Hardware

Citing unnamed sources with "limited but direct knowledge" of the rumored device, MobiHealthNews claims that the "iWatch" will be a peripheral device, dependent upon connectivity to an iPhone for users to gain full functionality. The technological capabilities of the rumored device were also said to be "simpler" than some have hoped, and won't have sensors for rumored advanced functions such as glucose sensing and hydration tracking. Monday's report was highlighted by NetworkWorld.

Google is expanding its line of Chrome hardware for business users with "Chromebox for meetings," a video conferencing system that costs $999 and up.

While the system is powered by the free Google Hangouts, $999 isn't expensive when it comes to enterprise-class video conferencing hardware. Google's offering includes a Chromebox, an HD camera, a microphone and speaker, and a remote control. A display is not included.

Even as Sony dodges questions concerning recent rumors that it may sell off its Windows-based VAIO PC division, an interesting historical wrinkle has popped up on the Internet that claims the company could have walked down a much different path with its notebooks.

Soon, you’ll have the option of locking your bitcoin wallet with your heartbeat.

A Canadian startup says it’s just a few months from shipping the Nymi, a wristband that can learn the unique sound of your heartbeat and use it to open and close your bitcoin wallet.

Google today sold Motorola to Lenovo for $2.91 billion. While many speculated that Google would release phones after it bought Motorola in 2011, it didn’t happen — Motorola remained a partner like other Android OEMs. Recently, Google acquired Nest, and TechCrunch has learned that Google has big plans for the team behind the connected device company.

Gregory Mark co-owns Aeromotions, which builds computer-controlled racecar wings. To make those wings both strong and lightweight, they use carbon fiber. No surprise there—it's the material of choice for many advanced motorsports parts. The problem is that making custom racecar parts out of carbon fiber is daunting. The only real method available is CNC machining, an expensive and difficult process that requires laying pieces by hand.

Sony announced that its upcoming PlayStation Now streaming game service would allow older PlayStation games to run on devices like the new PS4. Now a new rumor claims that Sony is working to allow PS1 and PS2 to run on the PS4 via local software emulation.

To call Apple's Mac Pro "anticipated" definitely qualifies as an understatement. It's been over three years since we reviewed the last Mac Pro. For an idea of how much has changed since then:

    It was USB 2.0
    It was PCI Express 2.0
    It had only SATA II internal drive connections
    It had no Thunderbolt ports
    I could go to the drive-in with Mary-Sue and get a bottle of Coke for five cents

Data storage service provider Backblaze yesterday revealed failure rates among more than 27,000 consumer-class hard drives it uses in its data center.

The breadth and depth of Backblaze's data has given consumers unprecedented access to specific hard drive failure rates across the three largest vendors of the technology: Seagate, Hitachi and Western Digital. It offers an unvarnished look at hard drives (models and serial numbers included), and even details which drives Backblaze will no longer use because they're so unreliable.

If your knowledge of engineering stops with putting batteries in a TV remote, you might try fiddling around with a littleBits kit for a day. Senior TED Fellow Ayah Bdeir created these sets of open source modules as a way to teach kids about electronics and circuitry.