private networks began to take shape, leading to the infrastructure of today’s idea of cloud computing. Companies like Salesforce began using cloud computing as a means through which to provide clients with software as Y2K loomed on the horizon. 

Programs like Google Docs (and eventually Google Drive), iCloud, and Oracle Cloud all formed around the first decade of the 21st century, and the cloud became an integral part of a life wholly immersed in digital culture. Today, you’d be hard pressed to find a business that doesn’t primarily utilize cloud computing, or a software system that doesn’t allow for some sort of cloud computing. 

The 21st Century Cloud

Today, cloud computing has virtually limitless applications, both in business and for individuals. These are generally broken down into four categories: software as a service, infrastructure as a service, platform as a service, and functions as a service. The latter two are geared specifically toward developers to assist with workflow. 

Some of the most well-known cloud computing services are Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Services, and IBM Cloud. 

Slow Rise to Dominance

Cloud computing wasn’t exactly a science fiction topic or pop culture phenomenon. Instead, it slowly crept into public consciousness, appearing on news broadcasts and entering conversations. 

The idea that all of the information once considered integral to a physical computer took some time to warm up to simply because it’s counterintuitive to the way that most laymen understood computers up until the 21st century, but it’s a concept that’s now been wholly adopted. 

Today, everyone uses the cloud, whether they realize it or not. Most phones are connected to a cloud service, and businesses regularly utilize cloud computing for their servers. Humans may have made it to the moon in the 1960s, but it appears that they have finally also reached an understanding of the cloud.

When you imagine the most cutting edge games currently on the market, do you picture cardboard? Probably not, but that’s exactly what Nintendo used to create their Labo system made available in 2018, a game setup that encourages kids to learn as they play. 

Building Your Own Games

The vast majority of children today play video games in some form or another, so Nintendo decided to make them a little more educational. Essentially, Nintendo Labo is a blanket term for a set of cardboard construction kits intended to encourage kids to develop early engineering chops (among other skills), even if they don’t realize that’s what they’re doing. The kits can be used to create a number of different “toy-cons,” each with specific related games.

Nintendo’s earlier gaming system, the Switch, can be equipped with Labo software. Once a child has built their toy-con of choice, they can use their Switch to play with it. For example, if a child creates a piano, they can use their creation to play actual keys via the switch. The software also allows gamers to develop their own toy-cons with the garage if they should so wish. 

The simplicity of cardboard may seem a return to a simpler time, but it was a calculated move on the part of Nintendo. Not only is cardboard inexpensive and easy to manipulate, it also gets kids working with their hands, something that many parents lament isn’t happening enough thanks to video game culture. 

Mixing Reality with Fantasy

Perhaps the reason that so many have become transfixed with Nintendo Labo is the seamless way it integrates reality into the fantastic settings that children today crave from their entertainment sources. In this way, Labo not only encourages STEM development, but also caters to especially imaginative minds. 

This encouragement of imagination through the use of Toy-Con Garage has led to some truly impressive Labo creations, like a cardboard roulette table and a singing cat. The high customizability of the software means that the sky is virtually the limit: if you can dream it, you can make it. 

The latest development to the Labo line of offerings is a virtual reality kit, which gives kids the option of building out a number of headset types. In this way, gamers step into role of developers, and get a better understanding of just how their favorite recreational activities work. 

A New Twist on an Old Trope 

Now-classic cartoons like Spongebob and Rugrats often featured the main characters using cardboard boxes as play destinations. In these pop culture references, the boxes were shown as blank slates in which the characters could use their imaginations to develop fun. 

Nintendo Labo has created a uniquely modern twist on this decades-old idea. Sure, technology plays a big role in this particular application, but kids have been playing with cardboard boxes for generations so it’s about time that this pastime caught up with modern tech. With a number of kits now available within the Labo sphere, it’s unclear where exactly the Nintendo developers gathered their inspiration for this idea. Whether it was born out of parents’ calls for something more mentally enriching, or just a back to basics line of thinking, Nintendo Labo may revolutionize the way that video games for children are created.

Language barriers are one of the biggest roadblocks to achieving a more inclusive global culture, and are the reason that those fluent in multiple languages are regarded as something akin to magicians. Simply put, storing extensive knowledge of a single language in your head is hard enough, let alone multiples, but real time language translation could mean that no one need venture outside of their native tongue. 

Nothing to Unpack

There’s nothing particularly confusing about the concept of real time language translation in that it means exactly what it sounds like. A technology that can listen to a person speaking, and translate for the listener as they go without a significant delay would eliminate the need for translators, and possibly help mitigate tensions in situations where communication is necessary. 

It’s an easy ideal to communicate, but it proves a much more complex thing to try and achieve. 

The idea of such a real time translator whispering in your ear was first introduced in the book series “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy,” where the author described a Babel Fish, a living, leech-like fish that could be placed in one’s ear and it would translate every language in real time. The name is likely a reference to the Tower of Babel, which was the site from which God dispersed man and gave them foreign tongues in The Bible. 

Fact Meets Fiction

For decades, this “Babel Fish” was considered a figment of science fiction, but that perception is slowly melting away as artificial intelligence steps in to make futuristic strides. Of course, computers have long been able to translate language via text, but making immediate translations through audio is something else entirely. 

A number of tech companies are pursuing real time language translation, but none have quite achieved the immediacy or accuracy that science fiction promised. One of the most well-known versions of this budding technology comes from Google. The tech giant first incorporated a basic version of real-time translation in their Pixel 2 earbuds in 2017, and they have since been working to perfect the technology. 

As it stands, real time language translation maxes out at about 40 of the world’s most commonly spoken languages.  The technology isn’t all that efficient, and it requires both speakers to direct their voices at a device, which then takes a moment to process the audio and spit out a translation. It’s most useful for quick interactions as opposed to thoughtful conversations, since a lot can still get lost in translation. 

In a Perfect World

While the Babel Fish is probably the most well-known iteration of real time language translation in pop fiction, the technology was also incorporated into one of America’s most beloved TV sci-fi shows: Star Trek. On the show, the crew use something called a Universal Translator, which scans brain waves to provide real-time language translations. 

The problem with translation expectations created by pop culture references like these is that they work internally, whereas the current technology has to rely upon gathering the audio once it’s already been spoken, which adds a delay to the translation process. 

Although technology hasn’t totally solved the language barrier just yet, it’s getting closer than anyone would have imagined possible just 50 years ago, and the 21st century may yet see the creation of a real-life Babel Fish gadget.