Team DT is back from CES, we hope you got a chance to look around at our comprehensive coverage. If not, we have a few links below you might find interesting. But now that CES is over, it’s back to reality – and waiting for all that great new gear to show up. We’ll keep you updated. Anyway, Google is making news today with their new big push into cloud computing, something that so far has been dominated by Amazon and others.
Business Insider reports that Google, which operates under the “Alphabet” umbrella, is planning to roll out three new undersea data cables by next year in a bid to expand its cloud-based offering to more regions around the globe. It’s all part of a $30-billion infrastructure push that will include data centers and other facilities in the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Montreal, Finland and that faraway country of Los Angeles, wherever that is.
Undersea internet cables carry about 90 percent of the international internet traffic, so they’re key to speeding up data moving between continents.
Just add two more windows
Quick heads up if you’re still rocking Microsoft’s Windows 8.1 operating system: Today is the last day Redmond is going to provide a free upgrade to Windows 10.
Windows 8.1 originally landed on PCs five years ago, but at some point Microsoft ends support for old operating systems, and today is pretty much that day. There won’t be any more updates or bug fixes going forward, although you’re not totally in the dark: Microsoft will continue to provide security updates for the OS until 2023. If you need some help or more information on upgrading (at long last) to Windows 10, you can get some help here.
Buckle up
Car tech was a big deal at CES, and hot on the heels of the annual tech fest is the 2018 North American International Auto Show, also just known as the Detroit Auto Show, which is going on now… in Detroit. Ford is in attendance of course, and they’ve brought two cars to the show worth mentioning, especially since they’re the same car… just fifty years apart.
We’re talking about the Bullitt Mustang of course, the iconic mean green fast-back machine driven by the King of Cool, Steve McQueen, in the movie Bullitt. The original Bullitt Mustang has been in the hands of a single family for decades, and Ford just debuted a new tribute Bullitt Mustang for 2019 to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of the movie. They also borrowed the original car from its current owner, whose father paid $6,000 for it in 1974.
The unrestored original Bullit Mustang is still a runner, and many collectors consider it the Holy Grail of movie cars, with a value perhaps north of $4 million. The owner gave Steve McQueen’s granddaughter a seat in the car in this cool video, and he says he has no plans to sell it. Check out the new – and original – Bullitt Mustangs.
We’ve got more news on our Facebook page and YouTube channel, and be sure to tune in to this week’s DT podcasts: Trends with Benefits (general tech shenanigans) on Thursdays, and Between the Streams (movie and TV topics) every Friday.
