Month: March 2021

Enlarge / FCC member Jessica Rosenworcel speaks during a Senate Commerce Committee oversight hearing on June 24, 2020, in Washington, DC. (credit: Getty Images | Jonathan Newton)

The Federal Communications Commission wants to hear from Internet users about their experiences trying to find good broadband service. The FCC announced yesterday that it is seeking "first-hand accounts on broadband availability and service quality directly from consumers" as part of a new data collection effort. People who live in areas where ISPs either haven't deployed service or have failed to upgrade old networks may be especially interested in participating.

"Far too many Americans are left behind in access to jobs, education, and healthcare if they do not have access to broadband," acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said. "Collecting data from consumers who are directly affected by the lack of access to broadband will help inform the FCC's mapping efforts and future decisions about where service is needed." Rosenworcel shared those sentiments on Twitter as well:

Take note. We're going straight to consumers. https://t.co/bZzsFo46ap

— Jessica Rosenworcel (@JRosenworcel) March 22, 2021

Anyone who wants to participate can fill out the "Share Your Broadband Experience" form at this webpage. While the FCC is trying to find unserved areas, people with broadband access can also tell the FCC about the quality of their current ISPs. "Your experience with the availability and quality of broadband services at your location will help to inform the FCC's efforts to close the digital divide," the FCC said.

Enlarge / Push button, but watch out for SUVs. Particularly at night.

American drivers were an even more deadly threat to pedestrians in 2020, according to data analyzed by the Governors Highway Safety Association and published on Tuesday. Early data from state highway safety offices shows that 2,957 pedestrians were killed by drivers in the first six months of last year, which at first looks like a very meager increase over the 2,951 pedestrian fatalities recorded for the first half of 2019. But because the pandemic caused a large decrease in vehicle miles driven, the fatality rate actually increased significantly.

According to the GHSA, there was a 16.5 percent drop in vehicle miles traveled for the first half of 2020. That means the pedestrian fatality rate (normalized to miles traveled) actually increased by 20 percent compared to the same period in 2019.

US roads have become a lot more dangerous to pedestrians over the past few years. In 2009, 4,302 pedestrians were killed by drivers, accounting for 13 percent of all traffic fatalities. In 2018, the pedestrian death toll was 6,374, which accounted for 17 percent of all road deaths. 2019 actually offered a rare bit of good news, as pedestrian deaths were essentially flat compared to 2018, but that still represents a 46 percent increase in deaths over 10 years.

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  The OnePlus Watch. It comes with several watch faces. [credit: OnePlus ]

OnePlus is launching a smartwatch. OnePlus announced the OnePlus Watch today, and despite being a longtime Android OEM, the company isn't using Google's Android-based Wear OS. Like Garmin and Fitbit (pre-Google), the company is striking off on its own and shipping an in-house OS on the watch. The OnePlus Watch is only $159, so it's very much a budget option.

OnePlus has announced the watch, but it's still being cagey about the spec sheet. We don't know what the SoC is, even after asking, but the lack of information suggests it's not something the company wants to brag about. The body of the watch is a huge 46×10.9 mm, so there's definitely room in there for an old Snapdragon Wear SoC. The display is a 1.39-inch, 454×454 OLED. There's 1GB of RAM, 4GB of storage, and a 402 mAh battery. The watch has GPS, Bluetooth, an optical heart rate monitor, and an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance.

The body is stainless steel with a glass top, and the bands are easily swappable. OnePlus says the battery will last anywhere from 25 hours (with GPS on) to 14 days, depending on which features you use. There's a "Warp charge" pogo charger, and OnePlus says you'll get a week's usage (so 50 percent?) after 20 minutes of charging.