2014 Tech highlights: Driverless cars and celebrity hacks
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