How All the Photos From Sochi Reach You in Just 3 Minutes

During events like the Winter Olympics — when information circles the world in split-second tweets — news organizations are desperate for photos to accompany their stories. But for photography institutions such as Getty and the Associated Press, sending those photos thousands of miles to where they need to be presents a challenge. To meet the demand, the companies are investing heavily in new technologies to deliver photos to news outlets as quickly as possible — even from the top of remote mountains.

Getty vice-president of sports Ken Mainardis told Mashable that the stock-photo agency, in conjunction with other outlets and the International Olympic Committee, had laid about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) of fiber-optic cable to transfer photos at 100 megabits per second. This allows Getty's team of 70 to send pressing photos to news publications in 180 seconds — just three minutes. Read more...