Google has launched a small network of balloons over the Southern Hemisphere in an experiment it hopes could bring reliable Internet access to the world’s most remote regions, the company said late Friday. The pilot program, Project Loon, took off this month from New Zealand’s South Island, using solar-powered, high-altitude balloons that ride the wind about 12.5 miles (20 kilometers) – twice as high as airplanes – above the ground, Google said

Eighteen months after his arrest for alleged online piracy, Internet mogul Kim Dotcom has accused US prosecutors of deliberately stalling his case because they know it will not stand up in court. A US bid to extradite the Megaupload founder from New Zealand was delayed again this week, pushing his hearing back to November at the earliest amid protracted wrangling over evidence disclosure.

When Google Inc. tapped Kansas City as its first test bed for super-fast Internet service, the market looked poised to slingshot into a high-tech stratosphere