Business / Technology

Nearly a week after one of its Loon balloons crashed into a power pole near Yakima, Google acknowledged the incident.

Before it launches self-driving cars, Google might want to sort out its autonomous aircraft, one of which crashed into a mint field near Yakima yesterday.

Screengrab from Google Project Loon video

Seattle likely will get somewhat faster broadband in the coming year from CenturyLink, but some homeowners may not cheer the upgrade.

We may have a solution to global warming at hand.

When things get too hot to bear, we can try bouncing the sun’s energy back into space by laying our flat-panel TVs, tablet computers and smartphones out on our roofs and yards.

A 4K TV presented at CES today by Panasonic. Image from Panasonic.

You can tell it’s the silly season when the race for Seattle mayor veers into technology questions a few days before the election.

Sprint’s attempt to buyout Clearwire creates more uncertainty for the wireless industry in Puget Sound, but there could be a chance to make lemonade here. Thousands of jobs were in limbo last year when AT&T attempted to buy Bellevue-based T-Mobile USA. Hundreds more are in limbo at Clearwire, which has long been seen as an acquisition target….

Comcast – the nation’s biggest broadband provider – is announcing a big shift in the way it sells the service. The company’s adding tiered pricing for customers that exceed their monthly data allotment, an approach similar to that taken by wireless phone companies as they grapple with huge increases in data traffic. For now most Comcast customers…

Forget about Seattle’s grand plans for a city-sponsored, superfast broadband network. Seattle has quietly given up, ending nearly a decade of blue-ribbon commissions, reams of studies and public outreach. Since 2004, residents were tantalized by the prospect of affordable, fiber-optic service that would offset the near monopoly of Comcast and boost creativity, collaboration and innovation. The closest…

Garet Martin is ahead of the curve. The Portland resident experienced the future of 4G wireless service last week, and it wasn’t pretty. Martin gets wireless home broadband and phone service from Bellevue-based Clearwire. She’s generally pleased with the $63-a-month package, even though she has to move her modem when a particular tree gets leafy in the…

State regulators have reached a deal giving CenturyLink approval to take over Qwest operations in the state. As part of its tentative agreement with the state Attorney General and Utilities and Transportation Commission, CenturyLink pledged to freeze basic phone rates for three years. The Louisiana-based company will also invest a minimum of $80 million upgrading broadband infrastructure…