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Professor Stephen Hawking is concerned that artificial intelligence development will evolve to the point of AI being able to not only match - but surpass - human capabilities, opening up the door to potentially aid in the end of mankind.

"The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race," Hawking recently told BBC. "It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded."

Despite the concerns shown by Hawking, not everyone is worried about AI: "I believe we will remain in charge of the technology for a decently long time and the potential of it to solve many of the world problems will be realized," said Cleverbot creator Rollo Carpenter.

PMC Flashtec controllers are powering the next generation of Memblaze PCIe SSDs. The Memblaze PBlaze 4 is designed for hyperscale and Open Compute Project architectures. The Flashtec controllers on the PBlaze 4 provide up to 850,000 IOPS for random read workloads, and 265,000 IOPS for random writes. Sequential performance is equally impressive, with up to 3.2 / 2.5 GB/s read/write available. NVMe provides the lowest CPU load and includes a number of architectural improvements for high-performance storage products. We recently took a deep-dive on the new NVMe specification in our Defining NVMe article.

The Flashtec controller can address up to 8TB of flash and features 16 and 32 channel variants. Dual-port functionality provides enterprise-class high-availability features. Memblaze differentiates their products with multiple capacity points and solutions tailored for specific workloads. Memblaze utilizes NAND from several vendors, and Flashtec NVMe controllers provide a flexible architecture that supports a wide variety of NAND vendors.

PMC enjoys a market-leading position in NVMe controllers, and several hyperscale customers are already building their own NVMe SSDs with PMC controllers. Memblaze is currently the #1 PCIe SSD vendor in China and is expanding to the US and European markets, and expects to deliver over 6PB of flash storage this year. We recently took an in-depth look at Memblaze's latest product in the Memblaze PBlaze3L 1.2TB Enterprise PCIe SSD Review. Head to our IT/Datacenter section for the latest in competitive performance analysis of Enterprise PCIe SSDs.

Seagate has announced the release of a new HDD aimed at 4 to 16 bay enterprise NAS deployments. The stratification of the NAS market has led to varying HDD products to address the different workloads and performance requirements of each segment. The new Seagate enterprise NAS HDD bumps speed up a notch. Typical consumer NAS models spin at 5,400 RPM, but the new Seagate NAS HDD moves up to 7,200 RPM. WD has already released the WD Red Pro, a 7,200 RPM product, to address larger NAS arrays, as outlined in our WD Red Pro 4TB Enterprise NAS HDD Review.

The WD Red Pro tops out at 4TB, but the Seagate Enterprise NAS HDD comes in 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6TB flavors and features Seagate's NASWorks firmware. NASWorks specifically tailors the drive for NAS usage. The drive also features RAID rebuild technology that supports surgical rebuilds to significantly reduce RAID rebuild time. The drive also features a larger 128MB cache in comparison to the WD Red's 64MB, and a faster transfer speed of 216 MB/s. An optional data recovery service also offers users easy data recovery in the event of a drive failure.

The burgeoning NAS market is fueling the rapid expansion of NAS HDD offerings. The SME, SMB, and SME tower and rackmount segment is one of the fastest growing segments, and manufacturers are providing solutions refined for each environment.

Huawei won't release any other smartphones powered by Microsoft Windows Phone, as the two handsets it made available running the OS weren't profitable. Instead, consumers want to enjoy Google Android smartphones, which yields a thriving community and jam-packed app store.

"We have tried using the Windows Phone OS," said Richard Yu, Huawei consumer business group lead. "But it has been difficult to persuade consumers to buy a Windows Phone. It wasn't profitable for us. We were losing money for two years on those phones."

Windows Phone now has just over 8.1 percent of global market share - still far behind Android and Apple iOS - but shows that Microsoft is able to continue expanding the OS further.

The last time I remember hearing "HP" and "MacBook Air" in a sentence, was back in 2008 when the then CTO of HP's Global Gaming Business and founder of VoodooPC, Rahul Sood, used a MacBook Air to cut his birthday cake. Sood in that time moved onto Microsoft, and recently left the Redmond-based giant to form his own business Unikrn. Well, HP is taking another swipe at Apple's MacBook Air, this time with a new business-focused notebook.

The EliteBook Folio 1020 is a Windows 8-based notebook that features a proprietary enterprise port and a fingerprint scanner for added security, with the company touting it can pass military-grade drop and shock tests. Inside of the EliteBook Folio 1020 we have 8GB of RAM, an SSD between 128GB and 512GB, and around 9 hours of battery life. Intel's new fanless Core M processor makes the cut, with HP offering up two models of its new notebook.

The first model is lighter than Apple's MacBook Air, with the Standard Edition being slightly heavier than the MBA, packing a 12.5-inch 1080p display, which is also upgradeable to a touchscreen. The lighter model, the Folio 1020 Special Edition, features a 12.5-inch QHD display, without a touchscreen option. There's a nice red accent on the hinge, which sweetens the deal. The Standard Edition will be made available next February, while the Special Edition will be made available in April 2015.

North Korea is not surprisingly denying its involvement in the Sony Pictures Entertainment cyberattack last week that brought the company to a grinding halt. The country previously showed displeasure at SPE's movie The Interview, which will be released later this month, featuring a plot by two Americans to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

"The hostile forces are relating everything to the DPRK. I kindly advise you to just wait and see," a North Korean spokesperson recently said. I do not know anything about this."

Some cybersecurity experts don't believe North Korea has significant infrastructure to launch cyberattacks - but could have called upon China or Russia - to launch the attack on its behalf. Some organized cybercriminal groups are willing to offer their services to the highest bidder, especially if it involves targeting high-profile attacks targeting companies in the United States.

If you're walking around with one of Samsung's flagship smartphones, either the Galaxy S5 or Galaxy Note 4, you might be wondering when you'll receive the new Android 5.0 Lollipop update. Well, it should be soon, hopefully.

The two flagship handsets have both been spotted running Google's latest mobile OS, with both iterations featuring a little Samsung inside in the form of Lollipop + TouchWiz UI. The above image is of the Galaxy Note 4 with Lollipop + TouchWiz UI running, while the image underneath it is of the Galaxy S5 with Lollipop mixed with the TouchWix Nature UX 3.0 on top.

We should expect Samsung to release the Android 5.0 Lollipop update for the Galaxy S5 sometime before the New Year, while the Galaxy Note 4 update not being too far behind it.

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho-based startup Rohinni has an interesting project to share with the world: LightPaper. LightPaper is something the startup took to their Twitter account to tease, writing: "We print light".

The goal of the startup is to be the leading lighting application for, well, everything. LightPaper is the world's thinnest LED lighting, which can be applied to, stuck on, and placed onto virtually any surface. LightPaper, if you've already guessed, is super-thin, and is made by mixing ink and tiny LEDs together, and then printing out a mixture onto a conductive layer.

This layer is then "sealed between two additional layers. The tiny diodes are about the size of a red blood cell. When a current runs through the paper, the tiny, randomly-dispersed diodes will light up", reports 3ders.org. OLED is currently one of the thinner technologies out there, but LightPaper is set to break that record. LightPaper is being aimed at the automotive industry, where it could allow for better tail lights, or super-impressive looking branding.

SteelSeries has teamed up with eSports team Fnatic, launching a new range of gaming peripherals. The Fnatic Edition peripheral lineup includes the eSports' teams orange and black signature coloring, and logo.

The range includes a new special edition 9H Gaming Headset, Rival Optical Mouse, and Apex Keyboard. The owner of Fnatic, Sam Matthews, said: "The new Fnatic Edition products are something we're excited to be using in tournaments ourselves as well as bring to our fans; by purchasing these products they will directly support the team". SteelSeries' CEO, Ehtisham Rabbani, added: that the "talent, ambition and professionalism," of team Fnatic was a key to their success and that their branded products should reflect that".

Now, let's get to the hardware. The APEX Fnatic Edition Keyboard features customizable 16-million color illumination, and low profile keys. Anti-ghosting makes the cut, and is present on the "20 most commonly used keys", with an additional six multimedia keys and a possible 88 (four layers) programmable keys. It also features an integrated USB hub, with a 2m long braided USB cable.

Do you remember the beginning of the Tablet craze? Even schools have adopted tablets and it seems that almost everyone owns or previous owned one of these devices - however we're now seeing them on the decline. Alongside this information, we've just seen reports that touchscreen PC's are also on their way out.

At Computex in Taiwan in 2013, Intel announced that it would use its Ultrabook fund to boost their production of large touchscreens, claiming a projected 3-5 times increase in consumer demand in the coming years. Alongside this, they stated that their Haswell platform laptops with touchscreens have tripled the sales of their previous generation, the Ivy Bridge.

Reading ZDNET's findings, it seems that touchscreen laptops are still in abundance in the North American brick-and-mortar retail market.

Windows 8 hidden features and Easter eggs are still being discovered, recent reports have claimed to find a hidden Explorer shell option in Windows 8 and 8.1 - allowing users to automatically organize and open programs alongside exiting the shell if needed.

Reports also claim that no additional programs, tweaks or registry settings are required to use these features.Interested in utilizing this for yourself? Follow these simple steps:

This will effectively remove your Taskbar and Smart Screen from your system. If you want it back, you can follow a few different methods - firstly you must open your Task Manager.

In an effort to diminish counterfeit product sales, United States and European authorities have conducted a large-scale seizure of domain names just in time for the Christmas period.

Codenamed "Project In Our Sites Transatlantic V", this operation saw 292 domain names seized in total by police across several countries within Europe, including the United States. Based mainly around websites selling counterfeit luxury goods, sportswear, electronics, pharmaceuticals, pirated movies and music, this information has come about by a direct statement thanks to Europol.

Europol claim that 25 agencies from 19 countries were involved in this effort, directed by the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center from the US. The NIPRCC works as somewhat of an agent for trademark holders, acting against people breaching intellectual property laws by the US government.

Cox Communications are being dragged in front of a court by BMG and Round Hill Music who are alleging that Cox haven't put enough effort into forwarding notices of which demand settlements for copyright violations.

The cable company has apparently gone out of its way to treat these messages as junk mail (spam), with reports claiming that they let 200,000 offenders walk free without warning or prosecution due to their filtering services. The 'Digital Millennium Act' states that networks have a policy for cutting off pirating customers, the aforementioned big labels are claiming that Cox has failed to uphold these terms - which puts them in some rather hot water.

There's been no secured proof that Cox is down the drain just yet, it's up to the judge to decide due to the 'gray area' nature of many computer political debates. It's claimed that a person isn't necessarily violating these copyright laws just because they're supposed to get a notice - so we will need to stay tuned on this topic.

It's Marvel, so it was always going to have a built-in audience, but the success of 'Guardians of the Galaxy' exceeded expectations, grossing nearly $800 million worldwide at the box office. Now, the film is coming to home theatres and to celebrate, Disney Home Entertainment will treat 5 TweakTown readers to a free Blu-ray copy, as well as a 'Guardians of the Galaxy' t-shirt and cap.

An action-packed, epic space adventure, Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits-Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand-with the galaxy's fate in the balance.

To go into the running to take a Blu-ray home, simply correctly answer the following question:

The latest reports from Nikkei is that Sony will not be renewing its large contract with FIFA for sponsorship, with the Japanese electronics giant to spend the money on structural reforms.

Sony started sponsoring FIFA back in 2005, with the company signing an eight-year contract worth $277 million. Nikkei is reporting that Sony was involved with sales and marketing in over 40 soccer tournaments during that time, something that included the bigger 2010 and 2014 World Cup matches.

Sony has been experiencing some massive hurdles lately, with an operating loss of $766 million in October, riding on the back of the 13.5 million PlayStation 4 consoles being shipped from its Games and Network division. Not only that, but the company has increased its loss forecast to $2.15 billion in September, after it downgraded its mobile and smartphone business by a large $1.68 billion. The company has also restructured its TV division, and sold off its VAIO PC brand back in February, too, which saw 5000 jobs cut from the company.

As according to a press release sent by ADATA HQ this week - they're launching a new stylish series of external hard drives, including 500GB, 1TB and 2TB iterations.

These hard drives come bundled with ADATA's own OStGO and HDDtoGO software, alongside a bright blue/red LED to indicate data transfer status. We've been told that these drives come packed with G Shock Sensor Protection to help protect your device, alongside a three year manufacturer warranty.

Named the HV100 series, this drive is being marketed as a sleek option to help you back up important data - being quoted as "compact, lightweight, smooth and stylish". One of the main features talked about quite often in this press release is all based around its shock protection qualities, stating that once a disturbance has been detected, a flashing red light will be displayed. Once the threat has passed, the hard drive will continue to function as normal.

PAX Australia ticket public release had been previously rumored to be commencing in early December, this would make it almost a full 11 months before the expo's commencement date (30th of October 2015), meaning no exhibitors, personalities or attractions will have been announced or confirmed.

PAX Australia have committed to this plunge releasing their ticket sales to the public this week, seeing people enter a 'digital queue' for ticket sales. The pricing has been set at $55 AUD for single-day attending early adopters.

It's an interesting strategy. As we mentioned, there will be little-to-no exhibitors confirmed as of yet for this exhibition, with large name titles unannounced and personalities being unable to book in their attendance so far into the future. However, the PAX culture in Australia is firmly set with many fans purchasing tickets in the confidence that PAX will provide a good show no matter what.

This time of year is hugely critical for manufacturers and retailers, with discounted prices on products, aimed at getting customers to open up their wallets. For smartphone shoppers, there are a surprising amount of devices that cost a single penny, assuming you're willing to sign a two-year contract, and the "low-end" smartphone market is progressing rapidly.

For American consumers familiar with the Apple iPhone 6, Samsung Galaxy S 5, and other flagship models - these low-end models aren't likely appealing - but help recruit even more first-time smartphone owners to upgrade their phones. Not surprisingly, low-end smartphones are typically Google Android-powered devices, and Microsoft wants its Windows Phone 8.1 OS to help drive the market even further.

For some consumers, products such as the OnePlus One smartphone, which doesn't require a contract yet is still affordable, could lead to further shakeup of the phone market.

Google Glass has revolutionized interaction with wearable computing devices, and many expect it to be the model for the future of wearable computing devices. The Google Glass concept is extraordinary, but the underlying technology has been a bit of a disappointment. The current models are based on the Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 processor, which is outdated to say the least. The processor first made its debut in the Motorola DROID RAZR back in 2011, and Texas Instruments has since vacated the mobile processor market. The old technology provided Google with a solid base of proven hardware, but falls short in computing power and battery life.

Industry insiders are reporting that Intel processors will power the next revision of Google Glass. Utilizing Intel's mobile processors will provide more computing power and better battery life, along with bringing in x86 functionality. More computing power will speed the interface and allow developers to create powerful apps that are in line with expectations for mobile devices. Current Google Glass models are also a bit bulky, and an updated processor and chipset will enable Google to significantly reduce the size and weight of the device.

The mobile market continues to expand and Intel has been struggling to break into the mobile market. Winning a Google Glass contract will be a big step for Intel's mobile processor division. Google Glass also hasn't had as many apps developed for the platform as hoped, and x86 functionality will also open the door for expanding the software app ecosystem. The initial Glass revisions are a proof-of-concept design that resonated well with users, and moving to a new Intel processor will help Google take the final step to making Glass a mainstream product fit for the masses.

The mobile market is not immune to trends and fads, and sometimes they can run counter to established norms. At first users wanted the smallest phone on the market. In the prehistoric pre-smartphone era some phones were so small they were almost impossible to dial. Smartphones changed that trend, and initial small versions have given way to phablets. Once again, bigger has become better. Cicret looks to solve the problem for us all with the largest useable screen packed into the smallest device possible. It seems a bit counter-intuitive, but the design is genius.

The Cicret Smart Bracelet debuted on Indiegogo and just finished its round of funding. The Smart Bracelet looks like a simple bracelet but has an embedded memory card, processor, accelerometer, vibrator, USB port, Bluetooth functionality, and Wi-Fi. The most important components consist of a pico-projector and an array of 8 proximity sensors. The projector beams the screen down onto the users forearm, and the proximity sensors track fingers to allow device interaction. The video below is simply amazing.

The Cicret brings about a number of amazing possibilities. The accelerometer will be used for user interaction, simply moving your arm could page through screens for instance. Bluetooth connectivity could allow the bracelet to be used as an accessory to an existing smartphone by simply mirroring the screen in your pocket. The video demo is impressive, but is based upon 'possibilities' and isn't representative of the working device. Initial revisions are likely to be short on processing power due to the small size, so using the bracelet in conjunction with other mobile devices would be a great fit. There are a few questions on how well it would work in blazing sunlight, projectors usually do not do well in bright conditions. Either way, we will know soon enough, models will retail for roughly $700 in the coming months.