BGR Daily Breaking Stories

Daily Headlines MONDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2014

9 more secrets we learned from the Sony hack If you’ve been living under a rock for the past month or so, there’s something you need to know: Sony Pictures Entertainment was hacked. Just about everyone with an Internet connection or a TV is aware of the Sony hack — we even know exactly how the hackers broke into Sony’s internal network — but there are still plenty of things that people don’t know. For one, it’s still not exactly clear who the culprit is, though President Obama and the FBI are convinced the perpetrators have ties to North Korea. And amid all the chaos, there are also many revelations from the thousands of documents that have leaked, and new ones continue to pop up every day. Now, we have nine new secrets we’ve learned over the past few days as people continue to sift through all of the information that has been released.  MORE → Video: New leak shows Android Lollipop on all of Samsung’s top smartphones Samsung fans around the world are still waiting patiently — or impatiently, in many cases — for the latest and greatest software to be released for their Galaxy smartphones. As big as Samsung is, the company is typically very slow to release Android software updates, but this time around it looks like things will be a bit different for Samsung fans. Android 5.0 Lollipop builds for the Galaxy S5, Galaxy Note 4 and other phones began leaking shortly after Google released its Lollipop update to partners, suggesting that Samsung may be among the first vendors to issue the update for its phones. Now, another new leak shows Android Lollipop on each of Samsung’s top three smartphones.  MORE → Sony hackers just pranked the FBI The hackers responsible for the massive cyber attack against Sony, in which some 100 terabytes of company data was stolen, on Saturday mocked the FBI in a message posted on Pastebin, The Daily Beast reports.  MORE → New rumor says the MacBook Air of your dreams will enter production soon Apple’s best MacBook Air yet is supposed to feature an entirely new design, as well as better components. Often referred to as the Retina MacBook Air, the laptop should have a 12-inch high-resolution display, and should be even slimmer and lighter than its predecessors. It’s not clear when Apple will launch this new version of the MacBook Air, but a new report from Digitimes says the company will start mass producing it in the first quarter of 2015.  MORE → Sony might end up releasing ‘The Interview’ after all – for free The Sony Pictures hack saga is far from over, as Sony appears to be interested into fighting back, CNET reports. The company may release The Interview — the controversial comedy whose entire plot is around assassinating North Korean leader Kim Jong-un — even though last week it pulled the movie from theaters.  MORE → Staples confirmed hackers stole more than 1M credit cards in significant data breach Staples on Friday confirmed that some of its stores were hit by hackers this year, who were able to steal up to 1.16 million credit cards and debit cards during various periods of time, with a few locations having been hit as far back as April 2014.  MORE → I have bought and returned an iPhone 6 Plus 10 times, please send help It’s entirely possible this could be classified as an actual mental illness. But there’s just something about the iPhone 6 Plus that draws me in about a week after I switch back to my iPhone 6. It goes something like this… There’s nothing wrong with the iPhone 6. It’s the best smartphone not only in the world, but ever made. It’s gorgeous, it’s luxury-level premium, it’s the phone Apple wishes they could have made 7 years ago — it is completely perfect. Though, as someone who has always bought the best available iPhone, it kind of hurts that there’s one a bit better. Better is a relative term, obviously, but the screen on the iPhone 6 Plus is just perfection with its higher resolution display, and it’s entirely noticeable to me. There’s also optical image stabilization in the camera, though that’s not the biggest deal as the regular iPhone’s camera is a joy. You also get a bigger battery with the iPhone 6 Plus.  MORE → Here’s what happens to your iPhone after it gets stolen The world of contraband electronics probably isn’t one that you’re familiar with, but if you read about smartphones on a regular basis, you’re bound to come across stories of black markets all around the world selling devices for hundreds of dollars more than they’re worth. This is one of the most interesting we’ve ever read.  MORE → The app that puts Yosemite on your iPad’s screen is finally available to download Duet Display is a brand new application that lets users repurpose old and new iOS devices including the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and turn them into handy second displays for OS X laptops and desktops — and it’s available for download right now.  MORE → T-Mobile forks over $90 million to settle ‘unfounded’ cramming charges Remember how indignant T-Mobile got when it was accused by the Federal Trade Commission of profiting from scams against its customers? Well now T-Mobile has agreed to fork over $90 million to settle the FTC’s charges, which it said were “unfounded and without merit” earlier this year. As part of the settlement, T-Mobile will have to provide full refunds to any affected customers.  MORE →

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