US lags in broadband adoption and download speeds, still has the best rappers

U, S, A! We're number nine! Wait, nine? At least according to a recent broadband survey by the FCC, yes. The good ol' US of A ranked ninth (out of the 29 member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) in fixed broadband penetration on a per capita basis, and 12th in terms of pure percentage -- behind the UK, South Korea, Iceland, the Netherlands, and plenty of others. Though, granted, these nations lack the sprawling amber waves of grain that America must traverse with cables. The US also trailed in wireless broadband adoption, ranking ninth yet again, behind the likes of Ireland, Australia and Sweden. Worse still, even those with broadband reported slower connections than folks in other countries. Olympia, Washington had the highest average download speeds of any US city with 21Mbps (New York and Seattle tied for second with 11.7Mbps), but was easily topped by Helsinki, Paris, Berlin, and Seoul (35.8Mbps). Well, at least we beat Slovenia... if only just barely.

Reuters

FCC

Why Apple is trademarking Thunderbolt and why Sony might be left out

Thunderbolt (formerly known as Light Peak) may have been developed by Intel, but it's Apple that's been snatching up all the trademark glory. The company first filed in November of 2010 in Jamaica, then followed up in February of this year by securing the rights to the name in Canada, before registering similar claims in Europe, China, and now the US. This raised some interesting questions about Intel's claim to be the exclusive trademark holder (see the more coverage link) and whether or not other companies would be able to use the Thunderbolt brand. Intrigued, we did a little digging and you'll find what we uncovered after the break.

We spoke to Intel, and it turns out that as part of its collaboration on Thunderbolt Apple filed the initial trademark requests before transferring them to Chipzilla. So, there are no worries about this being a Cupertino exclusive on branding. The connector will be known as Thunderbolt across all platforms provided it meets some basic requirements. As Intel's Dave Salvator told us, "a Thunderbolt implementation needs to use the controller chip, and the Thunderbolt connector." That means if Sony is in fact using a USB port, instead of the Mini DisplayPort-like jack found on MacBook Pros, then it will have to find another name for its high-speed peripheral interface. That's not to say it couldn't made compatible with a simple adapter, after all it's just PCI Express in cable form. But, whatever it looks like, it couldn't be called Thunderbolt.

While Thunderbolt requires a chipset that is, for now, built exclusively by Intel, there is nothing preventing other motherboard manufacturers from integrating it into their products. That's good news, especially for AMD fans afraid they were going to be left out. In the future the Santa Clara-based company may bring others into the fold should market demand exceed their manufacturing capabilities.

For now there doesn't seem to be much of a reason to worry about Android-style fragmentation of the Thunderbolt platform. In fact, Intel expects to seen the brand in "many places in early 2012," but there does seem to be room for others to muddy the standard. Meanwhile, USB 3.0 just keeps marching its unified front towards peripheral dominance...
MacRumors, Patently Apple (1), (2), (3)

Product portal, tweets suggest 'Thrive' moniker for Toshiba's Honeycomb tablet

"What's in a name?" We'd ask Toshiba, but the company hasn't been able to give its upcoming 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet one in five months -- or has it? If you'll recall, Toshiba registered the name Thrive for trademark and related domain names last month, and now evidence is mounting that all of that work wasn't in vain. TabletCommunity learned days ago that a commercial for the device was in production via some chatty actors on Twitter; soon after, the site also uncovered a parking page for the slate on Toshiba's website, albeit with little more than the aforesaid name categorized under "Tablets." It's a welcome update in light of the vapid titles "Antares" and "ANT300" that had also seemed possible, and once word spills of US pricing and availability, perhaps we can focus on more pressing matters... you know, like benchmarks.

TabletCommunity Toshiba, @DavidLyddon, @actorlulumiller , @bigashb (Twitter)

HTC Flyer lands at Best Buy on May 22nd for $500, Magic Pen sold separately

The 16GB-equipped, 7-inch Flyer from HTC is making its way west this week. Best Buy, which gets the honor of exclusively launching the WiFi-only Android tablet in the US, has revealed Sunday as the official first day of availability for the Flyer, at a price of $500. As you'll recall, the stylus that ships in the retail box just about everywhere else will be markedly missing from the Best Buy bundle, costing an extra $80 to those who simply must have it. You'll be able to purchase your Flyer online and at all brick-and-mortar Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores, but if mobile connectivity is more important to you, we'd advise holding out a little while longer for the 3G- and 4G-capable Evo View variety on Sprint.

BGR

Best Buy