Who would have expected a toilet to one day filter water, charge a cellphone or create charcoal to combat climate change?

These are lofty ambitions beyond what most of the world's 2.5 billion people with no access to modern sanitation would expect. Yet, scientists and toilet innovators around the world say these are exactly the sort of goals needed to improve global public health amid challenges such as poverty, water scarcity and urban growth.

Police across the country may be intercepting phone calls or text messages to find suspects using a technology tool known as Stingray. But they're refusing to turn over details about its use or heavily censoring files when they do.

Police say Stingray, a suitcase-size device that pretends it's a cell tower, is useful for catching criminals, but that's about all they'll say.

Ayah Bdeir is out to make creating Internet Age gadgets as fun and easy as playing with LEGO blocks.

The engineer behind littleBits kits that make a game of piecing together modular circuitry used a Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) conference to debut a piece to the puzzle that lets creations talk to the Internet.

Google said Thursday its popular Gmail service would use encryption to thwart snooping, in the latest move by the tech sector reassuring customers following revelations about U.S. surveillance programs.

"Your email is important to you, and making sure it stays safe and always available is important to us," Gmail engineering security chief Nicolas Lidzborski said in a blog post.

Sony's PlayStation Network has followed online media giants Netflix and Amazon in commissioning its first original drama series, a spokesman said Thursday.

"Powers," based on a comic book of the same name, combines the genres of superhero fantasy, crime noir and police procedural, and is produced by Sony Pictures, he said.

Every year, the NCAA college basketball tournament gives employees a reason to goof off at their desks and root for their alma maters.

But there's a growing source of potential headaches for bosses. Media companies like hosts CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc.'s Turner are doing all they can to promote so-called TV Everywhere services, which add value to cable and satellite TV packages by allowing subscribers to watch live TV on smartphones and tablets while on the go — and on the job.

"The Last of Us" won the top honor at the Game Developers Choice Awards.

The gripping post-apocalyptic survival saga created by developer Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 3 picked up the game of the year trophy Wednesday at the 14th annual ceremony. "The Last of Us" also won the awards for best design and narrative.

Google said Tuesday it was bringing Android to wearable devices, as LG and Motorola started the countdown to Internet-enabled watches based on the dominant platform for smartphones.

The move allows developers to create apps for smartwatches, the first phase of the Android Wear platform.

Sony is getting into the virtual reality business.

The Japanese electronics and gaming giant unveiled a prototype virtual reality headset to be used in conjunction with its PlayStation 4 video game console during a Tuesday talk at the Game Developers Conference.

While Internet giants like Twitter and Google champion free speech, the U.S. listing document for Chinese microblogging platform Weibo is littered with 56 pages of warnings on the risks of operating in a country which seeks to control information.

Weibo Corp., a subsidiary of Chinese Internet behemoth Sina, has filed for a $500 million stock offer in the United States, the ultimate exercise in capitalism, as it seeks funds to grow users in the face of pressure from newer competitors.