Lohan Presencer takes aim at audio services such as Spotify, Deezer and Rdio - and calls for a YouTube paywallIf Ministry of Sound boss Lohan Presencer had his way, there would be no free option for streaming music services such as Spotify, Deezer and Rdio - or YouTube for that matter.Related: Ministry of Sound sues Spotify for copyright infringementRelated: The future of music sales is here. So how CAN the artists make it pay? Continue reading...

Fans are up in arms after Fifa bosses turned off the popular Ultimate Team auction system and replaced it with price tiers for every item in the gameThere is trouble on the virtual terraces of the best-selling Fifa video game series. Fans have reacted with fury to changes announced by developer EA Sports, which will radically alter the game’s popular Ultimate Team feature.For many, the eBay-style open-auction transfer market that underpinned the mode’s gameplay – which involves building a “deck” of player trading cards into a fantasy team – was one of its biggest pulls. Bagging an in-form player at a bargain price, usually by purchasing their card at 2am when fewer participants are online, led to moments of punch-the-air euphoria. With some Harry-Redknapp-style wheeler and dealing the purchase could be immediately flipped back onto the market with a higher starting price – a much faster way of acquiring in-game currency than actually playing matches. And the faster you made coins, the quicker the world’s best players could be secured for your fantasy line-up.Related: Fifa 15 review – not flawless, but still the best Continue reading...

Guardian, Telegraph and YouTube offer to move forward date of proposed online debate to ‘remove one stumbling block’ Continue reading...

The new Edition smartwatch is certainly expensive, but how long, in relative terms, would it take to buy one in each of the nine countries where it is launching?Apple signalled its move into the luxury goods space with the introduction of its Edition collection of smartwatches on Tuesday. The most expensive of the three tiers of Apple Watch will set you back at least $10,000 in the US and £8,000 in the UK.A recent New Yorker profile of Apple’s chief designer, Jonathan Ive, revealed that there were discussions over whether the company could keep being a brand for everyone with the introduction of a product line targeted at such a rich demographic. Continue reading...

The Guardian is co-organising a news game jam at the Rezzed gaming festival in London. Could this kind of experiment lead to new forms of journalism?This week, the Guardian is co-organising a news game jam at the Rezzed PC gaming festival in London. Small teams of coders and designers will be given a selection of recent stories from the newspaper, and will then have 48 hours to create games based around the article they choose. The best entries will be made available via the Guardian site.The idea of a “news game” is not, in fact, new. Since the mid-nineties, when web plug-ins like Flash made it possible to produce quick, cheap games then distribute them online, developers have been creating interactive news experiments. Italian studio Molleindustria was a pioneer, launching the fast food satire McDonald’s Game and oil business expose Oiligarchy, while US developer Persuasive Games has tackled subjects like mass food production (Bacteria Salad) and airport customs (Airport Insecurity).Related: Firestorm: The story of the bushfire at DunalleyRelated: The refugee challenge: can you break into Fortress Europe? - interactiveRelated: Newsgame hackathon: can we make a game with no coding experience? Continue reading...

Research firm eMarketer predicts that there’ll be 32.8m British tablet users this year, with just over half of them using Apple’s iPadMore than half of the UK population will be regularly using tablet computers in 2015, up from a third in 2013, but the growth is set to slow “dramatically” in the coming years according to research firm eMarketer.The company’s latest predictions for the UK tablet market claim that 32.8 million Brits will be using a tablet at least once a month in 2015, representing 51% of the population – and 64.1% of internet users. Continue reading...

The departure of Patrick Pichette, who has been at the tech firm since 2008, is the latest in a recent string of changes to the company’s senior managementGoogle Inc’s chief financial officer, Patrick Pichette, has announced his intention to retire, the company announced on Tuesday. His decision marks the latest in a number of recent changes to the internet company’s upper ranks.Google expects to find a replacement for Pichette within six months, the company said in a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ellen Pao said she is suing her former venture capital firm for eight figures because only an amount that large would ‘hit their radar’The woman at the center of a landmark $16m Silicon Valley sex discrimination case said she was suing her former venture capital employer for such a large amount because only an eight-figure settlement would “hit their radar” and force change in the west coast technology scene’s “boys’ club”.

Answer these simple questions and resolve the most pressing consumer dilemma of the week – to splash out on another Apple gadget or not? Continue reading...

Popbitch rival launched by Jamie East in 2002 was bought by Big Brother and MasterChef producer Endemol Shine Continue reading...

140 vehicles to be added to government fleet in move hailed as important step by minister, but only four ministerial cars will be replaced in first round Continue reading...

Lawsuit against spy agency and Justice Department challenges ‘suspicionless seizure and searching of internet traffic’ uncovered by Edward Snowden Continue reading...

Sadly, the video game console platform is the most interesting thing about this superhero TV show based on a comic book series Continue reading...

Ride-share service announces initiative in light of several driver assaults on passengers but says women won’t yet have the ability to request female driversRide-hailing app Uber, under the microscope due to a handful of driver assaults on passengers in some cities, pledged in a blog post to sign up 1 million female drivers globally by 2020.The ride service did not provide comparable figures for how many women drivers are on the Uber service globally today. In the United States, about 14% of its 160,000 drivers are female, the company said, and the company adds thousands more drivers each month.Related: Uber should be keeping women safe, but Uber has a woman problem | Megan Carpentier Continue reading...

Tim Cook has announced the Apple Watch, including a solid gold version for £13,500. But who would actually buy it? And why would they want to?It’s difficult to know what the defining news moment of 2015 has been so far: the consecration of the first female bishop in the UK? The explosive Westminster cash-for-access scandal? Patricia Arquette’s inspiring call for equality in her Oscars speech?

Influential website founded by Om Malik draws tributes as it announces it is winding down – but it says it is not yet filing for bankruptcy Continue reading...

NSA and GCHQ mass surveillance is more about disrupting political opposition than catching terrorists

Kind of interested in the new gadget but can’t really be bothered to plough through the millions of words written about it? Now read on ... Continue reading...

Agency tried to create dummy version of development software that would allow it to insert surveillance back doors into appsThe CIA led sophisticated intelligence agency efforts to undermine the encryption used in Apple phones, as well as insert secret surveillance back doors into apps, top-secret documents published by the Intercept online news site have revealed.The newly disclosed documents from the National Security Agency’s internal systems show surveillance methods were presented at its secret annual conference, known as the “jamboree”. Continue reading...

Analysts see mostly risk in the release of the line of smartwatches, from pricing – £13,500 for a rose-gold version – to demand and even profit margin Continue reading...

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

BMW app, 18-carat gold casing, launched with the help of a supermodel – Apple moves further into luxury market with the launch of its first smartwatch Continue reading...

The latest Dragon Age game creates a feminist, gender-blind utopiaI think I am in love with Dorian from Dragon Age: Inquisition. Which puts me in a worse-than-usual fix. No woman ever stood a chance with Dorian from Dragon Age. And he’s a fictional character in an entirely made-up game universe. Fucksticks.Enormous and immediate apologies to Wendy Cope for that, but when you descend to stealing someone else’s love poetry to express how you’re feeling about a videogame character, you know you’re in trouble. Dragon Age: Inquisition, released at Christmas for PS4, Xbox One and PC, is rapidly gaining a reputation among fangirls everywhere not so much for its richly imagined game world and its enjoyable battle mechanics but for its romance and sex elements. Continue reading...

The Californian technology company revealed full details of its smartwatch range, including a luxury range that starts with a solid 18-carat gold version for $10,000

Monitoring activity could help patients take better care of their health and allow doctors and nurses to keep abreast of changes without several appointments

The Australian Centre for Robotic Vision demonstrates the visual ability of Baxter, a robot fitted with cameras in its head and wrists. The hope is that in another decade or so such robots will operate side-by-side with humans in 'unorganised environments' such as orchards, rather than being restricted to ordered factory floors which are unsafe for humans to enter Continue reading...

Apple CEO Tim Cook unveiled details of the first product developed under his leadership, a watch that Apple hopes will transform the market of wearable technology. In a carefully choreographed presentation from San Francisco, Cook called the new watch the 'most personal device' Apple has ever created and one that revolutionizes the way people can connect with others.

Everything you need to know about Apple’s new products and announcments, from the Apple Watch to the new MacBook to Apple TV, in brief Continue reading...

With the basic 18-carat gold watch costing about the same as three Chanel 2.55 handbags, the Apple Watch Edition is for the true high-rollers

Burberry chief Angela Ahrendts and designer Sir Jonathan Ive are steering Apple into new territory, where Chinese consumers could be key Continue reading...

An app-by-app guide to what the new Apple Watch can do

The date has been set for Apple’s first smartwatch, which is set to cost $349 for the cheapest model

The iPhone maker’s entry into the nascent smartwatch market has some analysts predicting unheard-of figures. But not everyone is convinced Continue reading...

Your predictions are in: will the Apple Watch cost $500, last for a day and be introduced by an all-male keynote? That’s what our readers thinkWith just a few hours to go until Apple reveals the final secrets about its long-awaited watch, it’s time to tot up your predictions about just what we’re going to see.On Friday, we asked readers what they expected from today’s event in areas as diverse as pricing, products and the presence of Dr Dre – and while there was consensus on some questions, on others, it seems like the answer is still up in the air.Related: Apple Watch: what Jony Ive has said about itRelated: Apple Watch launch signals firm’s transformation into luxury goods brand Continue reading...

Here’s what Apple’s design chief has revealed about its latest product Continue reading...

After news of security flaws in BMW computer systems, five experts look at the implications for autonomous vehiclesCyber security lead at the Institution of Engineering and Technology Continue reading...

Upcoming war game is epic in scope but still accessible: ‘Anyone who goes to a big Hollywood movie should also like this kind of game’“There are about 7,000 characters on screen, all moving in real-time with real-time lighting, real-time shadows, and all controllable by tapping on them and saying where you want them to go. It feels like an epic movie battle, but it is over in 30 to 60 seconds...”Dawn of Titans is a long way from FarmVille and the other casual games that made Zynga the first giant of the social games industry, but didn’t stop it being overtaken by the publishers of games such as Candy Crush Saga and Clash of Clans.Related: Zynga has lost 63% of its players. Is NaturalMotion the answer?Related: The best iPhone and iPad games of 2014 Continue reading...

With sales up 30%, US company says it’s bucking music industry trends and helping musicians to get paid for their workIndependent music company Bandcamp has hit a new milestone: $100m (£66m) of payments to artists for music and merchandise sold through its site since its launch in 2008.The US-based company helps musicians set up their own online stores, and since November 2014 has also been enabling them to run their own subscription services for their keenest fans.Related: Bandcamp to help musicians launch their own subscription services Continue reading...

When Joel Green was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, his parents took an unusual step. They turned their family’s tragedy into an interactive computer adventure Continue reading...

The more real game characters look, the less you identify with them. So maybe that’s why the firms that produce them are allowing you to design your own Continue reading...