Google announced that it has agreed to buy Titan Aerospace, a company that makes solar-powered high-altitude drones. The financial terms of the acquisition deal were not disclosed, according to VentureBeat.
What makes this purchase interesting is that Facebook reportedly discussed the acquisition of the same company, Wall Street Journal reported. The social media giant, however, decided instead to acquire British solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle maker Ascenta in a $20-million deal, the report detailed.
Google will use Titan's workforce and technology for Project Loon. This initiative aims to build high-altitude balloons that will help connect currently offline areas to the Internet. Titan says its drones are able to deliver a maximum of 1 gigabit per second. This speed is more superior to the Internet speeds available in most developed countries at present, the report explained.
Aside from Internet connections, Google can also use Titan's technology to beef up its other businesses, like Google Maps. The solar-powered drones will be able to gather high-resolution photos of the earth in real time. Titan expects to start its commercial operations next year, VentureBeat reported.
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