Scores of super masts could be built across Britain to get rid of mobile phone blind spotsScores of taller phone masts could be built across the British countryside as part of government plans to eliminate mobile reception blind spots.The digital secretary, Nicky Morgan, said she wanted to shake up planning restrictions to allow mobile phone networks to build ground-based masts exceeding the current rules prohibiting structures over 25 metres on public land. Continue reading...
Canadian researchers developed guidelines relating to exercise, screen time and sleepLess than 10% of British teenagers meet the recommended guidelines for sleep, exercise and screen time, research has revealed.According to 24-hour movement guidelines developed by Canadian researchers, children aged between five and 17 should spend an hour a day doing moderate to vigorous exercise, no more than two hours a day in front of a screen, and get at least eight hours’ sleep a night. Continue reading...
Poster displayed near two TfL offices said car-pooling service helped reduce trafficAn Uber advertising campaign in London has claimed that its car-pooling service reduces traffic, contradicting the findings of the US ride-hailing app company’s own research.A large billboard poster displayed in London this month said: “Uber Pool reduces traffic by moving more people in fewer carsâ€. Continue reading...
26 August 1959: The Austin Seven and Mini-Minor - two versions of the same car - can carry four passengers with speed and economyThe British Motor Corporation to-day announces two new small cars which provide striking evidence of the new thinking that has gone on within the industry. In its Morris Mini-Minor and its Austin Seven, the corporation is offering vehicles that can carry four passengers with speed and economy and can fairly claim to be called family cars.Related: Britain and BMW to build another Mini – in pictures Continue reading...
by Presented by Jordan Erica Webber and produced by D on (#4NYRJ)
The Guardian’s UK tech editor, Alex Hern, joins Jordan Erica Webber to discuss the imminent end to the iTunes store as we know it. They also take a nostalgic look at some of the other software we’ve lost Continue reading...
When I couldn’t sleep, I would turn to my mobile for a portal into another world. But there were definite downsides to scanning Instagram in the early hoursWhen I was a kid, I thought that monsters came out of the dark. Turns out, they actually come out of the light. Like you, I run my life on the supercomputer in my pocket. At night I would place it under the pillow and struggle to put it out of mind, its bright screen a portal to other worlds.Sure, most of Twitter is bile, but social media suits my exhibitionist spirit; I want to be front and centre of whatever conversations are happening. As a journalist, I am meant to be. When I said I wanted to get my phone out of my bedroom, a colleague half-jokingly asked : “What if something happens?†Continue reading...
Controversial gaming vlogger, 29, is owner of second most popular channel by subscribersThe gaming vlogger Felix Kjellberg, AKA PewDiePie, has surpassed 100 million subscribers on YouTube.Kjellberg, the owner of the channel with the second highest number of subscribers on the video sharing site, built a legion of young fans with his “let’s play†game commentaries, but he has also attracted controversy. Continue reading...
The technology behemoth is preparing a move into the healthcare market, but critics fear profit will come before patients and privacyEnthusiasts predicted the plan would relieve the pressure on hard-pressed GPs. Critics saw it as a sign of creeping privatisation and a data-protection disaster in waiting. Reactions to news last month that Amazon’s voice-controlled digital assistant Alexa was to begin using NHS website information to answer health queries were many and varied.US-based healthcare tech analysts say the deal is just the latest of a series of recent moves that together reveal an audacious, long-term strategy on the part of Amazon. From its entry into the lucrative prescription drugs market and development of AI tools to analyse patient records, to Alexa apps that manage diabetes and data-driven experiments on how to cut medical bills, the $900bn global giant’s determination to make the digital disruption of healthcare a central part of its future business model is becoming increasingly clear. Continue reading...
I bought it just three years ago and I won’t be very pleased if Apple stop supporting itEvery week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it’s up to you to help him or her out – a selection of the best answers will appear in next Saturday’s paper.I’ve just discovered that my iPhone 6s, which I bought for £300 only three years ago, won’t be getting any iOS software updates after September. Is this something I should be worried about, or will it carry on working fine? I’ll be a bit pissed off if I have to buy a new one. Is there any reason why Apple can’t keep supporting its phones when they are three years old? Continue reading...
Internal correspondence provides new insight into how Facebook staff reacted to concerns about use of user data by political campaign consultantsInternal Facebook correspondence from September 2015, released as part of a US government lawsuit on Friday, reveals new details about Facebook’s early knowledge of potentially improper data collection by Cambridge Analytica.The existence of the internal discussion was first reported by the Guardian in March 2019. That report marked Facebook’s first acknowledgement that some of its employees were aware of concerns about improper data practices by Cambridge Analytica four months before the Guardian’s 11 December 2015 article exposed them. Continue reading...
Trump’s demand that US companies boycott China, which he doesn’t have the power to enforce, inspired responses on TwitterLeaning further into a burgeoning economic war with China of his own design, Donald Trump on Friday levied a series of bizarre demands of American companies who do business in the country.They included an order for American firms to cease production in China. Continue reading...
Judge told Grant West he would face four more years in jail if he refused to complyA judge has ordered the confiscation of bitcoin worth more than £900,000 from a jailed hacker in the first case of its kind for the Metropolitan police.Grant West, 27 – previously described as a “one-man cybercrime wave†– had about £1m-worth of the cryptocurrency seized from a number of accounts after his arrest in September 2017, but the value of bitcoin has since fluctuated radically, complicating attempts to compensate victims. Continue reading...
Google-owned service says it discovered channels ‘behaved in a coordinated manner’ against pro-democracy protestsYouTube has disabled 210 channels that appeared to be part of a coordinated influence campaign against pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.The action by the Google-owned service came as Twitter and Facebook accused the Chinese government of backing a social media campaign to discredit Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement and sow political discord in the city. Continue reading...
His videos were designed to draw Austinites to religion but have made him a star of the new social media app that most of his age still don’t understand
Manufacturer’s warning to keep flashy, minimalist Apple Card away from pockets, wallets and other cards draw derisionApple’s flashy branded credit card comes with all the sleek, designer chic customers have come to expect from the iPhone company. Just don’t put it in your wallet.Related: Apple accidentally reopens security flaw in latest iOS version Continue reading...
Lyndsay wants people to post better pictures on Facebook. Here’s how to get the shot right on your phone or cameraSo many people post pictures on Facebook with very advanced cameras, eg from iPhones. Alas, many do not crop their photos, the horizon is not horizontal, there are dark shadows … Some people do not even know the camera can face outwards: I notice so many selfies! I think a gentle article from Jack Schofield on how not to disappoint your friends with holiday pics would be wonderful. Lyndsay (via Facebook)There are some terrible photos on Facebook, but I think the average level is very high. Back in the dark ages BC (before computers), I edited several photographic magazines and a partwork, You and Your Camera. Then, the quality of the average enprint, as enlarged prints were called, was extremely low, and you couldn’t edit pictures unless you printed them yourself. Photos taken with small-frame film formats – like the 110 cartridges used by Kodak’s Pocket Instamatic cameras, introduced in 1972 – could be dire. Continue reading...
by Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor on (#4NMJG)
Company’s S-line king joins the handful of good 5G phones in the UK, but is only for big-phone loversThe Galaxy S10 5G is the largest, most advanced and most expensive smartphone in Samsung’s current lineup, aimed not just at being “the 5G one†but also the best one.Unlike the OnePlus 7 Pro, which comes in either 4G or 5G versions that are identical in size, weight and features, the S10 5G is its own phone. It’s bigger, heavier, thicker and has more cameras and sensors on the back and front than the S10+. Continue reading...
Writer Adrienne Matei spends two hours and 20 minutes a day on her phone – which might seem fine, until you realize it amounts to 35 full days a year. What’s your number?
Feature ‘disconnects’ data from a user’s account and shows extent of tracking apparatusFacebook has launched its “clear history†feature more than a year after it was first promised by Mark Zuckerberg as part of damage control efforts after the Cambridge Analytica revelations.The new feature, part of a wider set of tools covering “off-Facebook activityâ€, will not delete anything from Facebook’s servers, instead simply “disconnecting†data from an individual user’s account. Continue reading...
Vulnerability could be exploited to gain control of iPhone, users are warnedApple users are being warned to exercise particular caution over their cybersecurity for the next few days, after the company mistakenly reopened a security flaw in the latest version of iOS.In iOS 12.4, released last month, Apple fixed a number of security bugs, as well as enabling support for the Apple Card in the US. But in doing so, the company accidentally reversed a security fix it had previously patched in iOS 12.3 at the end of April. Continue reading...
Use of plastic envelopes branded a ‘major step backwards’ in fight against pollutionAmazon has been criticised by environmental groups and customers after introducing a range of plastic packaging that cannot be recycled in the UK.While supermarkets and other retailers have been reducing their use of single use plastics, the world’s biggest online retailer has started sending small items in plastic envelopes, seemingly to allow more parcels to be loaded on to each delivery truck. Continue reading...
Two forthcoming games are generating a lot of buzz – but they also suggest the genre is in need of a shakeupIt might be set in space rather than on an Earth ravaged by nuclear war, but there is a strong argument that The Outer Worlds, a forthcoming first-person role-playing game (RPG) by storied developers Obsidian, is spiritually a Fallout game. Not only is it directed by Fallout creators Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, it shares a lot of DNA with Obsidian’s Fallout: New Vegas – a spin-off with a reputation as the best in the series. New Vegas earned particular praise for its dialogue, and a world-building background that makes it feel like more than a thin justification for firing mini-nukes at super-mutants.New Vegas was Obsidian’s first and last game set in the Fallout universe, but The Outer Worlds places similar importance on freedom of choice in dialogue and gameplay. In this world, where mega corporations are starting to take over alien planets, you can act like a hero, an opportunistic mercenary, or a total idiot. The writing is sharp, snappy and funny, the world exciting and vibrant, and there’s a classic New Vegas interplay between factions of characters, any of whom the player can help or hinder. Continue reading...
Company also suspends thousands of accounts as it reports ‘state-backed information operation’Twitter has removed nearly 1,000 accounts and suspended thousands of others tied to a campaign by the Chinese government against protesters in Hong Kong, the company announced on Monday.Twitter disclosed a “significant state-backed information operation†originating from within the People’s Republic of China (PRC) targeting the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. It removed 936 accounts and suspended approximately 200,000 accounts its investigation found were illegitimate. Continue reading...
Advertising Standards Authority to investigate whether claims breach codeThe first hostilities have broken out among telecoms rivals over who offers the best 5G to customers, with EE seeking an advertising ban against claims by Three UK that it offers the only “real†next-generation service.BT-owned EE is understood to have lodged a complaint with the advertising watchdog over an ad campaign by Three UK implying that 5G services offered by rivals are inferior. Continue reading...
You can now have personal trainers in your headphones, or set up a mirror that beams classes into your home. The options are limitless. But can they ever beat the camaraderie of working out with other people?Chessie King whoops, flipping her ponytail out of her face. Her partner, Mathew Lewis-Carter, grunts with the exertion, sweat pouring from his brow. Five cameras pick up every move, as they lunge and thrust in front of a pulsating LED screen at the east London studio where they are filming a high-intensity workout class for at-home fitness pioneers FIIT.The footage will be broadcast via the FIIT app as a live class. Users will be able to join from the comfort of their own homes. If they choose to wear the heart-rate monitor provided, they can compete with other users on a live leaderboard. There are also classes available on demand, for the less competitive. Continue reading...
by Presented by Jordan Erica Webber and produced by D on (#4NFDN)
This week, Jordan Erica Webber talks to Anna, whose ex-partner surveilled her every move by using ‘stalkerware’ apps. Jordan also talks to MIT Technology Review journalist Charlotte Jee about what tech companies like Apple and Google could be doing to stop the proliferation of these apps Continue reading...
AFP granted warrant to unlock smartphone but decision overturned on grounds device not covered by Crimes ActAustralian federal police are fighting a federal court ruling that a smartphone is not considered a computer, making a warrant it was using to force a suspect to unlock a phone invalid.In August last year, the AFP obtained a warrant under section 3LA of the Crimes Act to unlock a gold-coloured Samsung phone found in the centre console of the man’s car when he was pulled over and searched. Continue reading...
Campaigners say scanning faces as alternative to tickets would be intrusiveManchester City have been cautioned against the introduction of facial recognition technology, which a civil rights group says would risk “normalising a mass surveillance toolâ€.The reigning Premier League champions are considering introducing technology allowing fans to get into the Etihad Stadium more quickly by showing their faces instead of tickets, according to the Sunday Times. Continue reading...
Sarah T Roberts’s vital new study demonstrates how online content moderation is a global industry that operates on the back of human exploitation“All human life is there†used to be the proudest boast of the (mercifully) defunct News of the World. Like everything else in that organ, it wasn’t true: the NoW specialised in randy vicars, chorus girls, Tory spankers, pools winners, C-list celebrities and other minority sports. But there is a medium to which the slogan definitely applies – it’s called the internet.The best metaphor for the net is to think of it as a mirror held up to human nature. All human life really is there. There’s no ideology, fetish, behaviour, obsession, perversion, eccentricity or fad that doesn’t find expression somewhere online. And while much of what we see reflected back to us is uplifting, banal, intriguing, harmless or fascinating, some of it is truly awful, for the simple reason that human nature is not only infinitely diverse but also sometimes unspeakably cruel. Continue reading...
Peugeot’s comfortable new SUV offers cycling correspondent Jeremy Whittle a front row seat to all the action at this year’s Tour de FrancePeugeot 3008
Advertisers, tech giants and border forces are using face tracking software to monitor our moods – whether we like it or notIt is early July, almost 30C outside, but Mihkel Jäätma is thinking about Christmas. In a co-working space in Soho, the 39-year-old founder and CEO of Realeyes, an “emotion AI†startup which uses eye-tracking and facial expression to analyse mood, scrolls through a list of 20 festive ads from 2018. He settles on The Boy and the Piano, the offering from John Lewis that tells the life story of Elton John backwards, from megastardom to the gift of a piano from his parents as a child, accompanied by his timeless heartstring-puller Your Song. The ad was well received, but Jäätma is clearly unconvinced.He hits play, and the ad starts, but this time two lines – one grey (negative reactions), the other red (positive) – are traced across the action. These follow the second-by-second responses of a 200-person sample audience who watched the ad and allowed Realeyes to record them through the camera of their computer or smartphone. Realeyes then used its AI technology to analyse each individual’s facial expression and body language. The company did this with all of Jäätma’s list of 20 Christmas ads from 2018, watching 4,000 people, before rating each commercial for attention, emotion, sentiment and finally giving it a mark out of 10. Continue reading...
A dating sim with a difference, artist Angela Washko’s The Game: The Game exposes the manipulative horror of extreme seduction by getting the player to experience it from the woman’s point of viewIt’s Friday night, and it’s been a long day. You’re a young woman walking into a bar, looking for your friends, when a man you don’t know walks up to you, grabs you, and pulls you close. “SPIN,†he says intensely, turning you in a circle. It’s a command, not a request. When you try to pull away, he feigns sadness for a moment, furrowing his brow, and then declares his love for you, a look of pain in his eyes. “Don’t embarrass me,†the man growls, and tries to pull you towards the door, toward a cab, towards his apartment, even as you resist.Welcome to The Game: The Game, where a dating sim is transformed into survival horror by filtering “romance†through the lens of “pick-up artistsâ€, a lucrative but emotionally deformed community where poorly adjusted and manipulative men teach others how to extract sex from women at all costs. In a traditional dating sim, you’d be presented with a variety of romantic interests, and encouraged to choose the one you like the most. In The Game, as in pick-up artistry at large, it’s not about what you want; instead, you’re presented with several men willing to do a wide range of things to get you into bed, each of them based on a real-life leader in the seduction community, and tailored to his specific approach. Continue reading...
Photographs used to be banned in exhibitions – now they’re encouraged. So why do some people get so snobby about them?While I was studying art history, my tutor once advised the class that when you want to take photos in a gallery, it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Later, when I started working in various galleries, I always felt bad when someone asked whether they could take photographs because I had to tell them no.Thankfully, things have loosened up – at least in UK museums and galleries – and personal photography is generally allowed and even encouraged. But have things swung too far in the other direction? This has been a heated topic of debate on social media this past week. Smartphones have made photography accessible to almost everybody, while social media provides somewhere for all those photos to go. As such, the phone has become a significant presence in the gallery, to the annoyance of some. Continue reading...
Petition demands that the company not provide any technical services to US immigration agencies, citing ‘system of abuse’Tech giant Google is facing a demand from hundreds of employees for an assurance that it will not bid on a government cloud computing contract that could be used to enforce US immigration policies on the southern border.A group of employees called Googlers for Human Rights posted a public petition overnight Thursday urging the company to resist tendering for a US Customs and Border Protection or Immigration and Customs Enforcement contract. Continue reading...
Investigation uncovers widespread use in museums and shopping centresPrivacy campaigners have warned of an “epidemic†of facial recognition use in shopping centres, museums, conference centres and other private spaces around the UK.An investigation by Big Brother Watch (BBW), which tracks the use of surveillance, has found that private companies are spearheading a rollout of the controversial technology. Continue reading...
In 1989, the machine the rest of the world called the Mega Drive was launched in the US with a new name and a bold new idea: that gaming could be coolThe US launch of the Sega Genesis, on 14 August 1989, probably didn’t seem like a huge deal outside the video game industry. The machine was launched in Japan the year before under a different name – the Mega Drive – and with a couple of decent arcade conversions, Space Harrier II and Super Thunder Blade, but not much in the way of fanfare. Nintendo utterly dominated the games business at that time, with a 95% share of the console sector and most of the biggest Japanese developers locked into exclusive deals to make games for its NES and forthcoming SNES consoles. The Mega Drive did OK in Japan but it was small fry – a cult machine.But David Rosen, who co-founded Sega after serving with the US air force in Japan during the Korean war, was determined to make a real event of the console’s launch in his native country. The first games machine with a 16-bit processor, and boasting beautiful, colourful visuals, excellent sound and enough power to handle accurate arcade conversions, it had all the credentials of a hit. All he had to do was get US gamers to recognise it. So he rebranded it Genesis – a name he thought was cool and symbolised Sega’s rebirth – and then he started building. Continue reading...
Ren Zhengfei confident of UK deal with Chinese company, but security concerns remainThe founder and chief executive of Huawei has said Britain “won’t say no to us†over the Chinese firm’s involvement in the rollout of 5G mobile internet infrastructure.The UK is considering the inclusion of Huawei equipment in the project after Donald Trump in May in effect banned the company from trading with American firms. Continue reading...
Facebook-owned company seeking to stem spread of misinformation by removing dubious posts from searchesInstagram is adding an option for users to report posts they think are false, the Facebook-owned photo-sharing site has announced, as tries to stem misinformation and other abuses.Results rated as false are removed from places where users seek out new content, such as Instagram’s “explore†tab and hashtag search results. Continue reading...
Privacy watchdog is seeking details of how technology is used at central London siteThe UK’s privacy watchdog has opened an investigation into the use of facial recognition cameras in a busy part of central London.The information commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, announced she would look into the technology being used in Granary Square, close to King’s Cross station. Continue reading...
A team of researchers at Japan’s Keio university have built a robotic tail. Dubbed 'Arque', the grey one-metre device mimics tails such as those of cheetahs and monkeys, used to keep balance while running and climbing Continue reading...
Ruqayyah needs a laptop costing up to £500 for her teacher training course. What are her best options?I’m due to start my teacher training in September. Which laptop should I buy on a £500 budget? RuqayyahThis question comes up every year. Obviously, the answers change as technology moves on. What doesn’t change much, if at all, is the general advice. You can get most of it from last year’s answer, though a brief summary might be useful. Continue reading...
Critics say ‘proactive’ approach could make questionable content harder to detectFacebook is changing its rules on private groups amid growing criticism that some closed communities on the platform are uniting extremists and spreading fake news.The company announced in a blogpost on Wednesday that it would take a more “proactive†approach in detecting problematic content in groups and will work to enhance transparency surrounding them. Continue reading...
The platform made stars of Bria Kam and Chrissy Chambers. But now the duo, along with other gay content creators, say they are losing their voice and their living because of the unfair way an algorithm works‘It happened again today,†Bria Kam tells me, throwing her arms up in frustration. I am speaking to Kam and her wife, Chrissy Chambers, over FaceTime from their home in Vancouver, Washington. They are sitting in their workout gear, on the familiar grey couch where they record the YouTube videos that have turned them into stars. But there are no signature dazzling smiles today.This morning, the couple uploaded a video called Ten Ways to Know You’re in Love (Do You Want a Baby?), a benign collection of comedy sketches (including one in which Chambers falls asleep while Kam is talking, and another in which Chambers is going through her rock collection) followed by an interview with a lesbian couple who had conceived a child with donor sperm. Continue reading...
Office rental company filed for initial public offering, publishing statements showing loss of almost $700m in the first half of 2019WeWork, a company that has shaken up the sleepy world of office rentals by adding a hipster aesthetic and beer taps to office life, became the latest Silicon Valley “unicorn†to file for an initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday, revealing huge losses and rapid growth.The nine-year-old company now runs offices in 111 cities worldwide with 527,000 members paying fees for access to a shared workspace in 29 countries across the world. Continue reading...
Capcom’s joyful, rule-breaking gameplay laid the groundwork for today’s multiplayer fighting games. Its producer and designer tell us how they did it
Fingerprints, facial recognition and other personal information from Biostar 2 discovered on publicly accessible databaseThe fingerprints of over 1 million people, as well as facial recognition information, unencrypted usernames and passwords, and personal information of employees, was discovered on a publicly accessible database for a company used by the likes of the UK Metropolitan police, defence contractors and banks.Suprema is the security company responsible for the web-based Biostar 2 biometrics lock system that allows centralised control for access to secure facilities like warehouses or office buildings. Biostar 2 uses fingerprints and facial recognition as part of its means of identifying people attempting to gain access to buildings. Continue reading...
by Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor on (#4N8BW)
True wireless buds are Sony’s best yet, but where is the volume control?Sony’s latest true wireless WF-1000XM3 earbuds offer both noise cancelling and top-end sound quality while undercutting premium rivals on price.The replacement for the WF-1000X, which were some of the first noise cancelling true wireless earbuds available, the new “M3†portion of the model number denotes the company’s third generation of active noise cancelling technology and the QN1e chip, which is rivalled only by Bose. Continue reading...
Company says ‘human review’ of audio conversations on Messenger has been ‘paused’Facebook has become the latest company to admit that human contractors listened to recordings of users without their knowledge, a practice the company now says has been “pausedâ€.Citing contractors who worked on the project, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday that the company hired people to listen to audio conversations carried out on Facebook Messenger. Continue reading...
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