The Google Cube & GooOS

The Google Cube & GooOS

or why Google is buying blackfibere.

Larry Page, co-founder and president of products at Google, is holding the last keynote on the International CES in Las Vegas this Friday (Jan 6th, 4 pm local time) - and this keynote might just be one of the most interesting product unveilings ever.

Rumours say that Google is about to launch a dumb, network based computer called the Google Cube. The Google Cube will be a cheap, small box that needs to be connected to a server to be fully working - and that is probably why Google has been purchasing all that dark fiber for almost a year now."

Google has been purchasing "black fiber" for a year now. What does that mean? Black fiber is fiber-optic cable that's been laid, but that no one have purchased the rights to use (for more check this).

So what does this mean? People have been expecting google to come out with some kind of dumb computer that runs over a network for a while now (myself included :) )

Google is going toreleasee google box or google cube, a "dumb" computer with very little hard drive, but a good bit of RAM and a processor. The machine will have almost nothing on it, but will provide a chance to connect to the internet, where google will provide memory and a chance to run programs over the network. Because this box will be "dumb" itself, it can be very cheap. It is unclear how exactly users will pay for the rights to use software over the network (monthly, usage, or one time fee).

This dark fiber issue provides more theories. If google is going to build its own network across the country, it can offer their own inter-/intra-net, becoming their own ISP. Buy their cheap box, and google provides your highspeed internet with all your services run over the(ir) network.

Pretty neat.