Optical device beams data at speeds up to 25 Gbps via light, up to 25 kilometer range with ultra-low latency — Taara Beam uses silicon photonics technology, device about as big as a shoebox

Taara Beam.

Taara, a company specializing in free-space optical communication, just released the Beam — a shoebox-sized device that uses its proprietary Photonics Platform to deliver up to 25 Gbps of bidirectional throughput. More than that, the company says that it has a range of 10 kilometers and claims that it has ultra-low latency, making it ideal for AI applications.

This isn’t the first optical transceiver developed by the company, as it has been working on the technology since 2017 at Google’s X development lab. In fact, Taara says that its Lightbridge device has already been deployed in over 20 countries alongside carriers including T-Mobile, Vodafone, Airtel, and Digicel. While this offers a longer range of 20 km, it has a slightly lower 20 Gbps throughput and uses mechanical parts to keep the beam aligned.