New S-Pen Air gestures, enormous screen, triple camera, longer battery hope to convince Samsung super fans to upgradeThe king of Samsung smartphones has finally arrived, but is the Galaxy Note 10+ and its S-Pen stylus really still the super phone for super fans of the South Korean brand?For a long time the Galaxy Note line was used to push the boundaries of what could be done with a smartphone, siring the big-screen “phablet” category in the process. I’m sad to report that’s no longer the case. The £999 Note 10+ might technically be the biggest screen on a Samsung flagship phone, but it’s really only by a smidgen. Continue reading...

Apple is building a new base while selling expensive hardware to users, and taking a 30% cut from developersApple had few treats for those avid followers who tuned in to the company’s press event this week. Three new phones, all thoroughly leaked in advance; a new basic iPad with a slightly larger screen; and a new Apple Watch with a face that never turns off.Not everything was predictable. It’s just we had to take the surprises where we found them. Continue reading...

Brexit-battered pound means iPhones 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max will cost about £200 more than in USApple is set to release the most expensive iPhone ever in the UK next week against the backdrop of a Brexit-battered pound, just two years after the company broke its own records with the iPhone X.The iPhones 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, revealed during a press event on Tuesday, will hit the US market priced at $999 [£809] and $1,099, the same price as their predecessors, the iPhones XS and XS Max. Continue reading...

iPhone 11 Pro is being touted as ‘the most advanced and detailed iPhone yet’ with a three-lens ‘pro’ camera system

iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max have faster processors, better screens, and new double and triple camera systems

Apple’s autumn press event brings at least three iPhones, two watches and an arcade – follow along live to see if there are any surprises in store

Seventh-generation iPad is faster, with a bigger screen and Apple Pencil support

Latest smartwatch has health features, more case options and can display time all the time

Game subscription service will launch on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV on 13 September

Social network and its subsidiary to crack down on potentially dangerous contentFacebook will no longer allow graphic images of self-harm on its platform as the company tightens its policies following criticism of the moderation of violent and potentially dangerous content on social media.The company also said on Tuesday that self-injury-related content would become harder to search for on Instagram, and such images would not appear as recommended content. Continue reading...

Sony has confirmed ‘X’ button on Dualshock controller should be called ‘Cross’ and players are freaking outIn a week filled with furore and controversy in British politics, do not make the mistake of thinking you can escape to video games for respite. There is outrage brewing here, too, and it concerns the X button on the PlayStation controller.A fortnight ago, Twitter user @drip133 asked a seemingly innocent question above a photo of the joypad: “Do you say ‘x’ or ‘cross’ button?” There were hundreds of contradictory responses, which became increasingly furious as the week wore on. Some insisted that because the other buttons are named after shapes – Triangle, Square and Circle – logically, the “X” button must be called “Cross”; others pointed out that as ‘X’ was the common usage, this was the only acceptable pronunciation. Continue reading...

Move comes after Humanists UK pointed out that page contravened crowdfunding website’s termsThe crowdfunding website GoFundMe has taken down a page launched in June by campaigners against LGBT education in schools.Humanists UK had twice demanded the page be removed because it contravened GoFundMe’s terms. There had been no response until GoFundMe was contacted for comment by the Guardian on Tuesday morning. Continue reading...

Commission says invigilators cannot tell which devices are connected to internetAll watches should be banned from exam halls as more devices become connected to the internet, an inquiry into cheating has found.The Independent Commission on Examination Malpractice, set up by exam boards to investigate the prevalence of cheating in public exams, warned that invigilators increasingly could not tell the difference between smartwatches and traditional watches. Continue reading...

Later this month, more than 1,000 Amazon staffers will walk out to demand action. Rebecca Sheppard is one of the strike’s organizersSince late last year, a group of workers within Amazon have been organizing to push the company to radically reduce its carbon emissions. Yesterday, they announced a major new action: on 20 September, Amazon workers around the world will walk out of their offices to join the Global Climate Strike. So far, more than 1,000 workers have pledged to participate. The organizers have three demands. They want the company to commit to zero emissions by 2030, to have zero custom cloud computing contracts with fossil fuel companies and to spend zero dollars on funding climate-denying lobbyists and politicians.Related: Silicon Valley revolt: meet the tech workers fighting their bosses over Ice, censorship and racism Continue reading...

Vodafone says it would be ‘commercially crazy’ for TPG to create a fourth networkAllowing a $15bn merger between telecommunications companies TPG and Vodafone would snuff out the prospect of a new mobile network to challenge the industry’s dominant players, Telstra and Optus, the competition regulator has told a court.Appearing before the federal court on Tuesday, counsel for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Michael Hodge QC, said it was “entirely commercially realistic” to say that TPG would resume previous plans to roll out a network if the merger was stopped. Continue reading...

Footage posted online appears to show vehicle’s two occupants dozing as car travelled at 90km/h on a highwayA Massachusetts man has posted a video online that appears to show the driver of a Tesla car sleeping as he and a passenger travelled along a highway.Teslas have an autopilot function, but the company says drivers are expected to remain alert. Continue reading...

As Apple prepares to launch a new iPhone, Alex Hern explores the privacy scandal around its automated personal assistant, Siri. Plus, Polly Toynbee on why Jeremy Corbyn is preventing Boris Johnson from calling an electionThe Guardian’s UK technology editor, Alex Hern, talks to Anushka Asthana about the fallout from his revelations that contractors working for Apple were listening to voice recordings of Siri users in order to grade them. The company’s voice-automated personal assistant had recorded confidential information, illegal acts and even Siri users having sex. It subsequently issued an apology and pledged to change the way Siri is run.In the run-up to Apple’s annual product launch, Hern discusses why the Siri privacy breach is just one of the company’s many recent challenges. Continue reading...

Regulators are growing more concerned about company’s impact on smaller companies striving to compete in Google’s marketsFifty US states and territories, led by Texas, announced an investigation into Google’s “potential monopolistic behavior”.The Monday announcement closely followed one from a separate group of states on Friday that disclosed an investigation into Facebook’s market dominance. The two investigations widen the antitrust scrutiny of big tech companies beyond sweeping federal and congressional investigations and enforcement action by European regulators. Continue reading...

The retailer reported a pre-tax loss of €493m despite sales rising by 11.6% to €28bnAmazon received €241m in tax credits last year that it can deduct from future bills for its European business, despite efforts by authorities in Brussels to ensure the company pays more tax.Amazon Europe, which is based in Luxembourg and aggregates the billions of pounds of sales the retailer makes from individual countries across the continent, received the credits after reporting a pre-tax loss of €493m in 2018. Sales rose 11.6% to €28bn. Continue reading...

From ultra-violent alien hunts to a honking, flapping goose simulator, here are our video game highlights for the seasonThe third title in the comic book-inspired sci-fi looter-shooter series takes its familiar cast of antiheroes on another hyperactive, ultra-violent alien hunt across a range of post-apocalyptic planetscapes. The more complex progression system and an incredible arsenal of weapons will thrill fans and newcomers alike. Out 13 September Continue reading...

This week Jordan Erica Webber is joined by Alex Hern, as they look at the scandal that rocked the voice assistant world, and ask whether or not we can trust that voice assistants aren’t eavesdropping on our most private moments Continue reading...

E-safety commissioner given power to monitor sites and order offending websites to be blockedAustralian internet service providers have been ordered to block eight websites hosting video of the Christchurch terrorist attacks.In March, shortly after the Christchurch massacre, Australian telecommunications companies and internet providers began proactively blocking websites hosting the video of the Christchurch shooter murdering more than 50 people or the shooter’s manifesto. Continue reading...

Forget Apple’s much-vaunted iOS safeguards – attackers have been quietly breaking and entering for yearsWhenever there’s something that some people value, there will be a marketplace for it. A few years ago, I spent a fascinating hour with a detective exploring the online marketplaces that exist in the so-called “dark web” (shorthand for the parts of the web you can only get to with a Tor browser and some useful addresses). The marketplaces we were interested in were ones in which stolen credit card details and other confidential data are traded.What struck me most was the apparent normality of it all. It’s basically eBay for crooks. There are sellers offering goods (ranges of stolen card details, Facebook, Gmail and other logins etc) and punters interested in purchasing same. Different categories of these stolen goods are more or less expensive. (The most expensive logins, as I remember it, were for PayPal). But the funniest thing of all was that some of the marketplaces operated a “reputation” system, just like eBay’s. Some vendors had 90%-plus ratings for reliability etc. Some purchasers likewise. Others were less highly regarded. So, one reflected, there really is honour among thieves. Continue reading...

The Galaxy deserves to be so much more than an airport cab – it’s a star in its own rightFord Galaxy

State attorneys general are opening the latest inquiries into the companies’ practices as government scrutiny growsAttorneys general in a number of US states are opening antitrust investigations into Facebook, New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, announced on Friday. A separate inquiry into Google is expected to be announced Monday.The new investigations mark yet another blow to the major tech players, which have faced increasing scrutiny from the government – most prominently an antitrust investigation by the Department of Justice. Continue reading...

New York state attorney general said bipartisan coalition investigating if Facebook stifled competition and put users at riskDozens of US states are set to launch antitrust and privacy investigations into Facebook and Google as scrutiny of the big tech firms increases in the US.The investigation into Alphabet’s Google unit will examine the search giant’s effect on the digital advertising market and its impact on consumers. In a separate but overlapping investigation the states’ leading law enforcers will investigate Facebook’s privacy record and its advertising model. Continue reading...

Exclusive: voice assistant’s responses were rewritten so it never says word ‘feminism’An internal project to rewrite how Apple’s Siri voice assistant handles “sensitive topics” such as feminism and the #MeToo movement advised developers to respond in one of three ways: “don’t engage”, “deflect” and finally “inform”.The project saw Siri’s responses explicitly rewritten to ensure that the service would say it was in favour of “equality”, but never say the word feminism – even when asked direct questions about the topic. Continue reading...

Drake exec-produces the east London gang drama, while Sacha Baron Cohen gets serious for a real-life Syrian espionage sagaSad lad rapper Drake saved writer Ronan Bennett’s east London drama from cancellation with this Netflix revival. With the move from Channel 4 comes a host of new stars to add to Ashley Walters’s titular drug-dealing role, including MCs Dave and Little Simz. The acting is muted and the story is brutal, engaging and, just sometimes, hopeful.

They were weird and obscure and no one else remembers them – here are the old computer games that still give us the chillsIt was Caverns of Khafka for me. Discovered one rainy afternoon in a Debenhams bargain bin, this weird Commodore 64 dungeon exploration game totally freaked me out with its funeral dirge soundtrack and horrific screeching bats. When I tried to tell my friends about it, they looked confused and concerned – no one else had ever heard of it. I started to think I was the only person in the world who had explored this disorientating adventure – it took on a sinister air.In the pre-internet era of gaming, it was common to stumble upon these hidden oddities. The industry was more disorganised with smaller publishers distributing games that were often programmed by eccentric loners, and there was only a handful of specialist magazines to call them out. Games were snuck onto the shelves of newsagents and video rental shops, or into car boot sales and computer fairs, and you often had no idea what they were until you bought them and loaded them up. And by then it was far too late. Continue reading...

PC; Xbox One

The company has touted its new privacy and security features but critics are skeptical given Facebook’s track record on user dataFacebook announced on Thursday it is rolling out its newest service across the US, a platform for dating. What could go wrong? A lot, it turns out.The new service, Facebook Dating, can be accessed in the Facebook app but requires users to create a separate dating-specific profile. It then links users with potential matches based on location, indicated preferences, events attended, groups and other factors. Facebook Dating will integrate with Instagram and offer a feature called Secret Crush, which allows users to compile a list of friends they have an interest in, to be matched with if the crush lists them as well. Continue reading...

New made-for-smartphone series Content gets a major publicity boost with thousands of shares on social mediaA new ABC made-for-smartphone series has gone viral after a clip of a fictional car crash during a Facebook live stream was mistaken by many as a real accident.Don’t stream and drive, thot pic.twitter.com/AUSEJ273u7 Continue reading...

Sales of electric vehicles overall have doubled in the past yearThe Tesla Model 3 has rapidly become the UK’s third most popular new car as sales of electric vehicles overall doubled in the past year.New owners registered 2,082 Tesla Model 3 cars in August, according to data published on Thursday by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Continue reading...

PC, PlayStation 4; Foam Sword/Double Fine Productions

Being a YouTuber is now the most popular aspiration for children today, according to a recent survey. In 2018, the site’s highest earner was a seven-year-old American toy reviewer. But the video platform has been mired in controversy over its failure to protect children. Richard Sprenger meets some of the children plying their trade on YouTube, viral sensation Rebecca Black, and visits a Los Angeles summer camp where kids as young as six learn the tricks of the trade Continue reading...

Windows Update tells Frank that Windows 10 is up to date, but he still needs to install a new versionWhy does my HP Pavilion laptop tell me that Windows 10 is up to date, but at the same time tells me I’m running a version that’s nearing the end of support, and recommends that I update to the most recent version? FrankFirst, some background. Microsoft used to provide new versions of Windows every three or more years, and support them for 10 years. Examples included Windows XP and Windows 7. They didn’t change unless Microsoft released a service pack update, such as Windows 7 SP1. Continue reading...

The information was stored in an online server that was not password protected, according to a report from TechCrunchHundreds of millions of Facebook users’ phone numbers were exposed in an open online database, the company confirmed Wednesday, in the latest example of Facebook’s past privacy lapses coming back to haunt its users.More than 419m Facebook IDs and phone numbers were stored in an online server that was not password protected, the technology website TechCrunch reported. The dataset included about 133m records for users in the US, 18m records for users in the UK and 50m records for users in Vietnam. Continue reading...

Ruling comes as London mayor acknowledges Met police role in its deployment in King’s Cross developmentPolice use of automatic facial recognition technology to search for people in crowds is lawful, the high court in Cardiff has ruled.Although the mass surveillance system interferes with the privacy rights of those scanned by security cameras, two judges have concluded, it is not illegal. Continue reading...

King’s Cross Central | HS2 | River Thames | Van slogansI was pleased that the developer of the King’s Cross area will stop using facial recognition equipment (Report, 3 September). Of course, if Camden council had paid heed to the local objectors in 2004 and 2005, it would have adopted all the roads and public footpaths on the site and could have prevented the installation of this surveillance. By the way, the development is called King’s Cross Central, not King’s Cross, which is an area of London in two boroughs with a large and diverse population. It was a bit of a shock to read in your report that “King’s Cross is owned by a consortium…”

Facebook moves to stem spread of misinformation online about side-effects of immunisationsFacebook is to take a stand against vaccine denial by directing people searching for information or using vaccine hashtags to web pages set up by public health bodies.People who access Facebook and Instagram pages and groups that discuss vaccines, as well as those searching or using relevant hashtags, will see an educational module about vaccine safety. Links will take them to a page provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States and to the World Health Organization elsewhere in the world. Continue reading...

FTC has fined Google $136m and company will pay an additional $34m to New York state to resolve similar allegationsGoogle’s video site YouTube has been fined $170m to settle allegations it collected children’s personal data without their parents’ consent.The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fined Google $136m and the company will pay an additional $34m to New York state to resolve similar allegations. Continue reading...

Big update adds gestures, dark theme, smart replies, emoji, privacy and parental controlsGoogle has released its big new update to Android 10, and for the first time it is available for more than just a couple of Google-made smartphones.Announced in May, Android Q – known as Android 10 – ditches the pudding-based names that have been used for versions of Google’s software for the past 10 years including Marshmallow, Nougat, Oreo and Pie. Continue reading...

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater appeared on PlayStation 20 years ago this week – and transformed sports sims for ever. Hawk and the game’s developers assess the impact of the 100m-selling seriesWhen Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was released 20 years ago this week, initial projections for the game were modest. Although Sega’s Top Skater had been a hit in the arcades two years before, and there had been a couple of early hits such as 720 and Skate or Die, the idea of an in-depth skating sim was untested. Activision aimed to ship 250,000 copies and developer Neversoft just hoped there would be an opportunity to make a sequel. The game went on to sell more than 5m copies across PlayStation, Dreamcast and Nintendo 64 and its success spawned one of the most popular franchises in video game history, generating more than $1.4bn in sales.Within days of release, it was clear players were forming a deeper relationship with the sim than either the developer or publisher had ever expected. People who’d never skated before were sharing button combinations for their favourite moves, discussing routes and arguing over which professional skateboarders were the best. Each freestyle area was designed to allow easy exploration and experimentation, and players could discover moves simply by hitting and combining buttons and seeing what happened. Continue reading...

New technology is rolling out across the country, despite concerns over privacyChina’s shoppers are increasingly purchasing goods with just a turn of their heads as the country embraces facial payment technology.In a country where mobile payment is already one of the most advanced in the world, customers can make a purchase simply by posing in front of point-of-sale (POS) machines equipped with cameras, after linking an image of their face to a digital payment system or bank account. Continue reading...

Firm attacked even though it says its contribution has nearly tripled since 2017Amazon has been accused of continuing to underpay corporation tax in the UK despite nearly tripling the payment from a key British division to £14m.Amazon UK Services, the company’s warehouse and logistics operation that employs more than two-thirds of its 27,500-plus UK workforce, said its corporation tax contribution had risen by nearly £10m in the year to December 2018 from the £4.7m paid in 2017. Continue reading...

Critics say face-swap app could spread misinformation on a massive scaleA Chinese app that lets users convincingly swap their faces with film or TV characters has rapidly become one of the country’s most downloaded apps, triggering a privacy row.Related: The rise of the deepfake and the threat to democracy Continue reading...

Kashmiris have not had access to the internet for nearly a month. The blackout, from the start of August, is the 77th of the year so far in India. Jordan Erica Webber looks at the personal, legal and societal fallout of government-ordered shutdowns around the world Continue reading...

You may want sexy, but when it comes to everyday life you’ll find dependable is far better in the long runVauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer

Should you splash out £1,000 on a MacBook, or can you get away with a £229 Chromebook? Do you really need a top-end smartphone or will a budget alternative do? The right tools can make everything easier – from note taking to dissertation writing. So here’s a quick guide to what might help you get the most out of the academic yeariPad mini – £399

Mate 30 won’t have licensed access to any Google apps, thanks to ongoing dispute between US and the Chinese smartphone makerHuawei, the number two smartphone maker in the world, will launch its next flagship device without licensed access to the top smartphone operating system in the world – Google’s Android – or any of Google’s ubiquitous apps.The 5G-capable Mate 30 will be revealed at a 19 September event in Munich, CNBC reported on Friday. But the launch by a company that saw its share of the European smartphone market soar by 55.7% in 2018 is approaching under a cloud of uncertainty, thanks to the actions of the US government. Continue reading...