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Available from July, £99.99 Continue reading...

Co-founder Jack Dorsey wrote the first ever tweet nine years ago today. Celebrate its birthday with some of the biggest posts from its history Continue reading...

‘For what earthly purpose would anyone need this elevated carriage, this wide and stately aspect, to tootle about between postcodes?’ Continue reading...

Increasingly, computer games are being used to treat conditions from autism to Parkinson's disease Continue reading...

Adam Sandler action comedy delivers a surprising 34.3m trailer views in one day, according to Sony Continue reading...

Former White House intern calls herself ‘patient zero’ of cyberbullying culture in reference to first major scandal in 90s that attracted online global attention Continue reading...

Google-backed technology firm pulls out of TED conference talk but shares video of robot-blasting ‘game we’re playing around the office right now’ Continue reading...

Guilt and remorse are near-universal human emotions, but their role in narrative games is minimal. Isn’t it time this changed?Out, damn’d spot! Out, I say! One; two: why, then‘tis time to do’t. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, andLady Macbeth was a gamer. She saw in the feudal chaos of Glamis and its environs a chance to play the system and win. Her mission objective was to eliminate King Duncan and take his power, and with her husband she succeeded. But this game of thrones hid from her a terrible mechanic. Guilt.

Star Walk 2, Tinkerplay, Five Nights at Freddy’s 3, Stick Cricket 2, Swipes, Connect, Frozen Synapse Prime and more Continue reading...

An investigation in 2013 accused the company of illegal practices against rivals – but the ‘speculation turned out to be entirely wrong,’ says Google Continue reading...

Deadline for applications extended and farmers told to revert to traditional paper forms after glitches with switchover to online-only system

With an all-aluminium body, powerful processor and 12-hour-plus battery life the Pixel is the best Chromebook going, but at a priceThe Chromebook Pixel is Google’s vision of what a computer should be like – with a high-resolution screen, excellent battery life and solid aluminium body, with apps and data stored in the cloud.But the Pixel is a contradiction – at £799 it’s an expensive machine that uses an operating system designed for cheap computers.Pros: fast, aluminium body, fantastic high resolution screen, 12+ hours battery, USB C, zero maintenance requiredCons: Chrome OS still limited for some things, three to four times the price of other Chromebooks, very little local storage Continue reading...

Nokia HERE, Google Calendar, Stick Cricket 2, Snow White by Nosy Crow, Enlight, Angry Birds Stella POP!, Epic War TD 2 and moreYes, it’s back. The weekly roundups of iOS and Android apps went on hiatus at the end of 2014 in favour of monthly collections.However, after a number of comments on app-related articles asking for the weekly rundowns to come back, it’s clear there’s still a demand. So, this column is getting back in the saddle for both platforms.Related: The best iPhone apps of 2014Related: The best iPad apps of 2014Related: The best iPhone and iPad games of 2014 Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterFriday! Don’t look directly at the sun! Continue reading...

Ex-footballer’s lawyer condemns MGN’s refusal to question his client, and accuses defence of only calling him in the hope he would fail to attend Continue reading...

Company set to compete with 18-carat gold version of Apple Watch by launching device using Google’s operating system in time for Christmas rush

Cheeky marketing wheeze from 3D printing company CEL pays homage to currently-suspended Top Gear presenterIf you had 19 March in the “When will someone respond to Jeremy Clarkson’s latest controversy by turning his head into a 3D-printable part for Hungry Hippos?” sweepstakes, this is very much your lucky day.3D printing firm CEL has found one of the more inventive ways to capitalise on the TV presenter’s suspension from Top Gear for marketing purposes, releasing a 3D-printable version of Clarkson’s head.Related: Robox inventor hopes 3D printing will help everybody become a maker Continue reading...

Individuals affected by the breach – which exposed details of up to 40m credit and debit card accounts – could get up to a maximum of $10,000, proposal says Continue reading...

The rise and rise of an animated nursery rhymes channel whose most popular video has been watched more times than Frozen’s Let It Go“The other day, I got an alert saying our Wheels on the Bus compilation was 63rd on YouTube’s all-time chart. I had a look, and number 64 was the theme tune from Frozen.”Derek Holder, who runs the Little Baby Bum YouTube channel with his wife, sounds both amused and baffled as he tells the Guardian about its startling growth. But he’s absolutely right.Related: YouTube's top 100 channels have more than doubled their views in a yearRelated: YouTube Kids app launches in the US for Android and iOSRelated: YouTube, apps and Minecraft: digital kids and the future of children’s media Continue reading...

Michael wants to replace his five-year-old laptop and wonders whether to buy now or wait in the hope of getting something cheaperI want to buy a new laptop for general purpose family use. Should the launch of Windows 10 affect whether I buy now or wait in the hope that vendors sell off older models cheaply? Given that it might be a free upgrade, I’m wondering if this changes what normally happens before a large upgrade.I’m currently using Windows 7 on a five-year-old Toshiba Satellite L500-1WG. Based on how I use my laptop, I think I’d find Windows 8.1 hard to get on with. Michael Continue reading...

Tech company announces closure of its research and development office in China, with losses of up to 300 jobsYahoo has announced the closure of its last office in China in a new cost-cutting move.The closure of its research and development in Beijing office will eliminate 200 to 300 jobs, Bloomberg reported, quoting a person familiar with the matter. Continue reading...

Veteran video game company says indie developer’s PlayStation Vita title TxK is too similar to its Tempest series Continue reading...

Devon and Cornwall police called when video game dispute between adult siblings escalated Continue reading...

Publisher Rovio’s licensed products falling out of favour with fans, but company says it made more money from actual games Continue reading...

The UK uses the most tracking cookies of any EU country. How should you be protecting your privacy online?The UK uses the most cookies of any EU country, according to a new report. Bad for waistlines if we were talking biscuits, but since we’re talking online trackers, the threat is to web privacy.Cookies are tiny pieces of text that websites leave on your computer, so they know who you are or where you go – most logins and online checkouts use cookies, but so too do behavioural advertising systems.Related: 21 tips, tricks and shortcuts to help you stay anonymous onlineRelated: When the cookies crumbled, so did your web anonymityRelated: Third of Americans take precautions to protect web presence, Pew report finds Continue reading...

Revamped app promises to introduce users to ‘a lesbian that hasn’t slept with any of your friends’Lesbian dating app Dattch is no more: the plaid shirt is hung up and The L Word box-set back on the shelf.Introducing HER, a “lesbian social app” – born after the company behind Dattch relocated from London to San Francisco, changed its name and secured more than $1m (£630,000) in funding. Continue reading...

Research from social media platform says 45% of users aged 18-34 became interested in a cause they learned about through the site

The £40m pledged toward initiatives linking domestic appliances with the web is good news for Britain’s tech industry but could also bring cybersecurity risks Continue reading...

Chancellor announces bid to raise internet speeds to at least 100Mbps across the UK in budget move welcomed by rural campaigners Continue reading...

Companies to bid for projects to join up technology required to make autonomous vehicles part of an over-reaching network Continue reading...

Verto and Kimble, the administrators of Evolution Marketplace, have made off with the cryptocurrency sum as Reddit community cries foulThe administrators of a top deep-web marketplace have disappeared with over $12m worth of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, it emerged last night, in what appears to have been an “exit scam”.On the website Reddit, a user called NSWGreat, who identified him- or herself as a moderator for the site, raised the first red flag in a post to the DarkNetMarkets subreddit marked “EVOLUTION EXIT SCAM”.

The web pioneer that missed chances to buy Google, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter faces questions about its purpose in a mobile world - and whether it is a takeover targetMarissa Mayer has just one year to turn Yahoo into a thriving, growing prospect - or else the venerable business will become an acquisition target.That’s the thinking of Nicholas Carlson, a journalist whose book Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo! explores the company’s struggle under its charismatic new chief executive, appointed in 2012 to try to turn around a business that seemed to be sinking into despond. Continue reading...

Company plans to make content generated by users available to commerce, academia and even police involved in crowd controlYou are travelling by plane to see your newborn grandchild. As you board the aircraft, the cabin crew address you by name and congratulate you on the arrival of a bouncing baby boy. On your seat, you find a gift-wrapped blue rattle with a note from the airline.In Twitter data strategy chief Chris Moody’s vision of the future, companies surprising their customers like this could become an everyday occurrence – made possible because Twitter is listening. Continue reading...

Former Beatle gets scanned for an official 3D-printable figurine, and makes it available for free to fans from his website Continue reading...

Taxi app firm faces legal challenge to its UberPOP service in Paris, which connects drivers with riders in a budget version of app’s premium serviceFrench police have raided the Paris offices of the taxi app firm Uber as part of ongoing investigations into its UberPOP peer-to-peer ride-sharing service.The investigation, at the behest of Paris’ prosecutors office, comes after France’s interior ministry vowed to ban the app from 1 January 2015. Continue reading...

Israeli-based quiz and list publishing platform uses content from organisations including such as the Daily Telegraph and AOL

Windows 10 will come with a new browser, codenamed Spartan, built from the ground up – but Microsoft won’t be killing off IE, however much it would like toThe web browser that will ship with Microsoft’s new Windows 10 operating system might not be called Internet Explorer, but reports of IE’s demise have been somewhat exaggerated.

From stargazing and Gruffalo-spotting to filmmaking and papercrafting, these apps get children looking up from their screensThis morning, I spent a happy 20 minutes wandering around my back garden taking photos of grass, flowers and trees to decorate a virtual patchwork elephant. I am 37 years old, and not ashamed.The Elmer’s Photo Patchwork app isn’t really for me, though. It’s a children’s app released this month by developer Touch Press, based on the popular series of Elmer books. And it’s one of a growing number of apps trying to encourage kids’ real-world play, rather than cannibalise it.Related: The best iPad apps for kids of 2014Related: The best Android apps for kids of 2014 Continue reading...

Mobile firm’s western boss Shintaro Asako wants 100m daily active players for ‘smartphone-specific game that requires day-to-day social interaction’Japanese games firm DeNA believes Nintendo’s first smartphone and tablet games have the ability to be as big as mobile hit Candy Crush Saga.The company, which struck a licensing deal with Nintendo earlier in the week, is working on the first official mobile games based on the latter’s big console and handheld brands.Related: Nintendo: NES to smartphone, it's been about one thing – controlRelated: 10 Nintendo games that would be great on a smartphone or tablet Continue reading...

The star of the Divergent series has said ‘the amount of gender violence I experience is absolutely extraordinary’ Continue reading...

Tracks from the much-anticipated follow up to Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, notched up 9.6m streams on the album’s first full day of release Continue reading...

Social network makes its big move into mobile payments, although the ability to send money directly to contacts will be US-only for nowFacebook is adding a feature to its Facebook Messenger app that will enable people to send payments directly to their friends on the social network.The new feature will be launched in the coming months, initially for US users only. It will be available within the Android and iOS Messenger apps as well as through the messaging section of Facebook’s website.“We use secure systems that encrypt the connection between you and Facebook as well as your card information when you ask us to store it for you. We use layers of software and hardware protection that meet the highest industry standards.These payment systems are kept in a secured environment that is separate from other parts of the Facebook network and that receive additional monitoring and control. A team of anti-fraud specialists monitor for suspicious purchase activity to help keep accounts safe.”Related: Messaging apps' next threads: encryption, payments, media and ads Continue reading...

Tesla chief executive thinks switch from traditional to autonomous cars may take 20 years, and warns: ‘You can’t have a person driving a two-ton death machine’Tesla chief executive Elon Musk thinks that once self-driving cars become widely used, traditional human-driven vehicles may need to be banned.“It’s too dangerous. You can’t have a person driving a two-ton death machine,” said Musk during an appearance at Nvidia’s annual developers conference, where he discussed Tesla’s ambitionsfor autonomous-cars.