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Telex messaging network comes on line
The Telex messaging network comes out of the early period of Germany’s Third Reich. Telex starts as a way to distribute military messages, but soon becomes a world-wide network of both official and commercial text messaging.Telex uses teleprinters, which date back to the 1910's for use in telegraphy. But instead of using pricey dedicated telegraph lines,the telex system connects those teleprinters to each other. -
Grimsdale and Webb build early transistorized computer
Richard Grimsdale and Douglas Webb demonstrate a prototype transistorized computer, the "Manchester TC".The 48-bit machine used 92 point-contact transistors and 550 diodes. -
Birth of modern mobile networks
ARPA funds the outfitting of a packet radio research van at SRI to develop standards for a Packet Radio Network (PRNET). As the unmarked van drives through the San Francisco Bay Area, stuffed full of hackers and sometimes uniformed generals, it is pioneering wireless, packet-switched digital networks, including the kind your mobile phone uses today.The van will also play a huge role in 1977 as a major birthplace of the Internet. -
Doom is Released
A shooting style game, Doom starts to become popular. Doom attracted a massive following.Doom's players were also one of the first to customize the games levels.Some criticized the level of violence portrayed in Doom, and it was cited as a prime reason for US Congressional hearings on video game violence in 1995. Doom spawned several sequels and a 2005 film. -
Angry Birds becomes top-selling mobile game
As touchscreen-enabled tablets and smartphones proliferate, mobile games became top-sellers. In Angry Birds, players slingshot wingless birds of various kinds towards towers inhabited by green pigs in an effort to knock them to the ground. Selling for just 99 cents from an online store, Angry Birds and its sequels have had more than two billion downloads. -
Adobe Creative Cloud is Announced
Adobe Creative Cloud is announced as a subscription and cloud-based model of distribution for its major software products. Adobe Acrobat, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and others, could be subscribed to either as a complete package or individually to suit user needs.This model also allowed Adobe to begin releasing continuous updates to their products, shortening the development cycle and the time need to incorporate new features. -
Facebook Acquires Instagram
Instagram, an image-sharing and social networking application, is purchased by Facebook for nearly $1 billion. It was initially launched in October 2010 by founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger and became an instant hit, with over 100 million active users by early 2013. Photos and videos could be shares by people. -
Edward Snowden
NASA instructor Edward Snowden copied thousands of documents from where he worked and covered dozens of confidential US national security programs. Edward Snowden worked with journalists in the US and UK to bring the programs to light. Among the programs Edward Snowden's revelations exposed was PRISM, where the NSA collected data with the assistance of companies such as Microsoft, Facebook, and Google. -
Apple Pay is Released
The Apple Pay mobile payment system is introduced into Apple’s product ecosystem.Initially only available for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, iWatch, iPad Air 2, and iPad Mini 3, many major banks and credit card companies participated in the Apple Pay system.Apple Pay could also be used for online purchases. -
Apple Watch
Building a computer into the watch form factor has been attempted many times but the release of the Apple Watch leads to a new level of excitement.Almost a million units were ordered on the day of release.The Watch was received with great enthusiasm, but critics took issue with the somewhat limited battery life and high price.
