Titan Aerospace is a startup manufacturer of high-altitude aerial drones, which sport a slender fuselage with a propeller for a motor and solar-panels on all of the wings and ailerons. The drones use their solar fuel with such efficiency that they are intended to fly for years at a time, which was enough to lure and entice an acquisition by Google (News - Alert) for an undisclosed amount of money.

One clue that could lead to an estimate of the price is the fact that Facebook had already been in talks to purchase Titan, based in Moriarty, New Mexico. Facebook (News - Alert) eventually settled on purchasing Ascenta, a similar company from the United Kingdom, for $20 million. It would stand to reason that either Ascenta offers a superior service, or that Titan wanted to hold out for more. Given Google's substantial buying power, the latter seems more likely.

While it is unknown what Facebook would use the drones for, speculations for how Google will use Titan's drones are numerous. For example, the drones would make an excellent tool for capturing frequent and detailed images for Google Maps thanks to the drone's ability to collect real-time and high-resolution images of the ground below. Google has already announced that the Titan team will be working closely with Google's Project Loon, which is aimed at providing wireless Internet to rural locations via high-altitude balloons that broadcast the required signals.

According to Titan's website, their dragonfly-shaped drones are capable of transmitting voice and data services at up to 1 gigabit per second to users on the ground. The drones themselves are also quite large, with the smaller Solara 50 model boasting a wingspan of 164 feet – that's bigger than a Boeing (News - Alert) 767.

According to a Google spokesperson, “It's still early days, but atmospheric satellites could help bring Internet access to millions of people, and help solve other problems, including disaster relief and environmental damage like deforestation.” Google and Facebook are currently both racing to deliver better Internet access to developing countries, and Facebook will be able to leverage WhatsApp in order to attract more users – yet Titan drones could be enough to help Google get there first.