Technology | The Guardian

Search firm has designs on fully connected houses following its acquisition of smart-device company Nest and wants to be bigger than just AndroidGoogle intends to be the center of the connected home with its new “internet of things” operating system, Brillo.

Podcast’s creator and host, Sarah Koenig, gave away few details of new series in newsletter to fans, only saying it would be different from first instalment Continue reading...

“[B]roadband access is essential for access to education and information, for managing and receiving health care, and for daily tasks,” the agency says Continue reading...

Privacy concerns over app that allows you to pinpoint location of anyone who is part of same messaging thread, and track them via time stampsAn extension for the Chrome web browser has been developed that allows people to pinpoint the precise location, to within a metre, of Facebook Messenger users.The app – named Mauraders Map after the magical map in the Harry Potter books that showed the identity, locations and movements of all individuals – has been created by Harvard computer science and mathematics student, Aran Khanna. Continue reading...

Electronic Arts has overcome ‘technical obstacles’ to add 12 female national sides to the latest edition of its multimillion-selling football seriesIn what is likely to be the only piece of positive PR that the world football governing body will receive this week, publisher Electronic Arts has announced it will be introducing female footballers into its Fifa video game series, beginning with the forthcoming Fifa 16 edition.The game features 12 international all-female teams, 11 of whom will appear at next month’s World Cup finals, including hosts Canada as well as England, Brazil, Germany and Spain.Related: 52% of gamers are women – but the industry doesn’t know it | Meg JayanthRelated: Who are the best female characters in video games? Continue reading...

Bug in Apple’s Messages that allows anyone to crash someone’s iPhone with a text can also affect an Apple Watch, iPad or MacThe bug that causes iPhones to crash when they receive a boobytrapped text message also affects the Apple Watch, iPads and Macs.

Nintendo has not quite created the perfect shooter for people who don’t like shooters, but it is lovely, exciting and very coolSplatoon – Nintendo’s take on shooting games – is as wonderfully, vibrantly creative as the phrase “Nintendo’s take on shooting games” might suggest. An entirely unique central mechanic removes the usual assault-rifle-toting grunts in favour of shape-shifting squids with a guns full of ink. Your aim is to paint the environment with as much of your team’s colour as possible, taking out rival players as you go.At any point, if you look down at your Game Pad controller, you can see the world being slowly covered with lurid ink, like an animated Jackson Pollock painting, giving you an indication of both score and movement. At the end of each fiercely contested, inky tug-of-war, a chubby cat announces the score as a percentage, tallying up the two with a slow build and a sudden reveal.Related: Game on: after Marvel’s Avengers, Nintendo’s stars could be next to hit the big screen Continue reading...

Last week’s column on Windows 10 resulted in many more readers’ questions. Here’s a handful, though nothing is certain until Microsoft launches the codeCan you please tell me how to go about obtaining the free Windows 10 for my laptop, which is currently operating on Windows 8.0? Eric Continue reading...

With summer just around the corner, we find out how technology has changed the way we go on holiday Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matter Continue reading...

Labor frontbencher says NBN’s chief technology officer has refused to attend hearings and Senate estimates on all but one time since his appointment Continue reading...

Brandz power list also sees Facebook soar thanks to Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions, while Vodafone is top UK brand Continue reading...

Pebble’s latest crowdfunding success story doesn’t try too hard, reaping the benefits of a focus on functionality, notifications and battery lifePebble Time is the latest smartwatch crowdfunding success story, having broken records by hitting $2m in 58 minutes and ultimately raising over $20m. But is the watch that works with both Android and iPhone – making it a direct Apple Watch competitor – worth the hype?This is the second time on the merry-go-round for Pebble. Its first cross-platform smartwatch, simply called the Pebble, broke Kickstarter records in 2012 and reignited the smartwatch industry.Pros: long battery life, always-on screen readable in direct light or in the dark, light, waterproof to 30m, simple to use, great music controlsCons: no way to reply to messages, screen is smaller and doesn’t look as good as some, ties into iOS not as good as Apple Watch Continue reading...

Oxford University Press analysis reveals under-13s use the Twitter search term as a device for adding comment and emphasis in stories#interesting? #greatnews? #aaaaaaaargh? Regardless of your opinion, there is no getting away from the ubiquity of hashtag – today named children’s word of the year.

Chief executive Jonah Peretti has not offered a timeline for the move, but investors will want to know after site was valued at $850m in AugustBuzzFeed is planning an IPO, the company’s CEO, Jonah Peretti, announced at a tech conference on Wednesday. It’s a long-expected move from the wildly popular site, which in recent years has moved from simple aggregation and funny listicles into video, hard political news and arts coverage. Peretti didn’t say when the IPO would happen, but investors are likely to want to know soon.BuzzFeed’s mix of serious news articles and videos and sponsored content has led detractors, including Noam Chomsky, to criticise the company’s business model. More than once recently, BuzzFeed’s sponsors have demanded the removal of editorial content – and gotten their way. Consumers don’t seem to mind: the company’s videos boast a billion views a month, it told audiences in its annual presentation to prospective (and established) advertisers in Manhattan in April. And it produced more than 1,800 of those videos in the last 12 months.Related: Vox Media taking over tech site ReCode amid digital media shakeup Continue reading...

UK’s biggest retailer is overtaken by German discounter Aldi following accounting scandal, and loses 37% of its brand value in a year Continue reading...

RTL and ProSiebenSat1’s failed court case against maker Eyeo follows similar lawsuit by Zeit Online and Handelsblatt Continue reading...

Glitch causes iOS to choke when certain non-Latin script is sent in a text message, causing the device to crashA bug in Apple’s iOS means that anyone can crash an iPhone by simply sending it a certain string of characters in a message.

Facebook buys Surreal Vision, founded by three Imperial College students, to bolster Oculus’s virtual reality developmentA virtual reality company founded by three PhD students at Imperial College London has been bought by Facebook to combine with Oculus.Surreal Vision specialises in real-time 3D scene reconstruction to create accurate representations of the real world and allow users to interact with real-world objects from within VR.

Evan Spiegel to take $15bn video-messaging company public, rather than sell to a social-network rivalSnapchat’s chief executive has confirmed that he plans to take the company public rather than sell it to a larger firm.“We need to IPO,” Evan Spiegel, 24, told the Code conference in California. “We have a plan to do that.” Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matter Continue reading...

Video featuring vlogger Ruth Crilly of A Model Recommends did not indicate clearly it was marketing, says watchdog Continue reading...

Technological advances have made removing salt from seawater and waste water less energy-intensive, but will they simply encourage us to use more?The average Briton uses 150 litres of water a day; the average American gets through 570 litres of the stuff. The world is getting thirstier and the global demand for fresh water is rising by 640bn litres a year.Population growth is one factor, not only the need for drinking water and sanitation but also the need to produce more food. Agriculture accounts for 70% of water use.Related: Making rain: can technology drought-proof the Caribbean?Related: Is solar-powered desalination answer to water independence for California? Continue reading...

Respected news site focused on the business side of Silicon Valley joins company behind Vox.com, Eater, and the Verge Continue reading...

Industry watchers, who try in vain to decipher the secretive tech giant’s internal politics, are reading a lot into news of Sir Jonathan’s switch to chief design officerThe ever-growing group of people who scrutinise Apple’s internal politics are poring over the announcement that Sir Jonathan Ive has been promoted to chief design officer. For tech kremlinologists, it raises questions about the 48-year-old Briton. Is he on the way out as well as up? Is it his own choice? Or does it mean that he’s going to devote more time to a huge future project such as the rumoured Apple car?Related: Forget the internet of things – we need an internet of people Continue reading...

Cabbies stage demonstration outside TfL headquarters in ongoing dispute over activities of unlicensed firms and new app-based taxi-booking companies Continue reading...

Milan court rules that allowing users of company’s smartphone app to order a ride from an Uber driver creates ‘unfair competition’

Influential technology site that closed in March after nine years has been bought by startup Knowingly Corp Continue reading...

Poor ThomMeet Thom Phipps.just drank a nice oranginaimagine drinking a pint of mayonnaisefound out last night our cat goes to the kebab shop down the road every day & they give him lamb mince. there's a picture of him on the wallfound out last night our cat goes to the kebab shop down the road every day & they give him lamb mince. there’s a picture of him on the wallFound out last night our cat goes to the kebab shop down the road every day & they give him lamb mince. there's a picture of him on the wallfound out last night our cat goes to the kebab shop down the road every day & they give him lamb mince. there's a picture of him on the wallfound out last night our cat goes to the kebab shop down the road every day & they give him lamb mince. there's a picture of him on the wallfound out last night our cat goes to the kebab shop down the road every day & they give him lamb mince. there’s a picture of him on the wallfound out last night our cat goes to the kebab shop down the road every day & they give him lamb mince. there's a picture of him on the walleverybody except me knows the new musici dont even listen to the radio so i have no ideas what the popular bangers of the day arecan somebody make me a spotify playlist of the ten songs i should be familliar with@thwphipps Hey Thom, we've got what you need: http://t.co/8DVjRCLVLW Continue reading...

Two months after debuting on Apple’s operating system, Twitter’s live-streaming app has come to Google – with new featuresTwitter’s live-streaming app, Periscope, is launching on Android two months after it went live on iOS devices.Android users get Periscope on Tuesday and Twitter is rewarding them for their patience with a host of new features that are unique to the operating system.Related: What do Periscope and Meerkat mean for broadcasting copyright? Continue reading...

Thousands of computers still running Windows XP at risk after Government Digital Service opted not to renew support in AprilThe Government Digital Service will not extend its £5.5m deal with Microsoft to extend support for Windows XP, leaving government computers that still run on the obsolete operating system at risk from hackers.

Social network and magazine app have been in talks since the beginning of the year, according to reportsTwitter is discussing the possibility of acquiring the social media aggregation app Flipboard at a valuation of more than $1bn, according to reports.Twitter’s chief financial officer Anthony Noto has been leading the talks since the beginning of the year, though they are currently stalled, reports Kara Swisher at the technology website Recode.Related: Flipboard moves to the web with plans to host some news publishers' content Continue reading...

British designer will delegate day-to-day management, leading to speculation that he wants to return to live in the UKApple has promoted Sir Jonathan Ive, the British designer responsible for most of the company’s biggest hits in recent years, to the position of chief design officer at the company.Jony Ive, whose previous title was vice president of design, will continue to be responsible for all of Apple’s design work, “focusing entirely on current design projects, new ideas and future initiatives”, according to Apple chief executive Tim Cook. But Ive’s day-to-day managerial responsibilities will be delegated to the new vice presidents of industrial design and user interface design, Richard Howarth and Alan Dye. Continue reading...

YouTube-style portal adds newspaper to list of partners that includes Channel 4 News, ITN, and the Telegraph Continue reading...

Scheme to verify visitors’ identity with organisations such as banks and mobile providers has support but critics say there are privacy concerns Continue reading...

Business secretary urges phone provider to “sort it out” after people in Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Glasgow and parts of Northern Ireland go without service Continue reading...

Theoretical attack becomes real as criminals begin using jammers to block remote locking car keys Continue reading...

Jackie Trad, deputy premier and transport minister, says she will continue to meet with the ride-sharing service but insists passenger safety is her priority Continue reading...

Technology activists are often painted as blind to the shortcomings of the digital world. But it’s these groups who hold the key to progressive change in the fight for a fairer internet Continue reading...

Government must not repeat mistakes of previous administrations, but instead must have ‘an open and transparent assessment and critique of UK surveillance powers,’ academics say Continue reading...