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Ahead of the Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona next month, analysts are picking apart the current state of the smartphone market. Consumers have a number of appealing choices at the moment, as the smartphone market is "highly mature," and it is becoming harder for vendors to differentiate from one another.

"While Apple had a very successful 2014 and a record fourth quarter, Apple has to come up with something innovative in 2015 to replicate record sales," said Annette Zimmermann, researcher director at Gartner, in a press statement.

Samsung has 28 percent global smartphone market share (28 percent), ahead of Apple (16.4 percent), Lenovo (7.9 percent), LG Electronics (6 percent), and Huawei (5.9 percent), according to TrendForce. However, the competition is becoming explosive with Huawei capturing 5.9 percent market share, putting everyone else on notice that it is a serious contender.

Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden would have liked to come forward sooner regarding NSA surveillance, but had to wait until the appropriate time.

"I would have come forward sooner... [but] these programs would have been a little less entrenched, and those abusing them would have felt a little less familiar with and accustomed to the exercise of those powers," Snowden said during a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" session. "This is something we see in almost every sector of government, not just in the national security space, but it's very important. Once you grant the government some new power or authority, it becomes exponentially more difficult to roll it back."

Snowden knowingly sacrificed himself to help reveal NSA surveillance and spying activities, which has opened an international debate. In addition, Apple, Google and other companies are modifying their behaviors, including adding encryption and other technologies, to help keep user data more secure from outside snooping.

The wearables market will increase 38 percent year-over-year, reaching 70 million units in 2015, according to the Gartner research group. There is high interest among consumers, but penetration rate is still rather low - but could yield double-digit growth in the foreseeable future.

"We expect strong growth in wearables in 2015 with smartwatches and fitness bands and other trackers to reach nearly 70 million units, up 38 percent from 2014," said Annette Zimmerman, research director at Gartner, in a press statement. "However we don't see these devices replacing the smartphone in the next five years, rather they are a complementary device to the existing portfolio of devices."

During the 2015 CES show last month, Intel and other companies demonstrated hardware that can be used in future generations of wearables. Meanwhile, Samsung, Lenovo, Sony and other manufacturers will need to respond once the Apple Watch is released in April.

The National Security Agency (NSA) is under fire for claims it used sophisticated spyware loaded on hard drives for surveillance, with the head of the agency saying his agency complies with national law.

"Clearly I'm not going to get into the specifics of allegations," said US Navy Admiral Michael Rogers, refusing to speak out regarding NSA spyware accusations, while at the Washington forum. "But the point I would make is, we fully comply with the law."

The latest controversy stems from a Kaspersky Lab report that says the NSA embedded spyware on Western Digital, Toshiba and Seagate hard drives, giving them the ability to eavesdrop on users.

Valve, one of the most infamous developers in the world, will be having not one but four presentations at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2015. The company said it wouldn't be hosting its Steam Dev Days conference for 2015, but instead it would have a "larger than usual presence at GDC".

The company won't be talking about specific games, but we can expect that out of the four presentations, the companyu will use its own upcoming games as examples in presentations. This means that we could see a massive tease of Valve's upcoming games, and while there might not be any actual announcements, we might see into the world's of these games. Think Left 4 Dead 2, Half-Life 3 and others and you might just feel the hairs stand up on your arms.

Valve will be hosting a panel on the future of OpenGL technology, which is something the company is invested into with its SteamOS being Linux-based, and Linux and OpenGL going hand-in-hand. Over the past couple of years Valve has been pushing for the adaption and improvement of OpenGL. We reported on this all the way back in 2012, where Valve squeezed more performance out of the OpenGL version of Left 4 Dead 2 than it did in Windows. Valve will also be talking about VR at GDC 2015, which is equally as exciting. We will learn about the creation of VR world's, which will end up moving into advanced topics like the challenges of creating high quality graphics, and having them pumped into users' eyes at high speeds.

Distributed denial of service (DDoS) cyberattacks have plagued consumers and businesses for quite some time, but the rising number of DDoS attacks available as a paid service is troubling. Clients can pay from $2 up to $5 per hour to launch DDoS attacks, or pay a subscription for prices as low as $800 per month.

The Lizard Squad hacker group helped draw increased scrutiny to the underground cybercriminal activity - demonstrating its LizardStresser DDoS service in successful attacks against the Sony PlayStation Network and Microsoft Xbox Live. Meanwhile, the Gwapo DDoS service has been publicly advertised via social media and YouTube posted videos, with attacks starting at $2 per hour.

"Since their inception in 2010, DDoS-for-hire capabilities have advanced in success, services and popularity, but what's most unnerving is booters have been remarkably skilled at working under the radar," according to the "Distributed Denial of Service Trends" report from Verisign. "Given the ready availability o DDoS-as-a-service offerings and the increasing affordability of such services, organizations of all sizes and industries are at a greater risk than ever of falling victim to a DDoS attack that can cripple network availability and productivity."

HTC is expected to officially unveil the One M9 smartphone on March 1 when Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2015 kicks off, but there are some early leaks on HTC's upcoming flagship smartphone.

We can expect HTC to bake in an 8-core Snapdragon 810 processor clocked at 2GHz, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of NAND flash storage expandable through microSD, and more. On the back, we have a 20-megapixel UltraPixel camera, which is reportedly housed inside of a camera module that protrudes from the rear of the One M9's body, like the iPhone 6 Plus.

Software wise, we should see Android 5.0 Lollipop with Sense 7 splashed on top. Two new colorways are shown off in the leaked shots, with a gold and silver style for a two-tone look while the other is gunmetal gray. BoomSound speakers make the cut, with the 5-inch 1080p display filling out the One M9. We should expect the know the exact details on the phone on March 1 when MWC 2015 starts.

Researchers have used custom built PCs to display a galaxy simulation dataset at 7680x4320, or 8K. This mammoth display set up was pushing out 128 million particles across the 16 displays.

As for the PCs, they were running an Intel Core i7-980X, ASUS P6T motherboard, 6GB of Corsair Dominator GT 2000MHz DDR3 RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 video cards, and 1 and 10GbE network connectivity. The team used 55-inch digital signage (1080p displays) with 7mm combined bezel. When it comes to software, the researchers use cgIX that "synchronizes the user input and drawing loop across all of the machines. On top of that is a custom application I developed that does out-of-core particle and volume rendering". Multiple computers are driving the 16 displays, where at any given time there were 4, 8 or 16 computers driving the displays.

What was the insane 8K set up of displays used for? The researcher explained on Reddit: "To support high-resolution visualization of large-scale particle datasets. Specifically, enabling the human visualization system to continue be used as an interrogation tool as the size of simulation datasets grows. Without these types of high resolution displays, it would become impractical to actually look at datasets that grow beyond the giga-scale because you simply couldn't get anything rendered on a single display screen that captures both detail and scale".

Tech executives aren't impressed by President Obama's current efforts to streamline cybersecurity, with a strong lack of trust after increased knowledge of government surveillance operations. It's a fragile relationship that must be improved, especially if Obama is serious about Silicon Valley companies sharing threat data with the US government.

"I think we missed an opportunity," said Jason Healey, former director of cyber infrastructure protection for the White House, in a statement published by The Hill. "Real leaders focus on privacy and they don't compromise on that."

There will need to be an open discussion from the Obama Administration regarding encryption, privacy, and other matters - but trying to boost cybersecurity efforts appears to be a more pressing matter.

How much time to you spend being entertained by your phone? Presto has joined Stan and Quickflix, fighting for your eyes by providing another video streaming subscription option in Australia.

With Netflix said to launch in 'The Land Down Under' next month, Citrix Mobile Analytics claims that "the mobile user experience is, increasingly, a video experience," which would explain the sudden surge in openings.

Compatible with iPhone 5S, 5S and higher Apple models, Android users will see multiple devices supported across Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony and ZTE. Access can be granted through the Presto app on either the Apple App Store, Google Play or the Samsung App Store.

Ransomware cyberattacks are on the rise, and businesses must be ready to address the threat head on, with law enforcement constantly one step behind.

The FBI previously issued a warning regarding ransomware attacks, especially as cybercriminals tweak their malware code. Similar to statements issued by cybersecurity experts, the FBI says users should be extremely careful when opening email attachments - the most popular infection method to compromise business users.

The authors of the CryptoLocker ransomware were able to quickly generate at least $3 million in revenue from ransomware attacks, collecting hundreds of dollars in ransom at a time. Cybercriminals are opportunistic and will continue to rely on ransomware attacks as long as they easily find victims installing the malware on PCs and laptops.

The Midlothian Police Department paid $500 after being compromised with the Cryptoware ransomware, encrypting files on one computer. A spear-phishing email likely is the culprit behind the Cryptoware infection, with Midlothian Police Chief Harold Kaufman confirming a cybersecurity incident.

The police department spent a total of $606 to rid itself of the infection, following the addition of bank fees and subsequent surcharges.

Cybersecurity experts recommend business users routinely back up their data - and that is often left to IT administrators - with urgent need to train employees so they can spot social engineering attempts.

Hunter Moore, 28, the founder of revenge porn website IsAnyoneUp.com, has pleaded guilty and faces years in prison. Moore pleaded guilty to identity theft, unauthorized access to a computer, and aiding and abetting unauthorized access of a computer. Unlike other revenge porn website operators, Moore paid a hacker to access email accounts looking for photos to steal.

Each charge carries a maximum prison sentence of two to five years, and Moore should be sentenced in a few months. Moore was once called "the most hated man on the Internet" for creating IsAnyoneUp.com, which served as one of the most popular revenge porn websites.

The infamous revenge porn website generated up to $10,000 per month in advertising revenue - and featured nude images and videos of ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends. The person's full name, city of residence, social media profile and profession were prominently listed on the website.

Company executives have observed Target, JPMorgan Chase, Home Depot, Anthem, and other major companies suffer devastating data breaches - and understand they need stronger cybersecurity protocols - but actually deploying new methods has been rather slow.

Seventy eight percent of company tech executives have not been briefed regarding internal security strategies within the past 12 months, according to a Raytheon survey. In addition, 75 percent said cybersecurity is a necessary cost, but only 25 percent of survey respondents said security is a strategic priority.

"The Target hack was very interesting," said Jack Harrington, VP of cybersecurity and special missions of Raytheon, in a statement published by the Christian Science Monitor. "It raised awareness across the entire retail industry certainly," but demand for chief information security officer (CISO) positions wasn't' a priority. "That tells you they felt they didn't even need that position. They just didn't feel at risk."

Since its public launch in October, Apple Pay continues its march towards becoming the mobile payments leader - with consumers testing the service, and more businesses willing to give it a try. Apple Pay now has two-thirds control of the surging mobile payments market, according to the Robert Baird's analyst group.

Whole Foods embraced Apple Pay and mobile payments have increased 400 percent, the company said. Meanwhile, Apple Pay is responsible for 80 percent of mobile payments, with that number rising even higher.

"There are still a limited number of vendors that are supporting it, but our expectation is that's going to continue to grow just given the early success the early vendors are having with it," said Will Power, senior research analyst of Robert Baird, told CNBC. "Right now, the Apple iPhone - hard to believe - seven years later or so is as well positioned competitively really as it's ever been."

It took several high-profile data breaches before the United States publicly discussed the need for improved cybersecurity protocols. Democrats and Republicans agree that something must be done, but security experts hope politics don't get in the way of necessary change.

However, cybersecurity efforts could receive bipartisan support from the Obama Administration and the Republican-led Congress - and politics hopefully won't get in the way.

"In order to improve cybersecurity, it is critical to facilitate the sharing of cyberattack information," said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc), in the GOP weekly address. "By sharing threat signatures, vulnerabilities and other indicators of network compromise, within and between the private sector and government, many cyberattacks can be prevented."

It looks like Pebble is about to unveil its new smartwatch very soon, with the smartwatch pioneer teasing that it is set to replace its black and white e-paper display smartwatch with a new model that will feature a color display, in just 3 days time.

The new smartwatch from Pebble will reportedly feature a color e-paper-style display that will sport an improved backlight that is also slightly wider. We should see Pebble also include a microphone, which will allow for some voice-activated features. The new display itself will reportedly be embedded into an enclosure that is thinner than its predecessor, but it won't be touch-capable, unfortunately.

When it comes to software, there are rumors that Pebble has been working with webOS on revamping Pebble OS. This should mean we can expect a totally fresh UI with new animations and a timeline view that will give you a better look at your notifications. The new Pebble smartwatch should be the same price, if not lower than its predecessor, which still costs $199.

The VRAM controversy over NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 970 continues, where class action lawsuits have now been filed late last week. You might remember this only happened a few weeks ago, with NVIDIA quick to jump and admit it falsely advertised the GTX 970 and quickly refreshed the official specifications of the Maxwell-powered GPU.

There are two lawsuits at the moment, one for NVIDIA and the other targeting GIGABYTE. The plaintiff is suing NVIDIA and GIGABYTE on behalf of all GeForce GTX 970 owners, making this a class action lawsuit. This means that any GeForce GTX 970 owner can jump into this class action lawsuit. There are four major complaints for which the plaintiff is asking for damages over, including:

It seems GIGABYTE is being sucked into this lawsuit by Andrew Ostrowski, the plaintiff, as he purchased two of GIGABYTE's GeForce GTX 970 video cards. We will eventually see most of NVIDIA's other add-in-board (AIB) partners enter the class action lawsuit, as more and more people jump on board.

AMD has been spending considerable time on the software side of its hardware game with technologies like HSA, Mantle, and the still fresh Omega drivers.

But now it looks like it's time the company really spreads its wings when it comes to its Catalyst driver suite, with AMD hiring a CPU performance engineer to help them optimize their graphics drivers in CPU heavy gaming workloads. AMD has a few specific requirements for this engineer to join the team, where it has listed on his job description: "The responsibilities include analyzing CPU bound benchmarks and games to identify a variety of CPU bottlenecks in drivers, optimizing the drivers, and providing optimization actions to ISVs".

The job description continues: "The candidate will analyze new CPU architecture impact on driver performance and translate into actionable tasks. This position requires the candidate to collaborate with graphics and CPU architects at multi-sites across multiple graphics driver components".

Lenovo is withstanding a public relations nightmare after being caught installing the Superfish software on systems - much to the entertainment of rivals. It's just a great time to poke fun at the No. 1 PC and laptop manufacturer in the world, as the company has seen tremendous growth in the consumer and business markets in recent years.

Hewlett-Packard offered the following tweet:

HP also linked to a blog post in which it said it "does not pre-install software to enhance customer experience, but there is a key difference between most preinstalled software and Superfish."