Daily Roundup: NSA spyware, Apple's VR headset and more!
Welcome to the Daily Roundup. Security researchers discovered NSA surveillance software in the firmware of some new hard drives. In other news, a UK company works on a self-driving shuttle for public transit and an Apple patent filed in 2008 shows the company has long been interested in VR displays. Catch up on all of today's top stories past the break.
The NSA hides surveillance software in hard drives
Security researchers at Kaspersky Lab have discovered apparently state-created spyware buried in the firmware of hard drives from big names like Seagate, Toshiba and Western Digital.
The autonomous shuttle hoping to transform public transport
Public transportation is one particular area that could benefit from self-driving vehicles and a UK company is working toward making it a reality.
Apple explores headsets that turn your iPhone into a VR display
The USPTO has granted Apple a patent (originally filed way back in 2008) for a headset design that uses your iPhone as a virtual reality display. The basic concept bears more than a small resemblance to Samsung's Gear VR.
Behold: a wristband that replaces your phone with a dumber phone
The folks behind the giant and retro (but not quite useful) Neptune Pine smartwatch are back -- and this time they're aiming to flip technology paradigms. Their new product, the Neptune Duo, is made up of two familiar looking devices that don't work the way you'd expect.
Any app that works with Android Wear now works on your Pebble
A new update for the Pebble smartwatch adds support for Android 4.0 devices, automatic app and watch face updates and Square Cash payments. You'll need to update your Pebble smartwatch firmware as well as download the very latest edition of of the companion Android app to get rolling.
Sony's $840 augmented reality glasses are real, just not pretty
Sony's SmartEyeGlass SED-E1 Developer Edition is coming to 10 countries next month. The glasses use "holographic waveguide technology" to put information directly in the wearer's eyeline, with simple green monochrome text and diagrams displayed at up to 15fps. The starting price? $840 USD.
The Big Picture: Rosetta gets up close and personal with a comet
This weekend, the ESA's Rosetta spacecraft took a close approach past Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and captured this stunning photo taken just 5.5 miles above the comet's surface.
