6 Top Technology Failures of 2014
The age of digital technology introduces a huge range of new concepts and devices every year. The year 2014 was really good for the tech industry overall. However, some technology failures are bound to occur. We will uncover some rare technology failures of 2014.
Apple iPhone 6 Plus Bending Problem
After creating a tremendous fascination for users, Apple released iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the last quarter of 2014. iPhone 6 was simply a masterpiece from Cupertino company. But, the larger variant seemed to contain some design flaws. Some users found their iPhone 6 bent overnight. The device was then hailed as “Bendgate”. The users had to cover their iPhone 6 Plus in protective covers to avoid becoming victim of design vulnerabilities.
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Malaysian Airlines MH 370
ON 8th March 2014, the Malaysian flight MH370 disappeared completely, without leaving a trace behind. It is very hard to believe that how could an airplane vanish in the age of modern satellites, radars, and communication equipment. The last signal from the flight was broadcasted when it was over South China sea. Massive multinational efforts were made, but these went unsuccessful.
iCloud Hack
Apple trusted iCloud storage suffered a massive Cyber attack from a group of experienced hackers. Thousands of private and intimate photos of celebrities were exposed online. This hacking case weakened the Apple’s position in the market. Later on, Apple confirmed that the hackers got the photos from a “very targeted attack” on account information such as passwords, instead of breaching security vulnerabilities in iCloud servers.
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iOS 8.0.1 Bricked iPhones
Apple released iOS 8 with its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices. It was expected that Apple will release updates soon to counter minor issues in iOS 8. When update arrived in the shape of iOS 8.0.1, the global users (especially in Australia) of iPhone 6 complained that their iPhones lost network connectivity and the Touch ID fingerprint sensor has also stopped working. Older iPhones were unaffected with this update. As a result, Apple pulled iOS 8.0.1 update quickly and released another update to sort out the situation. Around 40,000 people were affected with the update issue.
Heartbleed Security Bug
Hacking attempts have become very common, but most of them go unnoticed. However, a unique type of hacking attempt was made on encryption library OpenSSL, called as “Heartbleed”. The encryption technology is used in majority of web servers. Hackers captured sensitive data and passwords. Heartbleed was fixed very quickly with the aid of majority of IT companies.
Amazon Fire Phone Flops Despite Innovative 3D
Amazon launched its Fire Phone with a costly price tag of $500. Unfortunately, it fell way short of expectations associated with it and it failed to make any impact in the crowded market dominated by Apple and Samsung. Even the 3D capabilities, using head-tracking cameras were not enough to save reputation of Fire Phone. The phone didn’t provide any special kind of fascination to users.
The top technology failures of 2014 shouldn’t obscure the ease and convenience that the smart devices provide to users. However, with the graph of technological advancement still going up, we expect to see even more technology failures next year.