2014′s Biggest Moments In Tech
REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd founder Jack Ma (2nd L) poses as he arrives at the New York Stock Exchange for his company’s initial public offering (IPO) under the ticker “BABA” in New York September 19, 2014.
As 2014 comes to a close, it’s time to look back at the most memorable things to happen in the tech industry this year.
From Facebook’s $22-billion acquisition of WhatsApp to the official unveiling of the Apple Watch, 2014 was filled with things to remember.
We’ve rounded up some of the biggest events and most iconic photos of the year here.
2014 saw a number of big acquisitions. In January, Google bought home automation company Nest Labs for $3.2 billion. Here Nest cofounders Matt Rogers and Tony Fadell pose with Google CEO Larry Page.
Source: Business Insider
In February, Facebook bought monster messaging app WhatsApp for $22 billion. The sale made cofounders Jan Koum and Brian Acton billionaires.
Source: Business Insider
In March, Facebook closed another big deal with its $2 billion acquisition of Oculus VR, which makes a virtual reality headset for video game developers. The Oculus Rift is expected to launch for consumers by the end of 2015.
In February, Steve Ballmer stepped down from his position as CEO of Microsoft after 14 years at the job. He named Satya Nadella, the former head of Bing, as his replacement. Nadella is the third CEO in the company’s history.
Source: Business Insider
In March, Ellen Degeneres tweeted this selfie she took with a bunch of the celebrities during the Oscars broadcast. The selfie would temporarily crash Twitter and ultimately became the most retweeted tweet of the year.
Source: Business Insider
King Digital, makers of hit game Candy Crush Saga, made its debut on the New York Public Stock Exchange in March. Though the game’s mascots were out in full force, the stock closed down 15.56% from its IPO price of $22.50 a share, making it the worst IPO debut of the year.
Source: Business Insider
In March, Newsweek’s Leah Goodman reported that 64-year-old California resident Satoshi Nakamoto was the mysterious founder of Bitcoin. Soon after the Newsweek piece was published, reporters swarmed Nakamoto’s home and even engaged him in a car chase. Nakamoto has since denied involvement in the creation of the cryptocurrency.
Source: Business Insider
At the end of May, Apple announced it was buying Beats Electronics for $3 billion.
Source: Business Insider
In June, Amazon introduced its first smartphone, the Fire Phone. Though the phone has some cool features, like dynamic perspective and product recognition, sales have been disappointing.
Source: Business Insider
A number of silly apps were big this year. The ridiculously addictive game Flappy Bird shot to the top of the app charts in the winter, though it was eventually removed from both Google and Apple’s app stores.
And in June, the popular one-word messaging app Yo went from 600,000 to 1 million users in just a week.
Source: Business Insider
Over the summer, more than 17 million Facebook users uploaded videos of themselves participating in the “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge,” which involved people pouring buckets of ice water over their heads and daring their friends to do the same. Several tech giants, including Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin, also joined in on the fun.
Source: Business Insider
In August, nude photos of a group of female celebrities that included Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, and Ariana Grande were leaked to 4Chan. The photo leak is believed to have been the work of a hacker who goes by “OriginalGuy,” who spent months trying to break into the celebrities’ iCloud accounts.
Source: Business Insider
Just over a week later, Apple introduced its first smartwatch, the Apple Watch. It will be Apple’s first new product category under CEO Tim Cook and is expected to launch in early 2015.
Source: Business Insider
Apple also introduced the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in September. Soon after the phones hit stores, some customers complained that their new devices had bent in their pockets. Videos of people trying to bend iPhones showed up all over the Internet, spawning a scandal that came to be known as “bendgate.”
Source: Business Insider
Alibaba went public on Sept. 19. The company’s $150-billion IPO was the largest offering for a US-listed company in the history of the New York Stock Exchange. It also made founder Jack Ma the richest man in China, with an estimated worth of $25 billion.
Source: Business Insider
Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly announced he is gay in an October essay in Businessweek. He wrote, “I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.”
Source: Businessweek
Uber made headlines all year long, from misbehaving drivers to lawsuits in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In November, scandal erupted when BuzzFeed reported that Uber SVP Emil Michael had suggested digging up and publicizing personal details about PandoDaily journalist Sarah Lacy. In December, the ride-sharing app announced it had raised an additional $1.2 billion at a $41 billion valuation.
Source: Business Insider, Business Insider
In December, Sony Pictures Entertainment was the target of an unprecedented series of cyber attacks that shut down the company’s computers and leaked loads of employees’ personal information, including their email inboxes, home addresses, and Social Security numbers. The internal computer system was reportedly taken over by a hacker group called “Guardians of Peace.”
Source: Business Insider
Now see what happened online this year.
25 Tumblrs That Went Ballistic In 2014 »
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