2014 Tech highlights: Driverless cars and celebrity hacks

New products, take overs and massive hackings were among the top tech highlights in 2014.
Published January 2, 2015

January

-New ERA Jawbone earpiece

-South Korea data leak on 20 million bank and credit card users

February

-Facebook buys Whatsapp for $19 b

-Katy Perry is first person with more than 50 million Twitter followers

February-March

-Bitcoin trading exchange MtGox files for bankruptcy

April

-Whatsapp users top 500 million

-Facebook hits 100 million Indian users, largest after US

-Google Glass available for limited time in US

-Sony Playstation 4 sales top $7 million since 2013 launch

May

-Google unveils plans for a driverless car

-Google, Apple call truce in smartphone patent war

-Apple buys Beats Music and Beats Electronics for $3 b

June

-Economic cost of cyber-attacks globally at $445 billion, research shows

-Chinese military hackers target space industry, US security firm says

-Samsung's Galaxy Tab S line

-Asus unveils device combining laptop, tablet and mobile phone

August

-Researchers unveil tiny chip that mimics brain, delivers supercomputer speed

September

-FBI and Apple investigates massive hacking of celebrity photos

-Google agrees to pay $19 million for apps purchased by kids without parental consent

-Apple's new iPhone 6, 6 Plus, Apple Watch, Apple Pay, iOS 8

-Amazon's new Fire tablets, Kindle e-readers

-Alibaba raises $25 b in initial public offering

October

-Prototype? ambulance drone?, a flying defibrillator, to reach patients quickly in emergencies

-Mobile app in bid to track Ebola epidemic

November

-UN adopts resolution to urge governments to offer redress to citizens targeted by mass surveillance

-US security firm says it uncovered software dubbed Regin, used in a years-long spying campaign, most likely by a nation state

-Spotify revenue grows 74% in 2013

December

-After a major cyber-attack and threats, Sony Pictures initially cancels a spoof movie about a CIA plot to kill the North Korean leader

-US President Barack Obama seeks funds to equip police officers with body cams

-Instagram hits 300 million users, passes Twitter

-Smartphone sales forecast of 1.5 billion units in 2015, IDC market tracker says

-Stephen Hawking warns artificial intelligence development could mean end of humanity


Click here for Dawn.com's special coverage of the year 2014