The ugly truth about wearable technology

   

When it comes to putting computers on our bodies, everyone's an armchair Anna Wintour. Take a look at the comments on any story about wearable technology, just about anywhere. Ugly is in the eye of the beholder. And with good reason. While some of us view our PCs, smartphones and tablets as status symbols, our clothing and accessories are more closely tied to our identities than anything else.

Over the past few years, the frenzy for wearables has reached its peak. This week alone,Sony, Samsung, LG and Motorola have all shown off their next attempts at wrist-worn technology. And with each announcement comes a new set of sartorial critiques.

And yet, despite a seeming consensus from the tech press about the aesthetic appeal of devices like the Moto 360 and Pebble's Steel, the world is still waiting for the one wearable that will have us all strapping a computer to our wrists, faces, waists or whatever. But the real obstacle to wearable adoption isn't a matter of style; it's a matter of taste.

The real obstacle to wearable adoption isn't a matter of style; it's a matter of taste.

New York Times tech-scribe-cum-style savant, Nick Bilton recently penned a speculative editorialproclaiming the as-of-yet-unannounced iWatch as the device that could finally take wearables mainstream. Apple will no doubt roll out a beautiful piece of machinery -- it has an excellent track record and a proven team of designers, engineers and businesspeople on board -- but the truth is, no matter how good the software, no matter how innovative the functionality, no matter how versatile and beautiful the design, there will never be one wearable for everyone.

Almost every player in the wearable game thus far has proven an ability to produce successful consumer technologies. Some of us can even agree that they're starting to get the style right, but the truth is we all fancy ourselves individuals when we get dressed in the morning. No single company, whether it's Apple or Motorola or even Swatch is ever going to make a single device that we all want to wear.

Apple's wearable device, whether it's a watch or a fedora or even a condom, will no doubt be a meticulously designed piece of hardware, but it's going to take a much more robust and diverse market, full of choice for wearables to really take off. It's going to take more than NFC, fitness tracking and Jony Ive's magic touch. It's going to take more than killer features and refined hardware.

It's going to take time.

IBM wants to kill the hard drive it invented

   

Saving files to memory is something that's supposed to be mostly invisible for the end user. We don't need to think about it; it just has to work. But whether it's a solid-state or hard disk drive, conventional storage solutions have their limitations -- namely, speed, rewritability and durability. A team at IBM Research's Almaden facility in California has a cure for all of that and it's called "racetrack memory."

Stuart Parkin, an IBM fellow heading up research into the field of magnetoelectronics andspintronics, is the man overseeing the creation of this new storage solution that's poised to kill your hard drive. Which is ironic because IBM invented the HDD back in the mid-1950s. So what exactly is racetrack memory? Imagine a series of tiny magnets, all built one atomic layer at a time by Parkin's team, that can be moved up and down along a (figurative) racetrack "in a highly coherent fashion" with the application of a simple current. That arrangement not only guarantees increased read/write speeds, but it's also cheaper to produce, is incredibly resilient due to the lack of moving parts and boosts storage capacity significantly.

Already, Parkin's team has been able to demonstrate the advantages of this new storage solution by applying it to existing flash memory chips. His team was able to generate about "250 of these magnetic domain walls in one racetrack" which, when applied to flash, could increase storage capacity by a factor of 100. And, what's more, it won't ever wear out, meaning it'd be infinitely rewritable. That's something flash memory simply cannot do in its current state.

The Moto X returns: high-end specs, aluminum frame and leather back

   

As a half dozen of my colleagues toil away in Berlin bringing you the latest news from the likes of Samsung and Sony, I'm more than 4,000 miles away in the city of Chicago. Specifically, I'm in Motorola's headquarters, which spans 600,000 square feet across four floors high atop the Merchandise Mart, a large and impressive commercial building built in 1931. After taking a grand tour through its facilities, I finally encounter Motorola's latest flagship smartphone: the Moto X.

No, not last year's Moto X. I mean the new Moto X, the one that it's announcing today to the world. Yes, the company -- which Lenovo has recently agreed to purchase -- has decided to keep the name the same. But aside from the name, the new Moto X promises to be different. It's bigger, beefier and it boasts a number of new features and design tweaks that should up the X's desirability quotient considerably. All of that, and the new Moto X is priced to please: It starts at only $99.99 on-contract and $499.99 (£419.99) unlocked.

Now let's dive into the details, starting with that screen. To be honest, it's not that much bigger than the old one; the 5.2-inch AMOLED display, still in Corning Gorilla Glass, is only roughly half an inch wider than last year's X. But now it sports a 1080p display instead of a 720p one, which makes it a touch more pleasing to the eye. The screen takes up almost the entirety of the phone's face, leaving just a bit of bezel on the bottom and the top, so it gives the illusion of a much larger display. To make room for the larger screen, the phone itself is also just a hair bigger -- it measures 72.4mm wide by 140.8mm tall and it weighs about 144 grams. The new Moto X retains the curved back from the original, but with a slightly slimmer width -- arching from 3.8mm at its thinnest to 9.9mm -- that still cradles nicely in the hand.

While we had no real complaints about the build quality of the original Moto X, the company wanted its latest iteration to feel more premium than before. That's why instead of a plastic frame, the new Moto X has a smooth piece of aluminum wrapping the entire edge of the phone -- it's thin around the corners and fattens up as it approaches the middle. That also happens to be where the external antenna is housed. If you're concerned about antenna issues -- like, uh, that certain other phone from that company in Cupertino -- Motorola assures us that due to an advanced "Dynamic Tuning" technology that knows how to compensate for your grip, there is no wrong way to hold the phone.

To pile on the premium factor, Motorola has not only kept the Moto Maker customization option alive, but it's also introduced a new leather option into the family. Yep, if a wood back isn't fancy enough for you, you can now get a Moto X back made with one of four different leathers: Natural, Cognac, Black and Navy. And it's not just some cheap pleather knock-off either; that leather is sourced from The Horween Leather Company, a well-known Chicago tannery that's also providing the material for the Moto 360's strap. Additionally, Moto Maker also now lets you add metal accents to power and volume buttons, speaker grilles and the Motorola logo on the back. That logo, incidentally, is ever so slightly recessed, creating a dimple effect.

Above that logo is an updated 13-megapixel camera (it was a 10-megapixel unit on the old one) with 4x zoom and a ring flash, which Motorola says will result in softer lighting. We'll need some time to test the camera a little more, but right now we know that it can capture 4K video instead of just 1080p and it's also got a new feature called Best Shot. It essentially maintains a rolling photo cache in the background, constantly capturing additional shots before and after a photo is taken. An algorithm then analyzes those photos to find what it thinks is the "best shot," filtering out blurry shots or pics of people blinking. You're then free to choose the selected shot or opt for your original image instead. Another new camera feature is the "Highlight Reel," which essentially compiles all of your day's photos and videos into a single video collage.

As far as other hardware specs go, the new Moto X touts a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor with a 2.5GHz quad-core CPU, a 578MHz Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM. It also houses a 2,300mAh battery, which Motorola claims will last a full day. The new Moto X has four microphones to help reduce background noise, comes in a "splash guard" water-repellent coating (though it likely won't survive a dunk in the pool) and will be available in both 16GB and 32GB iterations.

Now on to the software. Android purists will be glad to know that the new Moto X will come with "pure Android" just as before -- this means that the phone is mostly stock (like the home screen and the icons), but it does have a few additions that Motorola has built in. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. For one thing, Motorola's Migration tool makes it easier to port over old contacts over to your new phone. But what really makes it a Motorola phone are the additions it introduced in the original X, such as Touchless Control, Active Display and Motorola Assist. Those have been renamed in the new Moto X as Moto Actions, Moto Display and Moto Assist, which we'll get to below.

What really makes the new Moto X different from the old though, is that instead of just saying "OK Google" as a voice prompt, you can now say, well, whatever you damn well like. Yep, you can now customize that voice command prompt to anything you fancy. Now, there are a few restrictions -- you can't have anything with too few syllables or anything that's too common of a phrase (So "Hi there" and "Yo bitch" aren't ideal). But go ahead and use phrases like "OK Moto X" or "Wake up sleepyhead," or our personal favorite, "Hello Jarvis."

Additionally, Moto Voice comes with a few custom phrases, like "Take a selfie," which activates the front-facing camera along with a countdown timer so you never have to press a button. Other phrases include "Good morning" to shut off Sleep Mode and tell you about your first appointment, "What's Up" to inform you of the time and the latest notifications. There's also "Navigate" followed by the name of a destination. You can also say "Play YouTube" to launch YouTube and "Post to Facebook" to update your Facebook status. It seems that Moto Voice only works with a handful of apps right now (Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp are supported so far), though we expect (and hope) more will come later on.

Moto Actions have also been upgraded beyond just tapping and swiping the screen. The new Moto X is equipped with four IR sensors on the front, which are there specifically to detect gestures and movement. Alarm going off, but not ready to get up? Simply wave your hand over to snooze it. Incoming call from that annoying neighbor? Do the same to silence it. You can also wave your hand to simply wake the phone up from sleep, which will prompt Moto Display by default. This lets you see the time and up to three notifications -- press and hold down on one to get a quick peek at what the notification is about. For more on what Moto Display/Active Display is about, read our previous review of the old Moto X.

And, as we said earlier, you can get the new Moto X for only $99.99 on-contract or $499.99 (£419.99) if you decide to get an unlocked one. That's remarkably affordable for what is ostensibly a flagship phone from a major manufacturer. Right now, it appears that the US carriers will likely be AT&T and Verizon. As for availability, the Moto X will be out later this month in countries across North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.

What to expect when you're expecting an iPhone 6 (or iWatch)

   

Look, going off the sheer number of leaks we've seen the past few months, there's no way you didn't know Apple was planning to unveil a horde of new gadgets next week. Hell, the folks in Cupertino are even counting down to the event (and the livestream that goes with it) on Apple.com. If all those rumors and reports hold true, two iPhones and two wearables will take the stage next week, so let's take a moment and dissect what we know (and what we think we know) about Apple's newest batch of gear.

TWO NEW IPHONES IN 2014

In a concession to how people's smartphone tastes have shifted, Apple's been working on not one, but two iPhones: a 4.7-inch version and an awfully phablet-esque 5.5-inch model for those who think iOS 8 really needs some room to breathe. Debates have raged over whether Apple will cover those displays in ultra-durable sapphire crystal (no more battered screens!), but KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts the company won't take the plunge -- instead saying they'll offer 128GB versions of the new iPhone instead. Naturally, our fingers are crossed for both. The New York Times also points out that iOS 8 will include a one-hand mode for folks who can't quite wrap their mitts around these bigger phones.

Look beyond those screens and you'll notice a completely different body -- the last time Apple revamped the iPhone's look this dramatically, we got the angular iPhone 4. Time almost seems to be running in reverse, as leaked component photos and videos point to a thinner, rounder unibody aluminum affair that's actually very evocative of the original iPhone. One of the possible side effects of that slimdown is a sleep/wake button that now lives on the phone's right edge and a camera pod that juts out slightly. Speaking of, we're not quite sure how robust those shooters are (most guesses are either eight or 13 megapixels), but yet another component leak may confirm that the 5.5-inch iPhone has optical image stabilization. Many of the most compelling images of the new iPhones (or what we think are the new iPhones) have come from longtime leaker Sonny Dickson and a high-end Russian accessory maker called Feld & Volk. Meanwhile, some new Russian leakers have apparently slapped some Apple bits and bobs together to give us what may be the closest thing to the official iPhone 6 we've seen so far.

So yes, dramatic redesign. Fine -- how about what's inside? There isn't much known about the iPhone's new 64-bit A8 processor, but a little sleuthing by MacRumors suggests that it might come paired with 1GB of RAM (just like the 5s before it). Yet more poking around with components revealed that 16GB of storage is still the baseline (well, for the 4.7-inch model, anyway). Oh, and both the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have said the new iPhones will come with NFC chips that are meant to work with a new payments system Apple has been slaving away on. That's, well, huge. Thanks to iTunes, Apple is sitting on top of a seriously silly amount of people's payment information -- turning your iPhone into your wallet (CNET lays out a few interesting possibilities) might wind up being one of the most lucrative things Apple could do.

So, when can you get these things? The ceaseless whispers from the rumor mill says they should officially launch a few weeks after the event, and many expect the 4.7-inch version to start at the usual $199 with a contract. That means -- you guessed it -- the bigger version would probably start at around $299 on-contract and the 5s would assuredly slide down the price scale to $99.

THE IWATCH COMETH

Prognosticators have been calling for an Apple smartwatch since smartwatches became a thing, and it looks like they're finally getting their wish. Apple's expected to pull back the curtain on its first wearable next week too -- we just hope it isn't actually called the iWatch. What do we actually know about the thing? Not a ton, but still more than you might think.

For a company and gadget types that are so prone to causing leak-y hysteria, it's sort of a shock that we still don't know what the thing'll look like (all of the images in this story are renders, natch). The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal just published two of the most detailed peeks at Apple's wearable we've seen yet, and they point to the existence of two differently sized watches with curved (and maybe even flexible) OLED screens coated in sapphire glass. Last time that "two model" rumor made the rounds, Business Insiderguessed that Apple was working on distinct versions for men and women, but it's also possible we're just looking at two different form factors à la the traditional Samsung Gear and the bracelet-y Gear Fit. Either way, we've already seen style play a big part in people's smartwatch preferences. Remember Google I/O? Attendees were given both Samsung's and LG's Android Wear watches, but an audible groan ran through the crowd when they realized they wouldn't get the utterly handsome Moto 360.

Thankfully, we've got a slightly better sense of what the watch will actually do. You can bet Apple's watch will deliver email, message and app notifications to your wrist, and the Timesadds you'll be able to view maps on it as well. We know that Siri is getting smarter (behind closed doors, anyway), and she may play a role in how apps are displayed on devices with limited screen sizes. Sound familiar? Then there's the wellness angle. Apple's making a big mobile health push in the form of HealthKit for iOS 8, and its watch would be the perfect tool to collect some of that data on the fly. All told, the Journal says there will be more than 10 sensors nestled in the watch to help keep tabs on your body -- expect mundane components like accelerometers mixed in with more exotic fare. Sweat sensors, anyone? (Fine, maybe not). As it turns out, the watch could tie into the new payments platform Apple has been tinkering with thanks to a built-in NFC chip, so it's possible you'll be able to pay for your morning coffee with a tap of your wrist soon enough. Oh, and when it comes time to give the thing some juice? Apple is notorious for being all about appearances, which lends credence to the reports that they've eschewed icky cables in favor of a wireless charging system.

For all the uncertainty surrounding the wearable, one thing seems clear -- Apple's probably going to sell a stupid number of them. Better start scrimping now: A report from Re/code(which accurately pinpointed the event's date in advance) suggests that Apple's wearable won't actually start shipping until early next year, and Apple brass has at least talked aboutselling it for $400.

​FBI says it located the Silk Road by exploiting an error with the server's login page

   

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation may have seized the Silk Road and sold off its horde of ill-gotten Bitcoin, but the case isn't over yet -- the dark web site's creator still has to face trial. The defense of Ross Ulbricht, the man allegedly behind the Silk Road, is doing its best to discredit the FBI's evidence; specifically, its accusing the bureau of sniffing outSilk Road server's location through illegal means. The FBI says that couldn't be further from the truth. In a court rebuttal, the FBI claims that the IP address of the server was "'leaking' from the site due to an apparent misconfiguration of the user login interface by the site administrator." Basically, FBI officials exploited a glitch to get the server to cough up its hidden location.

Officials found that the login page could be coaxed into producing an IP address that didn't match TOR standards. When this address was used in a non-TOR browser, it produced an element of the login page, confirming that it represented the server's true location. If this rebuttal is accepted, it will dismiss the defense's accusations that the FBI used the NSA to illegally hack into the server to find its location. This would ensure that most of the FBI's evidence is admissible and possibly seal Ulbricht's fate. 

Firefox for Android beta updated with Chromecast, Roku streaming

   

It was only a few weeks ago that Chromecast support was spotted in Firefox for Android's nightly builds -- now it's one step closer to primetime: the feature is now a standard part of the browser's beta package. This means that Mozilla fans eager to stream from their favorite browser can access the experimental feature from Google Play, rather than manually installing the update. It gets better, too: the official beta also has support for Roku streaming, assuming your set top box has the Firefox channel installed. Finally, Mozilla quietly announced that its bringing WebRTC support into the main beta channel of its desktop browser. All of these features are still in their early stages, of course, but if you want a sneak peek at what's next for Mozilla's stable releases, the source links are below.

Buy 'Destiny' on PS3 or Xbox 360 and upgrade to new-gen for free

   

The wait is almost over: Destiny, former Halo-developer Bungie's ambitious shooter, releases this coming Tuesday. If you're holding out on it because you don't have aPlayStation 4 or Xbox One, though, there's no reason. Bungie has announced that should you purchase the game for PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, until next January 15th you're eligible for a free upgrade to a current-gen digital copy. That's as long as you within the console family you bought the game for originally. Meaning, if you buy the game for PS3 you'll get a download of it on PS4, gratis. Any extra content like season passes will carry over too -- just like your character's progress and gear.

This goes way beyond what we saw a handful of titles offer around this time last year in a few different ways. For starters, this costs 100 percent less than the upgrade program for, say, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag or Call of Duty: Ghosts did. The other thing is that you won't have to start from scratch (regardless of how many hours you've invested) when you jump to new hardware; Bungie is making the transition as painless as possible.

Speaking of transitions, Bungie hopes to make Remote Playing its latest effort on the PS Vita simple too. Sony's handheld may be a capable piece of kit but it's lacking total parity with the PlayStation 4's DualShock 4 when it comes to controls. To make up for the handheld's shortage of buttons, Bungie designed a control scheme specifically for playingDestiny on the portable. While the DualShock 4 has a touchpad, the Vita has an entire touch-friendly screen. Bungie has assigned ancillary tasks like tossing grenades, summoning the floating and robotic Peter Dinklage and executing wicked melee attacks to the left, center and right portions of the Vita's display. And, as Eurogamer noticed, since the portable's analog sticks don't click in like their PS4 counterparts, running in-game is handled by pressing down on the system's D-pad.

Why the extra effort? Well, according to the PlayStation Blog, the short-lived Destiny betawas the number one game Remote Played of any PS4 games for all of this past July. Excited? Well, NeoGAF has noticed you can start pre-loading right now.

Fossil teams up with Intel to produce its line of wearables

   

We heard plenty about Intel's wearable aspirations for 2014 back at CES, and since then it has announced collaborations with the likes of SMS Audio and more. Fossil was named as having a plan for Android Wear, and as of today the two are officially in cahoots. Unfortunately, details are scarce at this time, as we're left with the announcement that the pair aims to team up on "emerging products and technologies that will be developed for the fashion-oriented consumer." Judging by the wording of the PR, it seems that Fossil has more than watches on its agenda, and the outfit designs jewelry, handbags, wallets and more in addition to the traditional timepieces like the one pictured above. Of course,MetaWatch is an offshoot of the lifestyle company, and this is the latest in a group ofaccessory brands diving into the wearable craze.

Dell outs 'world's first' 5K display with a massive 5,120 x 2,880 resolution

   

4K is so last week. Most of us haven't added one of those displays as part of our daily workflow yet, and Dell's 5K option is on the way. The UltraSharp 27 Ultra HD 5K monitor claims a world's first with said resolution. In terms of dimensions, that's 5,120 x 2,880 which clocks in at four times the resolution of QHD and seven times that of full HD. The panel itself is 218 PPI, putting it just shy of the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro, and features the company's PremierColor tech and anti-smudge/anti-reflection edge-to-edge glass across its 27-inch facade. There are built-in "immersive acoustics" thanks to a pair of Harmon Kardon 16W speakers with six USB ports, on-board card reader and adjustable base for sorting tasks. If you're already wanting one for your office, you should probably start saving now. The UltraSharp model is set to arrive in Q4 with a $2,500 price tag.

Facebook Messenger's new trick brings doodles to your photos

   

Still looking for a reason to use Facebook's now-unbundled Messenger app? A new feature learns from competition including Snapchat and Facebook's own Slingshot by adding easy annotation on shared photos. Just click the picture icon like you normally do, then hit the edit button instead of send, and you can doodle with your finger (remember Draw Something? Is anyone still playing that?) or just type in some text before sending. Right now the tweak is Android-only, and should already be live if you're running the most recent version of the app.

Explore the Great Depression in photos with this interactive map

   

Imagine today's government backing a program to document the plight of modern day farmers. Many might malign such use of resources, or the value of the endeavor. But, that's exactly what the Farm Security Administration did between 1935 and 1944 (i.e. the great depression). Photographers were distributed across the land, and negatives sent back to Washington. Of the estimated 170,000 shots taken, around 88,000 were developed and manually classified (remember that next time you moan about corrupt EXIF data). The collection has since been digitized, along with the manually-taken data for each picture, which a team at Yale has now used to create an interactive map. The wonder of modern technology means you can see where, and by whom, every picture was taken right from the comfort of your den. A sober reminder of what different times we live in. Probably a few years later than planned, but the Internet finally provides the perfect way to complete the FSA's original goal of "introducing America to Americans."

Apple hires famed industrial designer Marc Newson to work with Jony Ive

        

Marc Newson is well known for putting his design touch on everything from bikes to cars to cameras to -- of course -- watches, and now he's joining Apple to work with his good friend Jony Ive. Vanity Fair reported he will be joining Ive's design team, but still work from the UK and also take on projects outside of his work with Apple. Newson has worked with Apple before, and collaborated with Ive on a one-off aluminum desk for Bono's (RED) auction last year that sold for $1.68 million. Check out his portfolio here -- while he probably can't help Apple work out improvements to cloud security and two-factor authentication this seems like the right person to design a smartwatch (or whatever it iswe'll see on Tuesday) that people actually want to wear.

Study: Social networks are making you distrustful and unhappy

   

Facebook's 2012 experiment, while controversial, showed that what other people post on social media can alter moods. Apparently, though, that's not the only thing Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others of their ilk can do: according to a study by two European researchers, social media could also affect how satisfied people are with their lives. Fabio Sabatini from the Sapienza University in Rome and Francesco Sarracino from STATEC, the government statistics agency of Luxembourg, paired up to crunch data from a huge survey (seriously, there were 50,000 responders) conducted in Italy. That survey asked participants how satisfied they are with their current lives, how often they meet with friends, whether they trust people and what they typically do on the internet.

Based on the answers they got, the duo concluded that people tend to feel more satisfied with their lives and to be more trusting of people if they often meet with friends in person. Obviously, that's not something you can do through the internet, so those who spend a ton of time on social networks are more inclined to be leery of other people. Sabatini and Sarracino also blame all the discrimination and hate speech online, in particular, for planting the seeds of distrust in social media users. In all, the study finds the overall effect of social networking on individuals to be "significantly negative" despite its power to keep people connected.

Sony's RX10 camera now shoots higher-quality video at a lower price

   

Sony's Cyber-shot RX10 is a pretty capable camera, but it still has weaknesses: it doesn't shoot super high-quality XAVC-S video, and that steep $1,300 price is bound to steer some people toward DSLRs and mirrorless cams. Well, consider both of those problems licked. Sony has just put out new firmware (installable through Macs and Windows PCs) that lets it record in XAVC-S and preserve more detail in your movies. At the same time, the RX10's price has dropped to $1,000; that's still a lot of money to shell out for a camera with a non-replaceable lens, but it's definitely more accessible. If you've been holding out for a few more reasons to try this superzoom, you may want to take another look.

'Find My iPhone' exploit could be to blame for celebrity photo hacks

   

We don't need to rake over the gory details here, but in the last 12 hours, the internet has lost its "you know what" over some leaked celebrity photos. Initial reports suggested that hackers targeted the iCloud accounts of the high-profile victims, and held eager would-be-viewers to ransom on notorious bulletin-board 4chan, demanding Bitcoin in exchange for a peek of the images (reportedly earning a princely $95 for their troubles). As yet though, no one has been able to confirm how the images actually leaked, but some keen programmers think they may have spotted at least one (now fixed) route into accounts.

The potential exploit relates to a project on the code hosting site Github called, imaginatively, ibrute. Just a day before the images leaked, the developers of ibrute announced a bug in the Find My iPhone service means it doesn't employ bruteforce protection (i.e. an attack can continue using different passwords until the right one if found). The implication is that this could give access to AppleIDs, and from there any number of avenues to compromise accounts become significantly more viable. It's certainly not the first intrusion issue with the service we've seen. If this was the tool used, the hackers would have needed email addresses of celebrities. But, it's possible that only one address is needed, allowing to search inboxes for those of others in a domino effect.

#hackapp @DefconRussia AppleID bruteforce tool via FindMyIphone bug. Doesn't lock AppleID. https://000.co/9dG3EjtrLS

- HackApp (@hackappcom) August 30, 2014

Apple iCloud brute-forcer: https://000.co/KPMflz80W4 - apparently FindMyPhone doesn't have brute force protection... related to celeb hacks?

- Ross (@Hypn) September 1, 2014

The good (and either timely, or coincidental) news is, that the same developers have confirmed this exploit has just been patched. For now, however, the code lives on, only now marked as a "proof of concept." We've reached out to Apple for comment, but until there's any official word either way, this is one feasible possibility. There are of course a number of other potential routes into user accounts (not least the good old fashioned abuse of trust of a close colleague or friend, or romantic interest). What's unusual here, is the apparent scale of the issue, with numerous celebrities suffering leaks all at the same time.

The end of fun, Apple have just patched FindMyIphone bug. So ibrute is not applicable any more.

- HackApp (@hackappcom) September 1, 2014

At the time of writing, Reddit was clamping down on people naming the alleged leakers, and picture hosting site Imgur is pulling any uploads of the images as best it can, 4chanalso displayed rare twitchiness, and pulled the original thread. Likewise, with Twitterreportedly suspending accounts that share the images, you might want to think twice before you RT -- it's fair to say, the internet is officially in a spin.

Update: The Next Web has contacted the author of ibrute, asking if it could have been used to obtain the leaked images. The response: "I've not seen any evidence yet, but I admit that someone could use this tool."

'Summer Lesson' is the questionable Project Morpheus VR title from the 'Tekken' team

   

Teasing its forthcoming appearance at the Tokyo Game Show later this month, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan revealed a new demo for its prototype VR hardware -- with assistance from the creative forces behind the Tekken fighter series. You should probably put all ideas of a first-person punch-em-up aside though, this is very different. Summer Lesson puts the user inside a typical Japanese schoolgirl's room, where it looks like you just seem to.. chill, interact and hang around, which sounds innocent enough, although there's certainly a creepy element there just by the premise. The teaser didn't explain much else, although the Tekken team's Harada-san was happy to praise the interactivity element of the demo, and the preview video also added some comments about how it felt like someone was really there. We're expecting to feel suitably embarrassed and awkward when we get to test it out at TGS 2014 in a few weeks -- but we're also hoping to get a better grasp of why the team decided to go with something that could easily be so misconstrued for a very conspicuous, very early Project Morpheus showcase. Take a look for yourself: we've posted the entire SCEJ PlayStation press event after the break, and even thoughtfully skipped to the Summer Lesson part, because we're nice like that.

The Big Picture: A living sculpture made from 'programmed' wooden balls

   

Let's face it: with certain exceptions, most sculptures are pretty static and won't hold your interest for more than a brief glance. You may pay more notice to Hypersonic's Breaking Wave project, however. Effectively, it's a "programmed" analog display -- an elaborate, centralized motor system pulls 804 wooden balls up and down to create elaborate patterns that you'll only see if you watch from the right perspective. The size of the drums attached to each ball decide just when and how far they move. Breaking Wave's owner, Biogen-IDEC, is using the artwork as a commentary on medical science. It's supposed to show how researchers sift through "billions" of seemingly meaningless data points to create a clearer picture of the human body. It's a one-of-a-kind design, so you sadly can't buy one if you're entranced by the concept. However, you can either check it out in the videos below or swing by Biogen's office in Cambridge, Massachusetts to see it in person.

Watch Sony PS4 streams on your Vita with upcoming app

   

If you're a fan of PlayStation 4 game livestreaming, Sony's about to have a PS Vita app for that. At a prelude to the Tokyo Game Show (TGS), it announced updates that will let you view live PS4 game action directly from a PS Vita. There are also themes coming to the PS4 and PS Vita around the same time -- Sony showed off one for Vita that centered around the popular (and insane) Dangan Ronpa shooter. PS4 users will also be able to customize the console dashboard with animated themes, as revealed in a demo that featured PlayStation Japan characters Toro and Kuro (see the image after the break). It also revealed a pink-backed PS Vita with a white front arriving in Japan on November 13th for 18,980 yen (around $182). There's no specific dates for the new themes and the PS4 game streaming app, but Joystiq pointed out a translated tweet saying it'll arrive sometime in October.

  

Heart Bot can draw an artistic rendition of your heartbeat (video)

   

How does a famous-rapper-slash-business-tycoon and a tech titan launch a collaborative project? Apparently, by throwing a fancy soirée graced by the presence of a robotic Picasso. In honor of Intel's and SMS Audio's (a company founded by 50 Cent) new heart rate-monitoring headphones, a team of interactive artists led by Aramique created a robot that can draw its viewers' heartbeats. You simply place your hand on a sensor for 30 seconds, and the aptly named Heart Bot's arms will start moving, sketching your heartbeat with pens. It does so by feeding your heart's rhythm to a software that translates it to movements for Heart Bot's pen-equipped mechanical arms.

Heart Bot was on display for one day during the party (no word on whether Bacardi was served) at The New Museum in New York, before it toured Intel's facilities in San Francisco. According to Motherboard, you might catch a glimpse of it at CES 2015, but make sure to watch how it works below, just in case that doesn't push through.

How would you change the Fitbit Flex?

   

Fitbit is one of the most well respected names in the quantified-self space, so we expected a lot of the Fitbit Flex. When we put the device in front of Terrence O'Brien, he found that it wasn't the most feature-packed, or the flashiest, but certainly the most well-rounded device on the market. That was despite the fact that the Nike Fuelband had a better display and the Jawbone Up had a better mobile platform. One of the reasons, of course, that the Flex won out was its cheaper price, and you can rarely argue with that. What we'd like you all to do this week is to sign up to our product forums and discuss what, if Fitbit came knocking on your door, you'd change.