Omega Since 1965, when the Omega Speedmaster was NASA-certified for space travel, the watchmaker has served as the official timepiece supplier to the final frontier. On July 21, 1969, the Omega Speedmaster was the first watch on the moon. Its history spans over half a century of space travel — continued in the watch’s latest …

The Pirate Bay Peer-to-peer file-sharing site The Pirate Bay has been knocked offline worldwide in the wake of a police raid on the company’s premises in Stockholm, Sweden — and the subsequent seizure of servers and other equipment. “There has been a crackdown on a server room in Greater Stockholm. This is in connection with violations of copyright law,” Paul …

Rovio Rovio has announced that it will be making 110 staff — of a global workforce of around 800 — redundant in a company “reorganisation”, as well as closing up its game development studio in Tampere, Finland. The cuts, which were initially announced in early October, were fewer than anticipated, Rovio said. “Rovio Entertainment Ltd has concluded employee negotiations announced …

Tommy Hilfiger It’s happened to the best of us: you’re out and about, just doing you thing, when your phone/tablet/iPod/handheld gaming system runs clean out of power. And sure, there are a bunch of products on the market to help you out in these situations — but most of them are an extra device that you have to remember to …

Circular Devices It was only a matter of time before a competitor for Google’s Project Ara reared its head. PuzzlePhone is the work of Finland-based Circular Devices, and its guiding principle is one it shares with Ara: to be a sustainable smartphone designed to last longer thanks to upgradeable parts, rather than a device that’s entirely replaced when something newer, …

Screenshot by Michelle Starr/CNET If you’ve ever felt cheated that, upon pushing the button, no bacon materialised, then a device invented by a team of hackers will be right up your alley. Team Rabbit Hole, competing in Deconstruction, has built a machine that does indeed deliver delicious cured pork at the push of a button. Related articles Bacon alarm clock …

Thalmic Labs Thalmic Lab’s gesture-control Myo armband is still adding potential applications to its portfolio, in preparation for when consumer models start shipping — which really could be any day now. The latest? A stage show spectacular. Related articles Thalmic announces smart glass compatibility with Myo gesture control arm band Better than air guitar! Now you can conduct the music …

Touch Press When it comes to learning about the building blocks of our universe, Theodore Gray’s The Elements for iPad is the perfect gateway. It’s comprehensive, covering every known element; each of which has its own entry, including applications, detailed properties, and interactive images and videos to explore. It’s sort of a must-have for any suite of educational apps, or …

Screenshot by Michelle Starr/CNET Video gaming may be about to get its very own version of the Oscars with the announcement of The Game Awards 2014 — an annual, mainstream video game awards show. There’s some serious clout behind it, too. Console makers Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are on board, as well as major publishers EA, Ubisoft, Konami, Warner Bros., …

Samaritans Social networks are powerful tools for data collation. We’ve seen Australia’s Black Dog Institute launch a tool that scans millions of Tweets daily for a real-time global map of our emotions; even a tool that scans for profanity. The major difference between those and a new web app — called Samaritans Radar — launched by UK suicide prevention charity …