Technology | The Guardian

12 months in which the video game industry finally started to represent women both in-game and in developmentTo say the video game industry hasn’t always been a model of inclusion and diversity is a bit like noticing that the sea’s wet or that Jeremy Hunt needs to be lowered quietly into a septic tank; it’s so blindingly obvious it’s hardly worthy of comment. However, unlike the sea and the Conservative health secretary, gaming has begun to change, and not for the worse. There’s been a dramatic rise in the number of women making games, and some inspiring success stories among small, independent developers. That said, it’s still a blockbuster-driven industry that employs disproportionate numbers of men, but hey.According to a poll conducted at the end of last year, 52% of British gamers are female. A survey of the industry taken around the same time found that just 22% of game developers were women; that’s double the number in 2009 thanks to more open recruitment practices, but still tragically low. That’s a real disparity but some recognition of the medium’s shifting audience is emerging. One simple but important change is that it’s now standard to be given a choice between playing a male or a female character. Even in traditional boys-y bastions such as Rainbow Six Siege, there are female special forces operators every bit as effective at blowing holes in walls, floors and terrorists as their male counterparts. In Fallout 4, one of the year’s highest-profile titles, the sole survivor of the nuclear apocalypse can not only be a man or a woman, but also gay, straight, or robo-sexual (for those interested in stretching diversity in new and potentially painful directions). Continue reading...

Apple, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Spotify and Instagram’s year-end recaps had plenty to teach us, but there was a lot they left outYou probably wouldn’t bang on about your galloping gout or your teenager’s arrest for grand larceny in a round-robin letter at Christmas. So why should technology firms be any different?Most end-of-year reviews from technology companies emphasise the positive, from the biggest videos on YouTube or the top apps on Apple’s App Store through to the most popular hashtags on Twitter and the most-streamed artists on Spotify. Continue reading...

Why shouldn’t a Muslim American block a Facebook friend for bringing Islamophobia into their personal space?I once read that a Facebook account is like a living room. My front door is unlocked, and anyone can come sit for a spell, have a conversation or just listen to the dialogue already going on. If, however, someone comes in and starts hurling epithets or insulting my other guests, I can ask them to leave. Immediately.I thought of this metaphor upon reading Caitlin Dewey’s recent Washington Post piece, in which she argues (with substantial statistical evidence) that unfriending Donald Trump supporters (or in conservatives’ case, unfriending feminists) is unwise and only serves to further polarize an increasingly partisan America, keeping us from any meaningful progress. I’ve certainly unfriended a handful of people over the past few years. When it’s happened, it’s usually because the person has said something rude and intolerant in my living room, and when asked to stop, they’ve refused. (Most of those people just happen to also like Trump’s fan page.) Continue reading...

Struggling smartphone maker announces a 12% rise in revenue and finds success with phone powered by Google’s Android mobile operating systemBlackberry is not dead. The struggling smartphone maker announced a 12% rise in revenue for its latest financial quarter, the first time in two years it has reported back to back rises in revenue.Related: BlackBerry boss John Chen: security focus heralds return 'from edge of death' Continue reading...

Web monitoring experts say traffic was down 5.5% in the UK and 10.9% in France during the 24 hours following the first screenings of JJ Abrams’ filmRelated: Discuss Star Wars: The Force Awakens (with spoilers)Star Wars: The Force Awakens has broken the web - or at least, temporarily tangled it. According to internet monitoring experts, traffic in nations where JJ Abrams’ space opera reboot has arrived in cinemas dropped significantly in the wake of the first screenings – potentially as a result of fans choosing to avoid spoilers by staying offline. Continue reading...

Card game maker bestows surprise present upon its factory employees as part of its ‘eight sensible gifts for Hanukah’In the run-up to the holiday season, the makers of popular (if controversial) party game Cards Against Humanity offered a special promotion: eight small, mystery presents delivered over the month of December.The company has a history of offering unexpected items for sale: in 2014, to celebrate Black Friday, it gave customers the chance to purchase a literal box of bullshit. So the 150,000 fans who paid up for the mystery gifts genuinely didn’t know what to expect, except for the fact that they were branded as “eight sensible gifts for Hanukah”. Continue reading...

British company says it plans to continue developing its technology for barring touts from ticketing pre-salesThe British company that helped to prevent 18,000 touts from buying tickets for Adele’s 2016 tour has raised $10m of funding to continue developing its technology.Songkick raised its latest funding round from Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries, the investor that owns Warner Music Group and has a significant stake in music streaming service Deezer. Continue reading...

Santa Claus is coming to town – and he’s got a shotgun, a stash of nuclear warheads and an army of zombie elvesChristmas, that traditional time when families come together to sit around looking at their iPhones. So what better way to get in the spirit for that solitary sofa time than by downloading some Christmas-themed apps?The festive phone-staring tradition has spawned an entire industry of yuletide apps, from 101 Christmas Cake Ideas (which seems to be a slideshow of different ways to disguise the leaden mass no one actually wants to eat) to Christmas Countdown and Sleeps to Christmas, which are basically calendars with clip-art tinsel stuck on. Continue reading...

Blood, sand and chaos – our five favourite video games of the year

Technology company’s offer has raised concerns over accelerated ‘gentrification’ of Silicon ValleyFacebook is offering employees at its Silicon Valley headquarters at least $10,000 to move closer to the office.The move is a reflection of the challenges many tech companies face in the increasingly expensive and congested San Francisco Bay area of California.

Car crashes could be a thing of the past if car makers deliver on their promise to roll out autonomous cars over the next five years. But researchers are still questioning what this accident-free future might look likeCompanies like Google and Tesla have held up autonomous vehicles as a panacea for road accidents, which claim over 32,000 American lives each year. This month, Obama put stock in that idea, signing a $305bn transportation bill that includes grants for self driving vehicles. That backs up 10 years of US Department of Transportation work on technical studies and policies surrounding autonomous cars.But will all this investment and research actually result in a future free of car accidents? Continue reading...

Messaging service used by millions of Brazilians was meant to be blocked for 48 hours to pressure app’s owner Facebook to cooperate in criminal investigationMillions of Brazilian WhatsApp users had their service disrupted for hours on Thursday as judges flipped back and forth on how to punish the company for failing to cooperate with a criminal investigation.Related: WhatsApp blocked in Brazil for 48 hours by court Continue reading...

Revised scheme will focus incentives on zero-emissions vehicles and no longer subsidise most expensive hybridsGrants to subsidise the purchase of electric and other low-emission cars are to be extended by at least two years, to encourage more than 100,000 UK motorists to buy greener vehicles.The plug-in car grant, which gives buyers up to £4,500 towards the cleanest new cars, will now run until March 2018, the Department for Transport announced on Thursday. Continue reading...

Konami’s golden boy has gone indie – and his new studio’s first game is a partnership with Sony. How did he get here, and what’s next?For decades, the conspiracy-mad Metal Gear Solid games thrilled players with their labyrinthine plots, filled with casual betrayals – so perhaps it is fitting that, the auteur-like creator of the series, Hideo Kohima, left in murkily acrimonious circumstances. The gaming soap opera of 2015 began in March, when rumours first circulated that Kojima would be forced off the project by the series’ publisher Konami after September’s release of MGSV: The Phantom Pain. The speculation ended on Wednesday when Sony announced it had signed up the first game from his new independent studio. How did Kojima end up here? Why did it go wrong with Konami? And what’s next?

Six years ago complaint from Berkshire-based shopping comparison site started battle with EU that has since widened to multiple frontsIt began in the English home counties, not far from Windsor Castle, when a small shopping comparison website decided to launch a complaint against Google with the European commission.Berkshire-based Foundem formally accused Google in November 2009, claiming the Silicon Valley company abused its monopoly position by deliberately and systematically lowering rivals’ sites in its search engine results. Continue reading...

Unknown petitioner gains injunction blocking Facebook’s popular messaging service used daily by 93 million users in the countryBrazil has blocked Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging app, preventing users in the country from connecting to service or sending messages.A Brazilian court ordered mobile phone providers to block all access to the internet-based messaging service on Wednesday for a total of 48 hours, starting at midnight on Thursday, according to Brazilian phone company association Sinditelebrasil . Continue reading...

We’re into the top ten of our video game countdown, and it’s good news for the Wii U console – as well as rocket powered football cars

The whens and hows of upgrading Microsoft Windows 7 to Windows 10, or going back to Windows 7I’m thinking of upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10. I’m told the free upgrade is only for one year, and after that you have to pay £80 for it. Is that the case? Robert Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Thursday. Look at the book I found in Oxfam! Continue reading...

All point-to-point rides, including Uber and cabs, could face a $1 per trip levy to fund a compensation scheme for taxi licenseesUber is officially legal in New South Wales, following a decision by the cabinet to regulate the ride-sharing service.The cabinet of the premier, Mike Baird, agreed to legalise the service on Thursday after considering the recommendations from an independent taskforce into the taxi industry and transport providers such as Uber. Continue reading...

Telecoms firm says it is aware of incidents in which devices have overheated and customers should stop using themEE has issued a recall for all its Power Bar portable chargers because of a fault that can cause overheating and a fire safety risk.The move by the telecoms firm comes just four months after an initial recall of one batch of the portable chargers amid reports they could overheat and explode. The company has now said that in order to make sure all customers remain safe, all Power Bars should be returned to an EE store. Continue reading...

Ever wanted to wield a lightsaber through your browser, interact with droids via Cardboard VR or explore a map with a stormtrooper? Help you Google canGoogle has continued to roll out easter eggs inspired by Star Wars: The Force Awakens, including a way to fight stormtroopers on your computer, as fans prepare to head to movie theaters for midnight showings.There’s also the Google Search text crawl – search for the words “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” (no quotes) to check it out. Lightsaber Escape, which debuted on Wednesday, is an old-fashioned “rail shooter”-style app you can play through Google’s Chrome browser, provided you have a fast enough internet connection. Modern media companies have suitable internet connections for this purpose, the Guardian has found. Continue reading...

The draft regulations, issued almost a year late, will allow manufacturers to operate or lease – but not sell – self-driving cars to the publicCalifornia finally issued draft regulations for the public operation of self-driving cars on Wednesday, almost a year after it was supposed to. If they are adopted, manufacturers will be able to operate or lease – but not sell – self-driving cars to the general public for the first time in the US.The draft regulations require all vehicles to have a human operator ready to take immediate control of the car if anything goes wrong. This would rule out completely driverless cars such as those being developed by Google. Continue reading...

Food-delivery firm and crowdfunding site among 15 companies inducted into government-backed Future Fifty scheme for fast-growing start-upsDeliveroo, the upmarket food-delivery group, and the Crowdcube crowdfunding site are among 15 firms tipped as potential stars of the UK’s digital economy by Tech City UK, a government-backed organisation.The companies have been inducted into the Future Fifty programme, which aims to support fast-growing tech firms and help them to the next stage. Continue reading...

The Guardian tech team nominate 2015’s winners and losers in techFrom the highs of Fallout 4 to the lows of the Talk Talk hack, from the troubled birth of the Apple Watch to the apparent death of Google Glass, it’s been a year of ups and downs for tech.So what were the biggest news stories? Who were the technology winners and losers? What were the best gadgets? The most irritating memes? Continue reading...

As the most anticipated film of the year begins its global rollout, fans and industry unite in praise of The Force AwakensRelated: The Force Awakens reviews roundup: verdicts arrive on JJ Abrams' Star Wars epicAs global anticipation builds for what is undoubtedly the cinematic event of the year, if not the decade, Star Wars: The Force Awakens had its world premiere in Los Angeles in advance of its worldwide release.

Guardian investigation reveals illegal weapons including stun guns, pepper spray pistols and knuckledusters are routinely sold on UK website

New rules will strengthen European citizens’ privacy protections, while a controversial proposal to raise ‘age of digital consent’ to 16 was devolved to member statesEurope has taken a big step towards stronger, pan-European data privacy laws, after agreeing the text of new reforms.

Andrew House talks PlayStation 4, PlayStation VR and PlayStation Now, and even praises his counterpart at MicrosoftTwo years ago, industry pundits were declaring the inevitable death of the specialist games console. Before the launch of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, it looked like consumers had moved on from expensive specialist games hardware, toward smartphones, tablets and other formats.But Andrew House, who as president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment is the ultimate boss of Sony’s PlayStation division, always had faith. And now he has the sale figures too. In November, PlayStation 4 passed the 30m global sales milestone, two months earlier in its lifecycle than the PlayStation 2, which ended up selling more than 155m units, making it officially the best-selling console in history.

It’s part three of our rundown of the year’s best games – and we’ve arrived at the apocalypse already

As the first reviews of the much-anticipated blockbuster roll in, UK critics laud Star Wars with five star reviews, and in the US reviews are admiring but with qualificationsThe embargo is over, the first reviews are in... and the reaction in general has been thoroughly positive. However, Star Wars: The Force Awakens hasn’t blown everyone away entirely.Related: Star Wars: The Force Awakens review – 'what a Christmas present' Continue reading...

Transgender people and victims of domestic violence who use aliases to hide from their abusers had criticized the social network’s policyFacebook unveiled changes to its controversial “real name” policy on Tuesday after criticism from transgender people and victims of domestic abuse.The social network bans anonymity and has insisted people use their birth names on their accounts. The policy has caused problems for people who used different names from the one they were born with, including transgender people and victims of domestic violence who use aliases to hide from their abusers. Continue reading...

UK engineering software maker had agreed in July for French company to take a 53.5% stake to reduce its exposure to oil price fallsShares in the engineering software maker Aveva have fallen by more than a third after it scrapped a complex tie-up with France’s Schneider Electric that would have reduced the UK company’s exposure to troubled oil and gas markets.The companies agreed a deal in July in which Schneider was to buy £550m of new Aveva shares for a 53.5% stake and combine Aveva’s business with Schneider’s software division. Continue reading...

New European data protection rules would see companies require parental consent to handle data of those under 16, effectively blocking them from social mediaThe European Parliament is set to vote on Tuesday on new rules that could see teenagers banned from internet services such as Facebook, social media, messaging services or anything that processes their data, without explicit consent from their parent or guardian.

21-year-old arrested as part of a cybercrime investigation into computer hacking at children’s electronic toymaker VTechA 21-year-old man has been arrested as part of a cybercrime investigation into computer hacking at children’s electronic toymaker VTech. The suspect was detained in Bracknell, Berkshire, on Tuesday morning, the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (Serocu) said in a statement.He was held on suspicion of “unauthorised access to computer to facilitate the commission of an offence” and of “causing a computer to perform a function to secure/enable unauthorised access to a program/data”. A number of electronic items were seized by investigators. Continue reading...

Our countdown of the year’s finest gaming moments continues with old-school shooting, apocalyptic adventure and turn-based infiltrationIt’s part two of our romp through the best games of 2015, and after yesterday’s concentration of offbeat indie hits, here are ... well, a few more. We did warn you this was a highly subjective list. Continue reading...

All this week we’ll be counting down our favourite games of the year, beginning with indie sci-fi horror, platforming fungi and LegoWell, it’s almost Christmas, that wonderful time when all entertainment writers turn their thoughts, not to family and friends, but to end-of-year list features. Here then, is our traditional rundown of the year’s 25 best video games, collated by our team of experienced games writers – just before they all disappear into a fug of eggnog and carol singing.As ever, these are the titles we personally enjoyed this year, not the ones we felt were the most groundbreaking or that attracted the widest critical acclaim. It’s not objective or scientific – or fair or reasonable. Continue reading...

Concerns over exploding batteries leads retailer to remove self-balancing scooters, demanding proof from manufacturers that products meet safety standardsAmazon has begun to pull some hoverboards from sale after fears about fires caused by the self-balancing scooters.A number of hoverboards that had been sold on Amazon have now disappeared, including all five models once reviewed by consumer affairs site BestReviews. That site now warns would-be buyers that “for the time being, we are not recommending any hoverboards until they are proven to be safe”. Continue reading...

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

One third of women in science, technology, engineering and maths professions say lack of career opportunities mean they are considering leavingAlmost one third of women in Australia employed in science, technology, engineering and maths – known as Stem fields – expect to leave their job within the next five years, a survey has found.The finding comes from a Professionals Australia survey of 432 women working in Stem professions which asked them about their pay, career opportunities, work-life balance and retirement savings.

Can’t find a partner? Don’t worry, the ‘sexbot’, programmed to meet all your desires, is on its way. Eva Wiseman explores the troubling world of sex robotsThe world is ending. The sports fields are empty, the science labs closed. No babies have been born for years. Cut to a split screen of human and robots kissing passionately. “They’re trapped!” says the narrator, voice like gravel. “Trapped in a soft, vice-like grip of robot lips.” Words slam against the screen, a warning. “Don’t. Date. Robots.”Except Futurama’s 2001 episode “I Dated a Robot”, with its post-apocalyptic world of silvers and blues, wildly overestimated how long it would take before this fear became flesh. It’s November 2015, and in Malaysia, where humidity is at 89% and it is almost certainly still raining, David Levy, a founder of the second annual Congress on Love and Sex with Robots, is free to talk on the phone – he is less busy than planned. “I never expected to end up here,” he says. I hear a shrug. Continue reading...

Richard Napier, 48, is an American engineer living in Fukuoka, Japan. He spent four years and £22,500 building his own working R2 unit, called R2-J1.Miranda Sawyer on what Richard’s droid says about him Continue reading...

Mozilla has killed off its Firefox OS, leaving the mobile OS market dominated by Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Will technology always follow the same pattern?What do operating systems, browsers and search engines all have in common? It seems to be a ratio of 90:9:1 between the key players. One player dominates; then others get a minimal share.Take mobile OSs: This week the Mozilla Foundation pulled the plug on Firefox OS – the mobile OS which could have replaced native apps with HTML-based apps – a final death throe in the mobile OS wars. There are now three main platforms – Google’s Android, Apple’s iOS and Microsoft’s Windows Phone – for which worldwide shipments are currently running in a ratio of about 85:14:1 respectively. Continue reading...

New car-pooling service allows passengers to save 25% on standard fare by sharing trip with up to two others

If I didn’t have children and I did a lot of exciting driving, this is the car I would get

Federal judge rules against officers claiming millions in overtime for responding to work-related calls and emailsA US federal judge has ruled against a group of Chicago police officers who argue they are owed millions of dollars in overtime for responding to work-related calls and emails on their smartphones while off-duty.

Exclusive: Documents reveal donor-funded US startup embedded in Republican’s campaign paid UK university academics to collect psychological profiles on potential votersTed Cruz’s presidential campaign is using psychological data based on research spanning tens of millions of Facebook users, harvested largely without their permission, to boost his surging White House run and gain an edge over Donald Trump and other Republican rivals, the Guardian can reveal.A little-known data company, now embedded within Cruz’s campaign and indirectly financed by his primary billionaire benefactor, paid researchers at Cambridge University to gather detailed psychological profiles about the US electorate using a massive pool of mainly unwitting US Facebook users built with an online survey.

Pilots’ run-ins with amateurs flying drones near sensitive sites or manned aircraft has become a serious problem in recent years, according to Bard reportClose encounters of the drone kind are becoming more frequent according to a Bard College study that uncovered some 90 “incidents” with commercial jets in the last two years alone, and hundreds more with other manned aircraft.Amateurs flying drones near sensitive sites or manned aircraft has become a serious problem in recent years – Bard’s Center for the Study of the Drone said pilots had often come within 50ft of the offending flyers, and had sometimes had to bank to avoid running into them. Continue reading...

Come and see games editor Keith Stuart discuss the best titles of the year with writers, developers and special guestsIt’s that time in the gaming year when we all look back on the myriad of entertainment treasures that the industry has provided and ask, why am I still playing Destiny?With this is mind, the Guardian is holding a “games of the year” event on 17 December, where games editor Keith Stuart will be discussing the most interesting releases of 2015 with journalists Simon Parkin and Jordan Erica Webber as well as author and narrative designer Cara Ellison (Dishonored 2) and Mike Bithell, creator of PC and PlayStation 4 stealth game Volume. We’ll also cover some of the talking points and controversies of an intriguing year, and welcoming other guests too. Continue reading...