Technology | The Guardian

German true wireless earbuds deliver on sound, have noise cancelling and long battery life in fairly large bodiesSennheiser’s second-generation high-end true wireless earbuds gain noise cancelling and longer battery life to do battle with Sony and Apple.The German firm’s first earbuds were some of the best-sounding available. Now Sennheiser hopes its £280 Momentum True Wireless 2 can steal the show once again. Continue reading...

In meeting with CEO Jeff Bezos, general counsel suggested it would be good for company if media focused on Chris SmallsAmazon executives denigrated a fired warehouse worker as “not smart or articulate” in a meeting with Jeff Bezos, according to a leaked memo obtained by Vice News.Related: Dear Jeff Bezos, instead of firing me, protect your workers from coronavirus | Chris Smalls Continue reading...

Accounts also linked to Honduras and Indonesia violated policy and were ‘targeted attempt to undermine the public conversation’Twitter has deleted 20,000 fake accounts linked to the governments of Serbia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Honduras and Indonesia, saying they violated company policy and were a “targeted attempt to undermine the public conversation”.Yoel Roth, the head of site integrity, said the removal of the accounts was part of the company’s ongoing “work to detect and investigate state-backed information operations”. Continue reading...

Video app has seen a surge in popularity for both work and private use during lockdown

Mobile advertising companies can collect detailed data about Americans’ movements

The company has seen a 535% rise in daily traffic in the past month, but security researchers say the app is a ‘privacy disaster’As coronavirus lockdowns have moved many in-person activities online, the use of the video-conferencing platform Zoom has quickly escalated. So, too, have concerns about its security.In the last month, there was a 535% rise in daily traffic to the Zoom.us download page, according to an analysis from the analytics firm SimilarWeb. Its app for iPhone has been the most downloaded app in the country for weeks, according to the mobile app market research firm Sensor Tower. Even politicians and other high-profile figures, including the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, and the former US federal reserve chair Alan Greenspan, use it for conferencing as they work from home. Continue reading...

PS4, Xbox One, PC; Capcom

Ask Jack comes to a close following the news that its long-running author has diedI am sorry to have to inform readers of the Guardian’s long-running Ask Jack column that its much-loved author, Jack Schofield, died on Tuesday.Jack was taken to hospital on Friday night following a heart attack and died on Tuesday afternoon. Continue reading...

Paper’s editor says Schofield was ‘one of the first true computing experts in British journalism’Jack Schofield, the Guardian’s former computer editor and author of its technology advice column, Ask Jack, for almost 20 years, has died aged 72.Schofield was taken to hospital following a heart attack on Friday night and died on Tuesday afternoon. Continue reading...

Technology is nearly ready for use and would also tell people when they should self-isolate

When the pandemic halted his war thriller, Timur Bekmambetov popped his leading actor inside a video game and completed the shoot from 1,200km away. Will other movies now be made this way?Who says everything in the film business has ground to a halt? Some directors are finding ways of keeping the cameras rolling. Timur Bekmambetov, best known outside Russia for making the Angelina Jolie thriller Wanted, was midway through filming his second world war fighter-ace film V2: Escape from Hell when the coronavirus pandemic broke. So the Kazakh-Russian sanitised his shooting schedule and, last week, pulled off what he believes was a cinematic first: a feature-film scene shot entirely inside a live video game.Bekmambetov had originally intended to shoot his dogfight the Howard Hughes way: real sky, real planes. But to minimise social mixing, he instead put his lead actor, Pavel Priluchny, in a plane cockpit on a St Petersburg soundstage with a skeletal crew – while he directed the scene remotely, from 1,200km away in Kazan, Tatarstan. Continue reading...

Estimated net worth of founder has increased by more than $4bn since coronavirus crisis startedFrom nursery school sing-alongs to FTSE 100 boardrooms and even UK cabinet meetings hosted by the poorly prime minister, a socially distanced world is reconvening in cyberspace with the help of Silicon Valley video conferencing app Zoom.As governments across the world have placed their citizens on lockdown, downloads of video conferencing apps have soared to record highs and the companies behind them have seen their share prices rise while the rest of the global stock market tanks. Continue reading...

The millions of Australians working and playing from home in the Covid-19 pandemic should be wary of how much information they give out

More than 100 workers went on strike at a New York City facility after reports of multiple employees testing positive for Covid-19Amazon workers walked out of a New York City facility on Monday, going on strike and demanding increased protective gear and hazard pay as they work through the coronavirus pandemic.“Since the building won’t close by itself, we’re going to have to force their hand,” Chris Smalls, lead organizer of the Staten Island strike, told CNBC. He added that workers “will not return until the building gets sanitized”. Continue reading...

As the British people fire up their laptops for virtual hangouts, some obvious personality types have already emergedIt’s hard to tell what day of the lockdown we’re on, but it’s clear that society is in a fascinating moment right now, due to the torrent of Houseparty invites, Zoom notifications and people calling without warning on FaceTime. It’s interesting that millennials – a generation so weaned on text-based communication that about 60% of them have a full panic attack every time they have to phone in a takeaway – have so fully embraced face-to-face video platforms, the “kissing with your eyes open” of communicative mediums, but here we are. The reality is that, between virtual pub quizzes and digital group hangouts, my social calendar is now busier than it was before The Fall of Society, and I don’t actually like it. I want more time to myself.Early Zoom adopters are offering kitchen cook-alongs. I’m still trying to work out whether to wear trousers on camera Continue reading...

From dark dungeons and the streets of Tokyo to enchanted forests and distant planets, here are the 100-hour games that you may finally have time to masterIt’s a popular refrain among video game players of a certain age. In our early 20s, we could spend whole days immersed in epic role-playing video games, sacrificing months to the demands of the latest Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest adventure. But, in our 30s and 40s, we’re lucky to catch 10 minutes of Fortnite here and there.However, now that many of us are finding we have time on our hands, it could be the opportunity we need to attempt some of the more chronologically demanding narrative video game masterpieces of the last decade. Here are 15 that should see you through the next six months – and beyond. Continue reading...

These fun-filled educational apps provide perfect brain food for children while schools are closedThe closure of schools across the UK has left many parents and carers in the sudden, unexpected position of being home-school teachers. Schools are providing support where they can, but there are also still plenty of smartphone and tablet apps that can be used as part of learning.It may be tricky to get some children to see these devices as good for more than TikTok, Fortnite and (adult) YouTube, but the positive side is that the best learning apps are interesting enough to – perhaps with an initial nudge – engage children. Here are 20 apps that may get parents off to a good start. The “younger children” apps are most suitable for preschool and early primary kids, while the “older children” apps are more for later primary and early secondary age. Continue reading...

The Body Coach TV has daily exercises for children to stay active in Covid-19 lockdown

Interior design apps are on the rise as homeownership rates among people under 35 have fallen by 20% in the last decade

The firm has no medical expertise but it does have some relevant experience

In the documentary Kill Chain, the weaknesses of America’s basic election infrastructure are laid bareEven as much of America grinds to a halt, coronavirus has yet to derail the date of the 2020 election. Which introduces a perhaps underestimated terror, as explained in one of the more deceptively scary documentaries to drop in recent weeks: the vulnerable voting machine. That seemingly benign piece of equipment – the hardware of American democracy – is, as several experts explain in HBO’s Kill Chain: The Cyber War on America’s Elections, nothing more than an obsolete computer. And these machines’ vulnerabilities to hacking are “terrifying”, Sarah Teale, co-director along with Simon Ardizzone and Russell Michaels, told the Guardian. America’s current election infrastructure is, as Kill Chain explains, a prescription for disaster – an outdated, willfully naive system no more prepared for attack than four years ago.Related: After Truth: how ordinary people are 'radicalized' by fake news Continue reading...

Chris needs a tablet or video-calling device for his grandma’s Covid-19 isolation. What are the options?I want to get my grandma a tablet for easy video calling. She is elderly and needs to self-isolate, and she is already quite isolated after the recent death of her husband. I am not sure which tablet or which program to use. She isn’t very computer literate.This new Facebook thing looks good but I am sceptical of the brand. ChrisVideo calling used to be a futuristic topic. Today, it is readily available on most devices except, oddly enough, smart TVs. If anything, there’s a plethora of services, and I haven’t tried most of them. The options include Zoom, WhatsApp, Facebook, FaceTime, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, Skype and many more. Zoom is a business service but it works well and is clearly flavour of the month, with downloads up by 1,270%. Fake backgrounds are one of its winning features. Continue reading...

Companies the world over are directing their ingenuity at the fight against the coronavirus. Here are the front-runners, from sanitising robots to a 3D-printed hospital wardDesigners, engineers and programmers have heard the klaxon call. The last few weeks have seen a wave of ingenuity unleashed, with both garden-shed tinkerers and high-tech manufacturers scrambling to develop things that will combat the spread of Covid-19.Many of their innovations raise as many questions as they answer, though. Could 3D printing now finally come into its own, with access to open-source, downloadable designs for medical parts? If so, will intellectual property infringements be waived, or will altruistic hacktivists still face costly lawsuits? Could mobile phone tracking map the spread of infection like never before, keeping people away from virus hotspots? If so, might governments use the pandemic as an excuse to ramp up surveillance measures post-crisis? Continue reading...

PC (Oculus Rift, Valve Index, HTC Vive); Valve Corporation

The digital conferencing tool has taken off thanks to physical distancing across the globe. Just watch out for the 40-minute limit and pornography trolls

By defying the law to refuse their workers’ basic benefits, the giants of the gig economy are creating a heartbreaking crisis

If we let Amazon’s strength dominate our entire economy, we may just find out how weak we areIt is calling up 100,000 troops, extending grants to small businesses, prioritizing essential goods, and cracking down on profiteers.No, that’s not the United States federal government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic: it’s Amazon’s. The e-commerce behemoth is poised to become one of the major winners of the coronavirus crisis. As smaller businesses (even those that are not in any sense of the word small) falter and fail, Amazon is expanding its dominance over American commerce and society. Continue reading...

USB-C completes top Windows 10 tablet with great screen, design and kickstand, plus latest Intel chipsThe Surface Pro 7 is an update of the excellent Surface Pro 6 with new processors and, finally, a USB-C port.That means the design of the new Surface Pro 7 hasn’t changed since the 2017 Surface Pro 5, with Microsoft taking an “if it ain’t broke” approach. It’s competitively priced at £699 and up – but you have to pay at least £125 for the keyboard if you want one – which annoyingly is not included in the standard price. Continue reading...

As coronavirus forces communities online, support groups are realising Facebook’s promise to truly connect us• Coronavirus latest updates

Once seen as cutting edge, many of yesterday’s gadgets are – surprisingly – still in use or are making a comeback. Richard Godwin goes back to the futureImagine a start-up entrepreneur pitching the traditional milk round to a venture capitalist. “So we’re offering a local, sustainable, subscription-based protein delivery system. And get this: it’s all going to be powered by electric vehicles…” Back in the 1970s, 94% of British households bought their milk this way, but by the 2000s, for the vast majority, it was part of the weekly supermarket shop. It wasn’t technology that killed the centuries-old tradition so much as economic forces: deregulation of the dairy industry and supermarkets pushing plastic bottles. However, milk rounds still account for 3% of milk sales and they are growing in popularity. The revival is mostly down to the “Blue Planet effect” – glass is much more environmentally friendly than plastic. A typical glass milk bottle is reused 25 times. Come to think of it, why aren’t we reusing Coke bottles, too? Continue reading...

Our critic’s new weekly slot recommends games for seasoned players and beginners alike. This week, a virus strategy game banned by ChinaAnyone who has continued to play video games beyond childhood is used to the name-calling. Yes, in 2020, millions of thoughtful, otherwise usefully employed people enjoy video games (as well as a fair few thoughtless wastrels too, if Twitter is anything to go by). But away from the golf course or bridge club, adult play is still viewed, culturally speaking, with suspicion, pity or disdain. As a reporter for the Washington Post tweeted in 2017, in reference to the American chatshow host Jimmy Fallon, a keen fan of the medium: “At the heart of any banality is an adult male who plays video games.”Still, personally speaking, it took a pandemic to appreciate that the video game reviewer is truly the cockroach of arts and entertainment criticism. As cinemas, theatres, restaurants and concert venues close, and their remaining staff begin the sorrowful work of disinfection and grant application, writers who cover their industries are forced to glumly twirl their pens, waiting. The video game critic (and, breathe easy, the literary critic), by contrast, suddenly finds a near-captive audience that is, once Netflix has been plundered at least, just maybe willing to give video games a try. Continue reading...

It’s wise to be wary of the government adopting intrusive apps that monitor the effectiveness of public health measures

The co-author of Data Feminism on the importance of recognising discrimination in algorithms, understanding it at a technical level – and introducing measures to stamp it outOur ability to collect and record information in a digital form has exploded as has our adoption of AI systems, which use data to make decisions. But data isn’t neutral, and sexism, racism and other forms of discrimination are showing up in our data products. Catherine D’Ignazio, an assistant professor of urban science and planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), argues we need to do better. Along with Lauren Klein, who directs the Digital Humanities Lab at Emory University, she is the co-author of the new book Data Feminism, which charts a course for a more equitable data science. D’Ignazio also directs MIT’s new Data and Feminism lab, which seeks to use data and computation to counter oppression.What is data feminism and why do we need it?

With many people facing a long stint of self-isolation, remote working needs to be as easy as possibleWith the coronavirus pandemic resulting in more and more of us being asked to work remotely, it’s time to get to grips with what’s required for working from home for more than just a day at a time.Broadly speaking you have two options: a desktop computer or a laptop. Continue reading...

While people are being advised to work from home or tap into resources online, this is wildly impracticable for those without reliable web access

Spoof audio clip poking fun at coronavirus misinformation is eaten up by frazzled Britons

Don’t fret about your kids overdoing it in front of the TV. Games will offer comfort and variety during the coronavirus crisisAs with millions of other parents around the world, when our two sons get home from school this afternoon, we have no idea when they’ll be going back. Their schools have been hastily scrabbling together remote learning plans, but things are going to be chaotic and unstructured and that’s something we’ll all have to learn to deal with. What I know for certain is that my boys will have one thing on their mind: video games.What they’re picturing (and I can almost see the thought bubbles above their heads when we talk to them about the school closure) is three months in front of the TV playing Apex Legends. You may be in a similar situation in your household, and you may already be feeling guilty about the amount of time your children will end up spending in front of screens simply because you have work to do and their options are limited. Continue reading...

A new instalment in Nintendo’s social simulation series is out now – and it offers the sort of optimism we’re very short ofI am scrolling idly through TikTok when I see her, drag queen Bijou Bentley performing her routine to a remix of Nicki Minaj’s Anaconda. With her ponytail and green twin-set, I immediately recognise that she is not just giving the audience haute couture – this is cosplay.Isabelle, my personal assistant from my time as mayor of a town in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. If you have played it, she was your assistant, too. She is the heart of the game, your adviser, your companion. She is a yellow dog in snappy office dress, and she is always so happy to see you. Benny Bijou Bentley sashays around the floor with her clip-board. The crowd goes wild, throwing dollars at her feet. I am thinking to myself, “Yes, Isabelle - work.” Continue reading...

Tesla chief executive has used his massive platform to cast doubt upon the danger of the virusElon Musk has downplayed the severity of the coronavirus epidemic, tweeted false information about the disease’s effect on children, and kept his northern California factory open despite a local “shelter-in-place” order, but the billionaire entrepreneur also says he’s willing to help.On Thursday, the Tesla chief executive inserted himself into the global conversation on the coronavirus crisis, tweeting that his companies “will make ventilators if there is a shortage”. Continue reading...

Report finds online fraudsters posing as health officials as Alex Jones and others face crackdown

Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, Xbox One; Bethesda

Site changes rules to ban content aimed at making people act against official advice

Sony confirms custom AMD RDNA 2 graphic processor, solid state drive and innovative 3D audio – without showing the new consoleSony has revealed the full technical specifications of its PlayStation 5 console.In a blogpost, followed by a lengthy online technical briefing by lead system architect Mark Cerny, the company confirmed that the machine will feature custom versions of AMD’s Zen 2 central processor and RDNA 2 graphics unit, the latter operating at 10.28 Tflops. System memory will be 16GB. The machine will support advanced visual effects such as real-time ray tracing and will have a solid state drive (SSD). Continue reading...

How best to set up a home office for the short or long term if you’re self-isolating

New flagship smartphone is supersized in all dimensions with a giant 6.9in screen, massive zoom camera and ginormous priceSamsung’s new Galaxy S20 Ultra superphone is packed to the brim with chart-topping features, including 100x zooming, 108MP cameras, a ginormous screen and 5G.The £1,199 S20 Ultra leads an important new lineup of 5G-as-standard smartphones from Samsung, which looks to make the technology a normal part of mobile life rather than an expensive add-on for early adopters. Continue reading...

Online gaming services reported short-term outages, while home fitness apps boomOnline gaming services have collapsed under the strain of increased demand while home workout services have seen a boom as the world prepares for a period of social distancing.Xbox Live, the online service for Microsoft’s games console, and Nintendo Online, which serves multiplayer games for the Switch, have both suffered short-term outages since coronavirus preparations kicked up a gear over the weekend. Although neither company directly attributed the outages to the weight of numbers, Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, confirmed that “usage is up on almost everything”. Continue reading...

With 850 million children worldwide shut out of schools, tech evangelists claim now is the time for AI education. But as the technology’s power grows, so too do the dangers that come with it. By Alex BeardFor a child prodigy, learning didn’t always come easily to Derek Haoyang Li. When he was three, his father – a famous educator and author – became so frustrated with his progress in Chinese that he vowed never to teach him again. “He kicked me from here to here,” Li told me, moving his arms wide.Yet when Li began school, aged five, things began to click. Five years later, he was selected as one of only 10 students in his home province of Henan to learn to code. At 16, Li beat 15 million kids to first prize in the Chinese Mathematical Olympiad. Among the offers that came in from the country’s elite institutions, he decided on an experimental fast-track degree at Jiao Tong University in Shanghai. It would enable him to study maths, while also covering computer science, physics and psychology. Continue reading...

‘If we wish to maintain our productivity, we need to continue working in [our] offices,’ one CEO told his staff in an email

Top tablet has lidar tech found in self-driving cars in system designed for augmented realityApple has released a new version of its top iPad Pro with new 3D depth-sensing lidar technology and a revamped MacBook Air with a new keyboard, as it attempts to continue normal business in spite of the coronavirus pandemic.The new 11in and 12.9in iPad Pros resemble the previous major redesign made in 2018, complete with slim bezels all round and Face ID facial recognition. But they also have a new lidar-based depth sensing system, a technology typically found on self-driving cars. Continue reading...

Social network restores posts that were wrongly removed as system went haywire