14 tech failures of 2014

As perplexed as the latest technology leaves us these days, even the best of the gadgets and electronics disappoint us sometimes. Likewise, apart from some of the successful launches that the year witnessed, 2014 was also a year of some terrible tech blunders. 

It’s the time to scratch that rash on the wrist

So, besides measuring your heart-rate, the LG G watch had another interesting feature it could give you an itch! And after a bit of scratching their own heads, the geniuses at LG finally figured the internal battery was leaking power back to the leads, causing sweat on the users’ skin to react, well abnormally. LG soon released an update which disabled the reverse power. Totally shocking!

Android update came with a bug

For excited Android fanboys, 2014 was a huge year. You see, Lollipop was announced and it’s Google’s next big OS update for its phones. But hours after the update, the poor fanboys started experiencing big voodoo in their phones. Wifi dropped, the audio quality deteriorated and finally, the phones’ audio just failed. Google panicked, released updates and soon, the world was normal again.

And so did Apple

After Google’s Lollipop, it was Apple’s turn to mess up iOS8. The 1 percenters ran to update their iPhones and soon found themselves staring at very expensive dead screens. You see, Apple had released a cure for a few bugs but their update turned out worse almost like injecting ebola to fight off the common cold! Apple had to apologise and quickly launched the iOS 8.0.2 update.

Did Apple cause a firm’s bankruptcy?

In 2013, Apple had signed a deal with GT Advanced Technologies to build a sapphire glass-manufacturing plant in Arizona for its smartphones. The news sent GT stock soaring but once the new iPhones were unveiled, there was no sign of sapphire glass! GT stocks cratered, forcing the manufacturer to file for bankruptcy.

Nude photo leaks

This year, over 2,887 photos of 136 Hollywood celebrities leaked from iCloud, in what was described as ‘The Fappening’. A few weeks later came the ‘Snappening’, when nearly 2,00,000 intimate photos and videos of over 2,60,000 Snapchat users leaked. Worst year for privacy, ever!

iMessage glitch

Apple users found they were unable to turn off the iMessage if they were switching to a non-iOS device. So, contacts who were still sending texts to you did not know they weren’t reaching you. Apple faced a possible lawsuit over failing to tell users their texts would be blocked on switching to a non-Apple device.

Apple’s Bendgate

Just days after the iPhone 6 launched, images of ‘curvier’ versions of the phone started appearing online. Those posting claimed the phones had started to bend inside pockets. The claims were true. Apple’s thin design was not good for tight jeans and soon, #Bendgate was born. Dimwit alarmists even asked users to be wary while walking with these phones in the pockets. We should’ve had an #Applewalk!

Xiaomi Redmi 1S heating issues

It’s good to have a ‘hot phone’. But when it gets quite literal, the experience stops being funny. Xiaomi Redmi 1S customers found themselves holding an iron to their faces, when some of the devices started overheating. In fact, the company, at the time, claimed the phone was ‘tweaked’ for Indian conditions but with millions complaining, that excuse ran cold. Xiaomi soon released an update and yes, cut down on the phone’s speed.

The dangerous Heartbleed Bug

Pesky hackers crossed the line this year after they unleashed the deadly Heartbleed Bug. The virus allowed eavesdropping of private email, SMS and other networks. Tech experts classified Heartbleed “a 11 out of 10” on the scale of tech catastrophes. And Canada meanwhile, had to shut down their entire tax-filing network because almost 80 per cent of private details had leaked online!

HTC’s big phone crashes

HTC’s flagship M8 had a mind of its own this year. Several users claimed their phones were experiencing random crashes and often, its camera would just conk off. Besides camera and software, the phone also had trouble recognising SIM cards from several regions.

Amazon phone disaster

Amazon unveiled its first, and possibly its last smartphone the Fire Phone. The Fire Phone was to sport 6 cameras! But there were no takers and the phone certainly jacked up Amazon’s net loss of $437 million. Reports suggest Amazon is presently sitting on almost $83 million worth of unsold Fire Phones.

Mac OS and Shell shock

Though we all hoped Apple’s ‘glitchy 2014’ would be a lot shorter, it wasn’t. According to reports, the Mac OS X was found vulnerable to ‘Bash Bug’ or ‘Shellshock’, the GNU Bash Remote Code Execution Vulnerability, which could allow an attacker to gain control over a targeted computer if successfully exploited. Apple later released OSX Bach Update 1.0 to fix the issue.

Design leaks

A major design leak took place ahead of the iPhone 6 launch. BRIKK, makers of couture products said they would supply luxury iPhone 6 handsets of the 4.7-inch variant after it would be released. BRIKK also revealed the design and the first look of the iPhone 6, which proved to be a big turn-off for Apple.

Xiaomi’s data security threat

Xiaomi was accused of helping China spy on the Indian user’s personal information, by sending data back to China servers. After a security test, the Indian Air Force issued a note to its force warning against use of Xiaomi smartphones. It emerged an older report did confirm that Xiaomi handsets sent data (a built-in feature for safety and backup) to cloud services in China. The next update patch put this feature as an option to the user.