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...

Focus on user data privacy is tipped for Google’s next version of Android, to bring it in line with Apple’s iOS and custom Android versions such as CyanogenGoogle is expected to bring Android into line with Apple iOS on user privacy, with version “M” due for release later this month, giving control of app data back to the users.

Vanity Fair goes on set with Harrison Ford and Co, the Terminator runs through his film repetoire in six minutes, and a mayor’s very public toilet break Continue reading...

The eight-year old fitness tracking firm acknowledges competition from Apple and others, but still values its business at $1.2bnTechnology firm Fitbit is taking advantage of the rapidly expanding market for connected health and fitness by launching its business on the New York Stock Exchange, it announced on Thursday night.Planning to sell shares worth up to $100m (£64m), the San Francisco-based fitness band maker will list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FIT”.Related: Best fitness trackers to help get fitter in 2015 Continue reading...

Dating app says it’s not rife with married flirters: ‘simple logic should reveal that it’s essentially impossible for any of these claims to be accurate’Dating app Tinder has rejected research that estimated that 42% of its users are either married or in a relationship.A spokesman told the Guardian that the figures by GlobalWebIndex strongly contradicted its own internal numbers, and criticised the methodology of the survey.The single largest age group on Tinder, making up more than half of our entire user base, is 18-24. More than 93% of UK residents in that age range have never been married, according to the UK’s office of National Statistics.Without revealing any data about our users, simple logic should reveal that it’s essentially impossible for any of these claims to be accurate. Their methodology seems severely and fundamentally flawed.”“Our Tinder findings came from a recent study of 47,622 internet users aged 16-64 across 33 countries.Reference to ONS marital data is irrelevant, and of the 621 who say they use Tinder, almost all are from the 16-34 age group. Tinder’s assertion that our methodology is severely and fundamentally flawed is simply not correct.Related: Tinder: the 'painfully honest' dating app with wider social ambitions Continue reading...

The place to escape the election resultsOh dear... Continue reading...

The Beats Music relaunch is coming this summer, but the possible impact its presence on iTunes will have on rivals like Spotify is sparking anti-competition questions Continue reading...

La Traviata will be streamed live and free of charge on Friday from the stage of Madrid’s Teatro Real Continue reading...

Simon Letchford issues lengthy statement saying police acted fairly when they handcuffed a black man before a crowd of onlookers in south-east London Continue reading...

Online supermarket files patent in US which cuts out need for warehouse aisles or the staff driving around them Continue reading...

Facebook study considered the political leanings of news posts by US users before determining which posts were reached via the site’s social algorithmsThe algorithms used by Facebook to filter news posts have an effect on the information seen by users – but not nearly as much as the choices made by users themselves.That is the finding of a study published on Thursday titled “Exposure to ideologically diverse news and opinion on Facebook” in Science Express by researchers working for the social network. Continue reading...

Company acts to prevent further abuse by white nationalist and internet troll after he promoted two offensive tweets using Twitter’s ad platformTwitter has banned promoted tweets that were being used to push white supremacist messages on the website. The tweets were sent and promoted through the company’s advertising tools by Andrew ‘weev’ Auernheimer, a former president of the trolling group known as the “Gay Nigger Association of America”.Among the tweets promoted by Auernheimer was one that read: “Whites need to stand up for one another and defend ourselves from violence and discrimination. Our race is dying.” A second promoted tweet read: “White pride, world wide. Do you know the 14 words?” – a reference to the white nationalist credo: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” Continue reading...

Using the internet can be seen as a trade-off: privacy for freedom. But the insidious and widespread invasion of that privacy by a security state is something different altogether Continue reading...

Kristian Segerstrale of Vainglory developer Super Evil Megacorp sees a bright future for mobile games as huge draws in the eSports world Continue reading...

CNN gains approval from FAA to explore how drones can be safely used in populated areas – are dramatic images from presidential campaign trail to follow? Continue reading...

Vodafone blocked reader’s calls and texts and demanded £150 for emergency calls and then offered her a £5 discount Continue reading...

Latest data shows phablets are four times more popular in the west this year than last as the Asian trend for big phones spreadsIf you bought a smartphone in the US this year there’s a one in five chance you bought a phablet, as the market share for plus-sized smartphones ballooned.The latest data from research company Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows that phablets – defined here as smartphones with screen sizes 5.5in or larger – accounted for 21% of US smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2015, up from 6% at the same time last year. Continue reading...

More than 1,700 tweets using misspelling of #GE2015 have been sent in the last day. Well done, Britain Continue reading...

The National Comedy Center in Jamestown, upstate New York, will feature a comedy club that could host the likes of Bob Hope, George Carlin and Rodney Dangerfield Continue reading...

Bungie has revealed new details about Destiny’s forthcoming DLC package and the company is keen to address one complaint about the game: its narrative incoherency Continue reading...

Android ‘M’ will be announced at Google’s I/O developer conference in May, but will the M stand for Maltesers, Mars, Milky Way or Marmite?Google’s next version of Android, codenamed “M”, will be announced later this month, the company’s developer conference schedule has revealed.Multiple mentions of “Android M” in the Google I/O schedule includes one in an Android for Work session specifically talking about how “Android M is bringing the power of Android to all kinds of workplaces”. Continue reading...

Google announces crackdown on software and removes ‘deceptive’ extensions from Chrome webstore following new researchMore than one in 20 web users are infected with ad injectors, a type of malware that puts unwanted adverts on web pages, according to new research from Google.As a result, the company has announced a new crackdown on the software, which can manifest either as a browser extension or a standalone application. Google removed almost 200 “deceptive” extensions from the web store for its Chrome browser, and has started to use Chrome’s safe browsing features to display warnings to users who are (likely unknowingly) about to download ad injection software. It has a long way to go, though, as the company’s research reveals that there are more than 50,000 browser extensions and 34,000 apps that inject ads into users’ browsers. Continue reading...

Simon’s productivity has benefited from adding an external monitor to his Windows laptop. Now he would like to add a second, giving three screens in allI have recently found that adding an external screen to my work laptop has really helped with productivity, but having visited a colleague who had two additional monitors, I now want that too. His laptop had two HDMI outputs so the setup was simple, but mine only has one. What’s the cheapest way for me to do this without changing my laptop? SimonAny Windows laptop will support two screens – at least, I’ve never heard of one that won’t. Supporting three screens can be just as easy, or much trickier. It depends on the laptop, the graphics card (or integrated graphics), the graphics drivers, and perhaps the amount of memory available. There’s no easy way to tell in advance. However, if you search online for your exact laptop, you may find that someone has already tried it, and this is probably the best guidance you can get. Continue reading...

Police visit Uber offices in Chengdu in a widening investigation into the company’s operations after a raid in Guangzhou last week Continue reading...

Many modern games treat their environments like real-world spaces, but two titles that challenge that notion are set to return and shake things up againVideo games are a spatial medium – they are about space. From Pong to Grand Theft Auto V, the designer seeks to create an environment that is navigable and enclosed, and that embodies the rules of the game.Even sandbox games craft environments with boundaries – San Andreas doesn’t go on forever. But there are also more subtle limits on the navigable space available to players. In GTA V, you can only go into certain buildings, and your interaction with objects is minimal. If you punch a coffee cup out of the hand of a passerby, you can’t pick it up and pop it in a bin. That’s fine, of course, because the game design doesn’t require you to be conscientious about litter, it requires you to handle firearms. The world appears open, but it is entirely designed to facilitate death and destruction. That’s perhaps one reason why GTA stunt and comedy videos are so successful on YouTube: to use the environment in this way is (apart from the few ramps littered around the city streets) transgressive. Continue reading...

Research firm GlobalWebIndex also claims that 62% of the app’s users are men, while hinting that Tinder’s new premium tier could catch onTinder shot to fame as a dating app for tech-savvy single people. Except, as it turns out, a big chunk of its users may not be single after all.That’s according to research firm GlobalWebIndex (GWI), which released some figures on Tinder from its latest survey of more than 47,000 internet users around the world that suggest the app has a wider demographic.Related: Tinder and sobriety are incompatibleRelated: Tinder: the 'painfully honest' dating app with wider social ambitions Continue reading...

Manhattan federal appeals court rejected case to increase rate popular internet radio service has to pay in order to license music Continue reading...

Daimler’s Inspiration big rig certified for use in state whose ‘huge stretches of empty, government-owned land’ make an ideal proving groundDrone trucks could soon be plying US highways after Nevada authorities on Wednesday granted a license to test self-driving trucks on public roads.While companies such as Google and luxury brands like Lexus have dominated the headlines with advances in driverless cars, Daimler board member Wolfgang Bernhard told reporters autonomous trucks were likely to hit the roads first. Continue reading...

Can technology designed to split the cost of shared living beat the old-fashioned Post-it note?I was on the phone at 10pm on a Tuesday when I learned that I owed my housemate £13.61 towards the water bill. It was the moment I realised this new app had been a huge mistake.Splittable is a free download to help house-sharers get on top of living costs. The concept is simple: when you buy washing-up liquid or pay for repairs, you put the expense into the app, then everyone knows they need to pay up. Continue reading...

There’s no doubt sport is better exercise than playing on PlayStation, but educators say students’ love of technology could actually get them moving

Company quits after state lawmakers voted through legislation that would force Uber to carry out background checks and carry additional car insurance“Kansas just shut down Uber, no pickups effective immediately,” was the message sent to Uber users in Kansas after state lawmakers voted through legislation that would force the company to carry out background checks on its drivers and carry additional car insurance.The controversial car service company said on Tuesday it would cease operations in Kansas immediately after state lawmakers vote for laws requiring Uber, and other taxi apps, to carry out background checks through the Kansas bureau of investigation and hold additional auto insurance coverage when they have Uber turned on in their cars. Continue reading...

European commission vice-president Andrus Ansip says EU-wide GDP could be increased by £300bn a year if a harmonised market is establishedPlans to reverse the fragmentation of internet shopping and other online services have been unveiled by the EU executive, which called for a digital single market in Europe covering everything from e-commerce to broadband spectrum, courier and parcel delivery rates, and uniform telecoms and copyright rules.Setting out an ambitious digital strategy that will run into fierce resistance in some of the 28 EU countries, the European commission vice-president, Andrus Ansip, said Europe would be left behind if it did not create a level playing field for internet shoppers and firms. Expected to take years to even partially realise, the proposals would also boost digital services across the EU, which lags far behind the US. Currently, not a single market leader among internet providers in the EU is European.Related: EU warns of 'point of no return' if internet firms are not regulated soon Continue reading...

Drone operators will need permission from the country’s aviation authority following complaints in affected areasThe Nepalese government has cracked down on unmanned aerial vehicles following the magnitude 7.8 that hit the country in late April.Operators who want to fly UAVs in Nepal will now have to ask for, and receive, permission from the country’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAAN), according to an official from the organisation. Continue reading...