Despite federal law that states authorities do not need warrants for e-mails stored for longer than 180 days, Google demands probable cause warrants when asked for user data from Gmail or other cloud-based services. “Google requires an ECPA search warrant for contents of Gmail and other services based on the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, which prevents unreasonable search and seizure,” Google said in a statement. Continue reading Google Demands Warrants for Access to Email and Cloud Data

Google may soon increase Internet speeds across America by a factor of 100 as the search giant explores expanding its Google Fiber across the nation. The service currently operates out of Kansas City, Missouri, and is opening new “fiberhoods” in Kansas and Missouri. Google CEO Larry Page and CFO Patrick Pichette have told reporters that the super-fast Internet experiment is more than a hobby for the company. Continue reading Super-Fast Google Fiber Could Be Coming to a City Near You

U.S. broadband connections over 10 Mbps have grown 73 percent over the past year, and overall broadband speeds have risen 20 percent. “The number of people who have adopted broadband (measured at anything above 4 Mbps) was 62 percent, which puts the U.S. at No. 12 in the worldwide rankings when it comes to adoption and No. 9 when it comes to average speeds,” reports GigaOM. Continue reading U.S. Broadband Adoption Increases, Trails Japan and Korea

While Kickstarter has gained much attention for its successful funding of consumer products like the Pebble Watch or the Ouya gaming system, much of its crowdfunding has gone into creation of the arts. “Kings Point,” “Buzkashi Boys” and “Inocente” have become the fourth, fifth and sixth Kickstarter-funded films to earn Academy Award nominations. Continue reading Kickstarter Crowdfunding Leads to Oscar Nominated Films

As wireless technology advances and smaller devices become more powerful, wearable technology has begun to expand beyond niche markets into more mainstream applications. Christian Lindholm of design firm Koru expects the trend of wearable technology in 2013 and highlights the products he thinks will make the largest splashes, including watches, sensors and glasses. Continue reading Wearable Technology: Smart Watches and Other Notable Trends

The idea of “connected cars” served as one of the highlights of CES as Chevrolet, Ford and others embrace the relationship between smartphones and cars. The combination of existing cellular and Bluetooth technologies can help create smarter vehicles that not only enhance entertainment, but also aid drivers with diagnostics, safety, charging schedules and other vehicle-related issues. Continue reading Connected Cars are an Extension of the Smartphone Revolution

Video game players began “speed running,” or playing through a video game as quickly as possible, and posting videos to the Internet for others to enjoy as early as the 1990s. But streaming technology is revolutionizing the speed running community, as Twitch allows viewers to watch players compete live. Just as people enjoy watching sports live rather than on a delay, people find live speed running more compelling. Continue reading Livestreaming Twitch Turns Video Games into Spectator Sport

Amazon’s rumored entrance into the smartphone market could potentially complement the company’s struggling Kindle Fire and surging app store sales. An Amazon smartphone would not only push forward the already growing app store, but could give the company an outlet for mobile advertising — an area in which its unique collection of data could help predict future purchases. Continue reading Mobile: Amazon Could Challenge Apple in Smartphone Market

“Disney Infinity”is a new interactive universe that allows children to interact with figurines in a digital world. It connects characters from Disney and Pixar movies including “Monster’s University,” “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “The Incredibles,”although Disney plans to add more before the June launch. With characters from different franchises interacting with one another, will we see any “Star Wars” entries? Continue reading Disney Preps Infinity: New Universe for Interactive Gaming

Stanford mathematics professor Gunnar Carlsson’s startup Ayasdi uses topological data analysis to better understand huge sets of data. While other companies focus on handling queries, Carlsson’s approach analyzes the shape of data and identifies patterns and clusters. These clusters help people to understand the larger picture of the big data analysis, as the clusters can represent segments of customers or patients, for example. Continue reading Ayasdi Uses New Topological Approach to Big Data Analysis

Amazon has launched a browser-based MP3 store featuring 22 million songs. The move directly challenges Apple since the store allows consumers to use their Apple devices to access music through Amazon’s Cloud Player app. Much of the music is cheaper than iTunes because Amazon does not have to pay Apple the 30 percent commission for sales through iTunes. This allows Amazon to offer specials like 69 cent songs and $5 albums. Continue reading Amazon Launches HTML5-Based MP3 Store to Compete with Apple

Twitter has released the Twitter TV Book, a breakdown of tweet-based analytics of second screen viewers in the United Kingdom. The analysis includes details regarding user demographics, devices used, television program genres and tweeting habits. Twitter says about 60 percent of the UK’s 10 million active users tweet while watching television. Continue reading Twitter TV Book Examines Second Screen Tweeting in the UK

President Obama signed into law an amended version of the Video Piracy Protection Act, which will allow Netflix and other rental services to integrate viewing data with social media sites. Customers must consent to the shared data, which will share data related to watching, rating, and saving on platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Netflix hopes the integration will increase viewing hours and customer subscriptions. Continue reading VPPA Update Enables Netflix to Share User Data on Facebook

Apple and Google dominate the smartphone software market with a combined 87 percent control, but new competitors hope to chip away at this duopoly. New entrants including Tizen, the Mozilla Foundation and Ubuntu hope that introducing competing operating systems would help convince consumers to purchase products through alternatives to the Google or Apple stores. Continue reading New Mobile Operating Systems Look to Disrupt iOS and Android

CES traditionally does not feature many gaming systems, but the changing culture of the industry has allowed video games to find their way into the show. Sony made little mention of its video games in Las Vegas, and Microsoft didn’t have a booth, but other consumer brands helped highlight a new era of video game ecosystem — video games on consumer electronics products. Continue reading New Gaming Ecosystem Emerges: CE Devices Play Games, Too