Technology | The Guardian

John Fithian, CEO of National Theater Owners, says that films with female leads are enticing more women into cinemas, leading to US box office boom Continue reading...

Google is under investigation in Europe over allegations it abused its dominance in search, while Comcast is seeking approval to merge with TWCGoogle spent a record $5.47m on lobbying during the first quarter of 2015, an increase of 43% from $3.82m in theprevious year, according to figures compiled by non-profit group Consumer Watchdog.According to disclosures just filed with the clerk of the House of Representatives, cable giant Comcast was Google’s closest rival, spending $4.62m in the quarter, an increase of 50% from $3.09m in the first quarter of 2014. Continue reading...

Online estate agent intends to raise ‘significantly larger’ amount than the £9.75m it raised through share placement in September Continue reading...

Silicon Valley company Color Genomics looking to make testing more widely available with a mail-in gene testing kit that costs $249 Continue reading...

Social network moves to ban indirect threats of violence and introduces temporary suspensions for accounts that fall foul of its policies

Online encyclopedia administrators block user account believed to be run by Tory party co-chairman or ‘someone else ... under his clear direction’ Continue reading...

Justice for Iran, a non-profit group, joins patients in need of life-saving operations, students and a top architect in being hit by sanctions on Tehran Continue reading...

Elon Musk sought saviour in Google co-founder Larry Page when cars were full of bugs, sales dived and the factory had to be shut downElon Musk almost sold his Tesla electric car company to Google after it hit rock bottom with bug-filled cars, stalled sales and falling shares in 2013, a new book has revealed.

‘Not sleeping well?’ social networking firm asks Airbnb employees – before suggesting they apply for a jobSnapchat is using its own app to hint to employees of rival firms that they should leave their jobs and work in Los Angeles with the social network.The firm has inserted cheeky geofilters – visual overlays optionally applied to snaps sent from a specific location – for pictures sent from the headquarters of companies such as Uber, Pinterest and Airbnb.On the snapchat geofilter hunt at @Airbnb and found another one. pic.twitter.com/IZbbDfLXqYJust sent a return message to @Snapchat, since they seemed curious. pic.twitter.com/Qr5d3Ta29r@evanspiegel nice try pic.twitter.com/TfuCCYjq3r Continue reading...

Electronic Arts has promised gaming’s most authentic Star Wars experience, but can its new shooter compete with the vastness of the movie universe?We’re in a tiny closed-off area at the Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California. It is, of course, decked out like a Rebel Alliance briefing room. Journalists from around the world are waiting to see a video of the new Star Wars shooter, Battlefront.Publisher Electronic Arts is not letting anyone play the game, we’re just here to gaze at footage of someone else playing. We watch a short skirmish on the familiar planet of Endor, complete with AT-ST walker, Stormtroopers, trees splintered in half by blaster fire, and speeder bike chases. A platoon of rebel soldiers encounters an AT-AT, stomping through the lushly detailed forest; they call in a Y-Wing airstrike which incinerates the giant transporter. Then in strolls Darth Vader, force gripping throats and fending off laser blasts with his lightsaber. Above all, the stentorian John Williams score booms around us in Dolby 3D. It is intoxicating. Continue reading...

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

Social erotica app will get people taking turns on collaborative stories in multiple sizes, from ‘micro’ to ‘epic’, then share them with the wider worldEL James famously wrote the first version of her Fifty Shades of Grey book as Twilight fan-fiction and published it online. Now an app called Kink is aiming to unearth a new wave of romance and adult-fiction authors – by getting them to write stories together on their smartphones.Released for Apple’s iPhone, the app encourages people to choose a pen name, then invite other users to collaborate with them on short stories by taking turns to write new paragraphs of up to 280 characters.Related: Oral sex app will get tongues wagging, but gives no guide to the feminine south | Emer O'Toole Continue reading...

The catwalk has long been exploring the potential of tech and the results are playful, from a dress inspired by Tinkerbell to a wearable spiderWearable technologies have so far been dominated by smartwatches and fitness fans keen to exploit the tracking of speed, location and body monitoring to try and improve health. Yes fashion designers are also now exploring the potential of sensors and internet connectivity to create clothing and accessories that are often beautiful and intriguing as well as smart.

Colonel Robert Wilson’s famous picture, believed by some to show the head of a giant creature emerging from the Scottish lake, is now 81 years old Continue reading...

Good Morning Britain launches campaign to improve body image, but is the sharing of selfies to fight against an image-obsessed world not a contradiction?Selfie-esteem might be the worst portmanteau since smartch (smart watch), and it’s definitely worse than phablet (phone and tablet). But selfie-esteem, we are told, is tied to the practice of taking selfies.Women will take five selfies before being happy with the sixth effort, a survey has found, while men tend to post their fourth attempt.

Experts have given the green light to a traffic light revolution – but we’re still some distance from a queuing-free futureTraffic is getting worse. It doesn’t just feel that way, the stats prove it: commuters in 2014 spent an average 66 more hours stuck in traffic than they did in 2013, according to navigation tech firm TomTom. So when internet of things technology is disrupting every part of our lives, when will traffic lights be rethought and rebuilt?Well, the traffic light revolution is already underway. It is all part of the promise of connected and self-driving cars, which allow data about individual journeys, routes and vehicles to be centrally monitored, controlled and systematised. Continue reading...

Software upgrade will add new gestures, Wi-Fi support and the ability to draw emojis on screen to counter Apple’s newest releaseGoogle is updating its Android Wear software for smartwatches bringing a range of new gestures and features in an attempt to counter the Apple Watch.

Question marks still hang over Samsung vice chairman Lee Jae-yong’s ability to lead the tech giant in his father’s absence. Will the Galaxy S6 change all that?Ever since Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee suffered a stroke in May 2014, industry watchers have speculated about the future of one of South Korea’s most important and influential companies.With Lee Kun-hee hospitalised but technically still in charge, a committee of his top lieutenants is believed to be steering the company in his stead, led by Lee Kun-hee’s son and Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong, who goes by the name Jay Y. As is customary for chaebols, or family-owned business conglomerates, leadership of Samsung is hereditary and therefore makes Jay Y the heir apparent. Yet very little is known about Jay Y, and many South Koreans are apprehensive at the prospect of this enigmatic figure taking control of a company that represents one-fifth of the country’s economy. Continue reading...

Biggest change in two years could see turmoil in search rankings as mobile-friendly sites take prime spots due to algorithm changeHaving a site that is friendly to mobile browsers on smartphones and tablets will be key from Tuesday as Google rolls out a new mobile-focused algorithm.

Peter Molyneux’s protege is parting ways with the veteran games designer to work on his own projects. He talks exclusively about his decisionJack Attridge is leaving 22Cans. The talented designer, who many expected would eventually step in to lead the studio that was set up in 2012 by British industry legend Peter Molyneux, has walked away to pursue his own ideas as an indie developer. “Friday was my last day,” he tells the Guardian in a London coffee shop. “Me and Peter went on a big 10 mile walk and finally said our goodbyes.”In February, the small team at 22Cans found itself engulfed in a huge controversy over latest project, Godus. The title, a spiritual successor to classic God sim Populous, was long-delayed and missing key features promised during a successful Kickstarter campaign.Related: Peter Molyneux interview: 'It's over, I will not speak to the press again' Continue reading...

Korean company downplays roots of flagship phone in effort to gain foothold in Japanese market Continue reading...

Change should help mobile searchers understand websites better, the search engine says Continue reading...

Xbox One, PS4, EA, cert: 18 Continue reading...

(PS3/PS4/Xbox 360/Xbox One/PC; Milestone, cert: 3) Continue reading...

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

Wii U, KnapNok Games, cert: 7 Continue reading...

The pre-painted ships and custom dice peeking out from the box beg to be played. But is it worth the price?Board game publishers Fantasy Flight already make some of the most high-end tabletop games in the world, but Star Wars: Armada is something else entirely.

The file-sharing firm best known for making piracy possible is now doing deals not only with film and TV companies but with graphic novel publishers too Continue reading...

The European commission’s investigation into Google’s shopping service misses the larger point of how much information the company actually owns

Do you hate your shins? Then give them a good bruising with this torture device from America Continue reading...

Man arrested after food writer and campaigner is abused by Twitter user claiming to be former Ukip candidate Continue reading...

Pokémon Rumble World | The Trace: Murder Mystery Game | Affordable Space Adventures Continue reading...

‘I was never going to pick up anyone in this car, but plenty of people wanted a lift’ Continue reading...

One can be elusive and expensive, the other turns a human moment to a rateable transaction. It’s not easy steering between black cabs and the taxi service app Continue reading...

French government to invest more than £70m in three-year plan, while tightening the law on hate crime and cracking down on racism online Continue reading...

Prosecutors declare Uber a ‘suspect’ and begin collecting evidence of ‘providing illegal transportation on a commercial basis’ after company ignored banDutch prosecutors are launching a criminal investigation into Uber for providing an illegal taxi service following court rulings and €10,000 fines.Uber continued to operate its UberPop peer-to-peer ride-sharing service in the Netherlands in violation of a Dutch court order which saw fines of €10,000 for every driver caught providing the UberPop service. Continue reading...

Silicon Valley heavyweight IVP joins US startup’s investors, and predicts it could be as successful as Netflix and Twitter Continue reading...

A website commenter who will end up being banned for antisocial behaviour can be spotted with 80% accuracy simply by examining their first five posts, claim researchersIt is possible to tell comment trolls apart from other users simply from looking at the way they write, researchers have found.Studying the comments on three sites – CNN, Breitbart and IGN – over an 18 month period, the researchers at Cornell and Stanford universities found that users who went on to be banned wrote differently to other users in the same comment thread, using fewer words indicative of positive emotion. Continue reading...

After 85m downloads of its apps, Swedish company will explore the booming world of online entertainment for kids: ‘It’s an almost blank piece of paper’Tens of millions of parents are familiar with the children’s apps made by Swedish firm Toca Boca. Now it’s hoping to capitalise on that reputation as it explores the worlds of TV and video.The company is launching a new video division, based in New York and headed up by J Milligan, who previously worked as creative director of Sesame Street parent company Sesame Workshop’s content innovation lab.Related: ‘Traditional TV viewing for teens and tweens is dead. Not dying. Dead.’Related: YouTube Kids ads row: how should we pay for children's entertainment? Continue reading...

Google faces a real challenge from Microsoft’s Bing in the US, but its dominance of global, European and UK search is almost uncontestedMicrosoft’s Bing search engine has captured more than 20% of the US desktop search market for the first time since it launched, leaving Google with 64.4%.

A new report wants to foster a digital age underpinned by human rights and calls for greater transparency from global giants. But will we ever trust the internet?Citizens of the internet: here is some welcome news. Your downtrodden digital rights might be getting a well-overdue booster shot. But it comes with some warnings.This week in the Hague, a high-level group of 29 internet policymakers and influencers – including prominent ex-US and UK security and intelligence officials Michael Chertoff, Joseph Nye, Melissa Hathaway and David Omand – issued a clarion call for the protection and promotion of human rights online. Self-styled the Global Commission on Internet Governance, the group made this call as part of the broader objective of restoring trust and confidence in the internet. Continue reading...

Statistics from San Francisco suggest carpooling is a new frontier for public transport. But is everyone ready to jump in a car with a total stranger? Continue reading...

Tidal Rising update debuts as criticism continues that the digital music app will only boost the careers of its superstar owners Continue reading...

Julian Assange says data ‘belongs in the public domain’ and says hacked files shed light on extent of cooperation between government and HollywoodWikiLeaks has republished the Sony data from last year’s hacking scandal, making all the documents and emails “fully searchable” with a Google-style search engine.The move provides much easier access to the stolen information. Searching the name of, for example, former Sony Pictures chief Amy Pascal, whose controversial comments were revealed by the hack, immediately yields nearly 5,700 results. Continue reading...