One second for 720 DVDs: New super-fast fiber optic cable

This isn’t directly HTPC related, but the idea of fiber optics getting fast enough to stream such high quality video is I’m sure very appealing to everyone. Like most cool technologies, who knows when or if we’ll ever see this in the US. But hey, at least we can be jealous for those who have it if it ever does come out.

CrunchGear

The companies claim their new cable is able to transmit data around 10 times faster than existing cables (30 terabits per second vs. around 3). In other words, 720 DVDs with two hours of video can be handled within a single second. The researchers say they were able to transmit data to data points that were 240km away. KDDI aims at commercializing the technology by 2012. One field the cable could be used in is medicine, as it could allow physicians to give instructions on surgeries in distant places in a reliable way.