communications technologies

A new study from the International Energy Agency predicts that by 2030, the energy demands of gadgets globally will collectively drain an amount of electricity equivalent to the total power consumption of two of the world's largest developed countries.

According to the intergovernmental organization, consumer gear currently accounts for 15 percent of household electricity consumption, and its share of the total is rapidly rising. Without new policies, noted IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka, the energy consumed by high-tech gear will double by 2022 and increase threefold by 2030.

News Corp. has hired two new executives at MySpace, expanding the online hangout's management team after having just replaced its CEO on Friday.

Michael Jones, who's founded several online businesses, will serve as MySpace's chief operating officer. Jones, 39, replaces Amit Kapur, who left last month.

Jason Hirschhorn, most recently the president of Sling Media Inc.'s entertainment group, will be chief product officer, a new position that focuses on the site's look and feel.

It's the year 2020. Most people use mobile devices to connect to the Internet; voice-recognition and touch-based user interfaces are in greater use; and notions of privacy will have changed as the differences between personal and work time or physical and virtual reality become fewer.

Those are some of the findings from a new report, The Future of the Internet III, from the Pew Internet and American Life Project with Elon University in North Carolina.

'Universal Standards'