PayPal begins Mission Space
PayPal launched a quest for an
intergalactic currency, saying it is time to figure out what space travelers
will use as cash.
SAN FRANCISCO: Earthbound
financial transactions service PayPal
launched a quest for an intergalactic currency, saying it is time to figure out
what space travelers will use as cash.
"The time has now come for us to start planning for the future; a future where we aren't just talking about global payments," said PayPal president David Marcus. "We are expanding our vision off earth into space."
PayPal Galactic Initiative will be formally unveiled Thursday at the SETI Institute campus in the Silicon Valley city of Mountain View, with attendees to include famed alien seeker Jill Tarter and former US astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
The initiative, headed by PayPal, aims to bring together parties with roles to play in the commercialization of space to explore a framework for a financial system that spans galaxies.
"From 'Star Trek' to 'Battlestar Galactica,' they all have currency and they all gloss over the fact that it works," PayPal senior director of communications Anuj Nayar said, referring to hit science fiction films and television shows.
"We are at that point now where it seems a natural time for scientists, governments, and everybody else to start taking this seriously."
Astronauts living in the International Space Station still have bills to pay, even if they are just buying digital books or music for whiling away time in orbit, Marcus reasoned.
"I think that if we are in fact successful at finding ways to work and play in space, we're going to want to be there too; you and me," said Tarter, whose real-life work inspired Jodie Foster's character in the 1997 film 'Contact.'
"Inevitably, it's going to need some kind of monetary currency."
Operations such as Virgin Galactic and Space X have put the prospect of space tourism on the near horizon, and when tourists leave Earth they will need traveling money, according to PayPal.
A Space Hotel is proposed to be circling the planet in about three years, raising the prospect of porters to tip and room service to pay for.
"As we start planning to inhabit other planets, the practical realities of life still need to be addressed," Marcus said.
"We will still need a way to pay for life's necessities, back here and out there, though exactly how we'll do that isn't currently clear."
PayPal was founded 15 years ago this month with a vision of becoming a global currency, so it is fitting to celebrate the birthday by looking to the stars, worldwide product vice president Hill Ferguson told AFP.
"The time has now come for us to start planning for the future; a future where we aren't just talking about global payments," said PayPal president David Marcus. "We are expanding our vision off earth into space."
PayPal Galactic Initiative will be formally unveiled Thursday at the SETI Institute campus in the Silicon Valley city of Mountain View, with attendees to include famed alien seeker Jill Tarter and former US astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
The initiative, headed by PayPal, aims to bring together parties with roles to play in the commercialization of space to explore a framework for a financial system that spans galaxies.
"From 'Star Trek' to 'Battlestar Galactica,' they all have currency and they all gloss over the fact that it works," PayPal senior director of communications Anuj Nayar said, referring to hit science fiction films and television shows.
"We are at that point now where it seems a natural time for scientists, governments, and everybody else to start taking this seriously."
Astronauts living in the International Space Station still have bills to pay, even if they are just buying digital books or music for whiling away time in orbit, Marcus reasoned.
"I think that if we are in fact successful at finding ways to work and play in space, we're going to want to be there too; you and me," said Tarter, whose real-life work inspired Jodie Foster's character in the 1997 film 'Contact.'
"Inevitably, it's going to need some kind of monetary currency."
Operations such as Virgin Galactic and Space X have put the prospect of space tourism on the near horizon, and when tourists leave Earth they will need traveling money, according to PayPal.
A Space Hotel is proposed to be circling the planet in about three years, raising the prospect of porters to tip and room service to pay for.
"As we start planning to inhabit other planets, the practical realities of life still need to be addressed," Marcus said.
"We will still need a way to pay for life's necessities, back here and out there, though exactly how we'll do that isn't currently clear."
PayPal was founded 15 years ago this month with a vision of becoming a global currency, so it is fitting to celebrate the birthday by looking to the stars, worldwide product vice president Hill Ferguson told AFP.
"At
first you laugh it off and think it crazy," Ferguson said. "But space
exploration and the thought of commercializing space are much closer than a lot
of people would think."
US internet retail giant eBay late last year cut jobs and contractors as part of a reorganization of its PayPal financial division to make it "more agile" with a simplified business structure.
PayPal powers online payments and money transfers, and has been moving into digital wallets.
US internet retail giant eBay late last year cut jobs and contractors as part of a reorganization of its PayPal financial division to make it "more agile" with a simplified business structure.
PayPal powers online payments and money transfers, and has been moving into digital wallets.
Google's internet balloons may come to India
Google may implement 'Project Loon', which is a
balloon-mounted internet access service, in various countries including India.
HYDERABAD: Internet search giant Google may implement 'Project Loon',
which is a balloon-mounted internet access service, in various countries
including India.
"We are doing a pilot project in New Zealand and going to see how it works. Once we get satisfactory results, we will be in a position to implement it in other countries as well," Google's managing director, Global Channel Sales, Todd Towe told reporters.
"Interestingly, while we are still in the pilot phase, we have been getting multiple queries from different countries including India, which are interested in implementing the project," Towe said.
However, he said, there is no time-frame to launch the project in India.
'Project Loon' balloons, which carry internet signal antennas float in the stratosphere, at a height twice as high as air planes.
They are carried around the earth by winds and can be steered by rising or lowering them to a particular altitude, with winds moving in the desired direction.
Customers may connect to Google's balloon network using a special internet antenna attached to their building. The signal bounces from balloon to balloon, onto the internet and back to the earth.
A 'Project Loon' pilot project began on June 15 at the 40th parallel South, which is a circle of latitude, that is 40 degrees south of the earth's equatorial plane, when 30 balloons launched from New Zealand's South Island beamed internet signals to a small group of pilot testers.
The experience of these pilot testers will be used to refine the technology and shape the next phase of 'Project Loon', Google had said earlier.
Speaking about the company's Premier Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Partner Programme, Rowe said within 10 months of its launch, the model has gained significant momentum in India.
"We have partnered with 16 medium sized companies, with over 3,000 sales people who have been trained to help SMEs gain from digital advertising. In the next one year, we are looking to significantly increase our presence in South India by doubling our partners and add another 3,000 sales force though these partners," Rowe said.
Jaspreet Bindra, CEO, Getit Infomedia, one of the largest Premier SME Partners of Google India said that it had entered into a strategic alliance with Google India, though its SME programme to increase Getit's presence in the country.
"We are doing a pilot project in New Zealand and going to see how it works. Once we get satisfactory results, we will be in a position to implement it in other countries as well," Google's managing director, Global Channel Sales, Todd Towe told reporters.
"Interestingly, while we are still in the pilot phase, we have been getting multiple queries from different countries including India, which are interested in implementing the project," Towe said.
However, he said, there is no time-frame to launch the project in India.
'Project Loon' balloons, which carry internet signal antennas float in the stratosphere, at a height twice as high as air planes.
They are carried around the earth by winds and can be steered by rising or lowering them to a particular altitude, with winds moving in the desired direction.
Customers may connect to Google's balloon network using a special internet antenna attached to their building. The signal bounces from balloon to balloon, onto the internet and back to the earth.
A 'Project Loon' pilot project began on June 15 at the 40th parallel South, which is a circle of latitude, that is 40 degrees south of the earth's equatorial plane, when 30 balloons launched from New Zealand's South Island beamed internet signals to a small group of pilot testers.
The experience of these pilot testers will be used to refine the technology and shape the next phase of 'Project Loon', Google had said earlier.
Speaking about the company's Premier Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Partner Programme, Rowe said within 10 months of its launch, the model has gained significant momentum in India.
"We have partnered with 16 medium sized companies, with over 3,000 sales people who have been trained to help SMEs gain from digital advertising. In the next one year, we are looking to significantly increase our presence in South India by doubling our partners and add another 3,000 sales force though these partners," Rowe said.
Jaspreet Bindra, CEO, Getit Infomedia, one of the largest Premier SME Partners of Google India said that it had entered into a strategic alliance with Google India, though its SME programme to increase Getit's presence in the country.
Google patents photo-capturing
walking stick
Google has got its
new invention, a walking stick that takes pictures whenever it hits the ground,
patented.
WASHINGTON:
Google has got
its new invention, a walking stick that takes pictures whenever it hits the
ground, patented.
According to the patent text, the stick has a sensor that provides location info about the elongated member's position, Discovery News reported.
According to Geekwire, a patent application sketch shows the camera mounted on top of the stick; there are also multiple location sensors, a battery and a processing system in the middle and at the bottom there is a switch.
The patent has also been extended to stick-like objects such as a cane, a crutch, a monopod, a trekking pole, a rod or a staff.
According to the patent text, the stick has a sensor that provides location info about the elongated member's position, Discovery News reported.
According to Geekwire, a patent application sketch shows the camera mounted on top of the stick; there are also multiple location sensors, a battery and a processing system in the middle and at the bottom there is a switch.
The patent has also been extended to stick-like objects such as a cane, a crutch, a monopod, a trekking pole, a rod or a staff.
Oracle, NetSuite announce cloud
computing alliance
Oracle and NetSuite announced an alliance to deliver
cloud-based services to mid-size business customers.
SAN
FRANCISCO: Software companies Oracle and NetSuite announced
an alliance to deliver cloud-based services to mid-size business customers, the
third tie-up unveiled this week by Oracle as it pushes further into services
delivered over the internet.
The agreement will focus on integrating Oracle's software for human resources with NetSuite's services for enterprise resource planning and will be aimed at mid-size companies, Oracle and NetSuite said.
"You shouldn't think of this as a date. You should think of this as us continuing to integrate our products closer and closer together," Oracle president Mark Hurd told analysts and reporters on a conference call. "Think of this almost as rolling thunder as opposed to an event."
NetSuite, in which Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison is a major shareholder, makes web-based software for small and mid-size companies to manage their businesses and customers. Connecting their products gives the two technology companies new sales opportunities.
The partnership with NetSuite follows Oracle agreements announced earlier this week with cloud computing leader Salesforce.com and top software maker Microsoft.
Oracle wants to speed up its move into cloud computing, a fast-growing area of technology where the No. 3 software maker has fallen behind smaller rivals selling all-in-one solutions that are less expensive than Oracle's offerings.
Shares of NetSuite have more than tripled over the past five years, while Oracle's have gained about 40%.
Microsoft will support Oracle's software on its cloud-based platforms, which have also struggled to catch up with Amazon.com's cloud offering, called Amazon Web Services, which blazed the trail in elastic online computing services.
Ellison and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff on Thursday are due to hold a conference call to outline the details of their new nine-year partnership.
