The graphic (available here) shows the top 20 nations by internet costs and speeds around the world as ordered by the ITIF Broadband Rankings. As an Australian, it is a sickening day when New Zealand beat us at anything….let alone broadband speeds (^_^)

Taking the number one spot is Japan, however, the global superpower USA languished in 15th place.

Apart from Japan’s propensity for technology, I think the obvious, and perhaps major, difference between the two countries in terms of broadband cost and coverage is geographic. The same would have to be said in Australia, where we have reasonably good broadband in most capital cities but the regional areas suffer in that regard.

Japan’s land mass totals just 374,744 km² while the 50 states of the US total – 9,826,630 km², well over 25 times the area to cover with a fibre network.

The top five countries in the rankings stand out as small (in terms of land mass), well populated countries, which makes it cheaper and easier to get decent size pipes out to more people. Of course, there are many small countires with poor broadband and that’s where factors such as government policies come in to play.

What is the broadband like in your country? Do you think it has more to do with government mismanagement than geographic issues?

Via Gizmodo and Zach Klein

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In the leadup to the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, Honda has introduced the U3-X, its own sit-down take on Dean Kamen’s famous two-wheeled Segway.

The one-wheeled U3-X, dubbed by Honda as the “world’s smallest existing transport device”, can move in any direction by the rider simply shifting their weight in the direction they wish to go. The seamless, almost levitational, movement is made possible via a ring of small perpendicular wheels lining the outer edge of the main wheel.

The U3-X looks like an exciting development but only time will tell if mass adoption is a possibility.

Judge for yourself in the video below. What do you think?

Honda U3-X

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