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Popular etailer Amazon.com is expected to launch its very own smartphone sometime this summer, and it could become official during a Seattle media event on June 18. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is expected to unveil the device, which is a unique effort to jump into the smartphone market controlled by Apple and Samsung.

The rumored Amazon device is expected to have 3D viewing capabilities, but it is still uncertain how it would be integrated into the phone. The Amazon device is expected to run using Google Android, with Foxconn and other well-known hardware OEMs also expected to play a role. Meanwhile, Amazon continues to diversify its product and service offering, with the company already offering an e-reader - and providing music, books, video and other digital content.

"There is a very big hill for Amazon to climb, but if they are successful, the opportunity can be huge," said Jeff Kagan, wireless industry analyst, in a statement. "Remember, Amazon.com does not appear to make a profit on their devices like the Kindle. They look at these devices like the shaver and the razor. They give devices like the Kindle and perhaps this new smartphone away almost at cost, and make their profits on the products they buy with it."

Computex 2014 - In typical Computex fashion, embargos-be-damned! At the show we saw a handful of X99 boards behind closed doors but a few brave decision makers publicly displayed the upcoming chipset in bold fashion.

ASRock had two boards on display, Extreme4 and Extreme6. Both utilize new technology standards designed to decrease system latency while optimizing power consumption and increasing the user experience.

First up is the Extreme6. As you can see the board doesn't have a heat sink on the PCH but the company has some time left to iron out the details as this chipset shouildn't hit the market till later this year.

Computex 2014 - G.Skill has been quiet in the SSD market for the last two years due to low flash availability and high flash prices. Now that flash is abundant again the company is testing the SSD waters with an impressive showing at Computex 2014.

At this time, the Phoenix Blade isn't a guaranteed retail product. The company received the first samples just days before the show so TweakTown didn't have a warning in advance but once the show started we called into action.

A 960GB model and 480GB model were on display at the G.Skill booth and the 480GB model was actually running full tilt.

After a few road signs were hacked, the government is warning cities and highway operators using signs manufactured by Daktronics of possible cyberattacks. The United States Department of Homeland Security Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) released a statement saying operators should prepare "defensive measures" against these types of attacks. The ICS-CERT team said hackers have published a guide on how to compromise Daktronics systems to alter the normal message.

"CIS believes it is likely that a small percent of Watch Dog players will experiment with compromising computers and electronic systems outside of game play," according to a recent report from the Center for Internet Strategy (CIS).

Years ago, vandals would write messages such as, "Warning, Zombies Ahead!" on road signs - and only small number of incidents have been reported. However, authorities were immediately concerned, because changing road signs can be a serious public safety issue, and the signs often help drivers deal with possible traffic and road issues.

Current Microsoft Windows XP users making tweaks to the registry to receive support for XP until April 9, 2019 was quickly discovered by Microsoft. A registry hack is available for both the 32-bit and 64-bit copies of XP, though Microsoft and security experts still recommend migrating to Windows 7 or 8/8.1.

The registry hack tricks traditional desktop versions of Windows XP into thinking it's really a copy of Windows Embedded POSReady 2009, a version of Windows designed for point-of-sale machines. However, Microsoft warns the security update won't make XP fully secure, and it's still advisable to upgrade to a newer OS.

"We recently became aware of a hack that purportedly aims to provide security updates to Windows XP customers," a Microsoft statement said. " The security updates that could be installed are intended for Windows Embedded and Windows Server 2003 customers and do not fully protect Windows XP customers. Windows XP customers also run a significant risk of functionality issues with their machines if they install these updates, as they are not tested against Windows XP."

Computex 2014 - While being spoken about a little; the upcoming X99 platform continues to be quiet around the show with few companies showing it off. Over at the MSI booth, though, we got a chance to take a look one of their upcoming boards based on the chipset. The blue and black color scheme is fairly common and we'll indeed see it fall under the GD naming scheme.

Taking a look at the specification sheet next to the board you can see a number of the main features including support for HSW-E or Haswell-E 8-Core Extreme Edition processors utilizing the 2011 socket design. 8 DIMM slots give us support for up to 64GB of DDR4 at speeds going too 2666MHz DDR via overclocking.

You can also see that we've got four PCIe x16 slots, two PCIe x4 slots, M.2, SATA Express and SATA III slots along with 12 USB 3.0 ports and Gigabit networking via the I218-V chip. As for MSI specific features you can see Military Class 4 and OC Genie 4 is being offered on the model.

Computex 2014 - The Lightning Series from MSI has been one of our favorites for as long as we can remember. When we saw the GTX 780 Ti Lightning at the corner of our eye when walking around the MSI booth, we found ourselves instantly excited with just what was being shown off.

Carrying the massive triple fan Twin Frozr cooler and sporting Lightning features like GPU Reactor, Military Class 4 Components, Enhanced Power Design and Triple Force Architecture we knew that this was a card we must have. To then be told that the card wouldn't hit the market, though, was quite upsetting. Due to NVIDIA not allowing MSI to increase the voltage specification, MSI have decided to not release the model as it wouldn't give users the Lightning experience that they have come to known.

A small amount of the cards have been made which will be used by overclockers. With a modified BIOS they can increase the voltage to levels that continue to be safe while using LN2 cooling. It's really disappointing we'll never get a chance to test this model.

We knew it was coming thanks to a leaked trailer, but now EA has let the cat out of the bag with an official trailer for Battlefield: Hardline. Not only that, but the company also unveiled a full release date: October 21.

The trailer doesn't show off too much, but that's because E3 2014 is right around the corner. For me, it looks like Payday mixed with Bad Boys, which is something that you can't complain about. The full reveal by EA will take place next week, something that I'm sure a lot of gamers are looking forward to.

Computex 2014 - Last year we got a chance to see ASRock team up with BMW Designworks USA to create a new barebone system. The M8 was born and we found ourselves instantly in love with what was being offered by the company. Jump forward a year and ASRock have taken the cover off an updated version of the great looking M8 system.

While the chassis looks the same; inside we've got a few new key components to bring it into 2014. First we've seen the ITX motherboard get updated to the latest Intel Z97 chipset bringing support for the latest crop of processors. The other big upgrade is the power supply which now sees an SFX 600 Watt unit. This gives us the chance to install a higher-end video card without a problem continuing to show us that you can pack some serious punch into a nice slim system.

As for the rest of the system you can see not too much has changed. We've still got the A-Command OLED button that gives us the ability to see a bunch of different settings. Other features include USB 3.0, 4-in-1 Card Reader and Gigabit LAN alongside Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11ac support.

Computex 2014 - Angelbird gave us a look at their upcoming Novachips Bugatti-powered SSD.

This is the new Angelbird X2 Wings. This AHCI compatible PCIe card is bootable and utilizes an undisclosed RAID controller to aggregate the performance of two SSDs in RAID. The card can be a bit power hungry, pulling over 75 Watts. There is a embedded power connector to assist with external power. There is also backlighting during operation to appeal to the enthusiast crowd.

The NVS 3600A is a 10 channel controller that works in concert with 256MB of DRAM in this configuration.

We only just reported that Mario Kart 8 is spinning up some good sales for Nintendo, selling 1.2 million copies in a week, but the game is so successful in Japan that it is hurting Sony's PS4 sales.

Between May 25 and June 1, the Wii U was the top-selling console in Japan pushing 19,312 units. The PS4 on the other hand, sold only 6,508 units in its home country. When it comes to Mario Kart 8 sales, it was the the leader of the top 20 games sales chart, selling 325,892 units in Japan, for a total of 1.2 million worldwide so far.

The PS4 continues to dominate in the US, but it isn't doing so well back in its home country of Japan. Sony has sold just 500,000 or so units in Japan, so if Nintendo can unveil some exciting new titles at E3 next week, Nintendo could soon take control of its home country and put a nail in Sony's coffin - in Japan at least.

Computex 2014 - Looking at the G.Skill booth we got a chance to see the new RAM cooler that G.Skill had recently introduced. While that was indeed what got our attention at first; what sat under the cooler was what really made us excited.

G.Skill are no slouch when it comes to RAM speed and looking above you can see the company has got the 16GB kit which consists of four 4GB modules running at an amazing 3501MHz DDR3 with a 14-31-31-45-2T setup on the mATX ASUS MAXIMUS VII GENE using an Intel Core i7 4770K CPU.

Showing that the speed isn't just limited to one motherboard; we see the same kit running the same timings on the ASRock Z97 OC Formula next to it. The biggest issue with memory like this, though, isn't having a motherboard that can support these speeds; but having a CPU with a memory controller that can.

Computex 2014 - JMicron displayed their new M.2 controller in their suite for us at Computex 2014. As motherboard manufacturers release more motherboards with embedded M.2 connections there will be a rapid expansion of the M.2 market. SSD controller manufacturers such as JMicron are focusing on delivering products with wide compatibility for older, existing, and future types of NAND. JMicron accelerates time to market by providing a complete solution with included firmware. This reduces the need for extended firmware development time and engineering staff.

This is a reference SSD design featuring the JMF811 controller with Micron L85A NAND. The JMF811 features a PCIe 2.0 x4 interface with 8 channels. This provides a native PCIe connection with up to 125,000 random IOPS from their controller. The controller will support A19, 16nm, 3D and TLC flash.

This close-up shows the JMF811 controller, and there is also a JMF810 controller that provides the option of either a PCIe 2.0 x2 or a SATA 3 connection.

Computex 2014 - ASUS had a huge section dedicated to the Republic of Gamers line at Computex this year; a series that has become extremely popular over the last few years combining quality and performance. Sitting at the top of we have the Maximus VII Formula for people wanting something that truly stands out.

Moving through the rest of the boards we've got the Hero and Ranger version of the boards for people wanting an ATX motherboard but don't quite need the features that are associated with the Formula. It was towards the middle of the cabinet that our attention was drawn, though, with two smaller boards being shown.

In the middle and to the left we have the mean looking GENE version of the Maximus VII which of course translates into a mATX motherboard. If that's still too big for you, though, the mean looking Impact version might be just what you're after. Keep an eye for reviews of some of these ROG boards in the coming weeks and months as ASUS sample us.

It has been a very long three months since the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing, with grieving families of the passengers on-board the plane now offering up $3 million to anyone who will step forward with key information.

Offering up $3 million for someone to step forward as a whistleblower is quite the step for the families, but with authorities, the Malaysian government and others not coming up with anything, they have run out of things to do. The families are convinced that authorities are covering up the truth of the missing plane, so they've launched a crowd-funding campaign through Indiegogo.

The campaign started after Malaysia's acting Transport Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, bagged Boeing and Rolls Royce for their part in the search for MH370, saying that the responsibility for the entire investigation should fall on Malaysia, Australia and China. Sarah Bajc told The USA Today: "We are taking matters into our own hands. There is no credible evidence that the plane is in the southern Indian Ocean, where planes, boats and a mini-sub have searched in vain for week. I'm convinced that somebody is concealing something".

Oculus VR continues to be a black hole for some of the best talent in the industry, with Jason Holtman joining the team that is now under the wings of Facebook. Holtman has both Microsoft and Valve on his resume, so this is a nice addition to the Oculus VR team.

Holtman will lead the business development and partnership of Oculus VR "with a focus on building the world's best developer and player VR ecosystem". During his introductory post, Holtman talked of his love for Battlezone, which was a green-and-white wireframe game on the Atari in the early 80s.

He wrote: "Battlezone is widely regarded as one of the first VR games, and looking back, those mountains still excite me. I want to fly, walk across alien landscapes, and nose around the Great Pyramids. And that's the most telling thing about VR: the possibilities are obvious, immediate, and endless. So, I'm humbled to become a part of this team. I'm not one of the pioneering scientists or engineers in virtual reality, but I am one of the people that can't stop grinning every time I see something new inside the headset, and I'm looking forward to helping shape the transformative experiences that inspire the next generation of developers".

Security firm KnowBe4 is so confident that its Kevin Mitnick Security Awareness series is so beneficial, the company will pay a ransom if a client is compromised due to employee error. The new generations of ransomware typically can slip by traditional anti-virus software, and end-users are responsible for accidentally installing software on work PCs. The security awareness training is ongoing and the KnowBe4 offer to pay ransoms via bitcoin is valid until June 30.

"Many employees take work home and access the network on personal laptops or devices shared with family members," said Stu Sjouwerman, KnowBe4 CEO, in a statement. " KnowBe4 recognizes the need to help users stay secure in a variety of environments and we offer our clients a separate Home Internet Security Course for their whole family as an extra bonus. We are so confident our training works, we'll pay your ransom in Bitcoin if you get hit with ransomware while you are a customer and your employees stepped through our training."

It's a bold decision by KnowBe4, as 234,000 people have been hit with some type of ransomware, such as CryptoLocker, CryptoDefense or CryptoBit, according to the FBI. These data breaches led to $20 million in ransom fees during a four-month span in 2013 alone, according to the report.

It's Tetris' 30th birthday, and in honour of the block-arranging, totally addictive, all consuming game that propelled the Gameboy to stardom, programmer Alexey Pajitnov has had a chat with Britain's Guardian newspaper.

In it Pajitnov details his time spent at a Soviet computing lab, and his childhood love for puzzles. In the early 80s it dawned on him that perhaps puzzles would be a good basis for a videogame.

Pajitnov says the key game mechanic - that of disappearing lines - was inspired by just how quickly the screen filled up with the blocks, before going on to call Nintendo's choice of music "embarrassing" for Russian culture.

Cybercriminals trying to compromise users continued to find new and innovative ways to target unsuspecting users in April, launching malicious attachments and conducting well-coordinated phishing attacks, according to security company Kaspersky Lab.

Email and search engines were the most popular targets, accounting for 31.9 percent of attacks, with social media in second with 23.8 percent, and financial and payment organizations slotted in third with 13 percent. The most notable target in April was Chinese telecommunications company Tencent, with criminals seizing user logins and passwords.

"Last month, we saw a new wave of so-called pump and dump spam," said Tatyana Shcherbakova, Kaspersky Lab Senior Spam Analyst, in a press statement. " The scammers behind these mailings advertised offers to buy stock in a certain company at super low prices, which were allegedly meant to increase considerably in the near future. As a result, the demand for the stock in the company rose, the prices became artificially inflated - and the scammers would then sell off their stock in said company. The stock prices would then begin to fall, and the bamboozled investors were left with depreciated shares and lost their investments."

Tinder is a dating app that lets users select people they are interested in. It then allows the people you are interested in to swipe left or right on photos to indicate if they are interested in you back. Tinder has unveiled something new for its users that allows them to share photos with matches.

The new feature is called Moments. With Moments, the user can take a photo using the app and that photo will be broadcast to all of your matches. The matches can then swipe left or right to indicate if they like the photo or not.

Matches that like your Moments will then be able to start chats with you. Any of the matches who are using moments will be at the top of the matches list. Moments also allows users to view all of the shared photos by tapping on the stack of cards at the top of the screen.