Technology | The Guardian

Social network says more than 1m small businesses have posted videos and bought advertising as a resultFacebook videos were being watched more than 1bn times a day at the peak of the ice bucket challenge craze in the summer of 2014. Six months on, that figure has quadrupled to 4bn daily views.The social network’s chief executive Mark Zuckerberg revealed the latest figure in his company’s earnings call with analysts, after announcing Facebook’s latest quarterly financial results.Related: Traders 'unlike' Facebook shares after first-quarter revenues miss expectationsRelated: Facebook: latest news feed tweak gives more priority to your friends Continue reading...

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

And big-data crunch has some bad news for breeders: ‘At every age, parents listen to less currently-popular music than the average listener does’Some encouragement for all the 42-year-olds suddenly getting into Rihanna or Rudimental: at least your midlife crisis is less dangerous than buying an unsuitably-powerful motorbike.Streaming music service Spotify has identified 42 as the age when many of its users rediscover the joys of current pop music, as part of research into how their tastes mature over time.“While teens’ music taste is dominated by incredibly popular music, this proportion drops steadily through peoples’ 20s, before their tastes “mature” in their early 30s.Men and women listen similarly in their their teens, but after that, men’s mainstream music listening decreases much faster than it does for women.Related: Spotify has six years of my music data, but does it understand my tastes? Continue reading...

With its super-fast processor, brilliant camera and wireless charging, Samsung’s latest flagship is the best phone it’s ever madeThe Galaxy S6 is the latest flagship Android smartphone from Samsung, a design-focused all-metal and glass powerhouse with one of the best cameras to date.The S6 comes in two varieties: one traditional flat smartphone and one with curved edges to the screen, the S6 Edge.Pros: fast, great screen, attractive design, good fingerprint reader, excellent camera, wireless chargingCons: no removable battery or storage, Facebook and Microsoft apps bundled, back glass easily scratched Continue reading...

The UK Conservative party chairman has already gotten into trouble over an online alter ego – now he’s making headlines for allegedly editing his own biography Continue reading...

Labour candidate Karl Turner asks director of public prosecutions to investigate Tory chair after suspended user Contribsx made changes on web encyclopedia Continue reading...

Tory chairman says he could not have been behind suspended Wikipedia account as he was elsewhere while edits were made. We check if this holds true Continue reading...

EU competition commissioner says Kremlin-controlled energy multinational charged eight countries up to 40% more for their gas than elsewhere in union Continue reading...

The video site is 10 years old this week and now contains tricks and guides to pretty much every problem ever. Guardian writers reveal the lessons they’ve learned

It had the backing of artists such as Kanye West and Rihanna and was hailed as the music industry’s salvation, but Tidal is showing early signs of failure Continue reading...

The robot - which goes by the name Random Darknet Shopper - was part of an art installation meant to explore the dark web Continue reading...

The place to eventually talk about games and other things that mattered four hours ago Continue reading...

E-commerce has been built to favour the tech giants. Only new regulations that recognise the plight of spunky startups and SMEs can help weaken their gripThe European anti-trust action against Google uses a silly rubric to get at a serious underlying problem.The nominal issue is that Google preferentially directed comparison shoppers to its own e-commerce sites even when they weren’t the cheapest option. This would be sleazy if true. What’s certainly true is that Google’s shopping site has always sucked, is barely used, and is the least worrisome competition question raised by Google’s online dominance. Busting Google for sleazy e-commerce search results is like taking down Al Capone for tax-evasion. Continue reading...

Standalone site on Tumblr, aimed at 16- to 34-year-olds, aims to recreate bulletin’s ‘feisty spirit’ Continue reading...

Mojang’s crafting title still top game franchise on Google’s video service, ahead of Grand Theft Auto and Five Nights at Freddy’s Continue reading...

Cheapest model lacks hard sapphire screen, instead relying on hardened glass similar to smartphones. But is it scratch resistant enough for a watch?The vast majority of Apple Watch sales are expected to be of the cheapest version, the Apple Watch Sport – but just how scratch resistant is its screen?

Bug in open-source codebase found its way into at least 1,000 apps, leaving millions of users open to man-in-the-middle attacksAround 1,000 iOS apps are affected by a weakness in their mobile security which makes it easy for attackers to access encrypted data like passwords, bank account numbers and home addresses as they are being sent over the airwaves, according to a report from security firm SourceDNA.Companies including Microsoft, Uber and Yahoo all released apps affected by the flaw – they have now fixed them but many others still have not updated their apps to a new secure version. Continue reading...

Nick Clegg pokes fun at Grant Shapps on Wednesday over accusations that the Conservative party chairman secretly edited Wikipedia pages to remove embarassing references to himself and made unflattering references online pages of Tory rivals. The Liberal Democrats leader jokes that while Shapps denies editing his Wikipedia page, perhaps it was 'Michael Green' – a pseudonym used by Shapps Continue reading...

A new generation of talented game makers is looking to put Indian development on the map – just as giants like Disney and Rovio are moving in to exploit the vast local marketEvery month, blogger Mithun Balraj organises a get-together for gamers and developers in a bar in Koramangala, Bangalore. When these informal gatherings began a year ago, five or six people came along – now there are over 30 and interest is growing. Some pop in just to chat about the games they’re playing, others show off prototypes of their own projects; they all want to discover new titles. “I brought in the sword-fighting game Nidhogg last week,” says Balraj. “It was great, but we got a little bit carried away. The bar owner told us to be quiet because the other customers were trying to watch the cricket.”

The streaming service launched as an alternative to Spotify seems to have floundered. In fact, it may even have boosted sales of its rivals Continue reading...

The former Smiths guitarist warns fans away from ‘eBay tossers’ reselling vinyl at inflated prices Continue reading...

Fewer posts from pages or strangers that friends have interacted with: ‘People are worried about missing important updates from the friends they care about’Facebook is rolling out the latest change to its news feed algorithm, tipping its emphasis back towards status updates, photos, videos and links posted by friends on the social network.Posts from Facebook pages and media organisations will still appear in the news feed, but reading between the lines of the company’s blog post about the changes, they seem likely to receive less priority after the change.Related: How does Facebook decide what to show in my news feed?“Content posted directly by the friends you care about, such as photos, videos, status updates or links, will be higher up in News Feed so you are less likely to miss it. If you like to read news or interact with posts from pages you care about, you will still see that content in News Feed. This update tries to make the balance of content the right one for each individual person.”Related: Hi Mum, sorry about that love-doll bumhole in your Facebook feed Continue reading...

Primary school pupils encouraged to use ‘sandbox’-style game to visualise their dream park, with $8.9m allotted to bring winning design to life Continue reading...

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.