Matti Robinson
12 Jan 2017 12:05
Google has been trying to reach more customers in a time when growth comes largely from new internet users. This means that one way to get customers is to offer internet connection to people that do now yet have one.
Enter Project Loon. Formerly known as Google X, now it's own company called X under the parent company Alphabet, has been developing a way to reach rural and remote areas with the power of internet. As you might guess from the project name it is done with balloons. Weather balloons to be more exact.
However, Alphabet also has another remote access internet project in terms of a company called Titan Aerospacen which was bought 2014. That one tries to achieve the same thing with drones. As drones are getting better stunningly fast you would imagine Alphabet would put most of its focus on this high tech instead of balloons.
Well, you'd be wrong. Alphabet is shutting down the development of Titan Aerospace as a part of savings strategy, 9to5Google reports. Project Loon, however, has not yet been touched, although, this probably makes them work that much harder.
In addition to Titan Aerospace projects like the modular smartphone Ara and imaging satellite business Terra Bella have been recently axed. Much of the workforce have been reallocated to other project within Alphabet's subsidiaries, including Project Loon.