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Vladimir Drinkman, a Russian national arrested in the Netherlands in 2012 and extradited to the U.S., has plead guilty to the largest hacking scheme ever prosecuted in U.S. history.

Drinkman has plead guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit unauthorized access to protected computers and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

The hack/data-theft attacks targeted large corporate networks, banks and payment processors and led to 160 million credit cards being stolen and hundreds of millions of dollars in losses and fraud.

"Defendants like Vladimir Drinkman, who have the skills to interrupt our computer networks and the inclination to do so, pose a cutting-edge threat to our economic well-being, our privacy and our national security," said New Jersey federal judge Paul J . Fishman. "The crimes to which he has admitted his guilt have a real, practical cost to our privacy and our pocketbooks."

Among the companies hit by the attacks were Heartland Payment Systems, 7-Eleven, JC Penney, JetBlue, Dow Jones, Global Payment, and NASDAQ. The attacks went as far back as 2008.

Drinkman was one of four people charged but was seen as the mastermind behind the plan. Drinkm and co-defendant Alexandr Kalinin of Russia 'specialized in penetrating network security and gaining access to the corporate systems.' When in the system, they were able to tactically steal user names, passwords, credit and debit card numbers and other personal information. Afterwards, the data was sold to "trusted theft wholesalers" around the world. American credit card numbers went for as low as $10 a piece while European credit card info went for $50 due to much better security protocols in Europe which are only now expanding to the U.S.

Sony has changed the name of its Project Morpheus VR system to PlayStation VR, a move that should help bring big name recognition to the fledgling device.

PlayStation product business president Masayasu Ito noted that "the name 'PlayStation VR' not only directly expresses an entirely new experience from PlayStation that allows players to feel as if they are physically inside the virtual world of a game, but it also reflects our hopes that we want our users to feel a sense of familiarity as they enjoy this amazing experience."

PlayStation VR is scheduled for launch in early 2016 but there really is very little info to date on what to expect. Ito did note that Sony is working closely with 3rd party devs and looking in-house to ensure there is a nice lineup of games for when the device launches.

2016 is setting up to be "the year of VR" as Facebook's long-awaited Oculus Rift is also planned for an early 2016 consumer release.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed that the social media giant will be getting an alternative to the long-standing 'Like' button in the near future, although it won't necessarily be a 'Dislike' button that users have been asking for for a decade.

"I think people have asked about the dislike button for many years. Probably hundreds of people have asked about this," Zuckerberg said. "Today is a special today because today is the day where I actually get to say we are working on it and are very close to shipping a test of it."

Due to the possible abuse that can occur with a dislike button, Zuckerberg was quick to note that the new button will allow users to 'express empathy.'

"Not every moment is a good moment and if you are sharing something that is sad, like the refugee crisis that touches you, or a family member passed away, it may not feel comfortable to like that post," he added. "But your friends and people want to be able to express that they understand and that they relate to you. So I do think it's important to give people more options than just like as a quick way to emote and share what they are feeling on a post."

Sony has dropped the price of the PlayStation 4 console in Japan by 13 percent ahead of the holidays in order to keep up demand for the system.

Gamers can get the console for 34,980 yen ($295) starting on October 1st, down from the current 39,980 yen ($330~ USD).

Industry watchers believe this is just the first step in a price war with the rival Xbox One, which has long sold for cheaper in the U.S. and even included bundles of blockbuster games. Despite the lower price for its rival, the PlayStation 4 has handily beaten the Xbox One over the last two years in sales for there have been rumors that the Xbox One could see another price cut soon.

Additionally, Microsoft has a solid game lineup for this holiday season, so a Sony price cut could help steal some sales away from the Xbox.

Besides the price cut (which has not been announced outside of Japan), Sony is also releasing a Darth Vader themed PS4 with bundled Disney Infinity figurettes that will just add to the incredible hype seen for 'The Force Awakens.'

During a recent interview, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked whether consumers would ever be able to delete pre-loaded apps from their iOS devices, like 'Podcasts' or 'Stocks.'

Cook surprisingly said the company is working on it, but that it is actually pretty complex. "There are some apps that are linked to something else on the iPhone," Cook said. "If they were to be removed they might cause issues elsewhere on the phone. There are other apps that aren't like that. So over time, I think with the ones that aren't like that, we'll figure out a way," he concluded.

The CEO was not able to give a timeline, but it was nice to see that they are working on it.

While many people use pre-loaded apps like Maps and Weather, there are plenty of people who have never looked at the Stocks apps, or don't have an Apple Watch (for example) and would prefer the homescreen space instead.

According to the China Daily, two men tried to sell their kidneys in order to afford the new Apple iPhone 6S.

One man, Wu, knew he could not afford the smartphone so his friend Huang suggested they sell their kidneys to have enough to buy it. They found an agent online who said he could help them if they took medical exams at a hospital on September 12th, however the agent never showed up.

Wu then decided against the move but Huang still wanted to go through with it. To stop the sale, Wu called the police and Huang ran away and has been missing ever since.

As an aside, I feel like we shouldn't have to say this but - DO NOT sell your vital organs for a new smartphone. You're welcome.

Snapchat has rolled out a new update to their mobile app today, adding some interesting features including the ability to pay to replay past snaps.

Dubbed 'Replays,' the in-app purchase will let users pay $0.99 to replay snaps that have disappeared in the past. For the price, you get three replays to use when you want, but one caveat - you cannot use your three replays on the same picture.

"We introduced Replay in Additional Services almost two years ago, and we've used it to relive those amazing moments (or the ones we weren't paying attention to...) just one more time before they disappear," said the company. "We've provided one Replay per Snapchatter per day, sometimes frustrating the millions of Snapchatters who receive many daily Snaps deserving of a Replay. But then we realized -- a Replay is like a compliment! So why stop at just one?"

Additionally, the company has introduced 'Lenses' to enhance your selfies with playful filters, animations and distortions (like Photo Booth from Macs) and 'Trophies,' virtual awards and stickers similar to Four Square.

As we have reported in the past, some local municipalities have begun taxing streaming services like Netflix, Spotify, and Amazon in an effort to make up for lost revenue from physical disc sales.

Besides being controversial in its own right, at least one government now has a lawsuit on their hands. Subscribers to the popular services have filed a lawsuit against Chicago, claiming the 'cloud tax' is illegal.

Chicago was charging a 9% "Amusement Levy" on the services which had previously only applied to live shows such as concerts and baseball games.

In their suit, the plaintiffs claim that the tax could only have been imposed by a city vote, but in this case it was decisioned by the city comptroller. In addition, the suit claims that the tax violated the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act, which strictly prohibits states and cities from "imposing discriminatory internet-only taxes."

Read the full complaint here, as the decision will likely have national implications in the future.

Sony PlayStation 4 fans will soon have the option to get DualShock 4 controllers in four different colors.

Showing off the new controllers at the Tokyo Game Show press conference, Sony also introduced new hard drive panels in yellow, gold, pink, yellow, light blue, red and purple.

Gold, silver, Steel Black and Crystal will be available in Japan on November 6th, with the gold and silver controllers also headed to the U.S. and Europe in November. It is unclear if the other two colors will eventually be available everywhere.

The plates will sell for 2,500 yen each (about $20) and the controllers will sell for 6500 yen ($55 USD) although it is likely the pricing will change for different markets.

Nintendo has named long time executive Tatsumi Kimishima president following the sad passing of Satoru Iwata.

Kimishima previously managed The Pokemon Company and also led Nintendo of America from 2002 to 2006, but unlike other presidents he does not have a gaming background, just a business and management one.

Somewhat strangely, Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto was given the title of 'Creative Fellow,' meaning he has advanced specialized knowledge that will be used to guide the company. For Miyamoto, he will be an adviser in a creative capacity.

There are more title changes as the company restructures, which can be seen at the source.

Apple has said today that it expects to best last year's first-weekend iPhone sales record, mainly thanks to strong demand in China.

"Customer response to iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus has been extremely positive and preorders this weekend were very strong around the world," the company said in a statement. "We are on pace to beat last year's 10 million unit first-weekend record when the new iPhones go on sale Sept. 25."

As has been the case for years, Apple expects delays on some of the new models in some nations thanks to lack of supply (or high demand). "As many customers noticed, the online demand for iPhone 6S Plus has been exceptionally strong and exceeded our own forecasts for the preorder period," the company also wrote. "We are working to catch up as quickly as we can, and we will have iPhone 6S Plus as well as iPhone 6S units available at Apple retail stores when they open next Friday."

There had been concerns that the economic and stock downturn in China would lead to lackluster sales, but that is clearly not an issue. Both new phones have 3-4 week delays in all colors in the country.

Microsoft has confirmed that gamers in the Xbox Preview Program will be able to test out the new Xbox One dashboard update before it launches in November.

"Because this is a significant update, we are giving Preview members the opportunity to decide for themselves if and how they want to participate in helping us release the New Xbox One Experience," said Mike Ybarra of the Xbox team.

Of note, Microsoft will not roll out the preview to everyone, at least not to start. "Preview members who have historically submitted the most feedback" will be the first to receive the update, with the ultimate goal "to start with a group, get feedback, then roll out to larger groups for additional feedback over time."

If you do choose to opt in, you will get regular updates up until the official release in November.

The November update will introduce a completely re-hauled user interface, new backward compatibility with over 100 Xbox 360 titles and smaller updates to the store and OneGuide. Additionally, there is a new 'Community' section which adds a ton of social features.

The former Google CEO and now the Executive Chairman of newly found holding company Alphabet Eric Schmidt has written an op-en for the BBC about the strides artificial intelligence (AI) has made – and will make. Unlike Apple, Eric Schmidt believes in computer curated music rather than few human individuals.

Schmidt clearly pokes fun at Apple's human curated music on Apple Music, Recode reports. The former Google CEO calls human curation "elitist" since it relies on few people making the choices for you based on their own preferences.

Music curation being one of the editorial's main focuses Schmidt says that maybe a decade ago it was reasonable to use human curation but today AI has come so far that it provides better results and could "help you predict who and where the next Adele might be".

What do you think, does human curation to it better for you and/or do AI curated playlists cater the large crowds better?

Music and movie organizing software Plex is headed to the new updated Apple TV.

The software, which allows you to organize and stream your personal collections, has been popular for PCs for quite some time and is also available on consoles on set-top boxes but has been notably absent (officially) from the aging Apple TV. Now that the set-top is getting a makeover, the company has confirmed it will be on-board.

"We are very excited to have a crack at bringing our users Apple TV," says co-founder Scott Olechowski. "It's been a long requested platform and we're excited to work on it. We want it, our users want it ... and we're anxiously awaiting the tvOS developer beta info, so we can finally dig in."

The co-founder also confirmed Apple TV would be getting a fully featured app, although not likely for a few months as development is not done as the tvOS was just released.

OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei has apologized for the botched launch of the OnePlus 2, which is only now shipping "in meaningful quantities," a month later than expected.

"We messed up the launch of the OnePlus 2," said Pei, starting off a long post apologizing to consumers and partners alike.

"With the OnePlus 2, we made rosy plans. We were more confident, and prepared a lot more inventory. We told our users it would be 30-50x easier to get invites, and they needn't worry. Yet, we only began shipping in meaningful quantities this week, nearly a month after our initial targeted shipping date. You can talk all you want, but in the end, flawless execution speaks much louder than unfulfilled promises.

I'd like to apologize on behalf of OnePlus for the delay.

To our fans, sorry. We were equally excited when we saw your excitement around the OnePlus 2. We know how it feels waiting and waiting for something you really want, while being given ETAs that go unfulfilled. We appreciate the trust and support that you have given to a relatively small and unknown company like OnePlus. We know that you are rooting for us, and want nothing more than to see us succeed. Therefore, it feels extra terrible to let you down this time around, again," concluded the post.