If there anyone who likes GPU rumors, it's me. The latest reports are suggesting that AMD might make a huge leap with its new Radeon R9 300 series, which should make use of the new High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), but more interestingly, it is based on a 2.5D design, and will use up to 300W of power.

The news is coming from the LinkedIn profile of Linglan Zhang, who is currently employed by AMD as the System Architecture Manager. His profile lists that he is working on a new GPU SOC chip that uses the 2.5D design, and rocks a TDP of 300W. We should expect the new GPUs from AMD to be made on the 28nm architecture, since the 16nm and 20nm die shrinks are now at least six months or more away - from both AMD, and NVIDIA.

Comparing GDDR5 against HBM is something that people need to start really looking at, as the I/O per chip on GDDR5 is just 32-bit, while the 4-Hi HBM 'Stacked DRAM' pumps things up to a huge 1024-bit. Max bandwidth per min on GDDR5 is just 7Gbps, while HBM sits at 1GBps. The max bandwidth of GDDR5 sits at 28Gbps, while the HBM technology can scale between 64Gbps and 256Gbps.

Verizon today unveiled its Verizon Vehicle service during the North American Auto Show in Detroit, helping unconnected cars become connected. The service is available to almost 9,000 models, any vehicle from 1996 or later, available regardless of mobile service provider.

The technology works when an OBD reader is plugged into a vehicle's onboard diagnostic port, with a two-way Bluetooth speaker located inside the cab of the vehicle. Once installed, drivers have access to a mobile app that allows for emergency aid requests, diagnosing mechanical problems, and dispatching a tow truck if mechanical failure occurs.

"Verizon Vehicle is a unique and truly holistic aftermarket solution available to over 200 million vehicles on the road today," said Erik Goldman, president of Verizon Telematics, in a press release. "It affords millions of drivers the power of knowing when things aren't working well, potentially before a breakdown occurs - fostering a safer, smarter and more economical way to drive and maintain a vehicle. And while even the best technology can't prevent every breakdown, the service modernizes the traditional roadside assistance offerings which, for the most part, haven't been updated in 50 years."

The US Central Command Twitter and YouTube accounts were compromised on Monday morning, with hackers posting threatening messages and officer contact information. CENTCOM servers and classified data remained intact, and the FBI and Department of Defense (DoD) are now investigating the issue. If nothing else, this is a rather embarrassing issue for the US military, as cybersecurity protocols are being taken more seriously.

"It's embarrassing as all get-out for CENTCOM," said Matthew Aid, a cybersecurity specialist, in a statement to the USA Today. "It looks like rather low-level classified documents. They came off a protected network. Regardless of the low level of sensitivity, the fact that it was done should scare the crap out of people."

However, CENTCOM officials note that the account's username and password were compromised, but its networks were not breached in the incident: "This is little more, in our view, than a cyber-prank," said Army Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman for the Pentagon. "It's an annoyance. We wish it wouldn't happen because we have to spend our time on it. But in no way compromises our operations in any way shape or form."

Fitness trackers grabbed headlines throughout 2014, but with 42 percent of owners leaving behind their wearable devices in the first six months, smartwatches have a great opportunity to pick up the slack.

"The best way to engage athletes interested in using wearable technology is to provide them with applications and devices that target their specific, and often sophisticated needs that can be measured and used to improve performance," said Matt Powell, VP of industry analysis of sports and leisure trends at The NPD Group, in a blog post. "For example, a tennis player might want to measure lateral quickness and backhand speed, while a golfer might want to measure posture, stance and hand speed."

As wearable technology continues to evolve, and more consumers become aware of features and functionality, there are unique sales opportunities available. However, it's up to OEMs and app developers to entice owners to continue using their wearable products, otherwise it could end up being a fruitless effort.

Connected products powered by the Internet of Things (IoT) took over the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last week, and that momentum will only continue, industry analysts predict.

IoT product providers will need to ensure services and connectivity to power these "things" are secure, with proper bandwidth to ensure they function normally. Looking ahead, IoT growth is expected to create upswings in Internet traffic and IP address consumption, according to Akamai Technologies.

However, it's now up to manufacturers and supporters to show why connected technology can impact the lives of consumers on a daily basis - and offer products that aren't overly difficult to use.

Storj is working to provide decentralized cloud storage in a gambit to provide a network free from censorship and monitoring. The key to this concept is for a peer-to-peer network to allow users to store their data on other people's computers in a distributed manner. This isn't exactly breaking the mold. Peer-to-peer cloud storage networks, such as Symform, have been around for years. However, Symform requires users to donate their own capacity in order to join the network, while Storj is offering to just buy spare capacity from anyone.

Storj has already raised roughly $215,000 through crowdfunding, but the donations were in Bitcoins, so that amount is subject to price variations. Renting out free drive space is purportedly easy, the person renting space simply installs software that receives files that have been split into easily digestible encrypted chunks. Data is then stored from other computers on the network, and is distributed in a parity-like scheme across multiple locations to provide access even if one user drops off the network.

Unfortunately, there are a slew of reasons to be skeptical of just renting out your free drive space. First, in order to receive payment the the HDD landlord has to cash out the payments in Storjcoin X, a digital currency similar to Bitcoin. Storjcoin's can be traded for cold hard cash, but noting the growing pains of several other digital currencies, HDD landlords may find it hard to get a reliable amount when converting the coins to cash. And thats just the tip of the storage iceberg.

President Barack Obama wants cybersecurity to have a more prominent role among companies and federal agencies, including cybersecurity information sharing. As part of the proposal, Obama wants streamlined threat intelligence sharing between the private sector and government agencies.

In addition, Obama wants to disrupt botnet operators - including the sale or rental of botnets for criminal use - to be investigated, disrupted and prosecuted by federal courts.

Obama yesterday announced an updated proposal so national data breach reporting is modified following a cyberattack and data breach. Instead of a mix of state laws, a single federal statute would be created, so businesses better understand their responsibilities while informing customers.

The PC version of Grand Theft Auto V has been delayed from January 27 until March 24, Rockstar Games confirmed on Tuesday morning. When the game finally does launch for the PC, there will be a customized GTA Online mode available, so gamers will be able to compete in online competitions against one another.

"Our apologies for the slight shift in the date but the game requires a few extra weeks of testing and polish to make it as good as can be," Rockstar Games noted in a statement. "Moving a release date is never a decision we take lightly and is a choice we make only when we know it is in the best interests of the game and our fans. Thanks everyone for your understanding and we assure you these few extra weeks will be worth it when the game does arrive in March."

The Microsoft Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game were released in September, and recently updated for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 gamers.

The number 13 is bad luck, again, as Microsoft is ending free support for Windows 7 today, the 13th of January. Speaking of bad luck, Microsoft is hoping the end of free support for Windows 7 will speed the transition to Windows 8, which has been rejected by discerning users worldwide. Thankfully for Microsoft, Windows 10 is on the horizon. Windows 10 is slated to be released later this year.

The end of free support also means that no new features will be added, so dont expect any further service packs in the future. Windows 7 sold over 100 million units in the initial six months of availability in 2009, largely due to customer dissatisfaction with the notoriously buggy Vista. Many are speculating that sales of Windows 10 will also be propelled by user distaste with Windows 8. Windows 7 has been truly successful for Microsoft, and it powers roughly half of the world's computers.

Microsoft continues to experience boom/bust cycles, with every other operating system revision appearing to be the one to buy. Microsoft's failed bid to create one operating system for all devices created a confusing environment for the majority of users. With many of the previously successful features reappearing in Windows 10, such as the start button and menus, it should be well received. Microsoft has also been offering the latest operating systems at much more reasonable price points, which should help foster widespread adoption of Windows 10.

Greenliant is introducing their new G7100 Series G-card, a high-capacity NVMe SSD that leverages an array of NANDrive SSDs in a PCIe form factor. Each NANDrive is it's own entity with its own embedded controller and ECC capability. This creates a scalable architecture that offers up to 2.75TB of storage.

The use of a distributed architecture provides built-in RAID functionality, which increases speed and improves reliability. Greenliant claims the new card offers an Uncorrectable Bit Error Rate (UBER) of 1 sector per 10E28, which is orders of magnitude higher than competing solutions. The G-card also features host power loss protection, and utilizes standard MLC NAND to deliver 10 Drive Writes Per Day (DWPD) of endurance. Speeds and feeds indicate the G-card won't set any performance records, but is geared more for reliability and an economical price point. The G-Card features 875 MB/s of sequential read speed, and 850 MB/s for sequential write. Random 4k reads weigh in at 130,000 IOPS, and random writes are 60,000 IOPS.

The card connects via the PCIe 2.0 connection at x4, and features a five-year warranty. The G-card is also bootable on multiple platforms.