Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, the company’s new California headquarters are glass domes set in a supercharged pastoral dream – with WiFi Continue reading...

Camilla Hansson says she will not renew her contract after the UK advertising watchdog ruled that the mobile phone maker’s campaign objectified women

Republican Ajit Pai quotes Emperor Palpatine, of Star Wars’s evil galactic empire, in attack on new broadband rules regulating the internetRepublicans invoked Star Wars’s evil galactic emperor in their attacks on new broadband regulations on Friday, warning that the public and Silicon Valley were in for an unpleasant surprise.Quoting Emperor Palpatine, Republican Ajit Pai, a member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), said: “Young fool … Only now, at the end, do you understand.”

Black and blue or white and gold? Divisive photograph has unified the internet in debate, and the controversy shows no signs of slowing downIs it black and blue, or white and gold?Related: The Guardian view on 'the dress'Someone registered all of these domain names tonight: pic.twitter.com/O0NJzToJu9#whiteandgold or #blackandblue? We found a way around science- you can have both! #TheDress #dressgate pic.twitter.com/5oj3ZTqOWk#thedress 'Definitely blue'.. pic.twitter.com/MkZ01cjDFN Continue reading...

Game designer Sam Barlow has created a new kind of crime adventure, which relies on subtext and perception rather than quick joypad skillsIn a cramped police interrogation room a woman is being questioned about her missing husband. Is he dead? Has she killed him? There are seven separate interviews, chopped up into short, teasing fragments, but the answers aren’t immediately obvious. It’s up the player to trawl through the video records and piece the mystery together.This is the bare bones setup to Her Story, a fascinating police procedural game written by veteran developer Sam Barlow. Until a year ago, Barlow was working for mainstream studio Climax, where he designed the horror game, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. Although it was part of a long-running series, the title was an oddity, hugely informed by Barlow’s interest in the “interactive fiction” genre of highly narrative-based adventure games. Now he has set up on his own, and is experimenting with new ways to build compelling interactive mysteries."The ability to imagine a concept, put into words, type it and the game put flesh to that idea – it is magical" Continue reading...

Social network is also introducing more features to deal with harassment, including impersonation and doxingWhen Twitter boss Dick Costolo vowed that his company was ready to “get a lot more aggressive” about tackling harassment on its network, details were thin on the ground. Now Twitter has revealed some of its specific plans.The company is introducing new tools for its users to report examples of impersonation and doxing – the sharing of “private and confidential information” – while beefing up the size of its team dealing with reports of abuse.Related: Mary Beard reveals she befriended Twitter trolls following online abuse“We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we’ve sucked at it for years. It’s no secret and the rest of the world talks about it every day. We lose core user after core user by not addressing simple trolling issues that they face every day.I’m frankly ashamed of how poorly we’ve dealt with this issue during my tenure as CEO. It’s absurd. There’s no excuse for it. I take full responsibility for not being more aggressive on this front. It’s nobody else’s fault but mine, and it’s embarrassing. Continue reading...

Swedish mobile pioneer lodges complaint with US international trade commission, saying Apple uses its technology ‘without a licence’

The Civilization creator talks about galactic exploration, childhood inspirations, why he’s happy to avoid freemium – and dinosaurs“Oh, it was a sad and dark time! We had to make our own fun,” says Sid Meier before his mock-sorrow dissolves into laughter. We’ve just asked him about the games he grew up with.Given that Meier was born in 1954, those games weren’t played on a screen, yet they nevertheless had a strong influence on the video games he went on to create as an adult, from the seafaring adventure Pirates! to his seminal strategy series Civilization, and the upcoming title Starships.Related: From Civilization to Big Brother: how a game recreated Orwell's 1984 Continue reading...

Heeding ‘ton of feedback’ from users, company announces it won’t implement changes, but steps up enforcement of existing policy on sexually explicit content

A new office block in Sweden is offering workers the chance to have a microchip implanted under their skin to allow them to access to various services within the building. The tiny chip, the size of a grain of rice, is implanted in employees hands, allowing them to open doors, or use the photocopier, without a traditional pass card Continue reading...

Japanese robot can lift patients from beds into wheelchairs or help them to stand up, promising ‘powerful yet gentle care’ for the elderlyA number of companies have explored the idea of humanoid robots as future home-helpers for elderly people. The latest experiment from Japan is distinctly more bear-shaped, though.Meet Robear, an experimental nursing-care robot developed by the RIKEN-SRK Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research and Sumitomo Riko Company.Related: Meet the robot giving hospitalised children superpowers Continue reading...

Apple’s foray into wearable tech comes one step closer with San Francisco keynote date confirmedApple has invited worldwide media to an event on March 9, where the firm will announce launch plans for its Apple Watch.“Please join us for an invitation-only event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco on Monday, March 9, at 10am,” the invite reads. An event will also take place simultaneously in Berlin. The invite carries the strapline “Spring forward”. Continue reading...

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

But Vulnicura could appear on streaming services later, as artist hints at plans for a windowing strategy for her new musicWhen Björk’s latest album Vulnicura leaked months before its planned release, its launch was brought forward – but only for Apple’s iTunes and other download stores. It is still not available on streaming music services like Spotify.Related: The future of music sales is here. So how CAN the artists make it pay?Related: Spotify CEO speaks out on Taylor Swift albums removal: 'I'm really frustrated' Continue reading...

Tools such as I’ll Vote Green If You Do mean isolated pockets of resistance can unite to become effective agents of political changeIt’s always election-time, of course. From the moment the polls close, party strategists are scheming about the pre-ordained date, five years hence, when they will close again. But there’s election-time and there election-time and this is the latter – election-getting-very-close-now time.Figuring out how to use the web to get elected – and to get elected again the next time around – is a problem without an all-purpose answer. The particulars of online electoral campaigning are specific to the party and its situation and the nation in which it is running, but there has been a trajectory in the history of electoral campaigns that we can follow out to get a sense of what our near-term future (the next election) and the one after that (2020, assuming parliament hasn’t been dissolved and replaced by a Star Chamber that rules behind closed doors and will not open them until everyone who’s ever done or thought anything even a little terrorist-y is dead or locked up in an offshore black site). Continue reading...

Messaging system still operating while lawyers appeal nationwide order arising from ‘sexually graphic’ photos of children being shared Continue reading...

Telecoms giant uses a faux typewriter and morse code to issue statement expressing frustration at what it calls ‘antiquated’ internet regulations Continue reading...

FCC says ‘we listened and we learned’, and passes strict broadband rules that represent ‘a red-letter day for internet freedom’ Continue reading...

Using technology instead of paper ballots reduces costs and could boost voter turnout – but questions remain over security and possible electoral fraud

Social network adds a report button that flags suicidal content for review by a dedicated team to try and helpFacebook has rolled out new tools in the US that aim to help prevent suicides, allowing users to report content for review and encourage the vulnerable to get help.The tools build on a reporting feature implemented in 2011, which passed details to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the US, and the Samaritans in the UK. The new initiative involves a trained team, more resources and features to help those at risk of suicide or self-harm.Related: Samaritans pulls ‘suicide watch’ Radar app over privacy concerns Continue reading...

Dick Costolo promises to change culture around harassment: ‘We’re going to get a lot more aggressive about it, and it’s going to start right now’By its own boss’s admission, Twitter “suck at dealing with abuse and trolls”. Now Dick Costolo has shed a little more light on how the company plans to change that.Twitter is planning to shift “the cost of dealing with harassment” on to the people accused of that harassment, not on the people who endure it, said Costolo in an interview with the New York Times.Related: Twitter unveils new system for reporting abuse Continue reading...

US regulators are voting on whether to enshrine the openness of the internet, and the outcome is likely to influence policy worldwideNet neutrality is the principle of making sure that your internet service provider doesn’t make it easier for you to access one service over another – the Guardian over the Telegraph, say – or otherwise distorting your use of internet services just because someone dropped a few extra quid in their pocket.

Search giant consolidates its European businesses to deal with increasing political ill-will, regulatory scrutiny and competition from rivalsGoogle is changing the the structure of its European business as it anticipates further regulatory scrutiny across the continent.

Top US regulator likely to announce plan to exert greatest power over cable industry in victory for supporters of free and open internetThe Federal Communications Commission (FCC) looks set to pass strict new rules to govern broadband internet in the US on Thursday, following one of the most intense – and bizarre – lobbying battles Washington has ever seen.The FCC’s five commissioners will meet on Thursday morning to approve a plan to regulate broadband like a public utility, giving the regulator the greatest power over the cable industry it has had since the internet went mainstream.Related: Net neutrality: FCC votes on the future of the internet – liveRelated: Net neutrality: Republicans to strike back against Obama's 'internet grab'Related: Net neutrality: what's the latest controversy? Your questions answered Continue reading...

Anthony has a new Lenovo laptop and wonders if he should be concerned. Jack Schofield says that’s the tip of the iceberg and everyone should be worried.When I started working abroad about three months ago, my company provided me with a new Lenovo laptop. Should I be worried? AnthonyEveryone should be worried, but not for the obvious reason.

As the right to be forgotten grows in importance online we ask what about the right to be remembered Continue reading...

Come to the Guardian office and talk games with our regular contributors, including Andy Kelly, Rich Stanton and Philippa Warr Continue reading...

Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp talks about the power of digital curation and what the app really does: ‘It’s really this great tool for discovering creative ideas and saving them for later’“Pinterest is not a social network. Really. It’s not about your friends! The last thing I need is another messaging app, y’know?” says Evan Sharp, thumping his fist on the table for emphasis. “It’s really this different kind of unique thing.”Sharp should know: he co-founded it. And since its launch in 2009, Pinterest has reached a large audience – 47.1 million active users in the US alone this year according to eMarketer – raising a startling $764m of funding along the way.Related: Pinterest promises 'smarter search' including manly pins for menNo eyeball-frying uglyfest

Customers using the bank’s Pingit app will be able to exchange payments using just their Twitter handle Continue reading...

Chinese-owned mobile company launches a cheap 4G smartphone with water-resistant coating and the latest version of Android 5 Lollipop Continue reading...

Seven servers being used to control millions of devices infected by Ramnit - including many in Britain – have been shut down overnightA cybercrime ring that used millions of hacked computers in Britain to steal banking information has been shut down by European police and technology companies.Europol’s European cybercrime centre coordinated the operation from its headquarters in The Hague, targeting the so-called Ramnit botnet – a network of computers infected with malware.Related: Hackers steal $1bn in series of online bank thefts says report Continue reading...

Austrians have injured limbs amputated, then nerves and muscles transplanted from leg to arm are used to control prosthetic hands Continue reading...

Google’s decision to force blogs hosting adult content into becoming invitation-only services is a deliberate and ill-considered sabotage on free speech and connectivity, writes Zoe Margolis, of sex blog Girl With A One-Track MindGoogle has steadily been cutting down on adult-oriented material hosted on Blogger, its blogging platform, over the last few years. Previously, bloggers could freely post “images or videos that contain nudity or sexual activity,” albeit behind an warning screen that Blogger implemented in 2013.Then, Blogger said “censoring this content is contrary to a service that bases itself on freedom of expression”, so bloggers rightly assumed that they would be free to continue to post adult content.

Activision is rumoured to be reviving its hugely popular music game series, with an announcement planned for this year’s E3 convention in LA in June

The movie studio has invested in the developer of the Walking Dead games to develop a new crossover concept featuring both TV and game elementsThere have been myriad attempts to marry television and games into “holistic transmedia experiences” – and the results have often been as bad as the phrase itself.All that could be about to change following a decision by film and television studio Lionsgate to make a “significant” investment in Telltale Games, the developer of episodic adventure games based on The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones.Related: Minecraft: Story Mode spin-off game announced by Mojang Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Wednesday! And don’t forget, there are still tickets available to our ‘meet the game writers’ event on March 4. Come along and ask why I never get Chatterbox ready on time! Continue reading...

Watchdog rules that Kazam advert featuring ‘sexually suggestive’ scenes was likely to cause serious offence to some viewers Continue reading...

Jury in Texas orders Apple to pay hundreds of millions to Smartflash for infringing three patents relating to iTunesApple has been ordered to pay more than $530m after a federal jury in Texas found its iTunes software infringed three patents owned by a patent licensing company called Smartflash.Although Smartflash had been asking for $852m in damages, the verdict handed down on Tuesday night was still a blow to Apple.

Claims marketers of Mole Detective and MelApp ‘lacked adequate evidence’ showing their apps could detect melanoma symptomsCan you really detect the melanoma type of skin cancer by taking a photograph of a mole using your smartphone? The US Federal Trade Commission’s latest action provides strong encouragement to be wary of such claims.The FTC has reached settlements with two firms marketing melanoma detection apps MelApp and Mole Detective, and plans to file claims against another company that did not agree to settle.Related: FTC in talks with Apple over health data protection – Open Thread Continue reading...

Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, discusses his early career and the pivotal moment when a leap of faith led him into the world of competitive expeditions.

Move by internet companies follows posting of nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence on sites without her permissionSocial networking and news site Reddit has said it will remove photos, videos and links with explicit content if the person in the image has not given permission for it to be posted.Google, meanwhile, is going to ban most nude photos and video from publicly accessible sites on its Blogger service.

Mobile phone maker’s non-business market will slump below 1 million this year, according to two research firms who foresee a bleak future for the brand Continue reading...