Tech Roundup: IFA 2014, Apple iCloud Breach & More

[A recurring feature on the latest in Science & Technology.]

• Senegal becomes the fifth West African nation after Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria to be Ebola infected as first patient is reported in the country; GlaxoSmithKline's experimental vaccine fully successful in tests on monkeys.
• The world's species are becoming extinct 1,000 times faster than it used to be 60 million years ago before the arrival of humans, a latest study based on evolutionary family trees (aka phylogenies) reveal.
• A newly identified species of dinosaur Dreadnoughtus schrani declared one of the largest creatures to ever walk on land; fossil evidence shows that it weighed 59.3 metric tons and stretched about 26 metres from nose to tail.
• 560 million-year-old fossil of Haootia quadriformis discovered in Newfoundland back in 2008 found to be the first ever organism to possess muscular tissue.
• Scientists say two new species of mushroom-shaped sea animals Dendrogramma enigmatica and Dendrogramma discoides, found off Tasmanian oceanic depths, do not fit into any of the known classifications of the animal kingdom.

Moto 360 smartwatch (Image: Motorola)

• Apple iCloud accounts of female celebrities hacked in a "highly targeted" attack, publishing their nude photos (did the movie Sex Tape just got real?) - password-hacking software iBrute (vulnerability now fixed by Apple) and law enforcement tool Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker (EPPB) used to login and download their iCloud backups; Apple promises to send more security alerts in the wake of the incident.
• Consumer electronics show Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) concludes at Berlin; Samsung unveils metal framed Galaxy Note 4 with upgraded specs, Sony launches Xperia Z3, Z3 Compact and Z3 Tablet Compact, Motorola shows off bigger and better second generation Moto X and Moto G smartphones alongside smartwatch Moto 360, with several other phones, Windows 8 laptops/tablets and Chromebooks coming from Huawei, Lenovo, Toshiba and Acer. 
• CEO of once popular Android and iOS video game franchise Angry Birds resigns amid profit falls.
• Amazon Fire phone turns out to be a complete washout much like HTC's Facebook phone HTC First; prices slashed from US$ 199 to 99 cents for a two year AT&T contract just a month after its release.
• Microsoft previews a new version of news cum social network portal MSN with its ubiquitous Metro design.
• Apple all set to announce two new iPhones, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and the much speculated (and anticipated) iWatch tomorrow.
• Windows Phone Denim update to come with improvements to camera and personal voice assistant Cortana among others.
• Twitter becomes an online marketplace; to follow Facebook's footsteps by embedding "Buy" button on tweets for instant purchases.
• European Union antitrust regulators send a 70-page questionnaire to Facebook's competitors and telecom operators over the social network's takeover of instant messaging app WhatsApp.
• Google bans privacy oriented app Disconnect from Play Store over violation of Android Developer Distribution Agreement as it tries to strengthen its hold over the operating system; reinstates it back after uproar.
• Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says Internet is crucial for the country, adding "We cannot close the gates of the world to our younger generation."
• Firefox 33 beta arrives with WebRTC support to make audio/video calls without having to download any separate software or plugins.
• Popular car pick-up service Uber gets banned in Germany after Frankfurt court rules that the firm lacks necessary legal permits to operate under German law.
• Affordable smartphone race heats up - Google sends invites for a September 15 event in India; Android One smartphones expected in partnership with Karbonn, Micromax and Spice.
• Cyanogen-based 'Never Settle' Android smartphone OnePlus One to come to India by the end of this year with a price tag of Rs. 25,000.