Google spent a decade trying to make a balloon-powered cell network
BGR
- A project initially spawned out of Google's "X" moonshot factory is finally being abandoned after over a decade of research and experimentation.
- The project, called Loon, was supposed to be a balloon-powered wireless network that provided data service to even the most remote areas of the planet.
- Loon, which is now under the X umbrella of Google parent company Alphabet, couldn't find a way to be profitable.
Hey, so, remember Loon? If your answer was "um, no," don't feel bad, because most people have never heard of it. That's somewhat surprising considering that Google dreamt it up as an "X" project and worked on it for roughly a decade. Now, after failing to find a way to be profitable, Loon is shutting down and leaving a confusing legacy in its wake.
Loon was an effort by Google (and later Alphabet, Google's parent company) to create a wireless network without launching satellites into space or building huge towers. Instead, the network would be powered by hardware suspended from massive balloons, hence the name of the project.
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Google spent a decade trying to make a balloon-powered cell network originally appeared on BGR.com on Fri, 22 Jan 2021 at 18:34:42 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
