Technology | The Guardian

The London arts institution has been touring its groundbreaking video game exhibition for 12 years. Now it’s heading back to the UK with some bold new ideasIn 1998, one of the co-founders of Rockstar, the studio behind the blockbusting Grand Theft Auto series, was chatting with the director of the National Museums of Scotland when he suggested something relatively new: an exhibition of video games. The scale and the complexity of the task looked daunting though, so the duo – Rockstar’s Lucien King, and Sir Mark Jones, now master at St Cross College, Oxford – sought help. The Barbican answered.The result was the 2002 exhibition Game On, which packed the Barbican’s gallery with hundreds of vintage arcade machines and computers. I wrote about it at the time, inspired by King’s enthusiasm; and when I visited just after opening it was astonishing to see artefacts like an old PDP-10 mainframe and the original Pong cabinet. This wasn’t the first example of a major cultural space embracing games. The American Museum of the Moving Image began its Hot Circuits: A Video Arcade exhibition in 1989 and toured it around the US for the next five years. Japan also saw a number of exhibitions through the 1990s. But 13 years ago, it was certainly rare – especially for a general arts venue like the Barbican. The organisers were far from sure about how it would go. Continue reading...

A virtual reality experience is touring America to put viewers in the middle of the action. Is it a gimmick, or the shape of things to come? Continue reading...

Service will work as a mobile payment system for third-party developers, allowing users to pay for goods and services using an Android smartphoneGoogle has announced a rival mobile payment service to Samsung Pay and Apple Pay called Android Pay. The new service will allow users to pay contactlessly for goods and services using their Android smartphone. Each transaction will generate a single-use “token”, which is sent to the receiving device to secure against fraud.Android Pay will use near-field communication (NFC) initially, but will be able to take advantage of biometric devices such as fingerprint scanners at a later date. Credit card data will be stored locally so that payments can be conducted without a data connection on the smartphone. Continue reading...

Younger users get a bargain on the dating app, saving over £10 a month compared with over-28s Continue reading...

Subscribers to Nova will be able to switch seamlessly between mobile phone and Wi-Fi signals, and between masts of competing networks

Thought there was something missing from Apple’s diversified emojis? So did the person who started a petition to get auburn-haired characters addedRedheads with iPhones rejoice: there is now a petition to get Apple to add characters with red hair.Last week, Apple released a beta update to its operating system to include characters with five shades of skin and same-sex relationship emojis. At the time, the Guardian asked when redheads would be given an emoji presence – and now there is a petition urging Apple to do just that.Thanks to all who have signed the petition for #redhead emoji! It only takes a minute: https://t.co/LYMhuWWpww pic.twitter.com/9JHSy17o5BI can’t believe redheads didn’t even get one character in Apple’s openly ‘diversified’ collection of emoji. If you say you’re going to diversify, why not add a few ginger-haired emoji in the mix? Sure, we only make up less than 2% of the world’s population, but that is 138,000,000 iPhones waiting to happen. Continue reading...

Second edition of Google-backed music awards will be online-only, with gongs for Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, One Direction and other artistsEd Sheeran and Charli XCX are among the artists filming exclusive videos for the second YouTube Music Awards, which will take place online later in March.YouTube is working with Vice Media to produce new videos from 15 artists, which will launch simultaneously on its site on 23 March.Related: Zoe Keating v YouTube: key sticking points in Google's latest music row Continue reading...

Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone is thinner, made of glass and metal, and has a curved screen versionSamsung’s new Galaxy S6 flagship smartphones have powerful processors, very high resolution screens and a new metal and glass design – but sacrifices have been made in pursuit of premium materials and a curved screen in Samsung’s war with Apple.People edge on Galaxy S6 edge. Select five favourite contacts for enhanced alerts. pic.twitter.com/GXfj9NkN9Q Continue reading...

Australian attorney general, George Brandis, targeted after having Apple messaging account linked to his public email address Continue reading...

Amazon subsidiary streamed 56m minutes of poker to its 100m monthly viewers in January, setting its sights on gambling market Continue reading...

Privacy-focused devices accompanied by updated Android-based PrivatOS operating system: ‘No software, no hooks to carriers, and no leaky data ...’ Continue reading...

Valve has finally revealed its VR intentions – but what do developers think of the Vive, the latest entry into an increasingly crowded market?Just when you thought you had the consumer virtual reality market mapped out, along comes Valve, the veteran developer behind the dominant Steam gaming platform, to complicate things yet further.At the Mobile World Congress on Sunday, smartphone manufacturer HTC announced the Vive, a powerful new VR headset, built in association with Valve, and featuring two 1200 x 1080 displays, a smooth 90-frames-per-second refresh rate and a bunch of motion tracking technologies: this includes two “base stations” that will work like Microsoft’s Kinect, allowing the headset to track the player’s movement within the room. Vive is also set to ship with two wireless controllers – although little was said about what these would look like. Continue reading...

Standalone device will go head-to-head with Facebook’s $2bn VR headset by the end of 2015, when both will have released commercial editionsGames firm Valve has made its long-anticipated move into virtual reality, teaming up with HTC for the Vive VR headset, which will launch later in 2015.It’s the second move into hardware for Valve – best known for the Steam digital games service as well as games like Half-Life, Portal and Left 4 Dead – with the company also developing its Steam Machine console.Related: Virtual reality documentaries 'take the middle man out of journalism' Continue reading...

Terror group supporters threaten social network, as well as co-founder Jack Dorsey specificallyIsis supporters have threatened Twitter employees, including co-founder Jack Dorsey specifically, with death over the social network’s practice of blocking accounts associated with the group.In an Arabic post uploaded to the image-sharing site JustPaste.it, the group told Twitter that “your virtual war on us will cause a real war on you”. It warned that Jack Dorsey and Twitter employees have “become a target for the soldiers of the Caliphate and supporters scattered among your midst!” Continue reading...

PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC, Bandai Namco, cert:12 Continue reading...

Apple’s mobile payment system has provided a method for US criminals to make fraudulent transactions – and banks are rushing to stem the tideCriminals in the US are using the new Apple Pay mobile payment system to buy high-value goods – often from Apple Stores – with stolen identities and credit card details.Banks have been caught by surprise by the level of fraud, and the Guardian understands that some are scrambling to ensure that better verification and checking systems are put in place to prevent the problem running out of control, with around two million Americans already using the system.Related: Samsung buys mobile payments firm LoopPay to take on Apple Pay Continue reading...

PS4, Sony, cert: 7 Continue reading...

The pioneering use of technology in sport is fundamentally changing how matches are played and watched. Stephen Pritchard reports on a wave of innovation that businesses could learn from Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Monday again, but hey, at least it’s spring now! Continue reading...

PS4, Sony, cert: 18 Continue reading...

The new thin and waterproof Android tablet comes with a PC-like mode for adding a keyboard and turning it into a laptopSony has launched an Android tablet that doubles as a laptop when connected to a keyboard accessory, despite announcing the end of its long-running laptop line in 2014.The new Xperia Z4 tablet, announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, is a slimmer, lighter and more powerful follow up to the Z2 tablet released in May and claims to be the thinnest and lightest 10in tablet at 6.1mm thick and 392g. Continue reading...

Desks, tables and lamps will have new wireless technology inbuilt which allows users to charge devices Continue reading...

Korean firm takes aim at Apple with latest handsets featuring curved screen and new payments technology Continue reading...

Latest mobile payment initiative from Korean firm announced in conjunction with MasterCard Continue reading...

Are extensive user software theming, new 20-megapixel camera and lighter all-metal design enough to differentiate a smartphone? Continue reading...

Mobile World Congress will as usual not feature Apple – and nor will users be represented – but it remains the industry’s biggest show in townThe world’s largest mobile technology event kicks off on Sunday with more than 86,000 salespeople, software engineers, chip designers, device makers and television crews arriving in Barcelona for the five-day event.With Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg headlining, alongside Google rising star Sundar Pichai and the omnipresent Will.i.am, who has moved from recording music into designing electronic wristbands, the Mobile World Congress will fill the halls of two separate exhibition centres and take over countless unofficial venues around the Catalan capital.Related: Mobile World Congress 2015: location and programmatic in the spotlightRelated: Net neutrality is only the beginning of an open internet Continue reading...

This super-smart baby Benz senses when you’re nodding off – and it very nearly makes you a coffee, too Continue reading...

Domestic violence experts warn malicious software is increasingly being used to compromise victims’ computers and phones Continue reading...

The 34-year-old CEO of digital currency business Independent Reserve was killed when his motorcycle crashed into a pole in Phuket, according to reports Continue reading...

The do-it-yourself maven talks tech, including her love of drones and the benefits of 3D printing, and her plans to become a go-to household brand in China

PS4; Sony Computer Entertainment; £32.56-£49.99 Continue reading...

‘I came round to this beast – it’s like having a bison or something’ Continue reading...

White and gold, or black and blue? People on the internet can’t seem to make up their minds – and perception researchers can’t agree either Continue reading...

Third parties may have reportedly gained unauthorised access to driver names and license numbers after security breach last year Continue reading...

Open internet supporters fly plane with banner reading ‘Comcast: don’t mess with the internet’ after FCC voted to approve strict rules to keep the internet free Continue reading...

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...