Google knows every single Android user's WiFi password

New privacy issues have come to light surrounding Google's Android mobile OS. Experts on the matter are claiming that back up tools in the operating system make it so that a copy of every person's WiFi password (or the password of other networks you log onto) is being stored on Google's servers. Unfortunately, this might mean that Google could be legally forced to hand over the data at the government's request for one reason or another.

In Android 4.2, the back up service under Settings, lists WiFi passwords as part of the data that will be included, where as earlier versions of the OS did not specifically mention that. Although the feature can be turned off, users lose other, helpful functionality like bookmarks etc.

The main problem here is beyond the fact that Google is storing the passwords. The company is storing them in such a way that means it can read the passwords if it wants to. This is clear to see by the way new Android devices can suck in old passwords, login data and device settings from Google servers, once you have setup your Gmail address and new password.

Obviously, this functionality has its up sides, we can easily manage passwords for several devices and services this way, but it certainly leaves the networks we use in a much less secure state than we may have originally thought. Although this isn't shocking in the least, it is surprising that Google would leave these passwords in a readable form as well as opening itself up for an almost guaranteed public back lash if the government ever does strong arm them for that data.

New Apple TV details emerge, iCloud-based DVR a possibility

Representatives with Apple have reportedly been meeting with media executives as the Cupertino-based company draws closer to jumping into the television market. It is believed that the long-rumored Apple television, collectively known as the iTV by most media outlets, will rely on some sort of wireless streaming to access content.

The latest report by The Wall Street Journal brings together several tidbits picked up on in recent weeks. In addition to wireless streaming from devices or the Internet, Apple could implement voice and motion movements to control a television set or use AirPlay to allow users to control the TV with an iPhone or iPad. Another technology would allow a user to start watching a video on the TV then pause and pick up where they left off on another device.

Perhaps the most interesting revelation comes from a source that claims Apple has worked on technologies that would allow them to provide a DVR solution using iCloud. This could potentially introduce some tricky licensing issues in regards to recorded broadcast television but if the company were to pull it off, it could open a whole new set of opportunities in terms of how we watch and share content.

It remains to be seen just what exactly the tight-lipped technology company will ultimately bring to market. Apple has been rumored to be developing a television set for years but thus far nothing has materialized. That all changed when Steve Jobs told Walter Isaacson during an interview for his biography that he had “finally cracked it,” referring to the television market.