Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
Google. They're on the web, on our phones, they're in our glasses... and soon they could be taking over our skies.
The company announced yesterday that they bought Titan Aerospace, a company that makes high-altitude drones. But what could Google possibly be planning to do with them?
According to
at the Wall Street Journal, Google is interested in supplying Internet access to areas that are currently without. Theoretically, the drones will be able to fly for up to five years without service, surviving on solar power. While in the sky they'll be able to wirelessly connect people to the Internet.
A big issue for the company? Titan Aerospace hasn't been able to keep a drone in the air for more than a few hours.
Facebook is also looking into drones. At first one of those companies was Titan Aerospace, but they eventually moved on to purchase Ascenta, another drone company. They're interested in drones for the same reason that Google is, says Albergotti.
If the two companies are able to pull this off, then they'll potentially have access to about a billion more users. And that could mean big returns in terms of advertising revenue and user data.