Facebook looks to buy solar drone company: Reports

Facebook is in talks to buy Titan Aerospace, a maker of solar-powered drones, to step up its efforts to provide Internet access to remote parts of the world, according to reports from technology blog Techcrunch and financial news outlet CNBC. 
Both websites cited anonymous sources who are familiar with the deal and put a purchase price at $60 million. 

Facebook spokesman Tucker Bounds said on Tuesday that the company does not comment on rumors and speculation. Titan Aerospace representatives did not respond to requests for comment. 

If Facebook does buy Titan Aerospace, the purchase could fit with the goals of CEO Mark Zuckerberg's Internet.org project. The Facebook-led partnership, which includes Qualcomm Inc., Samsung and Nokia, was launched last summer and aims to connect the more than 5 billion of the world's 7 billion people who are not already online. Presumably, Internet.org could use Titan's solar-powered atmospheric satellites to serve as airborne wireless access points. 

Google Inc., which is not a part of the Internet.org effort, launched a similar undertaking earlier this year with the goal of getting everyone on Earth online. Called Project Loon, the effort launched Internet-beaming antennas aloft on giant helium balloons. 

Titan's drone-like atmospheric satellites, which are still in development and not yet commercially available, can stay in the air for as long as five years, according to reports. Titan's website cites a wide range of uses for the drones, including atmospheric and weather monitoring, disaster response and voice and data communications. The last two could be reasons for Facebook's interest in Titan. 

But Zuckerberg said last week at the Mobile World Congress wireless show that access connectivity is not the main obstacle to getting the world online. He said more than 80 percent of the world's population live in areas with 2G or 3G wireless access. More important, he said, is giving people a reason to connect: basic financial services, access to health care information and educational materials. 

Facebook's acquisition of a company called Onavo last fall also fits with Internet.org's vision. Onavo develops data compression technology, which helps applications run more efficiently. This is especially important in developing countries, where people have access to much slower Internet speeds.

Vin Diesel posts moving video tribute to Paul Walker on Facebook

In one of the most moving tributes to deceased actor Paul Walker, his co-star from the Fast and Furious franchise, Vin Diesel on Wednesday posted an 18-minute video of him and Paul on his Facebook page. 

The video shows the two buddies looking at cars, talking about their upcoming movie and laughing and joking as they promote the FnF franchise over the years. 

In the one day since it was posted on Facebook, the video has garnered 1,091,249 likes with more than 28,000 comments and more than 1 lakh shares. 

"A glimpse... of Dom and Brian... off screen," Diesel, 46, wrote while posting the video in an apparent reference to the names of their characters in the movie. Their close bonding is on display as they taunt and joke with each other with Walker later joking about his favourite cocktail, "Black Bush" - a reference to Bushmills Irish Whiskey. 

Paul Walker died on November 30, 2013, in a fiery crash at the age of 40. The video also shows Walker talking about his favourite car, Nissan's GTR R34. They are also seen visiting the Eiffel Tower in Paris. 

Walker's death hit Diesel very hard so much so that he even visited the crash site Santa Clarita, California where Walker died. 

Later, on his Facebook page, Diesel wrote, "Pablo, I wish you could see the world right now... and the profound impact, your full life has had on it, on us... on me..." 

"It's a blessing to be able to work with your brother on and off-screen," Diesel adds towards the end of the video. 

Fast & Furious 7, starring both Diesel and Walker, is set for release on April 15, 2015. 

See the video here: