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Many Americans believe that Saudi Arabia has links to Islamist militants, but the Saudis say they are victims of terrorism, too.

The self-proclaimed Islamic State has recruited more than 2,000 young Saudi men, despite government programs to stop them.

Now, the Saudi government shares the fears of the U.S. and Europe: that these violent young men will come home and carrying out attacks. There are signs that's already happening. As a result, the Saudis are ramping up training for counterterrorism missions.

One place that's happening is in a secretive, tightly guarded training center for the elite special operations forces. It's a sprawling campus, on the outskirts of the capital, Riyadh, where Saudi security officers drill on scenarios taken from actual attacks, with cameras rolling for feedback and sensors to measure reaction time in seconds.

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Trainees can watch playbacks of their drills. Here, a "shooter" can see where he hit his "targets" during an exercise. Deborah Amos/NPR hide caption

itoggle caption Deborah Amos/NPR

Trainees can watch playbacks of their drills. Here, a "shooter" can see where he hit his "targets" during an exercise.

Deborah Amos/NPR

In one drill, 10 fully armed men clad in black move from room to room. The goal of the live-fire exercise is to clear a militant hideout in less than two minutes. The walls are covered with heavy foam to absorb the bullets.

This month, much of the training has moved to Saudi Arabia's northern border. For the first time, all seven of the kingdom's security units are training together near the Iraqi frontier, which is also a first, says Gen. Monsour al-Turki, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior.

The exercise comes after suicide attackers from Iraq crossed Saudi Arabia's northern border in January and killed a Saudi general and a border guard.

"We want to make sure that this coordination is upgraded and this integration will take place when they have to face terrorists trying to cross the border of Saudi Arabia," Turki says.

Saudi Arabia's new King Salman recently inherited the throne at a time of regional turmoil and lower oil prices. Salman quickly named his new team, including his youngest son, who was appointed minister of defense.

A rising star in the new government is another close relative, Mohammed bin Nayef, who is the new interior minister. The U.S.-educated 55-year-old now oversees all internal and external security. His first move has been to streamline command of the security services.

Academic Paul Pillar, a former U.S. intelligence officer for the Middle East, says the king's appointments are based on royal politics.

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These pop-up targets are part of an advanced drill, named "friend or foe," that tests shooter reaction times. Some targets have a camera, and others, like these pictured, have a gun. The shooter must decide within seconds whether to shoot. Deborah Amos/NPR hide caption

itoggle caption Deborah Amos/NPR

These pop-up targets are part of an advanced drill, named "friend or foe," that tests shooter reaction times. Some targets have a camera, and others, like these pictured, have a gun. The shooter must decide within seconds whether to shoot.

Deborah Amos/NPR

"Clearly the moves he's made have been in the direction of concentrating more power in parts of the family that are more closely associated with him," Pillar says. "The intra-royal family politics is also going to be a large part of it."

But in this case, he says, the new power lineup also addresses a rising security threat: terrorism from inside the country, rather than an external army rolling across the border. Pillar says it's why the special operation forces are taking the lead.

"Intense, elite and small is what they need right now, rather than large and cumbersome," he says. "When the Saudis have decided to place high priority and intense resources in a particular effort, they have done very well."

Back at the training center, another drill is under way. It's taking place in a room with a floor that's unsteady by design. Pop-up figures move quickly in a drill called "friend or foe" that tests reaction times.

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A figure with a camera? Friend. One with a gun? Foe. The participants have to be able to tell immediately which is which — and whether to shoot.

The room where this exercise is taking place can be dimmed for a night-time drill. Trainers can add distractions such has heat or noise, or drill after a 10-mile run, says Maj. Ahmed Hikimi.

"It's not only training to shoot, but put him under pressure and test his ability to shoot," Hikimi says.

Saudi Arabia is under pressure, too, says Turki, the spokesman for the interior ministry.

In addition to January's attack in the north, their was a cross border raid last summer on the southern frontier of the kingdom. All together, seven policemen and nine militants have been killed in the two attacks.

"Terrorism is surrounding us," he says. "Their intention is to be able to cross the Saudi borders and carrying out attacks in Saudi Arabia."

All the attackers were Saudi recruits to ISIS, Turki says, adding that it's a message from ISIS that Saudi Arabia is a target.

Islamic State

ISIS

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Saudi Arabia

Apple is expected to unveil its much-anticipated watch today.

NPR's Laura Sydell (@Sydell) is live-tweeting the Apple event in San Francisco. You can read those tweets here.

Tweets by @Sydell

As Rachel Myrow and Christina Farr of member station KQED reported on Morning Edition, Apple's entry into the " smart watch market is expected to have a huge impact. How much of one is a multibillion dollar question."

It enters a market with plenty of wearable tech, but few smart watches. The LG G, the Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 and the Pebble, the market leader.

Ben Bajarin, principal analyst at Creative Strategies, told Myrow and Farr the Apple watch will likely sell 10 million to 20 million units in the first year.

"Apple has a very loyal and large base that will purchase things just because they're Apple," he told them. "Meaning that they'll give these products the benefit of the doubt."

That will likely be true in China, too, he said, even if the watch start at $349.

apple watch

Apple

Like an elephant splashing down in a mud hole, Apple's entry into the smart watch market is expected to have a huge impact. How much of one is a multibillion dollar question.

You don't see too many people wearing smart watches walking down the street, even in San Francisco. Even at the Game Developers Conference there last week, techies in attendance sported plenty of wearable tech, but few smart watches.

Paul Quinones was one of the few wearing one. The founder of Glass Wolf Games says a buddy bought him an LG G for Christmas.

"You can do a lot of very basic stuff," Quinones says, "like dictate, check your messages, send texts and all that. But there's no real, like, wow app or software for it that makes it the kind of device that you need to run out and get."

When Quinones gets an alert, his watch lights up and he glances at it without missing a beat.

"It's kind of nice cause then I get the convenience of not having to pull out my phone every time I get a message," he says. "I can just check from my watch."

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Eitan Marder-Eppstein shows off his LG smart watch at a March 2014 convention for Game Developers in San Francisco. Rachael Myrow/KQED hide caption

itoggle caption Rachael Myrow/KQED

Eitan Marder-Eppstein shows off his LG smart watch at a March 2014 convention for Game Developers in San Francisco.

Rachael Myrow/KQED

Google gave Eitan Marder-Eppstein, a senior project engineer with the company's mobile-focused Project Tango, a free LG smart watch. It turns out he was nostalgic for an analog experience the smart phone destroyed.

"I use it just to, actually, surprisingly, tell the time," Marder-Eppstein says. "I forgot how nice it is to have the time on my wrist."

Joshua Morgan, a tech lead for video game developer PlayStudios, got a Samsung Galaxy Gear S2, but only because it was an older model thrown in for free when he bought a Samsung smartphone a few months ago.

He says it starts conversations — as opposed to fights, like the ill-fated Google Glass. Morgan also can take phone calls on his watch — like Maxwell Smart, or Fred Flinstone, or Captain Kirk.

Morgan likes the fitness functions.

"Mostly the pedometer and the heart rate monitor," he says. "I do a lot of exercising — or I've been getting into a lot of exercising. I don't look like I do exercise, do I?"

Morgan's being modest. But in a nutshell these early adaptors have described the appeal of smart watches: discreet, convenient, and they do some of things smart phones do. Last year, 4.6 million smart watches shipped, according to the tech research firm Canalys

The most popular brand so far is Pebble, which has shipped 1 million units since it started two years ago with a Kickstarter campaign. Predictions as to what Apple will sell vary wildly — Ben Bajarin, principal analyst at Creative Strategies, figures 10 million-30 million sales in the first year.

"Apple has a very loyal and large base that will purchase things just because they're Apple," Bajarin says. "Meaning that they'll give these products the benefit of the doubt."

He thinks that will be true in China too, even if prices start at $349.

"Their second biggest iPhone market is in China," Bajarin says. "There's a lot of people there who do buy very expensive products."

Analysts like Bajarin are predicting that China may be the largest market for the watch, given the demand there for luxury smart watches. Apple arranged the device's editorial debut in Vogue China rather than U.S. Vogue.

'Gorgeous Or Invisible'

It's not clear if Apple can crack through what appears to be a gender barrier for the smart watch. Researchers have found that the female demographic is less interested in geeky gadgets with a wide array of features, preferring instead a slick and more minimalistic design.

"The wrist is sacred ground for a lot of people, regardless of gender," said Tim Golnik, vice president of product at Misfit. "Women definitely love the option to hide the technology or put it somewhere other than the wrist."

Misfit found through its research that the next generation of wearable gadgets would need to be "gorgeous or invisible" to appeal to women. Its health-tracking accessory is jewelry-like, and can be worn almost anywhere on the body.

Apple's executive team reflects the value it puts on fashion beyond its design department. The team includes Angela Ahrendts from Burberry and Paul Deneve, the former chief executive officer of Yves Saint Laurent.

The importance of fashion is not lost on Silicon Valley's other tech companies. Intel recently partnered up with fashion brand Opening Ceremony for a smart bracelet, and Fitbit teamed up with Tory Burch to create a more chic alternative to its Flex tracker.

The Apple Ecosystem

For many Apple users, the Apple Watch's biggest appeal is the fact it plugs into the Apple universe of software and products. Even if the first generation is functionally modest, Bajarin says Apple can bank on an army of third-party developers to expand what's the device's abilities far beyond what the company itself dreams up.

"Look at the watch as this sort of platform for apps," he says. "The apps can create all these different experiences that can help the product appeal to a much wider, you know, mass-consumer public."

Before that fully evolves, Apple has developed playful touches designed for broad appeal, as demonstrated here at the Apple Watch unveiling last September.

Kitsch? Maybe. But James McQuivey of Forrester Research says it works wonders on generating consumer demand.

Apple Unveils New Payment System, iPhones, Smartwatch

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"Believe me, it's that kind of touch that Apple has on its products, where they add those little things that help underscore –- not the value of the technology – but the benefits that the technology delivers," he says. "That's what Apple is so good at. I'm convinced that 10 million people in 2015 will find that compelling enough to buy an Apple Watch."

smart watches

Samsung

LG Electronics

Apple

Kansas City has some of the Internet best service anywhere. Providers there jostle for customers who can now expect broadband that's about 100 times faster than the national average.

But, four years after Google Fiber landed in Kansas City, people are still trying to figure just what do with all that speed.

Kansas City's a modest, Midwestern place. Residents are proud of their barbecue and baseball team. But Aaron Deacon says that now there's something else: inexpensive, world-class Internet.

"Yeah, it's the best," he says. "Maybe Hong Kong's a little bit better than us, and Seoul."

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Kansas City Slow To Connect With Google's Super Fast Internet

Deacon runs KC Digital Drive, a group set up to make the most out ultra-high speed Internet available in the city for $70 a month. "You have faster Internet here than anyplace else, and you can get it for cheaper than anyplace else. Because Google chose this market to build out in first."

The network's still not done, but Internet connections running at close to one gigabit-per-second are easy to find.

"We're sitting at the world's fastest Starbucks," says Ilya Tabakh, the COO of Edge Up Sports, a website for sports stats and news. He points out that the coffee shop has laptops hooked up to Google Fiber and says the difference is most visible on YouTube.

"Click on a video, it's loaded," Tabakh says. "Click on another video, it's loaded. Click on another video, loaded. There is no waiting for anything."

But many users are left waiting for programs to make use of all of that speed. Running normal applications on gigabit Internet is like riding a bicycle on a NASCAR track. For the moment, only a lucky few have any access. Everybody else is still on dirt paths.

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An AT&T worker splices cable for the suburb of Overland Park. Last month, the company became the third provider broadly offering affordable gibabit Internet to residents. Frank Morris/KCUR hide caption

itoggle caption Frank Morris/KCUR

An AT&T worker splices cable for the suburb of Overland Park. Last month, the company became the third provider broadly offering affordable gibabit Internet to residents.

Frank Morris/KCUR

Not much money can be made figuring out a 200-mile-per-hour bicycle, or to step back from the analogy, an application to maximize the massive broadband. Toby Rush, who runs a Kansas City biometrics startup called EyeVerify, says the apps will follow as access expands.

"When you can knock down the barriers — the roadblocks of near infinite bandwidth, real time, all the time, very cheap — it allows for a lot more digital things to happen, which is great for everybody," he says.

In the meantime, Rush says, Google has made gigabit speed standard in Kansas City. "Everyone else is following suit, just making this high-speed connectivity a commodity."

Mike Scott, the president of AT&T Kansas, stands by as workers splice fiber optic cable before sinking it into someone's back yard. Last month AT&T became the third provider broadly offering affordable, one gig Internet here. Time Warner and other providers have also boosted speeds.

"It's a fiber war so to speak," he says. "We are literally standing in the trenches of a fiber war. And I think the customer ultimately wins in all this competition."

But not everyone's a customer. In some Kansas City neighborhoods only one-in-five households have any type of Internet connection, let alone a fast one. Michael Liimatta, runs a nonprofit called Connecting for Good, that's trying to change that.

"Our center here, you might consider it to be the front lines closing the digital divide in Kansas City," he says.

Folks from this low-income neighborhood come in and use Google Fiber for free, but no one has it in the huge housing project across the street. Liimatta says he's sometimes disappointed that some of the expectations that the city had in terms of universal adoption, and loads and loads of free bandwidth, "never came to be."

Not yet anyway. Residents are still grappling with uses for super-fast Internet.

digital divide

google fiber

Kansas City

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