Technology | The Guardian

Valve’s first PC-based consoles are to launch in November looking to compete with PlayStation and Xbox – here’s how it worksFor years, PC manufacturers have been desperate to get their machines into our living rooms. They’ve tried producing smaller sexier devices, aping the design sensibilities of dedicated games consoles and they’ve tried making them look functional and discreet like DVD players or set-top boxes. But largely, they have failed: most of us still keep our PCs on a desk, in a bedroom, study or office space.Then in 2013, after years of rumours and speculation, Valve, the company behind the dominant online PC gaming store Steam, announced that it was making a new bid for the living room with its own PC-based console, the Steam Machine. However, it wouldn’t manufacture the console itself, and there wouldn’t just be one version. Keeping to the open philosophy of the PC market, there would be multiple manufacturers, making their own versions, with different specifications. The uniting factor would be that every Steam Machine would run a Linux-based operating system named SteamOS, and that they’d all come with the dedicated Steam controller – an innovative combination of traditional console joypad and computer mouse, developed in-house by Valve. Continue reading...

Latest test caught on camera as company’s Project Wing morphs into new quadcopter drone shape for smooth package dropAmazon isn’t the only company working on drone delivery, Google’s Project Wing aims to beat the retailer to the punch with a drone that will fly five miles in five minutes.

Early reviewers praise cameras, fingerprint sensors and stock Android experience of Huawei and LG smartphonesGoogle’s latest flagship Android smartphones, the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, have been met with a warm welcome from early reviewers as they go on sale to the general public.The handsets, made by LG and Huawei respectively, were announced in late September. They are leading the rollout of the latest version of Google’s Android software, 6.0 Marshmallow. Continue reading...

Chief executive Tim Cook says ‘the runway here is really good’, with 8.5m more people still on free trial. But how many payers forgot to cancel?Apple Music has more than 6.5 million paying customers three weeks after its earliest adopters reached the end of their free trial of the music streaming service, according to chief executive Tim Cook.Talking at the WSJD Live conference in California, Cook indicated that another 8.5 million people are still in the service’s three-month trial period, giving it 15 million users overall. Continue reading...

Facebook says it is working on a fix after issues over battery consumption, but denies that constant location tracking is the causeFacebook’s iPhone app is consuming large amounts of battery charge even when it is not open, users have complained.Users say the app records long periods of background activity, even when settings such as background refresh are disabled. Continue reading...

The screenwriter of the Apple co-founder biopic defended claims that the film has taken too much dramatic licence at last night’s London film festival screeningAaron Sorkin has claimed his “conscience is clear” over the portrayal of Steve Jobs put forward in the new Oscar-tipped drama about the key moments in the Apple icon’s life.Related: Steve Jobs review: Fassbender excels but iWorship required if you're to care Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Monday – let’s talk about games to make it all better. Continue reading...

Solar cars compete in the 2015 World Solar Challenge race across Australia’s Northern Territory on Sunday. The competition, which has been held every two years since 1987, involves 46 cars from 25 countries, racing over 3,000km (1,864 mile) to the South Australian city of Adelaide. The first cars are expected to cross the finish line on Wednesday Continue reading...

Online retailer files lawsuit in US against people whose names it says it does not know, claiming they offer reviews for saleAmazon has started legal action against more than 1,000 unidentified people it claims provide fake reviews on the US version of its website.The online retailer said in the lawsuit, filed in the US on Friday, that its brand reputation was being tarnished by “false, misleading and inauthentic” reviews. Continue reading...

Where once we debated the merits of Mac and PC, now the struggle for dominance between smartphone operating systems leaves some users vulnerableThe novelist Umberto Eco wrote a deliciously insightful essay in 1994, in which he argued that the Apple Mac was a Catholic machine, in contrast to the PC, which, he argued, was clearly a Protestant device. How so? Simply this: the Mac freed its users/believers from the need to make decisions. All they had to do to find salvation was to follow the Apple Way. When the Mac was launched, for example, a vigorous debate broke out among user-interface geeks about whether a computer mouse should have one or two buttons. Some were critical of the fact that the Macintosh mouse had only one button. But when queried about this, Steve Jobs – then, as later, the supreme pontiff of the Church of Apple – was adamant and unrepentant. Two buttons would undermine the rationale of the Mac user interface. He spoke – as his Vatican counterpart still does – ex cathedra, and that was that.In contrast, Eco pointed out, the poor wretches who used a PC had, like the Calvinists of yore – to make their own salvation. For them, there was no One True Way. Instead they had to choose and install their own expansion cards and anti-virus software, wrestle with incompatible peripherals and so on. They were condemned to an endless round of decisions about matters that were incomprehensible to them but on which their computational happiness depended. Continue reading...

Thousands of van drivers recruited to ensure that the year’s predicted 860m parcels are delivered on time, as online buying continues to soarVan delivery drivers are gearing up for what is anticipated to be the biggest volume of parcels they have ever had to distribute, as shoppers hit their keyboards for a massive spending spree in the run-up to Christmas.In the final three months of the year, retailers are expected to send out a fifth more parcels than in the same period last year and this is expected to peak on the US-inspired discount day known as Black Friday. This year’s Black Friday – on 27 November – could be the UK’s first £1bn sales day, analysts predict, as more retailers and shoppers than ever become involved. Continue reading...

Gadgets that promise to make looking after our children easier are doing big business at Britain’s biggest baby showA sleepsuit that virtually fastens itself, a £1,200 buggy that transforms into a high chair at the flick of a switch and a Bluetooth bracelet that alerts you if your child moves more than 10 metres away. These are among the new products on offer to the 30,000 sleep-deprived parents expected at the country’s biggest ever Baby Show, in London’s Olympia, this week.The UK baby goods market is worth nearly £1bn a year, according to market research firm GfK. And the Baby Show, now in its 13th year, expects to take £6m in three days from a generation of parents who, in many cases, will be looking for a solution to their child-rearing problems through a quick fix of technology and cash. Continue reading...

Number of sightings of unauthorised drone flights this year expected to be nearly 1,100, and more than 1m drone sales predicted for next yearDrone users in the US will soon be required to register their aircraft with the Department of Transportation in an attempt to address safety concerns over the growing number of unauthorised flights.

‘It’s for cyclists who value the ability to pedal in a full skirt over the ability to pedal full gas’‘That, Helen Pidd, is the most beautiful bike I have ever seen,” said one of my colleagues, stroking the gleaming steed propped up by my desk as if it were a thoroughbred. (Newspaper people have a bad habit of referring to each other by their full bylines; grooming inanimate objects is a more niche perversion.) She was right: the Bobbin Brownie is a beaut. Mine was St Ives Green, a spearmint hue that managed to stand out while complementing pretty much every dress I own. It’s not a bicycle for hi-vis lovers or Lycra junkies. It’s for cyclists who value the ability to pedal in a full skirt over the ability to pedal full gas: exactly me on my two-mile commute into Manchester city centre.Bobbin is a British bike brand run by a husband-and-wife team who get their Dutch-style bikes made in Asia. They used to have a delightful shop in London, which they dubbed the world’s first bicycle boutique, but are online only these days. I would never normally recommend buying online. Not only could you get a donkey, but you will probably have to assemble the ass yourself: this, beware, is how brakes rub, gears stick and forks get put on the wrong way round. Continue reading...

Company used University of Wisconsin-Madison’s microchip technology in some iPhones and iPads without permissionA US jury has ordered Apple Inc to pay the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s patent licensing arm more than $234m (£151.5m) in damages for incorporating its microchip technology into some of the company’s iPhones and iPads without permission.The amount imposed on Friday was less than the $400m the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (Warf) was claiming in damages, after the jury on Tuesday said Apple infringed its patent for improving the performance of computer processors. Continue reading...

Whether or not Uber should be legal, regulating it shouldn’t be settled on the basis of statute which predates the iPhone by a decadeGood news for fans of disruption: Uber is legal in London, following a high court ruling backing up Transport for London’s decision to allow the cab app to operate in the capital.For those who had been following the case, the ruling came as little surprise. Uber was quietly confident in the run-up to the decision, aware that that the letter of the law was firmly on its side. Continue reading...

The film-maker and co-founder of virtual-reality storytelling app Vrse predicts a big future for the medium, but admits he has more questions than answers“It’s weird: you do a TED talk on something, and people think that you suddenly have a lot of answers around the topic. I feel like I have a lot of questions, not a lot of answers.”Filmmaker Chris Milk is mulling over his role in plotting the potential for virtual reality (VR) technology beyond games, having delivered a TED talk in March 2015 heralding VR as “the ultimate empathy machine”. Continue reading...

Key details about the ride-hailing firm which has just been told that its app is legal in London

Google Play’s global streaming lead Peter Asbill talks curation, Apple Music and why wannabe playlisters must ‘check their ego at the door’“We make curators take the Susan Boyle test. We ask these people – and remember, these are music geeks, they’re really seriously into music – to please put together a playlist that features Susan Boyle, that you think a Susan Boyle fan would love. If they can’t do that …”You can add another layer to the legend of Google job interviews, although the SuBo test is entirely serious. If the thought of such a task appals you, chances are you won’t be getting a job on the playlist team at the company’s streaming service, Google Play Music. Continue reading...

Advances in technology underscore a profound shift in law enforcement, one with far-reaching implications for the public and privacyRather than always sending its squad cars in pursuit of suspects who might lead them on a chase through the city at dangerous speeds, the Austin, Texas, police department has instead been trying a novel, less risky alternative.On almost 40 occasions over the past two years, officers have used a system attached to the front grill of some squad cars to launch a small projectile at a suspect’s vehicle. Tantamount to a lojack spitball, the small module attaches itself to the car in question and, voila, officers have a GPS signal they can use to track their suspect without needing to resort to a hazardous chase. Continue reading...

A unanimously approved pilot program will replace the screens with ‘less invasive technology’, possibly smartphones or tablets with credit card readersNew York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission approved a pilot program on Thursday that will remove television screens from some taxis and replace them with more modern technology.

The world’s most popular digital sandbox makes the jump to a narrative adventure well, with a story that young fans will enjoyIt’s untrue to suggest that Minecraft doesn’t have a story: it has thousands. It’s just that the vast majority of them weren’t made up by the game’s developer Mojang.One of the reasons millions of children love playing Minecraft is that it’s a digital set for their own stories, whether they’re playing alone or with friends. Meanwhile, popular YouTubers like The Diamond Minecart and Stampy have built huge online audiences by spinning their own yarns within the game. Continue reading...

Games and consoles retailer seeks to iron out problems which hit profits in 2014Game Digital has hired an external distribution company to handle all the games consoles sold on Black Friday as it expects the US-inspired discount day to be bigger than ever this year.The company was forced to issue a profit warning in January after heavy competition on Black Friday in 2014 forced it to give away some of its top-quality games in order to sell new consoles. Continue reading...

New palm-sized, MiniION sequencer, costing around $1,000, designed to analyse DNA to help track disease outbreaks, check food and offer ‘the democratisation of sequencing’

Heather is setting up an office for a new business and wants two laptops with external monitors

French music service raises funds to take on rivals Spotify and Apple Music

What happens when you take away someone’s lifeline? Eric Pickersgill did just that in his portraits of regular people in regular scenarios – without their phones or tablets. ‘I ask them to hold their stare and pose while I take away their devices,’ explains the American photographer. The result is Removed, a series that shows what we lose when we’re more connected to our phones than to each other Continue reading...

Tech startup founded by Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey files for IPO valued at up to $275mFinancial-services startup Square plans to go public.Founded in 2009 by Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey, Square has been a pioneer in mobile payments. Its white cube square readers plug into the headphone jack of smartphones and tablet computers so the devices can become electronic sales terminals, allowing millions of merchants to accept credit cards. Continue reading...

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announces ‘proven and experienced leader’ Kordestani will join company as an executive chairmanTwitter has announced the appointment of former Google executive Omid Kordestani to its board of directors, serving as executive chairman.Twitter’s co-founder, Jack Dorsey, who returned to the permanent role of CEO last week, said: “A great chairperson is the first step to continuing to make our board one of the best in the world, and purpose-built to serve Twitter. Continue reading...

Attracting over nine million players, the Battlefront beta was a huge success for Electronic Arts. But did it pose more questions than it answered?It was, according to Electronic Arts, the biggest beta test in the publisher’s history. Over nine million people turned out this week to try an early version of Star Wars: Battlefront, the online multiplayer shooter set for release on 17 November. Most came away with some fun stories and a few huge questions.One thing pretty much everyone agreed on was that this game nails Star Wars. The recreation of Hoth is visually astounding, with its glittering snowscapes and bustling rebel base – and the design of the storm troopers, the guns and the spacecraft is near perfect. The audio too, is wonderful, capturing all the well-known sound effects, from the whine of a swooping Tie-Fighter to the almost mournful laser blast of the AT-ST walkers. There is also thrilling use of the John Williams score, bringing in the main theme at certain points and never failing to produce a rush of adrenaline and nostalgia. Continue reading...

Founder of Microsoft and the Gates foundation also accuses environmentalists of making misleading claims about the comparative price of solarBill Gates has branded fossil fuel divestment “a false solution” and accused environmentalists of making misleading claims about the price of solar power.In an interview with US magazine the Atlantic, the founder of Microsoft and the Gates foundation criticised the global movement that has seen pension funds, universities, churches and local governments commit to pulling $2.6tn out of coal, oil and gas companies. Continue reading...

The vulnerability can install software on users’ computers against their will and the only protection for now is to uninstall FlashYet again, Adobe’s Flash plugin has been hit by a “zero-day” exploit, meaning that even users with a fully up-to-date installation of the software are vulnerable to attacks.Hackers exploiting the vulnerability can install software on users’ computers against their will, and at least one group is doing just that, according to security researchers at Trend Micro. Continue reading...

Chief executives and public leaders still ignore the threat of cybercrime to national security. What can be done to lessen the risks?Late last year, the German Federal Office for Information Security revealed in a report that an unnamed German steel mill had suffered “massive damage” following a cyber-attack.

More devices than ever before are tracking and recording us but how much they can monitor remains unclearThe former Microsoft executive Suzan DelBene is something of an outlier among her current professional colleagues when it comes to tech savvy. She’s doing what she can, though, to help educate her peers about the so-called internet of things device class that includes products such as the Microsoft Band she wears to work. Indeed, it’s one reason that DelBene – a US Rep. for Washington’s First Congressional District – co-founded Congress’ internet of things caucus this year.They may not be fluent in the language associated with wearable technology. Even so, DelBane’s congressional peers, many of whom don’t wear or use such devices, are nevertheless in an influential position when it comes to the internet of things, a booming category that technology giant Cisco has said could represent a market opportunity of as much as $19 trillion. Continue reading...

The malware’s authors have stolen £20m from UK bank accounts over the past year, but after arrests, the flow should stop

City state will introduce robotic personal trainer to five senior activity centres to help country’s ageing population to stay healthyIt can’t fight crime or act as a butler but Robocoach is working with Singapore’s older citizens to help them stay healthy with regular exercise.The android with metal arms and a screen for a face is already leading sessions and will roll out its services to five “senior activity centres” across the city-state this year, according to Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), a government body that supports the country’s tech industry. Continue reading...

Top crime agency delivers advice after virus used to access online banking details, with UK losses estimated to hit £20mLaw enforcement officials are hunting cyber attackers who have pulled off a series of internet “heists” on British bank accounts worth at least £20m.British government ministers have been informed and the law enforcement effort involves the United Kingdom’s top secret electronic security centre at GCHQ, as well as the UK’s national Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), which was set up in 2014. Continue reading...

The Sussex force is clearing out unwanted goods ranging from a Fifty Shades DVD to a vintage coal scuttleA Fifty Shades of Grey DVD, a giant Buddha garden statue and a batch of 16 pairs of spectacles are all part of a haul of goods that were once destined for the back of a lorry but are now for sale online.Sussex police has launched an above-board take on Trotters Independent Traders by setting up an eBay auction page to shift its hoard of lost and seized property, some of which has been sitting in the force’s lockup for years. Continue reading...

Company will cut up to 336 jobs in attempt to create growth under recently returned chief executive Jack DorseyTwitter is making up to 336 employees, or about 8% of its global workforce, redundant in the first major move since co-founder Jack Dorsey was named chief executive.The redundancies will come mainly in the product and engineering functions, the company said. “We feel strongly that engineering will move much faster with a smaller and nimbler team, while remaining the biggest percentage of our workforce,” Dorsey said in a letter to staff on Tuesday. “And the rest of the organisation will be streamlined in parallel.” Continue reading...

Celebrating the Victorian thought to be the first computer programmer, a look at other female innovators – from gamers to coders to Hollywood starsTo celebrate Ada Lovelace day – oh, Ada is just basically the world’s first computer programmer – here’s alook at seven inspiring women in technology, either pioneers from the past who have shaped the current tech we often take for granted, or women currently working in Stem and making waves. Technology is still a sector with a vast gender imbalance, but these women prove how much technology could gain from sorting it out, and fast. Continue reading...

US says Anonymous hacker Lauri Love ‘secretly infiltrated’ computer systems and faces 12 years in prison, more than others charged in the UKOn any given sunny day during this past summer, Lauri Love could be found playing music in Abbey Gardens in Bury St Edmunds, inside the ruins of an 11th century abbey. He’d strap a sound system to a bike, and sometimes add lasers and instruments. “Like busking, but without the money,” he said of his pastime.As he played, he knew these might be his last days outside enjoying the warm sunshine for some time. Love, a 30-year-old engineering student from Suffolk with a history of mental health issues, is wanted for extradition by the United States under the notorious US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). Continue reading...

What’s the best way to sum up the social network in 140 characters? We take a look at the best examples, and ask you to contribute your own …Twitter trending hashtags: a chance to show how witty you can be with the remaining characters left. Today, a particular meta hashtag is doing the rounds – #GiveTwitterASlogan. But what is Twitter to you? We’ve rounded up some of our favourite examples, and now we’re opening it up. Leave your comments in the #thread #below.A cool place to tell strangers about your medical history #GiveTwitterASlogan Continue reading...

Latest version of Chromecast dongle adds better Wi-Fi and is easier to plug into your TV, with excellent support for services such as Netflix, Sky and SpotifyThe new Chromecast is the second iteration of Google’s smart TV dongle, which turns almost any TV into a smart receiver of smartphone, tablet or computer-streamed video, music, photos or games.The second-generation version makes it easier to plug into your existing setup, and promises better Wi-Fi. Continue reading...

From Tuesday, telecommunications companies must keep much more data, and in most cases government agencies may access it without a warrantThe new world of Australia’s data retention scheme begins on Tuesday. From now, certain types of phone, internet and location data will be compulsorily swept up by telecommunications companies for the benefit of government agencies.

The Labour MP has apologised over tweet targeting health secretary’s Chinese wife. But why did it cause such offence?

Twitter found the funny side of economist’s Nobel prize winThe moment Scottish economist Angus Deaton was announced as the winner of the Nobel prize in economics, everyone did a double take.

Are self-balancing mini scooters banned from footpaths? If so, why are mobility vehicles allowed? Key questions answeredQuite a lot, though this is mainly dependent on the observational powers of your local police. While it’s not unknown to see such self-balancing mini scooters on the pavement, under legal guidance reiterated on Monday by the Crown Prosecution Service all such “personal transporters”, including hoverboards and Segways, are banned from the footpath. Continue reading...

Sure, videogames should steal from board games. But they can’t steal the best aspects of being round a table with peopleSurely there’s nothing a board game can do that a video game can’t do better, right?After all, board games are so limited. You have to fit them on a table, and make them out of real, tangible stuff. Video games can do whatever you can imagine! Continue reading...

From starring in your own digital comic and keeping up with Kim Kardashian, to roleplaying in the Star Wars universe or solving whodunnit at Downton Abbey Continue reading...