TVs and smartphones steal the spotlight at IFA

This year's IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin offered smartphones, tablets, 4K TVs, a much-anticipated smartwatch, and new spins on the camera.

Consumer electronics manufacturers from all over the world headed to the annual expo, which is as much a launch pad for products ahead of the year-end sales period as it is a chance to strut their tech stuff with the latest developments by their engineers.

Samsung Galaxy Gear

Samsung launched a new version of the Galaxy Note as well the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, while Sony showed its new flagship smartphone, the Xperia Z1. Both had been the subject of rumors and leaks before IFA began, so their appearance was expected.

The Gear, which has a 1.6-inch screen, was met with mixed reactions. Some liked its futuristic functionality while others were reserving judgement on the new product sector until the devices become smaller and offer more functions.

Cameras have come to play a more important role as smartphone makers try to differentiate their products. The Note 3 and the Liquid S2 from Acer can both record 4K Ultra HD videos using their 13-megapixel cameras. While Sony has put a 20.7-megapixel sensor in the Xperia Z1.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3

The Liquid S2 has a 6-inch screen and will compete with the Note 3, which has a 5.7-inch display, and other products from the likes of LG Electronics and Sony. The number of phones with screens in the 5-inch class or larger continues to grow as some consumers are warming to the large displays.

Sony also showed an interesting new take on the digital camera with its QX10 and QX100 "lens cameras." They are essentially compact digital still cameras without screens and control buttons. Instead of a camera body they are attached to the back of Android-based smartphones and iPhones, which provide the viewfinder and camera controls.

TVs have long been a key part of IFA, and this year was no different. LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sony and other vendors all showed 4K, OLED, and curved TVs of various sizes. But precious few will be able to afford sets like 77-inch Ultra HD curved OLED TV.

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Hackers attack League of Legends, steal user account data and credit card info

Game over, man, game over! Late Tuesday, Riot Games announced that hackers managed to breach the company's servers, swiping the usernames, email addresses, salted password hashes, and real-word names of North American players of the uber-popular League of Legends game. Worse, nearly 120,000 credit card transactions have been accessed.

"The payment system involved with these records hasn't been used since July of 2011, and this type of payment card information hasn't been collected in any Riot systems since then," Riot Games founders Marc Merrill and Brandon Beck explained in a blog post. "We are taking appropriate action to notify and safeguard affected players. We will be contacting these players via the email addresses currently associated with their accounts to alert them."

League of Legends had roughly 70 million registered users as of last October, with 12 million users active daily. In March, Riot said the game often has more than five million players online simultaneously. (It's also one of the 12 frustrating games we can't help but love.)

Affected players will want to keep an eye on their bank statements, but fortunately, those transactions were also hashed and salted, which means—like the swiped passwords— that they are very unlikely to be cracked any time soon. Even so, all League of Legend users will have to change their passwords the next time they log into the system. Better safe than, well, even more sorry.

If you used your League of Legends password at other websites, you'd be smart to change those as well. Or even better yet, take this opportunity to stop reusing passwords. (PCWorld has a guide to staying password-secure while maintaining your sanity.)

Riot also announced plans to add a couple of features to its security arsenal in the coming weeks and months. New accounts will need to be tied to a valid email address, and players will need to confirm any changes to existing accounts either via email or text message. Yup, that's a form of two-factor authentication, in case you were wondering.

This isn't the first time Riot has run into security woes. Last year, European League of Legends players had their account data compromised. Worried MOBA players shouldn't necessarily think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, though. In 2011, Valve—maker of Defense of the Ancients 2, League of Legend's prime competitor—also fell victim to a hack attack that resulted in lost passwords and credit card info.

Brad Chacos spends the days jamming to Spotify, digging through desktop PCs and covering everything from BYOD tablets to DIY tesla coils.
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