Technology | The Guardian

In a response to rogue Russian submarines thought to be in Swedish waters, one peace group has taken an innovative approach to defenceForget Britain’s Trident, or Israel’s Iron Dome – peace-loving Sweden has come up with a much more innovative, and inclusive, system of defence.The Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society (SPAS) is to deal with encroaching Russian submarines in Swedish waters with a device emitting anti-homophobia Morse code. Continue reading...

The device is capable of flying for 20 minutes, tracking its owner and shooting photos and video footage of them Continue reading...

Company promises ‘there is no server for hackers to target’ messages and metadata, but app is entering a crowded marketBitTorrent is the latest company to launch a messaging app, with its Bleep service emerging from alpha testing with a new iOS app joining the existing Android and desktop versions.Originally launched in July 2014, Bleep is a peer-to-peer chat client drawing on BitTorrent’s existing technology, with an emphasis on privacy that aims to capitalise on wider awareness of online surveillance from government agencies.Related: PGP creator Phil Zimmermann: 'Intelligence agencies have never had it so good' Continue reading...

Baidu’s Minwa supercomputer can sort a million images into a thousand predefined categories with an error rate less than the typical personFirst, the robots beat us at assembling cars. Then, they beat us at playing chess. Now, they’ve also got better than us at sorting images into predefined categories.It might not sound like much, but the success of the Minwa supercomputer, which can sort a million images into a thousand predefined categories with an error rate less than the typical human, makes it the latest secret weapon of the company known as “China’s Google”, Baidu. Continue reading...

As cities become more connected, their systems – from traffic lights to utilities meters – are increasingly open to hackers, say expertsThe smart city is an alluring vision of the future, in which civic technology such as traffic lights, smart meters for utilities and public transport could all be connected and feed back invaluable data online.

Danish seismologist, who was born on 13 May 1888, discovered the existence of the Earth’s inner core Continue reading...

Tech giant criticised by ASA after people used computer programs to gain early access to enter limited edition PlayStation offer Continue reading...

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

Google’s latest version of Android Wear makes it easier to get to apps, improves notification handling and adds brilliant emoji featuresGoogle’s smartwatch operating system, Android Wear, is on its third major revision, and this time it is a coherent and useful platform that does what a smartwatch does best – handle notifications – making it the best platform out there.Pros: Solid notifications, always-on screens, draw-an-emoji, decent voice recognition.Cons: App duplication, fitness functions not as good as a fitness tracker without third-party apps, buggy security. Continue reading...

The $4.4bn price tag for the once-great internet player is a bargain compared to what it could have commanded 15 years agoFifteen years ago, when AOL effectively took over Time Warner in a deal often described as the worst in history, the gamble was that the internet was the future of communication. That bet was right even if it cost AOL and Time Warner almost everything.

Ubisoft is moving its historical adventure series to the foggy streets of 19th-century London, bringing new assassinations and a fresh approach to single-playerFor the past two years the 300-strong team at Ubisoft’s Quebec office has been pondering a vital question. It’s something that gets to the heart of the Assassin’s Creed series, a multimillion dollar action adventure franchise that follows a shadowy cabal of killers throughout history. The question is: how do you modernise a franchise that is, by its very nature, stuck in the past?After a decade of making games like Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands on Nintendo Wii, as well as collaborating on Assassin’s games in a supportive role since the days of Brotherhood back in 2010, the Quebec studio now has now been handed the reins on Ubisoft’s largest franchise. Its job is to continue refining the series in new and interesting directions as it evolves on current gen consoles. Perhaps most interestingly, Ubisoft Quebec has been told it can add new perspectives to a series desperate to modernise. Continue reading...

Antoine Balaresque, 24, is the CEO of Lily, a California company that has attracted $1m worth of interest from investors so far. What does Lily do? It makes a self-operating drone camera that follows a little tracker around using a blend of WiFi connectivity and video recognition. Balaresque calls it a 'selfie drone' and said that he came up with the idea while on vacation with his family.

Plans to examine 50 apps and websites to find out what information they collect form kids and how they explain it to parents Continue reading...

Developer puts its fruit-slicing game engine to educational use in a maths learning app for five- to seven-year-oldsFruit Ninja has taught a generation of mobile gamers how to slice their way through virtual foodstuffs. Now its developer has produced a spin-off game to help teach children maths.Fruit Ninja Academy: Math Master, released by Halfbrick for Android and iOS devices, aims to help five- to seven-year-olds practise their addition, subtraction and multiplication, among other skills.Related: YouTube backs digital star Stampy's new Minecraft show Wonder Quest Continue reading...

Metal Gear developer Hideo Kojima has announced that an action figure of his mute female assassin Quiet will have pliable boobsLast year, Hideo Kojima, the creator of the Metal Gear series of stealth adventures, caused a minor controversy when he tweeted about a new character in his forthcoming title, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. The character is a mute female assassin named Quiet, whose complex backstory will apparently explain why she wears only a bikini and laddered tights while carrying out covert missions in 1980s Afghanistan.“I’ve been ordering to Yoji [Shinkawa, character designer] to make the character more erotic,” wrote Kojima. “And he did it well.” He later clarified the comment, correcting “erotic” to “sexy” and claiming that his game would provide a context for the character’s clothing. “Once you recognise the secret reason for her exposure, you will feel ashamed of your words & deeds,” he tweeted.The initial target is to make u want to do cosplay or its figurine to sell well.Related: Video games need fewer 'sexy' women and more you can actually fancy Continue reading...

Mobile provider overtakes EE as Ofcom figures show total complaints continue to decline Continue reading...

Myrna Arias alleges her job in sales was terminated for uninstalling app that let her managers monitor her even when off-duty Continue reading...

WMG chief Stephen Cooper warns rivals against ditching freemium streaming in favour of subscription services as part of war against piracyThe boss of major label Warner Music Group has warned rivals to “think very carefully” before restricting the free tiers of streaming services like Spotify, after his company revealed that it now makes more money from streams than from download sales.The tipping point came in the first quarter of 2015, according to WMG’s latest financial results, which saw the label’s revenues grow 4% year-on-year to $677m, helping it record a net profit of $19m.

Company announces prank has forced it to ‘take a pause’ as it makes changes to how it approves edits made by usersGoogle has shut down its Map Maker service after a series of embarrassing oversights allowed vandalism – the most notorious example being an image of a Google Android robot urinating on the Apple logo.The company said it had been moderating all user-generated edits to try to prevent such pranks, but found it impossible to keep up.If we do not have the capacity to review edits at roughly the rate they come in, we have to take a pauseRelated: Google Maps hides an image of the Android robot pissing on Apple Continue reading...

Frogger-inspired title was the most popular game for British iOS users in the first quarter of 2015, and third in the equivalent Android chartCrossy Road has become one of the most popular mobile games in the UK according to a new report from research firm App Annie.The report claims Crossy Road had the most active British users of any iOS game in the first quarter of 2015, ahead of Candy Crush Saga and Clash of Clans.Related: What is Trivia Crack and why are 100m people playing it? Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterHello, it’s Tuesday. Continue reading...

Company says all 11 accidents over the past six years since it began testing the technology were minor: ‘light damage, no injuries’Google Inc revealed Monday that its self-driving cars had been in 11 minor traffic accidents since it began experimenting with the technology six years ago.The company released the number after Associated Press reported that Google had notified the California Department of Motor Vehicles of three collisions involving its self-driving cars since September, when reporting all accidents became a legal requirement of permits for the tests on public roads. Continue reading...

July’s app enlists ordinary people to deliver your message – but after one week and 85 attempts, I didn’t speak to a stranger and a stranger didn’t speak to me Continue reading...

Veteran games designer says VC-backed startup is a ‘direct evolution’ of his interests in crowdsourcing, communities and creative toolsWill Wright made his name with games like SimCity, The Sims and Spore. Now he’s stepping out of the gaming world to join the ultra-competitive market for social photography apps, with a startup called Thred.Backed by investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Mayfield Fund, Betaworks, former Electronic Arts boss John Riccitiello and Foursquare chief executive Dennis Crowley, the free app has been released initially for Apple’s iPhone.Related: Are social photo apps trapped in a Silicon Valley bubble? Continue reading...

Reintroduction of ‘My K-Cup’ allows users to once again make whatever coffee they wantKeurig has taken the first steps towards abandoning an unpopular enforcement scheme on its pod-based coffee makers that requires customers to purchase their coffee exclusively from Keurig or licensed third-parties.Starting in the run-up to Christmas, owners will be able to use coffee bought from any provider in their espresso machines – after buying a special add-on. Continue reading...

Psychologist Philip Zimbardo suggests that boys are increasingly withdrawing into the lonely world of gaming. But this is an outdated view of the medium

Citizens are wary of giving away credit card details yet believe they benefit form giving away personal data, Ofcom research showsOne in five people in the UK would never use their credit card online despite just under 70% of internet users saying they’re perfectly happy to give away their personal information, according to Ofcom.

Overcast creator Marco Arment advises his fellow developers to avoid seeing Apple’s smartwatch as a platform to port their apps toAre smartwatch apps squeezed-down versions of smartphone apps, or more wrist-worn remote controls for the software running on the device in your pocket? Marco Arment thinks it’s the latter.Arment, who first came to prominence with read-it-later app Instapaper on iOS, is now focusing on his podcasts app Overcast, including its Apple Watch app. Which, just a few weeks after Apple’s smartwatch went on sale, has already been redesigned.Related: As Apple Watch launches, smartwatch app makers explore new interfaces Continue reading...

Its 15m paying subscribers helped Spotify to more than €1bn of revenues in 2014, but its losses are still growing faster than its incomeSpotify has hailed 2014 as a “transformative” year in which its annual revenues passed €1bn for the first time, but the music-streaming service’s growth came at a cost – a sharp increase in its net losses.The company’s financial results, published in Luxembourg and seen by the Guardian, reveal that its revenues increased from €746.9m (£537.87m) in 2013 to €1.08bn (£777m) in 2014 – year-on-year growth of 45%.Related: Streaming music: what next for Apple, YouTube, Spotify… and musicians?Related: Why are Apple's music streaming plans arousing the interest of regulators? Continue reading...

Microsoft to move to smaller, more frequent updates – meaning the all-important version number will remain the same from now onWindows 10 will be the last major release of Microsoft’s venerable operating system, according to a development executive at the firm.Once the new version is released this summer, future updates will come in an “ongoing manner”, the company confirmed. Continue reading...

The Premier League is joined by other sports leagues such as the NBA, MLB and NFL in being wary of the march of the live-streaming appsAnyone with a smartphone, the internet and an app can now broadcast live video to the world. But, while great for users is it a nightmare for content rights holders?

From Oculus Rift to Google Glass, modern technology isn’t quite living up to the high-gloss helmets and bubble cars we dreamed ofMarty McFly’s unfortunate taste for Tory-boy padded gilets aside, the future used to look great, didn’t it? It was all high-gloss helmets and sex-powerful gloves; bubble cars and disco cockpits. But as the news of Facebook’s Oculus Rift helmet going on sale next year washes across our retinas like a black strapped digital wave, it’s time to ask – what the hell happened? Continue reading...

A text dialogue with stranded astronaut Taylor brings real empathy to this slow-moving, intriguing game Continue reading...

(Wii U, Nintendo, cert: 12)Cult Japanese developer Treasure is famed for the quality of its work, but all too often its releases have evaded the attention of the mainstream in the west. Of late, however, the studio’s work is enjoying a second coming. Last week Treasure’s 2D shooter masterpiece Gradius V was a more than welcome arrival and now Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Skies has been released for the Wii U, half a decade after it was a jewel in the crown of Nintendo’s previous console.The game itself is an arcade-inspired on-rails sci-fi shooter. While control over the lead character’s movement on a 2D plane is down to the player, motion through 3D space is automatic, providing a tour of a range of elaborate, meticulously presented set pieces. Showering bullets on to enemy hordes while evading attacks forms the game’s elegant core, but the simplicity here is not at the expense of depth. Successor of the Skies demands repeat plays. Back in 2010 the visuals and dialogue demonstrated a rough charm, but five years on that has faded a little. However, it is the gameplay that matters most and in that regard Sin and Punishment’s return is a triumph. Continue reading...

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

(PS4, PC, Dissident Logic, cert: 7)This sketchpad-themed brawler is centred on the concept that gathering up to four mates together for the purpose of slicing one another’s (virtual) heads off should be a communal event in a local multiplayer mode instead of an online one. Combat is zippy, with fighters harnessing a simple but effective triumvirate of weaponry: scissors, projectiles and ink bombs. This minimalism turns each match into a fierce battle of skill where speed and movement is key.Each player’s ability to invert their “personal gravity” also proves a vital tool in navigating the quirkily designed arenas. Playing against friends on the sofa may be almost archaic as far as premium games go, but this scrappy indie title proves there are still great times to be had gathered around a single screen. A slight sense of repetition across game modes is Paperbound’s only failing. Continue reading...

Briefing paper says Facebook ‘abused by malicious users’ and will stay banned until Nauruans can be safe from ‘criminals, sexual perverts and cyber bullies’ Continue reading...

A year ago, Apple bought headphone company Beats for $3bn. It turns out that it was its streaming business that was so temptingThis time last year Apple paid $3bn to acquire a company called Beats that made overpriced headphones and ran an unsuccessful music-streaming business. This acquisition made Beats co-founder Dr Dre the first hip-hop billionaire at the same time as it baffled many observers of the industry. For example, Benedict Evans, a seasoned analyst, tweeted: “If you think Apple’s lost it, Beats deal is confirmation. If you don’t, it’s… perplexing. Few really convincing rationales.” This columnist was likewise puzzled. Apple normally designs and makes its own kit, and if it wanted to do headphones it would certainly do better than the Beats products. So the conclusion had to be that if Apple didn’t want Beats for the headphones, it had to be the music-streaming service that it craved.And so it has proved. We have just discovered – in a roundabout way – just how much Apple wants to get into the streaming business. It turns out that two US federal agencies – the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – have been examining Apple’s business practices in relation to its forthcoming music-streaming service. The Verge, a well-known tech website, reported that Apple has been “pushing major music labels to force streaming services like Spotify to abandon their free tiers, which will dramatically reduce the competition for Apple’s upcoming offering”. DoJ officials had already interviewed senior music industry executives about Apple’s business practices, but it appears that the FTC (which oversees competition) has “taken the lead” in recent weeks. Continue reading...

Would you let a pair of 13-year-olds loose in your car? Of course not – you find someone else’s. Martin Love puts two teenage girls through the Young Driver programme Continue reading...

Italy’s taxi drivers are up in arms over online cab services, with the fight getting personal for Uber’s Milan-based managerLike every Uber executive trying to get the $41bn online car-sharing service established in cities around the world, the head of Uber in Italy has faced plenty of resistance as she takes on powerful established interests.Uber faces regulatory opposition in many places – authorities in the Chinese city of Chengdu paid a visit to Uber’s offices last week as part of an ongoing investigation; and the service has been banned in the US state of Kansas – but in Italy, the battle has become personal.Posters with the words ‘I steal’ printed across Arese Lucini’s face have been plastered around Milan’s taxi standsUber argues it is different from public taxi services in that it only gives rides to people who book through its app Continue reading...

‘I can well imagine it being the car du choix of one of those young men who ferries all his friends about on a Saturday night because he prefers driving to drinking’ Continue reading...

Under the partnership Toyota propose to supply fuel cell technology to Mazda, which in return would offer its proprietary Skyactiv green technology to Toyota Continue reading...

Whistleblower says mass surveillance did not stop the Sydney siege, the Boston marathon bombings or the Charlie Hebdo magazine attack in Paris Continue reading...

The road through LA and San Francisco is well-trodden by Democrats, but it’s the tech world rather than the movie business Clinton is targeting for cash for 2016 Continue reading...

Using phrases more suited to tourist magazines and images of luxury yachts, smugglers based in Egypt and Turkey openly advertise services on social media Continue reading...

The electronic artist had made 200 old tracks and demos available online, but his Soundcloud accounts have now been deleted

Patent spat spills out of the US to the UK, Germany and the Netherlands as the two firms tussle over licensing issuesEricsson has brought its fight with Apple over licensing to Europe, launching new lawsuits in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands.The two companies are locked in battle in the US, where Ericsson is seeking to block the sale of Apple’s iPhone and iPad over alleged patent infringement after licensing agreements expired. Continue reading...

Wii U; Nintendo; £7 from Nintendo eShop Continue reading...