Sometimes it feels like the whole world went and got crazy. It's true, with every passing day, all types of newfangled gadgets, doodads and wild ideas are released. Google is at the forefront, with Google Glass, self-driving cars and Nest internet-connected thermostats. Truth be told, I'm hardly a Luddite, but I am wary of having a computer and camera strapped to my head or having my home connected to the internet.

I am not scared of the technology, but of the hackers. You see, anything connected to the internet has the capability of being hacked or exploited. This makes me hesitant to embrace the connected home. Think I'm crazy? Think again. Today, popular Google TV hacking site GTV Hacker, announces it has hacked the device to enable the booting of unsigned code. If you own a Nest, hackers could have a backdoor into your home.

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In many regards, it is rather surprising that it didn’t happen sooner -- today Google announces it is testing a new domain registration service aimed at businesses. Google Domains is currently an invite-only service, and it has taken the search-giant a very long time to get in on the website game. Once fully up and running, "businesses will be able to search, find, purchase and transfer the best domain for their business -- whether it's .com, .biz, .org, or any of the wide range of new domains that are being released to the web".

At the moment, the service is concerned only with domain registration. However, partnerships with the likes of Shopify, Squarespace, Weebly, and Wix.com suggest that storage and web building options will also be in the cards. Few details have been released about just what we can expect from Google Domains, but the About page does give something of an insight. Standard features such as domain forwarding and domain management tools are complemented by customizable sub-domains and email accounts that can be forwarded to existing Gmail addresses.

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Just three months ago we saw the start of the cloud storage price wars when Google slashed its prices. Today Microsoft has retaliated by offering a massive increase in the amount of free cloud storage available to OneDrive and Office 365 customers. The company's recently renamed storage service jumps from 7GB of free space to 15GB -- although those with reasonable memories will recall that it is not all that since SkyDrive customers were given 25GB free of charge. But it doesn’t end there. Every version of Office 365 will now come with 1TB of free space as standard.

The figure for OneDrive has not just been plucked out of the air. "Our data tells us that 3 out of 4 people have less than 15 GB of files stored on their PC. Factoring in what they may also have stored on other devices, we believe providing 15 GB for free right out of the gate – with no hoops to jump through – will make it much easier for people to have their documents, videos, and photos available in one place."

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"Abandonware". It’s the scourge of the industry. Every time a vendor abandons a software product, a puppy dies. Or an orphan. Or a Java developer.

Regardless, nobody likes to see their favorite app/game/platform get left behind. It’s the worst kind of techie betrayal. You spend days, weeks or even months mastering a product only to have the virtual rug pulled out from under you.

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This is the week of the Surface Pro 3. Brian had already attended the launch event earlier in the month, and has provided an essential list of hardware and software purchasers need to grab for the best all round experience -- he even goes as far as suggesting that it's better than a MacBook Air. Even before launch there was an update available for the tablet-cum-laptop, and there was also news that the Intel Core i3 and i7 models would be shipping earlier than previously expected. But not all of the products we looked at this week were quite so "every day". There was the wifi doorbell complete with camera, and also the prospect of charging your phone wirelessly with your pants -- yes you did read that correctly.

The Windows Phone market is dominated by Nokia, but a new batch of handsets has been unveiled by Indian manufacturer Micromax. If Android is your mobile OS of choice, you may be thinking about venturing into the rooted world. This week a new tool was released that makes the process as quick and painless as possible, opening up a whole new breed of apps and options. Joe decided to take a walk on the wild side and adopt the Nokia Lumia Icon as his phone of choice. In the Android arena, a new contender entered -- the Amazon Fire Phone. Will a kill switch be added? Microsoft and Google have agreed to add it to their mobile operating systems.

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Google has been on a buying-spree lately. It feels as if the company is a nouveau riche lottery winner with money just burning a hole in its pocket. I guess in some ways, the company did win the lottery and its users' information is the winnings. You see, the search-giant earns a lot of money from advertisements and harvesting user info, but to continue that success, it cannot rest on its laurels.

With the acquisition of Nest, Google obtained an ability to earn money from hardware and home services, expanding on its existing business focus. However, while Nest represents an expansion, it also represents "business as usual", as the search-giant can eventually utilize home-automation for advertising and harvesting data too. Today, Google buys a company called Dropcam, which offers cloud-based home video monitoring. Clearly, Google wants to be in our homes, but will you put out the welcome mat?

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Both Microsoft and Google have agreed to add a kill switch their mobile operating systems. Following an agreement with the New York Attorney General, the next versions of Windows Phone and Android will include a feature that will render handsets useless if they are stolen. The attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, published a report yesterday outlining the importance of such a feature, and revealed that two of the biggest names in technology are on-board.

It's something that authorities have been calling for for some time now, citing the sheer number of mobile phone thefts taking place around the world. Schneiderman's report points to Apple as proof of the efficacy of a kill switch. Thefts of iPhones dropped by 17 percent in New York City after the introduction of a remote wiping and locking feature. The Secure Our Smartphones report took fire at Samsung. The company had opted not to include a kill switch, and thefts of Samsung handsets jumped by 40 percent in NYC. "Reactivation Lock" has since been implemented on a small number of new Galaxy handsets.

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Less than a month after the last Android update launched, Google is now treating Nexus users to another iteration of KitKat. It made its way to the factory images repository first, but is also slowly rolling out over-the-air to compatible smartphones and tablets.

Android 4.4.4 KitKat, build version KTU84P, is available, through a corresponding factory image, for the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, 2012 Wi-Fi Nexus 7, 2013 Wi-Fi Nexus 7, and Nexus 10. The Nexus 7 slates with cellular connectivity (3G and 4G, launched in 2012 and 2013, respectively) have yet to receive the same treatment.

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Inspiring children is always a great idea, but should gender or sex really matter in that regard? Even if a group is underrepresented in an area, does it mean the group deserves more attention than another? It's a question that has received much debate over the years and one that won't go away any time soon.

Today, Google is launching an initiative called Made With Code, designed to inspire young girls to learn how to code. While I am sure the intentions are good, I can't help but feel uneasy about an initiative that excludes based on gender or sex. In other words, just because men are better represented in programming, does this mean boys don't deserve the same attention from Google based on their genitals or gender identity?

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Do you enjoy listening to a bit of Radiohead on YouTube -- well, perhaps "enjoy" might be the wrong word for Thom Yorke's compositions -- but anyway, if you do, you might find that your viewing pleasure is disrupted when the band's music videos are stripped from Google's service.

This could happen pretty soon, according to reports, because of a dispute between the video streaming giant and the independent labels which look after the likes of Radiohead and the Arctic Monkeys.

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Amazon today unveiled the latest entrant to the smartphone race -- the Fire phone. The handset continues the Fire name that is more readily associated with Amazon's range of Android tablets, and it has a few tricks up its sleeve to make it stand out from the competition. A press event in Seattle brought to an end weeks of rumor and speculation as the phone, which features Dynamic Perspective that allows for maps and other images to be displayed in three dimensions, was revealed.

Run by four ultra-low power specialized cameras and four infrared LEDs, Dynamic Perspective has numerous uses. One application makes it possible for users to gain a different perspective on an image or object on screen by moving their heads. In games, a move of the head can be used to switch views, and there is scope for unique navigation options within apps. Some applications are slightly simpler, and mimic those found in other handsets such as Samsung's Galaxy range. For example, auto-scroll allows for easy reading of lengthy documents and web pages without the need for swiping.

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If you have ever bemoaned the fact that maps are too blurry on Bing, too grainy on Google, moan no more! US restrictions on the quality of satellite imagery that can be used by online services such as these has been lifted by the US government.

The ban is to be removed after satellite photography firm DigitalGlobe made an appeal to the US Department of Commerce. Security concerns meant that satellite images were limited to a 50cm resolution, but this is to be boosted to 40cm and beyond.

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Amazon can make a great Android device, as demonstrated by the Kindle Fire HDX tablets and Fire TV media box. However, there has been a legitimate knock on the offerings -- lack of apps, including Google's. The trade-off for the beautiful hardware is the frustration of missing some of your favorite apps.

Amazon has been making major improvements to app availability in its Appstore though and today, the company announces actual numbers and analysis behind it. The number of apps available have tripled. Yes, Amazon's Appstore is growing and becoming a legitimate threat to Google's, but will it ever actually surpass it?

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I have a confession -- I like Google's services a lot. Gmail is my primary email, I watch YouTube videos everyday and Google+ is my favorite social media network. With that said, it can be scary for one company to have so much control of the internet and to know so much about me. While I trust Google, I can understand people's hesitation to put blind-faith into the search-giant.

When Google bought Nest, many people were up in arms over the deal. After all, if you don't trust the company with your email, you certainly won't trust it controlling your home. Luckily, if you want a smart thermostat, but don't want Google, you can go in a different direction -- Honeywell. Yes, today, that iconic company announces a Nest competitor called Lyric which is downright sexy and best of all for some people -- Google-free.

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Backup specialist Spanning Cloud Apps has made two announcements to help cement its position as a trusted SaaS backup and recovery provider.

The first is an update to its backup product for Salesforce. This includes on-page Salesforce data restore which makes it easy for end users to quickly and easily compare and recover previous versions of Salesforce data objects, such as Accounts, Opportunities and Contacts. As before the backup product is delivered entirely via the Salesforce interface.

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