According to comScore research, Snapchat is now the third most popular social app among the millennial demographic (18-34 year olds). With 32.9 percent penetration on mobile phones, Snapchat trails only Facebook and Instagram. Jumping from 12.1 percent back in November 2013, the app is now more popular with millennials than Twitter, Pinterest, Vine, Google+ or Tumblr. The shift is important considering that this age group is the most active of mobile social networkers. Continue reading Snapchat Now Third Most Popular Social App with Millennials

According to mobile analytics firm Flurry, female consumers are leading the charge in mobile gaming in terms of time, money and loyalty. Based on analysis of 1.1 million worldwide devices, Flurry concludes that mobile gaming currently represents 32 percent of the time people spend on their phones. Meanwhile, the report specifies that females spend 35 percent more time in gaming apps than males, make 31 percent more in-app purchases, and have 42 percent higher 7-day retention on average. Continue reading Women Lead Men in Time and Money Spent on Mobile Games

The U.S. video entertainment market — including pay TV, box office, Blu-ray, DVD, video-on-demand, and paid-for online video — is getting ready to reach an all-time high. According to a new report from researcher Futuresource Consulting, the market is expected to make $123 billion in retail value in 2015. Futuresource notes that the video market reached $120 billion in 2013, a 2 percent increase over the previous year. Per household spending on video in the U.S. is the highest in the world. Continue reading U.S. Spends More on Digital Video Than the Rest of the World

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a new photo-editing tool that lets users turn and flip objects as if they were in 3D. Photo editors have only been able to manipulate objects in 2D by resizing them or changing their location within the photo. This new software uses a publicly available database of models to recreate objects, even the sides that were not captured by the camera. Researchers found that this software could be used for animations as well. Continue reading Software Allows Photographers to Manipulate Objects in 3D

In May, Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba filed for a public stock offering in the United States. However, this fast growing company still has a way to go before it will be able to compete with the American tech giants that currently control the multibillion-dollar cloud computing business. For now, Alibaba appears to be focusing on expanding in China, where it already has four data centers and handles up to $5.8 billion in commerce per day at its peak. Continue reading Alibaba Growing, But Not a Threat to Top Cloud Services Yet

In an attempt to compete with Amazon, Google is planning to add ratings to its product listing ads in order to make search results more effective. The ratings are to be based on aggregated rating and review data taken from several sources. Google believes merchants that gather these ratings will decide to share the data because it ultimately generates more business. The move should create more relevant search results as more data surrounds the product.

Continue reading Google will Compete with Amazon by Adding Product Ratings

Researchers at the University of Michigan and New York University have been successful in storing data in a liquid containing suspended clusters of nanoparticles. These 12-particle clusters can reconfigure, similar to the way a Rubik’s Cube can, to represent up to eight million unique states. In a tablespoon of the nanoparticle clusters, the liquid can reportedly store up to one terabyte of data. Liquid hard drives could possibly be used in medicine, law enforcement and other fields. Continue reading Liquid Hard Drives Capable of Storing One Terabyte of Data

Facebook announced that its profits more than doubled and revenue exceeded estimates for the ninth straight quarter due largely to mobile ad growth. About 62 percent of the social network’s ad revenue now comes from mobile devices. According to eMarketer, advertising for mobile this year is projected to surpass advertising for newspapers, magazines and radio for the first time. Facebook also added another 40 million registered users, with the daily login increasing by 27 million. Continue reading Facebook Experiences Surge in Users and Mobile Ad Revenue

Baseline Study, an ambitious Google project, plans to determine the fullest picture yet of a healthy human being. Andrew Conrad, a molecular biologist who joined the Google X research arm in 2013, is running the project along with his team of experts. The study will collect the anonymous genetic and molecular information of 175 different people, expanding to thousands more in the future. In the long run, Google X hopes to detect fatal illnesses in their early stages. Continue reading Google’s Baseline Study Aims to Spot Diseases in Early Stages

Two “force display” devices will make their debut at the SIGGRAPH technology conference in Vancouver next month. These devices, the Traxion and the Buru-Navi3, generate vibrations that offer wearers the illusion of being pulled or pushed in a specific direction. The Buru-Navi3 uses a 40 hertz electromagnetic actuator already found in smartphones. This technology could eventually be used in navigation applications in wearables so that the user will literally be pulled in the right direction. Continue reading SIGGRAPH: Haptic Interfaces to Pull and Push Wearable Users

According to new data from Nielsen, the amount of time consumers are spending on apps has reached an all-time high. The report indicates that Android and iPhone users in the U.S. age 18+ spend 65 percent more time (in excess of 30 hours each month) using apps than they did two years ago. However, the average number of apps used per month only increased from 23.2 in Q4 2011 to 26.8 in Q4 2013. Not surprisingly, 18-24 year-olds spend the most time on apps each month (37 hours, 6 minutes). Continue reading Consumers Spending 31 Percent More Time with Mobile Apps

Beacons, hardware devices that can be detected by mobile apps, have seen interest from fields other than just retail. According to a new report from ABI Research, retail is one of the smallest markets for iBeacon and Bluetooth Low Energy-powered devices. While stores can better communicate with customers via apps — through special offers, alerts and ads — even more interest has developed in asset tracking, personal location, and connected home markets. Continue reading Beacon Market Projected to Reach 60 Million Devices by 2019

Digitimes Research projects that global Ultra HD television shipments will experience a compound annual growth rate of 160 percent from 2013 to 2017, jumping from 1.5 million units to 68.2 million. The report estimates that 26.6 percent of all TVs shipped in 2017 will be Ultra HD, and more than 90 percent of LCD TVs will offer UHD resolution or higher. In addition, Digitimes anticipates that Blu-ray support for UHD and increased user-generated content will help push demand. Continue reading Report: Ultra HD TV Shipments to Grow 160 Percent by 2017

Netflix is poised to significantly expand its international subscriber base, according to research from Goldman Sachs. The company is expected to add six new markets this year, followed by four new markets annually. Its total of 11.7 million paid international subscribers, reported at the end of the first quarter, is projected to grow to 62 million by the end of 2017. Since mobile is considered a platform for potential growth, Goldman expects a shift in viewing among toddlers and children. Continue reading New Report Predicts Massive International Growth for Netflix

Earlier this week, Adam D. I. Kramer, the Facebook data scientist in charge of a study about the impact of news feed content, posted a public apology on his Facebook page for the anxiety caused by recent research. The study sparked a public outcry when users discovered that Facebook had manipulated the news feed results of over 500,000 randomly selected users. The company changed the number of positive and negative posts users saw to study how emotions are spread on social media. Continue reading Facebook Changes News Feed Results, Apologizes to Users