Technology | The Guardian

Just another Apple product or a digital magic wand? Guardian illustrator Chloe Cushman takes it for a spinThe Apple Pencil is a cursed product, haunted by a single Steve Jobs quote from 2010: “If you see a stylus, they blew it.” Jobs thought that the stylus, a pen-like device used to write or draw directly on a digital screen, was a useless appendage. If you couldn’t operate a device with only your fingertips its design was flawed. This may be the real reason behind the very literal design of the Apple Pencil. Apple seems to have deliberately designed its latest accessory to look, feel and function like a creative tool – and not the technological appendage that Jobs famously hated.The new Pencil is exclusive to the latest and largest iPad, the iPad Pro, and is intended to let everyone from amateur artists to creative professionals draw on their tablets as freely as if they were putting pencil to paper. I tested it out and discovered that despite its simple purpose, the Pencil could not be more complex; in its attempt to harness the effortless beauty of the elementary writing and drawing instrument, Apple has crafted its own magic wand. Continue reading...

The proposed California 1099 Self-Organizing Act would allow workers such as Uber and Lyft drivers to join together to negotiate wages and conditionsA bill in California aims to allow the new class of “gig economy” workers to use an old strategy to collectively bargain.The proposed California 1099 Self-Organizing Act, which was introduced this week, would create a legal framework for workers classified as independent contractors – such as Uber and Lyft drivers – to join together and negotiate wages and working conditions with the on-demand companies they work for. Continue reading...

The label famed for licensing classy classic and contemporary cinema comes to Britain in April – but what impact will it have?

The long-running assassination series returns in an intriguing episodic structure that invites you to explore as you killEpisodic games have proliferated in recent years but, until now, have broadly conformed to a specific blueprint in which storyline has taken precedence over gameplay. High-profile examples such as Life is Strange, the Walking Dead and Game of Thrones have myriad merits but underneath their visuals belong to the most archaic of genres, the point-and-click adventure. So when a major franchise such as Square Enix’s Hitman makes the move to a piecemeal structure, it amounts to a noteworthy change of tack. You might not have flagged Hitman as an obvious candidate for such an experiment but it turns out to have been an inspired move.

Latest high-end Android phone raises bar for screen, camera and speed, while bringing back such fan favourites as waterproofing, expandable storage and decent battery lifeSamsung’s latest smartphone takes the best bits of last year’s Galaxy S6 and combines them into a curved phablet with the dimensions of a normal-sized phone.

Echo, a home automation gadget, reset its owner’s thermostat after mistaking NPR broadcast on its capabilities for a voice commandVoice control is great. You can shout at your electronics, and they actually do what you want. Unfortunately, all too often that means other people can also shout at your electronics, and they do what they want instead. Electronics aren’t very smart.The latest group of gadget fans to discover the downside of talking to their hardware are owners of Amazon’s Echo, the all-singing, all-dancing home automation device produced by the Seattle-based retailer. Hiding inside Echo is Alexa, the (inevitably gendered) personal assistant: simply ask Alexa to perform a task, from playing your favourite song to dimming the lights in your smart home, and she will. Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Friday at last! Continue reading...

Breakdown in relations means Silicon Valley and Washington are less likely to compromise in debate over encryption and law enforcement in smartphone ageApple said federal prosecutors are “offensive”, “desperate” and “intended to smear” them in a remarkable escalation of the digital privacy fight between America’s most valuable company and the FBI.The remarks from Apple’s top lawyer, general counsel Bruce Sewell, were made in a conference call with reporters just hours after the Justice Department submitted a legal brief that accused the technology company of trying to usurp power from the government. Continue reading...

As thousands of techies head to Austin for SXSW, one city councilwoman stands to lose her job over a regulatory showdown with the ride-sharing firmsAnn Kitchen never imagined the repercussions of her decision to regulate Uber, the ride-hailing behemoth with a valuation of $62.5bn and – she now knows – a reputation for taking no prisoners.The 61-year-old Austin councilwoman had the temerity to propose that Uber and its rival, Lyft, be subject to the same rules that apply to other companies offering transport in the Texan state capital. Continue reading...

When Brad Colbow discovered the microblogging site, it seemed like a cool place to hang out, like a neighborhood bar. Then things started to change… Continue reading...

Fifth most popular desktop browser to offer built-in adblocking, which it says will cut page-load times by up to 90%Opera is introducing a new version of its desktop browser with built-in adblocking, removing the need for a third-party extension.

Prankster provides the smooth-talking face of bookie’s ‘complaints department’ in our review of the latest advertising from around the worldThe game “rock, paper, scissors” is the inspiration for an uplifting story of misfits forming unlikely friendships to underline the brand’s “together, not the same” philosophy. From the opening chords of St Elmo’s Fire – with its iconic 80s bratpack association – to the trio’s triumphal jump at the end, this lovely film presses every emotional button and then some.

AI machine takes 2-0 lead against South Korea’s Lee Sedol, putting its owners one victory away from $1m prizeGoogle’s Go-playing machine has scored a second victory against the best human player.Related: Google's AI machine v world champion of 'Go': everything you need to know Continue reading...

Payment company reports $374m revenue and indicates it is close to breaking even amid growth in use of chip cards and contactless paymentsThere was some good news for tech entrepreneur Jack Dorsey on Wednesday, for a change: Square, the payment company he founded, reported robust growth, with total revenue up by nearly half to $374m.The digital payments firm entered the market in November at a price so low it shaved off more than half of the company’s value, and it fell precipitously throughout January. Continue reading...

Dashboard camera footage from a public bus shows the moments leading up to a crash with one of Google’s self driving cars. The collision happened on Valentine’s Day, when a Google vehicle struck the side of a public bus in the Silicon Valley city of Mountain View. A Lexus SUV, which the company had outfitted with sensors and a camera that allow it drive itself, edged into the path of the bus as it rolled by at about 15mph Continue reading...

The crash – the first caused by a self-driving car – tore off its radar, flattened its tire, and crumpled its side. The bus driver was not at fault, the footage showsNewly released video shows the moment a Google self-driving car learned the hard way not to tussle with a public bus.

Speaking at Common Cause’s Blueprint for a Greater Democracy conference on 8 March via Skype from Moscow, Edward Snowden discusses US government surveillance. He also dismisses the claim that the FBI cannot access the iPhone 5C of one of the San Bernadino shooters

Special rapporteur Joseph Cannataci says Britain should be oulawing bulk data collection rather than legitimising itThe UK is setting a bad example to the rest of the world with proposed changes to the law on surveillance, the United Nations special rapporteur on privacy has said.The criticism by rapporteur Joseph Cannataci is made in a report presented to the UN Human Rights Council. The report deals with privacy concerns worldwide but Cannataci, concerned about developments in the UK, has devoted a section to the British bill. Continue reading...

Online retailer is setting up first such centre in north-west England and will be recruiting staff over next three yearsAmazon is to open its first fulfilment centre in north-west England, creating 1,000 new jobs in Manchester over the next three years.The online retailer is recruiting operations managers and engineers, and for IT and HR roles at the site, which will open later this year. Continue reading...

NSA whistleblower rubbishes claims that only Apple can unlock killer’s iPhone 5C, indicating FBI has the means itselfEdward Snowden, the whistleblower whose NSA revelations sparked a debate on mass surveillance, has waded into the arguments over the FBI’s attempt to force Apple to help it unlock the iPhone 5C of one of the San Bernardino shooters.Related: Is the FBI v Apple PR war even about encryption? Continue reading...

Guardian Media Group chief also voices concern about networks blocking ads, a week after culture secretary described it as a ‘modern-day protection racket’Adblocking has a “pretty unsavoury” business model, the chief executive of the Daily Mirror publisher, Trinity Mirror, has said.“The business model of adblocking is a pretty unsavoury one,” Simon Fox said at an Enders Analysis conference on Tuesday.

Machine takes 1-0 lead in historic five-game matchup between computer program developed by DeepMind and world’s best Go player Lee SedolLee Sedol started with a bow, a traditional Korean gesture of respect for an opponent who could neither see him nor sense his presence.The world champion at Go – an ancient Chinese board game – looked nervous. His eyes darted from side to side. He took a sip of water, and made his first move. Continue reading...

Police believe that while it is true more victims are coming forwards there is also an increase in abuse driven by technology – and 80% of the abuse is of girlsCases of recorded child sexual abuse increased by more than 30% last year, figures suggest. Police chiefs fear the rise is being driven by predators searching online for victims.A total of 45,456 child sexual offences were recorded across the United Kingdom last year, an average of 124 a day. Continue reading...

Prince Philip’s trusty Lagonda, which he took on trips to Australia and used to ferry Charles to school, could fetch £450,000The clue is in the colour, and the extra mirror: the shade is Edinburgh Green, and the mirror is for one to fix one’s hat on the way to royal engagements.An immaculate veteran, a 1954 Aston Martin Lagonda, custom-built for Prince Philip, is coming up for auction with an estimate of up to £450,000 – more than three times the price of a brand new Aston Martin DB9. Continue reading...

Facebook picture urges people to change their profile picture to support Adam Johnson after child sex offence convictions

Suddenly, absurd faceswapping memes are everywhere, with everyone from Kanye to the Canadian prime minister having a go. A highly qualified expert in the art of the facial trade looks at their riseI hardly ever get to say this, but when it comes to faceswapping, I was an early adopter. I have proof. In late 2011, I posted a Facebook album called SWAPPED FACES, which consisted of 36 pictures of friends and family with their mugs superimposed on each other. As meme pioneering went, it was pretty impeccable. Founded on the app iSwap Faces, it featured your classic male-female and child-adult switches, and took an early, improvised step towards the more surreal variations that have lately become commonplace with a particularly uncanny shot of my friend Ross holding a dog, or, at least, my friend dog holding a Ross. Commenters were quick to recognise the importance of my work. “This is just one of the best things I have ever seen,” one said. “Again, thank you.” “Holy fuck,” said someone else. “I’m speechless. The taller one is particularly revolting.” Continue reading...

From dubstep moves in Toca Dance and animal instruments in Loopimal to Cookie Monster, opera and Frozen karaoke on Android and iOSFrom hammering saucepans to bellowing Justin Bieber in the bath, many children love to make a musical racket. Inevitably, there are apps for that too.A range of developers have been finding inventive ways for children to explore creative music-making – or the world of music more generally – on tablets and smartphones. Continue reading...

Chris Poole founded the controversial online community 4chan when he was 15, and many speculate he’s going to help Google tackle social mediaRelated: 4chan founder 'Moot' bids farewell: 'This is it for me. This is goodbye'Google has hired Christopher Poole, the founder of the notorious and controversial internet image-board 4chan. Continue reading...

Phones can have nasty side effects, but there are ways to minimise their impact on students

The US supreme court has decided not to hear Apple’s appeal against a 2015 ruling that it violated price-fixing laws by conspiring with five publishersThe US supreme court on Monday declined to hear Apple’s challenge to an appellate court decision that it conspired with five publishers to increase ebook prices, meaning it will have to pay $450m as part of a settlement.

Barnes & Noble has shut down its ebook store. It may have been overshadowed and outsold by the Kindle, but for some readers, it was briefly a revelationBarnes & Noble is shutting down its Nook app store, the slightly niche portal through which it sold ebooks for its e-reader, the Nook.I bought my Nook in a panic, when I was on my way to interview someone whose book would otherwise have taken six weeks to arrive. I viewed it as I do contactless payment and automatic windscreen wipers, with the reverence of the digital-latecomer, pathetically grateful and astonished, like the tribespeople confronted with a telly in The Gods Must Be Crazy. I hadn’t even processed at the time that I had all the boon of a Kindle with none of the tax avoidance of Amazon; indeed, I didn’t even realise it was serviced by Barnes and Noble. There were some glitches – when I tried to buy Pornland by the anti-pornography campaigner Gail Dines, it repeatedly gave me Lombard Street by Walter Bagehot instead. I decided in the end that there was no dark conspiracy behind this; if someone were deliberately making mischief, they would have replaced it with some actual porn, right? That’s what situationist pranks are for. Continue reading...

Competition commissioner says company unlikely to face EU regulators now that Germany is scrutinizing its data protection policiesFacebook is unlikely to come under separate EU antitrust scrutiny since Germany, which launched an investigation into the social network last week, is well-placed to handle the case, Europe’s antitrust chief said on Monday.

Veteran UK studio, founded by Peter Molyneux, is likely to close as Microsoft ceases production on latest Fable title, which has been in the pipeline since 2012Microsoft is set to close the UK game development studio Lionhead and has canned its forthcoming title Fable Legends.Hanno Lemke, the general manager of Microsoft Studios Europe, announced the decision in a blog post on the Xbox news site. In the same article, posted to the site on Monday afternoon, Lemke announced that the Danish studio Press Play would also be closed. Continue reading...

Lee Se-dol, 33, one of the world’s top players of the ancient Asian pastime, is confident he can beat Alphago. But he hasn’t seen improvements made to the system – and the match results could have implications far beyond the gameOn Wednesday afternoon in the South Korean capital, Seoul, Lee Se-dol, the 33-year-old master of the ancient Asian board game Go, will sit down to defend humanity.On the other side of the table will be his opponent: Alphago, a programme built by Google subsidiary DeepMind which became, in October, the first machine to beat a professional human Go player, the European champion Fan Hui. That match proved that Alphago could hold its own against the best; this one will demonstrate whether “the best” have to relinquish that title entirely. Continue reading...

Kitty Mrache’s ‘geodesic dome loft’ has appeared on the site for seven years and is so busy her own children have to wait in lineIt started life as DIY kit assembled in a spare patch of land for a newly homeless friend. Now this tiny wooden cabin sheltering in the oaks and redwoods of Aptos, California, is the most popular rental on Airbnb.Other properties on the home-sharing website are more glamorous, and others are more likely to be tagged by Airbnb’s “wish list” button. Continue reading...

Amanita Design draws its influences from Czech landscapes, mythology and cultural history to produce award-winning titles like Samorost and MachinariumHanging from the curved ceiling of the old town hall in Brno in the Czech Republic, is the preserved body of a dragon. The beast was said to have terrorised the inhabitants of the city centuries ago, until it was poisoned by a brave butcher. This area of the country is synonymous with myths and monsters. Ivan Mládek’s popular song Jožin z bažin tells of a swamp creature from Moravia – the lush region of which Brno is the largest city – travelling to nearby Prague to eat its tourists. But that was just a song, and the monster hanging by chains in the town hall is actually a crocodile – probably a gift from a visiting king in the 17th century. The myths and legends, however, live on.Venture beyond the city, into the surrounding forests, and you’ll often find Jakub Dvorský, founder of game development studio Amanita Design, exploring and foraging with his young family. It is here, where many of the city’s folk tales originated, that Dvorský draws his inspiration. Born in the region and a nature lover, he now brings his two small children out to pick mushrooms and wild fruits, to spot animals or to stargaze long into the night. He talks about investigating nature at every level, from microbes to landscapes, to the universe beyond Earth. Continue reading...

Tech-savvy? Narcissistic? Open-minded? What does being a millennial really mean?Millennials are currently aged 20-35, or born between 1980 and the end of 1994 (with some more generous definitions taking in those born up to 2000). They also get called Generation Y, because they follow on from Generation X (born 1965-1979), and other, less flattering names. Continue reading...

Company says customer-service tickets including ‘rape’ often involve misspellings of ‘rate’ and customers claiming ‘you raped my wallet’Uber has hit back at a report that it has received thousands of customer complaints about rape and sexual assault.The company claimed that it received five complaints alleging rape and 170 with a “legitimate claim of sexual assault” between December 2012 and August 2015, in response to leaked internal data published by BuzzFeed. Continue reading...

‘Passion’ meant working six days a week –16-hour days. I still play games, but having seen the inside of the sausage factory they’ll never be the same againAt the age of 11, I wrote my own version of Space Invaders. Someone I met on the internet who I knew only as “Mit” (it was a more trusting time) gave me the code. I muddled my way through the logic of enemies sliding back and forth, collisions and player controls, and after a few weeks was completely hooked. I loved playing computer games, and now I could make my own: I knew that I definitely wanted to become a games programmer.When I left university, it was in the middle of the last economic meltdown and buying games wasn’t really people’s top priority. The whole industry was going through a massive round of layoffs, so jobs were thin on the ground. In the end I was incredibly lucky, landing a junior role at a major UK studio owned by a console manufacturer just after they had made some more experienced engineers redundant. Continue reading...

Acmi join forces with Sydney Dance Company for an immersive film that combines choreography with virtual reality, allowing the audience to view the production from all angles

Your correspondent on Apple (Letters, 2 March) is not wrong – there are people choosing to live behind 3m walls with rottweilers running free. But is that a world that we want? I love the elegance of Apple devices – developed, as economist Mariana Mazzucato points out in The Entrepreneurial State, using technology paid for with public money for the military. But a few weeks ago I decided not to upgrade to an iPhone – partly because of the concealed costs and partly because it has become the preferred phone of drug barons, arms dealers etc. Apple has gained the world but lost its soul. The company has lost touch with its engineering genius and is behaving something like a rogue state. We hardly need to ask if it is in favour of TTIP, which by accident or design would put predatory capital in charge of the world. On one level money does make the world go round, but experience tells that the kindness of other people is what makes life worth living. A padded cell is very safe, but not most people’s des res.

Some of the most beautiful walks in England and Wales will be appearing on Google Street View from 17 MarchIf “the Google effect”on Britain is anything like “the Wild effect” in the US, there will soon be unprecedented numbers of people walking the national trails that traverse some of the most beautiful countryside in England and Wales.Wild was the name of a book in 2012 and, two years later, a film about writer Cheryl Strayed’s life-affirming journey along the Pacific Crest Trail, the longest walking route in the world, stretching more than 2,600 miles from Mexico to Canada. Before Wild, only a few hundred hiking permits were issued for the trail every year. Last year it was more than 4,500 – and the number who walked the whole route quadrupled. Continue reading...

M6 earmarked for trial of ‘HGV platoons’ aimed at cutting down on fuel consumption and improving road safetyDriverless lorries are to be tested in “platoons” on British motorways as part of a government drive to bring major improvements to journeys.According to reports, the chancellor, George Osborne, is expected to confirm funding for the initiative in his budget next week. Continue reading...

Behaviour-recording program tracks a child’s education, but ensuring privacy is a concernWhen a child is asked by parents what they got up to at school, they probably won’t confess that they were told off for talking in their English lesson, or that they didn’t do their maths homework.But now honesty may be the only option as behaviour-tracking apps are becoming increasingly popular as an educational tool. Continue reading...

Watch rangers and volunteers using sophisticated Google Trekker cameras to map Britain’s ancient paths and byways Continue reading...

I can’t think of many people except for Abraham who’d sacrifice nippiness and thrill for so much spaceI thought for ages it was called the Seat Abraham and pictured myself as a Biblical patriarch – “Another six sons? No problem. Not much room in the boot, mind” – before someone pointed out that nobody names a car after anyone religious and it was an Alhambra. Without my six sons (seven in all, of course), I found it really annoying; I don’t want to say it’s the only good thing, but certainly the best thing about it is that it has seven seats.This car feels as if it has been designed for the passengers: spacious, lots of headroom. The younger passenger may enjoy climbing from one seat to another while you’re driving, in defiance of safety laws. This is hypothetical; nobody I know did this. Automatic sliding doors are when you know you’ve reached the summit of respectability, the kind of touch you might have a prejudice against before you’ve realised how useful it is. Continue reading...

The high price of oil, and an increasingly software-reliant network of sensors and monitoring tools are making the oil trade a high target for hackersOil and gas companies should be extremely concerned about the threat of hackers targeting critical infrastructure as they attempt to steal commodities or cause explosions, a security expert has warned.Alexander Polyakov of the software company ERPScan said the threat is particularly acute now that oil prices are so low, putting the industry under increasing pressure to cut costs. Continue reading...

The social media company has announced it will pay more tax as revenue from largest advertisers to be routed through UK rather than IrelandHow much tax does Facebook pay in the UK?Latest accounts show Facebook’s UK arm paid corporation tax of just £4,327 for 2014. Many ordinary British workers earning £33,000 a year or higher were outraged that they were paying more income tax than the social network. Continue reading...

Social media company to pay more tax as revenue from largest advertisers to be routed through UK rather than IrelandFacebook could pay millions of pounds in UK tax after approving fundamental changes to its corporate structure in Europe.Starting in April, the world’s largest social network will change its policy so that revenue generated from its largest advertisers displaying content on Facebook will be routed through the UK rather than Ireland. The change is expected to generate higher taxable profits in Britain and forms part of the US company’s plan to mitigate criticism of tax avoidance. Continue reading...