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According to sources, Ford will replace Windows with BlackBerry's QNX for its upcoming next-gen Sync smart dashboard.

By using QNX, the massive car company hopes to remove some of the current system's flaws and improve flexibility and speed. Additionally, QNX will be cheaper to license.

Ford currently has 7 million vehicles on the road using Sync, which allows for easier music playing, phone calls and more due to voice-activation software. Customer complaints have been increasing, however, about the touchscreens and general glitchiness of the technology.

New studies seem to suggest that new car buyers are actively looking for smart, connected dashboards, with 39 percent calling in-vehicle tech the top selling point for them and only 14 percent making power and speed their top choice.

QNX is currently used in Audi and BMW luxury cars and is also used to manage nuclear-power plants. BlackBerry purchased the company in 2010 to have a foundation for its BB10 smartphone operating system.

According to an internal company analysis of the breach, the hackers who attacked Neiman Marcus and stole hundreds of thousands of credit card numbers and personal information were working on the store for three and a half months, setting off security system alerts over 60,0000 times.

The report concluded the card data was stolen from July through October, and it was not done by the same groups or groups that hit Target, stealing information on 70 million consumers.

Ginger Reeder, speaking for Neiman Marcus, says the hackers named their malware almost identically to the company's payment software, thus allowing over 60,000 security alerts to pass unnoticed with all the huge amounts of data sorted by the company's security.

"These 60,000 entries, which occurred over a three-and-a-half month period, would have been on average around 1 percent or less of the daily entries on these endpoint protection logs, which have tens of thousands of entries every day," Reeder added (via BW).

After the investigation, the company also found that original estimates of 1.1 million cards stolen was high, with the real figure below 350,000. 9200 of the stolen cards were used fraudulently since the attacks. Neiman Marcus concluded that it was in compliance with standards to protect transaction data, and data-security requirements were increased again this year.

Samsung has unveiled their new second-generation smartwatches, replacing the poorly reviewed Galaxy Gear released last year.

The two devices, the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo, run on the Tizen operating system rather than Android, and should be the first commercial Tizen devices to hit the U.S.

By using Tizen, Samsung has been able to improve the battery life to 2-3 days, compared to the barely 24 hours of life the Galaxy Gear provided.

Both devices have a 1.63-inch touchscreen, 4GB internal storage, dual-core 1GHz processors, 512MB RAM and a 300 mAh battery. The Gear 2 has a 2MP camera with video support while the Neo has no camera. Samsung has moved the location of the camera off the wrist strap and right to the watch face, meaning you can replace the bands if you so choose.

The watches will be available in April, but there is no word on pricing yet.

Earlier this week, we reported that Google had started Project Tango, a prototype phone with 3D sensors that can build "visual maps" of the rooms or areas you are in with advanced 3D scanning.

We now have the first 3D indoor map using the device, and the results are stunning.

Matterport, a software company that specializes in computer vision and perceptual computing solutions, was already given a prototype device and used it to map some rooms. CEO Bill Brown says 3D mapping tech has accelerated rapidly thanks to mobile devices and Google is pushing the industry significantly.

The company has been working on their own camera, which they say has better quality than that of Project Tango, but that is to be expected given that it is an early prototype. "We're getting the same mesh quality that we're getting from our camera," says Brown. "It doesn't 'look' as good, but that's just because it's a prototype."

Video of the mapping:

Apple and Samsung have once again failed to settle on their latest patent spat, with a trial now expected to being on March 31st.

Samsung Mobile boss Shin Jong-Kyun, Apple CEO Tim Cook and other high-level executives attended a full day mediation session at the beginning of February, followed by follow-up calls that led to nothing.

"Notwithstanding these efforts, the mediator's settlement proposal to the parties was unsuccessful," read the companies' report to U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh. That said, the "parties remain willing to work through the mediator jointly selected by the parties."

The world's largest smartphone makers have spent hundreds of millions in litigation fees since 2011 for a number of patent disputes. Apple has been the courtroom winner but it has not stopped Samsung from becoming the top phone maker in the world, with nearly 29 percent market share of the global smartphone market.

According to industry sources, Amazon's oft-rumored streaming set-top box could launch next month.

The device will directly compete with Roku, Apple TV, WD Live and others in the now crowded set-top market.

Amazon has been allegedly working on the box since the start of 2013, with the original plan to release it for the holiday season before it was eventually delayed.

The box will be based on Android, but will also likely use a variant similar to the company's Kindle Fire line of tablets.

There have also been rumors that the box could be gaming-centric, due to Amazon hiring game developers and even buying a gaming studio.

Amazon has never confirmed the existence of the set-top.

Sony Pictures has teamed up with UK-based anti-piracy group Industry Trust, adding to the group's "Moments Worth Paying For" campaign.

The upcoming 'Amazing Spider-Man 2' will launch with an exclusive anti-piracy trailer aimed at keeping young people away from film piracy. Spider-Man, played by Andrew Garfield, will be in the footage, ensuring that the character pushes consumers to stick to legal content.

Industry Trust research suggests that 16-34 year-old males that see any of the "Moments Worth Paying For" trailers are then "twice as likely to pay for content."

Liz Bales, director general at Industry Trust for IP Awareness added: "With each trailer execution delivering more traction and success for the campaign, it's key that this momentum continues. We're delighted to have partnered for the first time with Sony Pictures Releasing U.K. on one of the tent pole releases for 2014."

The movie's director, Marc Webb, also added: "The 'Moments Worth Paying For' campaign -- which we're very happy to be partnering with -- is a fantastic way that we can enlighten film lovers, by helping them to experience the levels of work and creativity that go into bringing them the movies they love."

Sony has finally made the popular PlayStation 4 console in their home country of Japan, a surprising three months after its launch in North America, Europe and other nations.

The company has seen very impressive sales since launch, amassing 5.3 million units sold worldwide as of two weeks ago. Even more notably, Sony almost doubled up on Microsoft's Xbox One for January, a trend that will certainly extend to this month.

For Japanese consumers, the PS4 will be offered in its standard package for for ¥41,900 (~$405 USD) and a bundle with a PlayStation Camera and a free download of Knack for ¥46,100 (~$450 USD). Microsoft will likely release the Xbox One in the nation eventually, but it is not expected to be a priority following horrendous sales of the Xbox 360 where Microsoft only sold 2000-5000 units per month in most months. Sony is expected to dominate this generation in Japan, where the Wii U has already failed to make waves.

Geeksphone, the Spanish startup trying to disrupt the smartphone world, has made their Revolution phone available this week for order, after months of teasing.

The device, which is notable because it can run both Firefox OS and Android, sells for 222 Euros ($305 USD) before taxes.

Unlike previous reports, however, the phone is not a true dual-boot system. You can not have both operating systems installed at the same time and choose to boot whichever you like. You can flash the OS of choice using pre-installed recovery tools, and you can only boot that OS. Geeksphone will support whichever OS you choose with updates.

The smartphone features a 4.7-inch 960 x 540 resolution display and under the hood is a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2560 dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, 4GB internal storage and a microSD card slot. Additionally, the smartphone has a 2,000 mAh battery and dual 1.3MP/8MP cameras. There is no LTE support but there is HSPA+.

Already teased multiple times by the company, HTC has released more photos of its upcoming Desire 8 phone.

The mid-range device is expected to feature a 5.5-inch 720p Super LCD2 display and be powered by a quad-core 1.6GHz Snapdragon 400 processor and Adreno 305 GPU. Under the hood is 1.5GB RAM, 13MP/5MP cameras and HTC will install Android 4.4 KitKat right out of the box, supplemented by the new HTC Sense UI 6.0.

HTC is expected to formally launch the phone on February 24th, at the start of the Mobile World Congress event in Spain.

Finnish smartphone startup Jolla has announced today that their Sailfish OS has exited beta and is almost ready for installation on Android devices, aimed at the market of fans who like to install custom ROMs on their smartphones and tablets.

The Jolla has been available in Europe for a couple of months, but there has been no carrier or OEM support except for small Finnish carrier DNA. Moving forward, Jolla says it is looking to extend online sales to Russia, India and Hong Kong while negotiating "new channels" in Europe.

Version 1.0 of the Sailfish OS will be available to install on Android devices starting on March 1st, and the company says active developers have already ported the beta to some Galaxy, Nexus and Xperia phones.

"Last year in China alone, about 100 million devices were re-flashed after the purchase with a new operating system. This approach allows Sailfish OS to scale into volume fast without limitations. This is a scaling opportunity in a similar way as we have seen in the mobile gaming industry recently," Antti Saarnio, chairman of Jolla's board noted, showing a clear strategy aimed at China.

Multiple sources are reporting today that Microsoft has taken drastic measures to fend off operating system rivals, most notably Google's Chrome OS.

If accurate, the sources are claiming that Windows 8.1 licenses have been slashed by 70 percent for low-end PC and tablet makers.

For devices that sell for under $250, Windows 8.1 will cost just $15 to have pre-installed, compared to the normal $50 fee. There will be few desktops and laptops that meet this threshold, but there are expected to be a significant amount of tablets.

Interestingly, products under the price threshold will not have to meet logo certification (hardware compatibility verification) and the devices do not even need to be touch-screen compatible.

Any OEM taking advantage of the steep discount will not be eligible for Microsoft's other marketing support and incentives.

According to Bloomberg, Roku is preparing for an IPO this year, going public as its popularity grows.

The company builds set-top boxes that allow users to connect to hundreds of popular apps via a small box that connects to your HDTV.

Roku declined to comment, but the sources say the company still has not decided on a lead banker if it does decide to go through with the deal.

Recent studies show that 37 percent of households using streaming media set-tops use Roku as a primary device, well ahead of Apple and Google and others. Roku can also license its tech to other OEMs.

Founder and CEO Anthony Wood was originally with Netflix as the company began its transition to streaming, and Wood would have been in charge of creating a hardware Netflix device if the company had decided to go ahead with one. They did not. Wood then created Roku and Netflix initially backed it with a $6 million investment. Netflix is one of the most prominent apps on the Roku, along with Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, and others.

According to sources, Google is building an app that would help you automatically connect to wireless hotspots such as those offered by Starbucks.

Google is supposedly testing the iOS and Android versions of the app at its headquarters.

The current process for many Wi-Fi networks can be a bit tedious. You usually have to find the access point, head to your browser and then agree to a terms page.

For 7000 Starbucks locations, AT&T formerly provided the Internet service but Google will now do so. The search giant is expected to use encrypted networks, and there is the possibility Google will use the app to install a dedicated security certificate using your Google account, allowing for automatic authentication whenever a connection is available.

The large European carrier KPN has struck a deal with Silent Circle which will bring encrypted phone calls and text messages to customers in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.

KPN has 33 million mobile wireless subscribers and another 6 million landline users.

Starting in June, KPN subscribers with Android and iOS devices can download the Silent Circle 'Silent Phone' and 'Silent Text' apps from the KPN CloudStore, allowing for secure communications. The services "use end-to-end encryption based on open cryptographic standards," says the carrier.

To protect your privacy, Silent Circle does not keep any metadata and encryption keys never leave a user's device. The keys are then destroyed after every session.

KPN operates as E-Plus in Germany and Base in Belgium. The company cited privacy concerns brought forward by NSA leaker Edward Snowden as one reason for the move to encryption. Pricing for the apps will remain the same, $9.95 per month or $99.95 annually.