Technology | The Guardian

Federal Trade Commission will see if operating system has been privileging its products over competitors’ in second inquiry into Google in less than three yearsFor the second time in less than three years, Google is under investigation by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over antitrust concerns, Bloomberg reported Friday morning.The inquiry will look into whether the company’s Android operating system has violated antitrust laws by privileging its own products and services over its competitors’ to an untenable degree, according to the Bloomberg report, which cited competing tech company executives who had complained about Google to the commission. Continue reading...

His three forthcoming films – Assassin’s Creed, Macbeth and Steve Jobs – function as a sort of cross-section of where the extraordinarily diverse actor now finds himself

The expected lines outside Apple’s stores in London and beyond were still 400-strong but down 60% on last year’s iPhone 6 launchThe now-yearly queue for the new iPhone release was back again, but outside Apple’s Covent Garden store – the biggest in Europe – the mass of people queuing for the just released iPhone 6S wasn’t quite as big as last year.

Datacentre web servers, such as those used by Google and Facebook, to blame for 2% of greenhouse gas emissions – about the same as air travelWatching another episode on Netflix, reading the Guardian online and downloading apps are not obvious ways to pollute the atmosphere. But collectively, our growing appetite for digital services means the datacentres that power them are now responsible for about 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions, a similar share to aviation.

Horror game specialist Frictional Games returns with another terrifying descent into the unknownSoma is a horror game that should try to act less like a horror game. Taking place in a remote underwater research facility, it plays on fears of the deep sea, of drowning and darkness and the disturbing alien lifeforms that dwell down there – all a welcome change from the mansions and asylums that tend to haunt horror titles. But the sea is rarely a threat – the ocean floor is often just a beautiful corridor between the underwater bases in which you experience more traditional horror gaming fare: ie running away from monsters. The thing is, this game is horrifying enough without them.Soma is essentially an existential nightmare about personal identity. “Soma” is Greek for “body”, as in “psychosomatic”, but the question Soma asks is whether identity can continue through psychology alone.

YouTube star’s first mobile game is far from a cash-in: rewarding fans with well-crafted gameplay and an emphasis on skill, not in-app purchases“A 25 year old man that acts like a hyperactive adolescent on speed – no thanks … I hope his camera falls on his foot and his toe goes septic … Some arsehole talking shit while playing games … an annoying bell-end … He’s absolutely obnoxious … basically the Pitbull of YouTube; nobody knows anyone that likes them, but inexplicably they’re huge … I feel old.”PewDiePie certainly divides opinion: those are all real comments posted on Guardian articles about the YouTube star Felix Kjellberg over the past 18 months. Yet he has plenty of fans too: 39.5 million subscribers to his channel, where his gaming videos have been watched more than 10.2bn times. Continue reading...

Figures show a 20% increase in the amount of advertising revenue generated by the average Facebook user. Is it time you were remunerated?If you’ve been using Facebook recently, it may be time to ask for a raise. According to new figures from market-research website eMarketer, you’ve made the company over 20% more this year than you did in 2014.The average Facebook user now generates $12.76 in advertising revenue every year, according to the analytics firm, up from $10.03 the year before. That figure is expected to rise still further, to $17.50 in 2017. Continue reading...

Automaker estimates the cheat affects 11m cars worldwide, but Australian arm of company is still awaiting confirmation from its German headquartersLawyers and the Australian consumer watchdog are circling Volkswagen, with the carmaker still unable to say whether its cars in Australia have been fitted with software that cheats environmental tests.

Graeme already has a fast quad-core laptop but wants something that will run Corel VideoStudio fasterI use Corel VideoStudio extensively and want to buy a faster system to run it. My current HP Envy has an Intel Core i7-3630QM. New HPs have an i7-5500U. My confusion is that when I search for a comparison on the internet, I am told the 3630 is better than the 5500 as it has more cores. GraemeThe internet is correct. Your old Intel Core i7-3630QM is a very fast processor, by laptop standards, and it is a lot faster than the new i7-5500U. The fashion for thin laptops is crippling performance. Continue reading...

Company claims demand for new 6s and 6s Plus models could overtake record sales of 6 last year, as people rush to get latest smartphonesApple claims demand for its new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus could surpass the record-breaking sales of iPhone 6 last year, as the newest versions of the firm’s smartphones go on sale in the UK and across the world.The launch, which starts at 8am in countries around the world , marks the beginning of a busy autumn for the technology firm, which also announced a new, larger iPad set to be released in November. Continue reading...

Researchers found some of the smartphone apps sent unencrypted personal and medical details over the internet – putting users at risk of identity theft and fraudSmartphone health apps backed by the NHS could be putting users’ privacy unnecessarily at risk, according to a study.Researchers from Imperial College London investigated how data was handled by apps endorsed by the NHS health apps library and found several sent unencrypted personal and medical information over the internet – putting users at risk of identity theft and fraud. Continue reading...

From Monument Valley and Threes! to Best Fiends and Lara Croft Go, here are some top brain-scramblers for iOS, Android and Windows PhoneTo deal with the sickly sweet elephant in the room: no, Candy Crush Saga isn’t included. Not for reasons of snobbery, but rather because surely anyone with an interest in playing puzzle games on their phone will know about it by now.Candy Crush Saga’s popularity shows the appetite for small-screen puzzling, though, so what else is available on your smartphone or tablet to stretch your brains? Continue reading...

Hundreds queue in Sydney to be some of the first to get their hands on the new iPhone 6s or 6s Plus. For those standing in the rain on George Street, it’s irrelevant that a store across the street is selling the same product with no waiting required. Kane Hulden, 17, actually enjoyed his three-hour wait: ‘I love waiting ... I waited 17 hours once for Iggy Azalea.’ Others travelled from as far as the US, while one woman sent a robot to hold her place in line Continue reading...

The US president is expected to address hacking concerns, particularly the OPM breach, when he meets with Chinese president Xi Jinping on ThursdayThe Obama administration reiterated that financial sanctions against China were “on the table” over alleged cyber-attacks on Thursday as President Xi Jinping of China arrived in Washington for the first time.Related: 'Big Daddy Xi' attempts to charm US but tough crowds still await Continue reading...

Issue affected all platforms from around 5.30pm UK timeAn outage briefly forced Facebook offline on Thursday. The issue affected all platforms from around 5.30pm UK time.A message posted on Facebook’s platform status page read: “We’re working with our core infrastructure teams to identify the issue and will update you when we have more information.” By 6pm in London the site appeared to be accessible again. Continue reading...

PewDiePie: Legend of the Brofist is a non-freemium mobile game, while KSI: I Am A... is an augmented-reality spin-off from gamer’s first bookFelix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg built his audience of 39 million YouTube subscribers by playing games. Now he’s releasing his own mobile game: Legend of the Brofist.Released for Android and for iOS, the game stars a pixellated version of Kjellberg as well as fellow YouTube gamers including JackSepticEye, Markiplier and Marzia. Continue reading...

US and China are expected to announce a limited agreement to slow hacking attacks, but experts say a wide-ranging settlement is unlikelyHopes of a lasting peace between China and the US over cybersecurity were fading in Washington ahead of a crunch dinner between presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping on Thursday that is aimed at smoothing out their growing tensions.Though both countries are expected to announce a limited agreement to tackle the spread of hacking attacks at the conclusion of their two-day summit, White House officials and independent US experts played down talk of a wide-ranging settlement of their differences ahead of Xi’s arrival. Continue reading...

Law firms say car owners, dealerships and shareholders may have strong case as Germany confirms defeat devices were fitted in European modelsVolkswagen faces a barrage of legal claims from British car owners over the emissions tests scandal, according to top law firms.Lawyers say they have been inundated with inquiries from VW drivers whose vehicles may have been far more polluting than claimed, after the German carmaker admitted installing defeat devices to cheat tests. Continue reading...

Timelapse footage shows the Bloodhound Super-Sonic car being built. The vehicle aims to be the first land vehicle to reach more than 1,000mph (1,610km/h). Some 8,000 people are expected to view the car in Canary Wharf, London on Friday and Saturday. The current land speed record is 763mph (1,228km/h) set by another British car, Thrust SSC, in 1997. The Bloodhound will attempt to break the record in 2016 Continue reading...

New version of Apple’s software appears to slow down the iPhone 4S, 5 and 5S in side-by-side tests, although disabling features may speed things upUsers complaining that their iPhones have slowed down after updating to the latest iOS 9 software may not be imagining it.The new iOS 9 operating system works on models from 2011’s iPhone 4s onwards, with the company claiming that more than 50% of iOS users had already installed the update within a week of its release. Continue reading...

Internet mogul accused of multi-million dollar online piracy is fighting extradition to US from New ZealandProsecutors have outlined their extradition case against Kim Dotcom in a New Zealand court, saying the core allegation against the internet mogul accused of multimillion-dollar online piracy was fraud.The case has already dragged on almost four years and been described by the FBI as the biggest copyright investigation in US history, involving leading-edge technology and huge sums of money. Continue reading...

A 28-year-old paraplegic man walks with the help of technology that translates thoughts into leg movements. The man, who was paralysed from the waist down by a spinal cord injury, has become the first such patient to walk without the use of robotics. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, south of Los Angeles, say the outcome marks a promising step that one day may help stroke and spinal injury Continue reading...

Last year Bungie set out to unite two completely different gaming audiences inside one seamless online experience. Here’s what happened next ...On 9 September 2014, in a converted multiplex cinema in Bellevue Washington, a team of over 200 people launched a brand new kind of video game. They had spent four years preparing for this moment; among their ranks were some of the most experienced software engineers in the industry. But they had no idea what would happen next.Months later, David “Deej” Dague, the community manager at Bungie Software looks puzzled when asked about that night. “I’m not sure I have any memories of the first two weeks after launch,” he says, sitting in the darkened entrance hall to the company’s vast office, surrounded by cabinets hosting dozens of awards. “All I know is, the game was pretty stable.” Continue reading...

Consumer group takes 28 trips each with taxis and UberX to test safety, reliability and value, reporting taxis were more expensive nine times out of 10Uber’s controversial ride-sharing service is 40% cheaper than taxis in Sydney – and more reliable, too, according to an investigation by consumer advocates.Related: Taxi drivers condemn Labor's proposal to regulate Uber in NSW Continue reading...

That game you used to play is getting a full-length feature and the trailer gives us a first look at favourite characters like Nameless Red Bird and Black Blowy-Up BirdAngry Birds is the red-hot iPhone app of the moment. It’s literally a one-in-a-million sensation. Your friends can’t stop playing it. The world’s edgiest comedians can’t stop referencing it – and now it’s heading to the big screen! What sort of blockbus… oh, hang on, my fault, sorry. I thought it was 2012. Let me start again. Continue reading...

Changes may be required after European court advocate general accuses US intelligence services of ‘mass, indiscriminate surveillance’European companies may have to review their widespread practice of storing digital data with US internet companies after a court accused America’s intelligence services of conducting “mass, indiscriminate surveillance”.The influential opinion by the European court of justice’s advocate general, Yves Bot, yet to be confirmed by the Luxembourg court as final, is a significant development in the battle over online privacy. The court normally follows the advocate general’s opinion; ECJ judgments are binding on EU countries.

Three quadcopter drones programmed by researchers self-assemble a bridge using ropes. The structure measures 7.4 metres long, consists of nine rope segments for a total rope length of about 120 metres and is able to hold an adult. It is hoped that the project, which took ETH Zurich three years to complete, will aide rescue efforts in natural disaster sites, reaching remote and inaccessible areas

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

• Emissions could have far greater impact in Europe, where almost half passenger cars are diesel, than the US• Company bosses to meet on Wednesday to decide response to emissions-rigging scandalVolkswagen’s rigging of emissions tests for 11m cars means they may be responsible for nearly 1m tonnes of air pollution every year, roughly the same as the UK’s combined emissions for all power stations, vehicles, industry and agriculture, a Guardian analysis suggests.The potential scale of the scandal puts further pressure on Volkswagen’s board and its chief executive, Martin Winterkorn. The company’s executive committee plans to meet on Wednesday to discuss the affair and to agree the agenda of a full board meeting scheduled for Friday, amid reports that Winterkorn could be replaced. Continue reading...

Three-day battery, great camera and flagship innards squeezed into a more compact frame make the Xperia Z5 Compact no cut-spec ‘mini’ versionSony’s latest update to its “no compromise” smaller flagship smartphone proves size really isn’t everything with three-day battery, top-spec features and a great camera.While the rest of the market has been stretching phone screen sizes, Sony has been offering smaller “Compact” phones since 2013 fitting the same processor and camera from its larger flagship phones into a more manageable size. Continue reading...

Study claims AdWords users face bill even when tech firm’s own systems have correctly identified viewer as bot

Alamo Square park officials say they did not post sign hung a half block from where a Google bus picks up employees as locals wonder if it is an artistic protestSan Francisco authorities are grappling with the mysterious appearance – and sudden disappearance – of an official-looking sign that warned visitors to a nearby park that they were entering a “No Tech Zone”.The sign was affixed to a concrete pole in San Francisco’s Alamo Square on Monday, sparking a frenzied online discussion over who had erected it and why. By late Tuesday morning, however, the sign had vanished. Local officials are insisting they have no idea who erected the sign, or indeed who removed it. Continue reading...

•11m vehicles worldwide involved

As the death toll for selfie-related incidents grows ever higher – including animal attacks and weapons misfiring – why are people risking their lives for likes?The number of deaths in 2015 related to the practice of taking selfies has risen to 12 after a 66-year-old Japanese tourist, Hideto Ueda, died when collapsing and falling down stairs posing at the Taj Mahal in India. His travelling companion survived, but suffered a broken leg. Continue reading...

The shine of novelty may have worn off, after Bungie took a year to fix it, but what remains is – at last – a good gameIt was a year ago when Destiny hit consoles, promising a new era of super-connected online shooting. The first new series from Halo developer Bungie since 2001, it combined the meaty gunplay and polished exterior of that series with the deeply satisfying loot-gathering of a game like Diablo. On top of all that was a smattering of World of Warcraft-style massively-multiplayer content such as raids and public events.Those first few weeks flying around in space with your AI “Ghost” buddy in tow were glorious, even if Peter Dinklage’s delivery as the sidekick was so bad that simple adjectives like “bored” and “wooden” fail to do it justice. But as the novelty wore off, so too did the shine. For something so clearly standing on the shoulders of giants, there was a bizarre failure to learn the lessons of the past. Continue reading...

Bug in browser causes it to crash if mousing over, clicking on or pasting a short 16-character string into the address barA bug in Google’s Chrome browser causes it to crash when clicking on or mousing over a 16-character text string placed on a web page.

Pro Evolution Soccer has closed the gap on its long-standing rival, but myriad teams and features keep this the season’s standout playerAlan Partridge himself may as well have penned the marketing bumph for this, the 23rd annual edition of EA’s football series. Promises of – in the publisher’s words – “confidence in defending”, “control in midfield”, and “moments of magic” intimate a return to Fifa’s early-2000s nadir, where back-of-box buzz phrases overshadowed the on-pitch action. As such, it’s a relief to report that these Partridgisms, while cringeworthy, are not without justification. There is substance behind the slogans.The Fifa series has enjoyed a rejuvenation since the leap to this generation of machines, but all too often matches in Fifas 14 and 15 were dominated by players with elite pace and power attributes. Mercifully, thanks to the above tweaks – “confidence in defending” in particular – that’s no longer the case. Centre backs mark snugly, constantly buffeting and tugging at even the strongest forwards. Full-backs track properly and look to step in front of onrushing wingers before they can reach top speed, while defensive midfielders break on to under-hit opposition passes, always seeking to spring a deadly counterattack. Continue reading...

Hiroyuko Nishimura, a web entrepreneur who was recently named editor of Variety Japan, buys the controversial site for undisclosed amountThe influential and controversial message board 4chan has been sold to Japanese web entrepreneur-turned-magazine editor Hiroyuko Nishimura for an undisclosed sum, it was announced today.Nishimura, who was recently appointed editor of Variety Japan, was the founder of 2channel, the wildly popular Japanese image-board on which 4chan was originally modelled when it was started in 2003. 4chan quickly overshadowed its Japanese-language cousin in influence, if not in raw traffic, however, to become one of the most influential – and one of the most controversial – websites.

The US government’s plan to give up authority over Icann may create the web’s answer to Fifa – when problems arise, no one will have the power to interveneWhat if instead of organising a football competition every four years, Fifa took on management of the internet? Leaving aside the arrests and bribery allegations, the organisation might look a bit like the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ( Icann), the private California company responsible for overseeing the running of the internet. The scary thing about Fifa is that, when things go wrong, no one else has the power to intervene.It was thought that 30 September 2015 was supposed to be a significant date in internet governance. The US government was going to hand over key responsibilities to the internet community – but that date will be missed, because Icann’s board looks set to oppose plans to make itself more accountable. Continue reading...

This week, a digital art project posts anonymously submitted confessions in Brighton train station. Is it cathartic release or a prime target for pranksters?The Waiting Wall pitches private thoughts into a public space. For a week from 21 September until 27 September, the main digital advertising display in Brighton train station will accommodate an art piece, broadcasting a stream of existential confessions submitted anonymously by the public alongside the usual adverts.The Waiting Wall was devised for Brighton digital festival by musician and software developer Alan Donohoe and his creative partner Steven Parker, under the banner of digital storytelling project Free the Trees.

Search engine’s attempt to block French order to apply delistings to its google.com domain, not just its European sites, dismissed in ground-breaking caseGoogle’s appeal against the global enforcement of “right to be forgotten” removals has been rejected by the French data regulator.

Google Analytics has continued to transmit data across the Great Firewall despite other services being blockedWith Google reportedly in talks with Chinese authorities about opening a new Android app store, speculation is rife that an agreement could see government-approved apps would come automatically installed on Google’s Android smartphones designed for the Chinese market.Many interpret this step as Google planting a seed for its eventual return to China after exiting the Chinese market five years ago – yet our research at the University of Pennsylvania shows that Google has never completely left. Continue reading...

Internet tycoon Kim Dotcom appears in court in New Zealand for the start of his extradition hearing to the United States. US authorities allege Dotcom and his associates were involved in an organised criminal enterprise centred on copyright violation through Megaupload which earned them $175m (£112m). The FBI has described it as the largest copyright case in US history

Several apps infected by malware dubbed XcodeGhost in first case of large numbers of malicious software making their way past Apple’s defencesApple has had to remove more than 300 malware-infected apps from its app store after a tainted version of its developer tools led to a number of Chinese apps leaking users’ personal information to hackers.

Article rewritten to remove references to Muslims and correction made both in paper and online after complaint to press regulator IpsoThe Mail on Sunday has apologised for and corrected a story that said “Muslim gangs” were behind an attack on an immigration enforcement van in east London following a complaint to the press regulation body Ipso.The newspaper published a story in July headlined “Welcome to east London: Muslim gang slashes tyres of immigration-raid van before officers showered with eggs from high rise”.

Volvo’s large and luxurious SUV has been the queen of the school run for years, but the new XC90 is ready to go way beyond the playgroundPrice: £45,750

Expert problem-solvers are in short supply, and women make up less than 10% of the workforce, warns new engineering president Naomi ClimerBritain desperately needs to persuade hundreds of thousands of women to take up engineering to help the country exploit new technologies that could transform our lives. Failure would damage the na tion’s capacity to meet the challenges of the future, the new president of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), Naomi Climer, warned last week.Climer, the first female president of the IET, the world’s largest engineering institution, told the Observer that Britain was facing a serious shortfall in engineers. Figures suggest that the country will need to recruit almost two million over the coming decade, she said. Advances in robotics, software design, renewable energy, materials and many other fields now offer to bring major improvements to Britain – but will need the problem-solving skills of engineers to make the best use of them. However, at the same time the nation is facing a serious shortfall in numbers entering the profession. Continue reading...

And extraterrestrials may never notice us, either, if our technology is sufficiently sophisticated, whistleblower tells Neil deGrasse TysonRelated: Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Snowden is a patriotThe US government whistleblower Edward Snowden believes encryption might make it difficult or even impossible to distinguish signals from alien species from cosmic background radiation.

‘It got pretty loud, with seven speakers. I like this – especially when I’m lost’They say the compact crossover is a crowded market, but that’s only in the sense that any market loosely defined (futures, greeting cards, animal fats) looks crowded. What exactly is the Mazda CX-3? The thing that is larger than the Mazda 2, or the thing that is smaller than the SUV? It’s the latter, of course, because everyone loves the word “SUV”, but it isn’t large enough, least of all in the boot capacity, to warrant the term, even if it technically skims it.The upside is that it looks neat and sharp. They are funny, Mazda, full of high design concepts: “Kodo” is the unified look across the styles. The CX-3 meets it by being aggressive yet sleek around the nose, tidy through the body, sheered off neatly at the back. Skyactiv is the technology, which they illustrate with a video that pits a CX-3 against a greyhound. It is weird nobody pointed out that most cars are faster than dogs. Continue reading...