The Year in Tech: 2014 Top Stories

As the year comes to a close it's time to take a look back at some of the events that shaped the tech landscape in twenty-fourteen. There were some high profile buyouts this year as Internet giants rush to dominate emerging markets and consolidate established ones – to name a few: WhatsApp, Oculus Rift, Nest Labs, and Mojang all cashed out big time for their creations. Smartwatches and other wearables were perhaps buzzwords of the year, but we've yet to see a clear winner to emerge here.

We also saw a fair share of disruptions, controversies and security disasters with the likes of Apple, Google, Uber, Sony and the NSA – among others – as protagonists. Elsewhere, Microsoft got a new CEO, Bitcoin's value dropped sharply but kept gaining traction as an accepted currency, and more importantly, the battle over net neutrality is heating up in anticipation to the FCC's new rules in 2015.

Read on as we do a brief recount of the most relevant stories of 2014, divided into eleven major categories. We hope you enjoyed our daily dispatch of technology news and analysis as much as we've enjoyed bringing it to you. Keep coming back for more in 2015!

Tech Culture Hardware Software The Web CPU/Graphics Gaming Mobile Apple Google Microsoft IT Security

Tech Culture

January

What if Google was a regular guy feeding you information in person?

Bill Gates predicts there will be very few poor countries by 2035

Watch Bill Gates play an exhibition chess match against the best player in the world

Lenovo acquires Motorola from Google for $2.91 billion

Classic Windows and Mac operating systems running in the browser

Overstock becomes first major online retailer to accept Bitcoins

Obama to announce plans for NSA reforms this Friday

Google acquires Nest Labs for $3.2 billion in cash

Toshiba completes OCZ acquisition, keeps the brand alive as OCZ Storage Solutions

February

Facebook buys WhatsApp for $16 billion, suddenly Instagram's $1b acquisition looks like a bargain

Check out the camera gear that Getty Images is using to cover the Olympics

Netflix signs deal with Comcast to keep streams lag-free

Sony sells off Vaio computer division, restructures TV business

Warner Bros. acquires rights to Minecraft movie

Japan's Rakuten acquires Viber messaging app for $900 million

Newegg announces its own Amazon Prime-like subscription service, Newegg Premier

House passes bill to legalize cell phone unlocking

March

Mozilla employees ask new CEO Brendan Eich to step down

Facebook announces $2 billion acquisition of virtual reality headset maker Oculus VR

Dorian S. Nakamoto denies he's Bitcoin founder, says he was misunderstood

'Minecraft' creator severs ties with Oculus VR following Facebook acquisition

Jerry Seinfeld's apartment recreated in 3D for the Oculus Rift

The World Wide Web Turns 25

April

Grams is the first search engine for the dark net's underground market

Glow-in-the-dark roads are now a reality in the Netherlands

Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich steps down following same-sex marriage uproar

Atari's E.T. games unearthed from New Mexico landfill after more than 30 years

May

Solar Roadways want to replace ordinary asphalt with intelligent, energy-generating panels

X-Men enthusiast builds homemade Magneto shoes

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer agrees to buy Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion

June

The world's largest video game collection brings in $750,250 at auction

Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde arrested after two years on the run

SanDisk acquires Fusion-io for $1.1 billion to boost enterprise efforts

Aaron Swartz documentary now available for pre-order

Amazon Prime Air sidelined by the FAA

July

Did blowing into Nintendo cartridges actually help?

Customer service call from hell: Listen to what happens when a man tries to cancel his Comcast

Judges ban Uber and Lyft from conducting business in Pittsburgh

After being shut down by Supreme Court, Aereo now wants to be treated like a cable company

August

ALS Association moves to trademark 'ice bucket challenge' – withdrawn

Ecuador to become first country to launch government-backed virtual currency

Driverless cars to boost demand for 3D printed organs

Samsung buys IoT startup SmartThings for $200 million

September

The original Blue Screen of Death was written by Steve Ballmer

Microsoft loyalist Steve Ballmer wants the Clippers to ditch their iPads

Local Motors unveils Strati, the world's first 3D-printed car

Chinese city introduces separate walking lane for mobile phone users

Bill Gates added $9 billion to his fortune this past year, tops Forbes list of 400 richest Americans

October

Hendo Hoverboard is the closest thing to Marty McFly's levitating toy

HP to split into two separate companies: one for PCs and printers, another for enterprise

Judge strikes down Aereo's cable license request, slaps nationwide preliminary injunction

AMD CEO Rory Read steps down effective immediately

Ireland to eliminate "Double Irish" loophole favored by many tech companies

Dorian Nakamoto launches legal fund to sue Newsweek, will accept Bitcoin

November

Intel class-action settlement to pay those who purchased a Pentium 4 PC nearly 15 years ago

Aereo announces major layoffs, shutting down Boston office

The Netherlands becomes first country to install solar-collecting pathway

Aereo waves the white flag, files for bankruptcy

Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde set free after serving five months behind bars

Final at-large Pirate Bay founder apprehended in Thailand

Swedish appeals court upholds Julian Assange's arrest warrant

Sony Pictures reportedly bails on Aaron Sorkin's Steve Jobs biopic

December

Here is what happens when a father makes his son play through video game history

Iowa poised to become the first state to let residents use smartphones as driver's licenses

Kim Dotcom vows to bring the Internet Party to the US next year