Google and Apple hope to see their respective in-car mobile operating systems have a major impact in the connected car market. Apple's CarPlay and Google's Android Auto go beyond just pairing smartphones to the infotainment system, hopefully designed to increase auto safety.

"Consumers have spoken," said John Maddox, assistant director at the University of Michigan's Mobility Transformation Center, in a statement to the New York Times. "They expect to have coordination between their phone and their vehicle."

Both companies want to improve Bluetooth connectivity and voice recognition functionality in connected cars. Automakers are creating working relationship with Google, Apple, and other Silicon Valley companies interested in developing in-car technology.

According to officials from various mobile carriers, Samsung's upcoming next-gen Galaxy smartphones are better than the best from Apple. In closed-door meetings, these officials used the new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge smartphones, responding with nothing but praise.

Executives from companies like T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone and SK Telecom have said that both smartphones were reportedly "greatly satisfied" in terms of the new design, and were "wagering they could beat Apple's hot-selling iPhone 6 at least in terms of design". A source spoke with The Korea Herald, where they said: "Some executives said the new phones were the best of the best among Samsung-made phones. They said the Edge was better than Apple's iPhone 6 in terms of design".

Another source talked about the Galaxy S6 Edge model, where they said "It is doubtful whether the acclamations from the mobile carriers will directly lead to (high) sales. Samsung will need to increase the phone's functionality dramatically to appeal to customers".

Companies nervous about their cybersecurity defenses are relying on white hat hackers to test systems and help identify security flaws. Offering a bounty allows additional skilled users outside of a company's software and IT team to help track down anything that may have unknowingly fallen through the cracks.

"We're curious, we want to test our skills, we want to help these companies," said Mike Santillana, white hat hacker for Bugcrowd, in a statement published by CBS News. "I've found several bugs where you can completely compromise another user's account."

Additional companies are paying security experts and programmers as part of increasingly lucrative bug bounty programs. These hackers enjoy the monetary incentive and the challenge of identifying security flaws that could pose problems for companies and their customers.

American Unmanned Systems wants to see its amphibious GuardBot used for surveillance missions by the US military, with the unique robot able to travel across land and water. The GuardBot can travel up to 20 miles per hour along the beach and cross water at speeds up to 4 mph, according to American Unmanned Systems.

The unique robotic ball can vary in sizes, from 10cm up to 9 feet, controllable by one operator or programmable via GPS. The GuardBot was created for non-intrusive surveillance and is extremely quiet as built-in cameras and sensors provide feedback from inside the sealed sphere physical casing. The team is looking to develop software supporting geographic information system data to increase autonomous activity.

American Unmanned Systems has a cooperative research development agreement (CRADA) with the US Navy, so they are able to use government research labs and resources to help develop the GuardBot. It was first presented to the military at Marine Corps Base Quantico in 2012, traveling through a volleyball pit - and was shown again in 2014 at the Naval Amphibious Base, deploying and returning to a naval craft.

EA and DICE are currently walking the minefield that is game development, where it has to be careful with its next release after the not-so-well received Battlefield: Hardline. Star Wars: Battlefront is that next release.

During Sony's reveal on its upcoming games for the PlayStation this year, the Japanese giant teased Star Wars: Battlefront for a Winter 2015 release. We are being told to expect a large and expansive single player experience, where Star Wars fans being in their element. As for the multiplayer side of things, we can expect the usual goodness from DICE, we hope. With the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2015 right around the corner, we could see EA and DICE tease it there, but E3 2015 is also not that far away now.

Star Wars: Battlefront has a Winter 2015 release date, and will hit the PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

We all know how it feels: to be out for the day and your smartphone is beeping or vibrating at you alerting you to the fact that you're on less than 20% charge. Then you can literally feel the minutes clicking over with each percent going down into that drain that your battery slides into. Well, not for long.

An Israeli startup known as StoreDot is looking to solve this thanks to the by-product of research from the nanotechnology department of the Tel Aviv University, which was looking into Alzheimer's disease. The researchers have discovered that a particular peptide molecule has high capacitance, which means it has the unique ability to hold an electrical charge.

Batteries that use this technology can absorb charge much faster than others, but their overall capacity would be smaller. This new technology can't just be baked into current smartphones and devices, but StoreDot is currently in discussions with 15 smartphone makers, with the hopes to getting a contact with a couple of those companies before the end of the year.

We've reported on Apple's car quite a few times, but things are becoming more real as the days flick over on the calendar. The New York Post is now reporting that Apple is offering some serious money and higher pay packages to secure car battery experts.

The New York Post has said that "Apple has been offering the best and the brightest in the car-battery field $250,000 signing bonuses plus salaries 60 percent higher than what they currently earn", something Tesla Motors CEO, founder and real-life Tony Stark, Elon Musk, said to Bloomberg Businessweek. Former Ford engineer Steve Zadesky is the boss of Apple's 'Project Titan', so there's some weight to the story, and to having Ford's former engineer working with Apple.

Marc Newson has also joined Apple, with The Post calling him "one of the more elegant engineers in the world" and is very close friends with Apple's design boss, Jony Ive. Zadesky on the other hand, has a huge 90 or so patents, and was the sole signatory on a 2010 business ocntract with a company called Liquidmetal. Liquidmetal is known for its Moldable Metal, or "Nanophosphate metal" which can be shaped like plastic. Apple, along with Liquidmetal, have filed 17 patents together, with 14 of those taking place in the last 12 months or so.

Microsoft and 343 Industries released Halo: The Master Chief Collection onto the Xbox One some four months ago now, but even to this day, the game is still broken. Matchmaking and lobby systems still don't work, and this is a serious problem.

There have been countless problems found in the game, various patches, and game breaking bugs that have plagued the game since launch. But don't worry, it gets better. 343 Industries has created an achievement in the game called "Stick With It" that awards players for sticking with the game. Except, this achievement is also buggy, and won't unlock.

Facebook, the No. 1 social networking website, wants to integrate virtual reality into user news feeds, and is creating demo versions to show off the new feature. To take things a step further, Facebook users also have the ability to share their virtual experiences with other members.

In the live VR demos, Facebook members can visit Mongolia, or sit in an F/A-18 Hornet cockpit.

"Not a lot of people are going to get to Mongolia in their life... I've never been," said Chris Cox, head of product at Facebook, while speaking at the Code/Media conference. "You can look around. It's beautiful. And you immediately understand it's like one of these things... the first time you're in it, you realize you're looking at the future."

We reported yesterday that Valve would be talking about VR, physics engines and more but now the company has confirmed exactly what it will be teasing at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2015, and it has us very excited.

Valve will be showing off the final Steam Controller for its upcoming Steam Machine platform at GDC 2015, as well as its "previously-unannounced SteamVR hardware system". Valve also has plans to show "new living room devices" at GDC, which will most likely arrive as a slew of new Steam Machines. What has us excited however, is the idea of a full unveiling of its SteamVR platform.

GDC 2015 takes place between March 2-6 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.