Technology | The Guardian

Messages such as ‘the media is always lying’ delivered to visitorsThe Washington Post’s mobile website was brought down on Thursday evening, with the Syrian Mobile Army claiming responsibility for the attack.#SEA hacks @Washingtonpost mobile site in order to deliver a message. #SEA pic.twitter.com/CDX5CKSXRk Continue reading...

Agency deployed mass tracking devices across US that could record up to 1,800 license plates a minute, according to internal documents obtained by the ACLU Continue reading...

Addictive King Digital game will come preinstalled on Windows 10, pushing its classic time-wasting predecessors to the curbOffice-worker productivity is likely to take a hit once Windows 10 lands, after Microsoft decided to include Candy Crush Saga alongside the preinstalled classics Minesweeper, Solitaire and Hearts.The freemium match-three game, which propelled British developer King Digital to record heights with users addicted enough to pay to keep playing, will be bundled with Windows 10. Continue reading...

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Watch the prime minster do the spidey strut, a 102-year-old blow out her teeth and the return of National Lampoon’s Griswold family in Vacation Continue reading...

The online discussion forum said in a blog post that it is ‘unhappy with harassing behavior’ and plans to review individual cases and possibly block usersReddit, the online discussion forum known for its free-wheeling ethos, is enacting an anti-harassment policy while still trying to keep its roots as a place for free expression.Reddit said in a blog post on Thursday that it is “unhappy with harassing behavior” on the site and its survey data shows that users are too. It has been reviewing its community guidelines for the past six months. Continue reading...

Valuable smartwatch lacks activation lock protection fitted on Apple’s iPhone and can be reset without having passcodeConcerns have been raised over the ease with which thieves can reset the Apple Watch, as well as pair it with any iPhone, without the original owner’s permission.

Pilot project uses fibre-optic cables capable of operating more than 100 times faster than national broadband average Continue reading...

Smartphone made by Fujitsu and sold by Japan’s largest mobile phone operator leads the charge towards iris-recognition technologyIris-scanning technology promises to kill the password with the launch of a new smartphone that looks into users’ eyes to unlock it.

Artists will be able to post media and promote one another’s work on Spotify-style service, latest media reports suggestApple’s last attempt at blending digital music and social networking flopped: Ping was unveiled in September 2010 as a way for people to follow friends and musicians within the company’s iTunes store, but shut down two years later after it failed to catch on.Now the company is reportedly planning another crack at social music, as part of its plans to relaunch its Beats Music streaming service in the summer.Related: Why are Apple's music streaming plans arousing the interest of regulators?Artists will also be able to share the content of other artists in an effort of cross-promotion. For example, all-gold Apple Watch wearer Kanye West could promote a new album from Taylor Swift on his Apple Music artist page, if he so chooses.Using iTunes accounts, all users of the streaming music service will be able to comment on and like these posts from big name artists, but users won’t have their own social network profiles like with Ping.”Related: Trent Reznor to be 'point man' for iTunes relaunch Continue reading...

Slight Mad Studios has upped the ante on the modern driving sim experience with this thrilling, single-minded racerThe wait has been long. Delayed more times than Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes contract renewal, Project Cars has finally arrived on the starting grid with a clear desire to make up for lost time.Driving sim fans have been waiting months to hear the roar of this game’s superbly sampled engines, and that’s been hard – particularly for PS4 owners, who haven’t yet had a proper racing simulation to play on their 18-month-old machine. Fortunately, Slightly Mad Studios, a specialist in this most demanding of genres, has ensured that the end result has justified its late arrival. Continue reading...

What would happen if you combined the roguelike and rhythm action genres? Read on to find out – and rejoiceOn the face of it, the roguelike and rhythm-action game genres are not obvious bedfellows. The former is about grinding through endless dungeons, hacking and slashing at enemy monsters, the latter is about hitting buttons in time to music. It’s hard to think of two more opposing video game styles. Maybe first-person shooters and sports management sims? Or massively multiplayer fantasy games and match-three puzzlers?Whatever the case, a small Vancouver studio named Brace Yourself has picked up the, erm, “rhythm roguelike” gauntlet and ran with it.Related: Witcher 3: Wild Hunt review – a rich adventure born in literature Continue reading...

After the huge success of the Mega Drive, Sega was filled with confidence about its future. But then Sony announced PlayStation and everything fell apart Continue reading...

LG’s challenger to the Apple Watch is the most convincing Android Wear device yet, but its design lacks subtletyThe LG Watch Urbane is the Korean company’s third smartwatch in under a year, a shiny, metal-covered, round Android Wear watch to compete with Apple’s Watch – and with a price tag to match.The Urbane is a follow-up to the chunky G Watch R and LG’s second round smartwatch to use its 1.3in plastic OLED screen.Pros: Fast, always-on screen, latest Android Wear, heart rate monitor, Wi-Fi, quality leather watch strap.Cons: Really big, styling is divisive, less than two-day battery, no ambient light sensor, expensive. Continue reading...

From books to Apple Watch, UK developer Six to Start has grand ambitions for its mobile fitness app, but is promising not to ‘turn it into a terrible game’ Continue reading...

Open letter signed by 80 experts in technology and data law argues for more public scrutiny over Google’s handling of removal requestsGoogle needs to be more transparent in the way it handles so-called “right to be forgotten” requests, with 80 leading academics writing an open letter that accuses the firm of developing its policies “in the dark”.In the detailed and strongly worded four-page letter shared with the Guardian, experts in technology law, data protection and philosophy claim that releasing more information about the volume, character and classification of removal requests would benefit the public and help inform a wider global discussion on privacy and personal data.Related: Dear Google: open letter from 80 academics on 'right to be forgotten'Related: Google says it acknowledges some people want 'right to be forgotten' Continue reading...

Politicians to vote on proposal to let retailers accept only card or smartphone payments from 2016 Continue reading...

Former chief of staff to Michael Howard joins taxi company as it battles fierce resistance to expand and float on the stock market

Company also announces other benefits including 15 vacation days and a $4,000 bonus for having a child, as Fight for $15 movement gains steam across the US Continue reading...

The outgoing presenter of Tech Weekly is joined by the tech team to marvel at the last seven years of digital innovation Continue reading...

American startup hopes to kill off pay-as-you-go and cheap mobile phone contracts with free services offering 200 minutes, texts and dataUS mobile phone provider FreedomPop is launching its Sim-only service in the UK - which offers free calls, texts and data.

This vast fantasy adventure combines sophisticated storytelling with an expansive and richly conceived worldGeralt of Rivia was born in literature. The lead character of Witcher 3 first appeared in the fantasy novels of Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. But his true home is in video games.As a Witcher, he has many talents, which make him the perfect, pliable protagonist. Geralt is a fine swordsman, able to control both crowds of jabbing bandits and the hulking beasts that he pursues across the countryside for rich bounties. He is an accomplished rider, able to drive a stallion through forests and across shallow rivers – even, sometimes, in formal races on the manicured track – at speed. It’s a necessary skill here in Temeria, which stretches farther than most video game lands, from the fields of Velen, with their stoic windmills and muddles of sunflowers, to the craggy, froth-lapped rocks of the Skellige islands and beyond. Continue reading...

Practice revealed by Edward Snowden – collection of metadata of all US phone calls – being debated

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...