Finally the Nike self-lacing shoes are on their way to your wardrobe (although Nike haven’t confirmed prices yet…), the PlayStation VR headset to be released in October and best is always saved until last – Toonz, the animation software used by Studio Ghibli and creators of Futurama is to become open source and FREE. Read on for more of our weekly tech roundup, here’s what’s hot in tech 21/3/2016:

Long anticipated Nike
self-lacing shoes to launch

You’re one step closer to being as cool as Marty Mcfly – if you’re a Nike+
app user. Nike has announced their HyperAdapt trainers will be released before the end of the year – the self-lacing trainers from Back to the Future part II, but there’s a catch – they’ll only be going on sale for users of its apps. Nike+ apps are currently focussed on health and fitness, but the platform will be introducing personalised shopping recommendations and an online store from June.
For more on this story, click here.

Protect your car
from hackers

In an advisory note to the public, the FBI have warned that people need to be aware of cybersecurity threats related to connected vehicles. Connected vehicles are becoming more and more common, and the FBI have released a public service announcement in the US stating “Modern motor vehicles often include new connected vehicle technologies that aim to provide benefits such as added safety features, improved fuel economy and greater
overall convenience. With this increased connectivity, it is important that
consumers and manufacturers maintain awareness of potential cybersecurity
threats.” Last year security researchers remotely controlled a Jeep, leading
Fiat Chrysler to recall 1.4million US vehicles.
Read more on this story here.

PlayStation VR headset
set for October

Sony has announced that its first VR headset for PlayStation 4 will be released in October, with the ‘PlayStation VR Launch Bundle’ including the headset, stereo headphones, a PlayStation Camera bar, two PlayStation Move wand controllers, and all attendent cables, a VR demo disc, and a full version of PlayStation VR Worlds. Prices are seeming to vary globally with the UK cost setting you back £349, compared to the US $499.99 (£344) or in Canada $699.99 (£372).
Read more on this story here, or visit the PlayStation website here.

Apple using Google servers to store iCloud data

Apple is spreading its reach by using Google servers to store some of its users’ iCloud data, this is now in addition to already using Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and its own data centres. Although Apple uses the servers to store the iCloud data, none of the rival companies would have access to the iCloud user’s records. Apple using the Google servers has come as a huge surprise to many as the companies are big rivals.
For more on this story, click here.

Update your Kindle or lose internet connection

Amazon has warned that anyone running an old version of their Kindle software will lose ability to download new books unless they update by 22nd March (tomorrow!!). For anyone who fails to do the update, they will see this error message: “Your Kindle is unable to connect at this time. Please make sure you are within wireless range and try again. If the problem persists, please restart your Kindle from the Menu in Settings and try again.”
Users will then need to manually install the latest software.
For more on this story, click here.

And finally…

Software used by Studio Ghibli to be free and
open source

The software used by the creators of Futurama and Studio Ghibli films is going to be made free and open source to the animation community from 26th March 2016. The software Toonz, which is developed by Digital Video, was acquired by Japanese publisher Dwango, and together the companies
have closed a deal where Dwango will publish and develop the new
OpenToonz as a free download. Claudio Mattei, managing director of
Digital Video said “The contract with Dwango, has enabled Digital Video
to realize one of its strategies, i.e. to make of Toonz a world standard
for 2D animation,”.
To find out more click here or here.

[Image credit. Nike. Kindle image: SGM / Shutterstock. My Neighbor Totoro image: Studio Ghibli]