CNET Update - Google scraps its mysterious floating retail store
CNET Update - Google scraps its mysterious floating retail store
2014-08-01
it's time to inspect some new tech
mysteries I'm Bridget Carey and this is
your scene at update there's a new twist
in the mystery of Google's floating
showrooms google is reportedly scrapping
one of its secretive barges it was
supposed to be some sort of retail space
to show off Google's new technology like
Google glass and self-driving cars
Google built a four-story structure made
of 63 shipping containers and it's been
sitting in the Portland Harbor since
October it was scheduled for interior
work and it was said to be then towed to
New York City but the Portland Press
Herald reports that it's heading to the
scrapyard to be dismantled but there is
a second incomplete barge still sitting
untouched over in Northern California
last year seen it was the first report
on Google's connection to a mysterious
barge in the San Francisco Bay back then
sources said that this was google's
unique take on a retail store but the
barges have just been sitting idle and
unfinished for months what will become
of the second barge is still a mystery
but Microsoft is in the middle of its
own conundrum it's a legal puzzle over
privacy the u.s. ordered Microsoft to
turn over some emails that were part of
a drug investigation but those emails
were stored on servers overseas in
Ireland Microsoft argued that the u.s.
can't issue a search warrant for
information outside of the US but a US
Court has ruled that Microsoft is an
American company and that means that it
needs to follow us laws even for data
that it stores in other countries but
this goes directly against European
Union laws which would require an Irish
search warrant because the email and the
server are in Ireland this is going to
be messy to sort out Microsoft is still
fighting this in court and other
countries may not want to work with
American headquartered companies if
there are any doubts about data
protection laws in privacy and that's
not the only tech riddle hewlett-packard
is teasing a new SmartWatch but this is
a very competitive time right now for
smartwatches so it seems HP is trying to
stand out with style this watch has been
created with help from fashion
designer michael bastian and it will be
sold exclusively on the luxury market
place gilt com so you can bet it will be
pricey we don't know what it'll be
called or what makes it tick but it will
work with both Apple's iOS and Google's
Android operating system and it's going
to launch sometime in the fall this
round design will compete against
Motorola's Moto 360 Android wear watch
which many say is the most stylish
SmartWatch out there that's your tech
news update but we always have more for
you to check out at cnet com and you can
stay updated by subscribing to the
podcast and i'll keep you tech savvy on
twitter from our studios in New York I'm
Bridget Carey
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