Many of the technologies we use every day consume a lot more resources and power than they need to, and using and manufacturing them can create a mess. Here are a few of the ways that technology can harm the environment: Pollution - Air, water, heat and noise pollution can all be caused by producing and using technology Consuming resources - Non-renewable resources, including precious metals like gold, are used to make technology. Many others, such as coal, are consumed to generate the electricity to use technology. Even some renewable resources, like trees and water, are becoming contaminated or are used up faster than they can renew themselves because of technology. Waste - Manufacturing technology creates large amounts of waste, and used computers and electronics get thrown out when they break or become outdated. Called "technotrash," these electronics contain all sorts of hazardous materials that are very unsafe for the environment. They need to be disposed of using special methods. Disrupting ecology - Clearing land where animals used to live to build factories and allowing pollution to contaminate the food chain can greatly affect the environment's natural cycles. Health hazards - Using toxic materials that can harm our health can cause cancer, and technology addiction can lead to other health problems like obesity and carpal tunnel syndrome. You can encourage manufacturers by choosing to buy more energy-efficient and less hazardous electronics and by supporting companies that make protecting the environment a priority. You can also do your own part to reduce environmental impact by not being wasteful and disposing of your electronics safely and properly.

Virus Shield, an app that was No.1 on Google Play's paid download charts, is a scam, according to Michael Crider at Android Police. Virus Shield was a $3.99 app that promised it could protect your phone from harmful spyware and malware invading your device. It also claimed it would have battery life improvements and "no pesky advertisements." Despite having over 10,000 downloads and multiple high ratings, the app didn't work, Crider says. Android Police writes that it was just a fake: All Virus Shield did was switch from a red "X" image to a "√" check image with a single tap.  Android Police points out that Deviant Solutions (the alleged developers behind the app) don't have an official website in the Play Store and people on Google+ have complained about Virus Shield as well. Google took down the app earlier this morning. Google Play has struggled with malicious apps lately. Last week, two Android apps were discovered to be abusing unwitting users' phones to mine dogecoin and Litecoin. Google doesn't police its app store but it does offer a way for customers to complain about inappropriate or sketchy programs.

No significant details about Apple's plans for the iPhone 6 are shared in the report, with the majority of it focused on the Galaxy S5 and only a few sentences noting that Apple is working on a "similar" prototype with bezel-free display and fingerprint sensor. Samsung will reportedly be using a more standard fingerprint sensor than the display-wide fingerprint scanner or iris scanner that had previously been rumored for the device.“Scanning fingerprints on the entire screen, which was much talked about recently, will be available in the latter half of this year as there are still technological hurdles to overcome,” [the source] added, hinting that the production yield for the full-screen fingerprint scanner is still far from satisfactory. The source said that Samsung’s top rival Apple is also testing a similar prototype sporting a bezel-less screen that features a fingerprint scanner.Last November, Bloomberg reported that the iPhone 6 was planned to feature a larger display with "glass that curves downward at the edges", perhaps alluding to a bezel-less design in which the edge of the device is formed by the display glass itself rather than a separate bezel. A report last month from The Wall Street Journal claimed that the iPhone 6 "won't include a curved display", but it is possible that both reports could be correct if the design were to include a flat display panel fused to glass (or sapphire) cover that curved at the edges.