Technology | The Guardian

Hackers said to have swiped information, including secret plans for new type of missile, from US navy contractorChinese government hackers have stolen a massive trove of sensitive information from a US navy contractor, including secret plans to develop a new type of submarine-launched anti-ship missile, according to the Washington Post.Investigators told the newspaper that breaches were executed in January and February by a division of the Chinese ministry of state security, operating out of the Chinese province of Guangdong. Continue reading...

Firm changes initial ad for ‘news credibility specialists’ to ‘news publisher specialists’Facebook has advertised for “news credibility specialists” to fact-check content that appears on its site, after accusations of bias and the ongoing controversy over fake news.Almost two years after the company fired its “trending” news team and replaced it with algorithms in an attempt to fight accusations of anti-conservative editing, it posted the job listings on Thursday. Continue reading...

Facing criticism over the grip it has on our lives, Silicon Valley has developed the idea of ‘digital wellbeing’. I don’t buy itDo you find it hard to relax and switch off because you spend so much time on your phone? You just need to download another app. The popular New Zealand station Sleep Radio, which plays ambient music to help its listeners doze off, is now available on smartphones, to help people who use their devices late at night. Listeners have been tuning in from around the world. Meanwhile, Apple has announced a suite of new tools for the next iPhone operating system that allow you to set time limits on how much you use particular apps, and quieten the flood of notifications.The promise that new functions in these machines will help us break our addictions might seem cynical Continue reading...

Company says it will notify users affected by bug that led to posts being published publicly that were intended to be private

Findings about crash in Silicon Valley raise fresh concerns about limits of Elon Musk’s technology

Graham and his wife take thousands of photos while travelling but aren’t always near wifi – is there a cloudless alternative?

At a special Microsoft lab, joypads are tested to destruction to ensure they withstand pummelling by games aficionadosAs soon as you open the door, the noise pummels you. It’s like the sound of a steam train, or even an experimental electronic music track. “Thankfully, no one needs to sit in here,” says the engineer showing us around. “You’d go crazy.”This isn’t some kind of vast industrial production line – this is a laboratory at Microsoft’s otherwise sedate headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The extraordinary noise is created when button durability on dozens of Xbox controllers is tested simultaneously. Continue reading...

The much-loved British brand has improved its wireless on-ear range, perfect for metal and hip-hop heads alikeThe Marshall Major III Bluetooth headphones are the latest in the much-loved British audio brand’s wireless headphone range, and while the changes are minor over the last pair they are still a winning combination of look, sound and battery life.

Software provider used by companies for job applications has been hackedA Sydney law firm is seeking potential victims for a class action after PageUp, a multinational software provider used by some of Australia’s biggest companies to manage their recruitment, notified that it had been hacked.

Built-in alarm sparks anger from city officials amid concerns over racism and policing: ‘This is a threat to people’The stories of Americans calling police on people of color who are just going about their daily lives have gone viral multiple times, and prompted a national debate about everyday racism.

PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC; Dontnod Entertainment

UK is important as consumer market and talent source, says UK and Ireland chiefAmazon is to create more than 2,500 jobs in the UK this year, including 650 head office roles, as the online retailer says it remains committed to expanding in Brexit Britain.The company is looking for speech science and machine learning experts to help it develop its smart speakers and Alexa personal assistant Continue reading...

Move is part of firm’s efforts to patch up its relationship with European governmentsUber has launched an electric bike-sharing service in Germany as part of efforts to repair its relationship with European governments.The controversial ride-hailing app has been prohibited from operating some of its services in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Belgium, after battles with taxi organisations and protests in several cities. Continue reading...

One in three UK consumers have mistakenly purchased a counterfeit electrical item online, according to new findingsPopular e-commerce sites such as Amazon, eBay and Fruugo are being misused by third party sellers to exploit online UK shoppers and expose them to thousands of fake and potentially dangerous electrical goods, an investigation has claimed today.The charity Electrical Safety First (ESF) found that one in three UK consumers – about 18 million people – has mistakenly purchased a counterfeit electrical item online. They were led to believe that the product was genuine, only to find it was a knockoff item at risk of causing an electric shock or even a fire. Continue reading...

Over 200 hours of the Doctor’s original 1963-1989 episodes are being streamed on the website, complete with hashtags and Time Lord emojisIn more than five decades of adventuring through time and space, Doctor Who has appeared not only on TV, but on film, radio, and across a vast range of books, CDs and LPs. Last week the show started exploring another dimension, with 500 classic episodes live-streamed in a viewing marathon on Twitch.For the uninitiated, Twitch, is a video platform mostly devoted to gaming. When you sign up, you are asked to pick out some favourite video games and that choice shapes the channels and streams that are recommended to you. It’s an inherently interactive space: gamers are able to stream themselves playing to potentially huge worldwide audiences, with comments running in real time alongside their videos. And it is an intriguing place to suddenly start broadcasting black-and-white 1960s TV. Continue reading...

The Last of Us getting nasty, Fallout 76 going back to armageddon and Pokemon Let’s Go dropping a nostalgia bomb are some of this year’s hottest prospectsE3, the biggest video game news event of the year, is taking place next week in Los Angeles – and as it is every year, it will be preceded by press conferences and livestreams where Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and the rest will hype up their forthcoming games. E3 very much concentrates on the Hollywood blockbusters of the video game world; here are the 16 games generating the most buzz.We’ll be liveblogging the first three days of E3 2018, including the press conferences. Join us at theguardian.com/games from Monday 11 June. Continue reading...

Once it was the biggest social network; now it’s a ghost town. But for a handful of hardcore users, Myspace remains essentialAlmost every day, Kenneth Scalir takes a trip to the library or a cafe near his home in Sherman Oaks, California, to spend about an hour on his favourite site: Myspace.Scalir, 48, is one of a dwindling group of people still committed to what was once the most popular social networking platform in the world, with more than 100 million users at its peak. While most people have long abandoned Myspace in favour of Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat, Scalir roams the digital graveyard searching for signs of life. Continue reading...

Security agencies would be given access to encrypted messaging apps under bid to ‘modernise’ lawsTechnology companies such as Facebook and Google would be forced to give Australian security agencies access to encrypted data under legislation to be introduced by the Turnbull government.But the government has refused to say how the security agencies would access the data. Continue reading...

A woman attempts to reconnect with her past self in a game that aims to recreate the experience of early-onset dementiaWhen you’re playing Before I Forget, wandering around a house inspecting everyday objects, trying to trigger a memory, it feels like a lot of narrative-driven video games: you’re attempting to piece together a story using clues left behind. But this game puts you in the shoes of Sunita, a woman suffering from early-onset dementia, which infuses what you’re doing with sadness and significance. The house is delineated in monochrome, colour seeping back as she gradually reconnects with her past self. Examining a photograph provides a clue to her identity; a familiar piece of music might recall an important person in her life.Other symptoms are conveyed in more disconcerting ways. Sunita can become lost in her own home in a nightmarish loop, opening doors that all lead to the same dark broom cupboard. Before I Forget was exhibited as part of The Leftfield Collection’s experimental indie-game lineup at Rezzed games convention in London earlier this year. Developer 3-Fold Games hopes to provide a sensitive and emotive portrayal of dementia. Continue reading...

Doug Clark says two credit card providers hold the lion’s share of the market, giving them a worrying degree of control over our means of payment, and Mike Peart says he shouldn’t be discriminated against financially for not having a smartphoneOn Friday millions of people across Britain and Europe were unable to pay for goods and services after a crash in Visa’s payment system (Chaos as Visa card network crashes in UK and Europe, 2 June). Countries worldwide are dispensing with cash. This situation stems from new technology such as phone payment apps and contactless systems. While few doubt its convenience, what are the downsides to a cashless society? Since 2008, banks are no longer held high in public esteem, and hacking scandals show that technology firms care little for our privacy.Currently, two credit card providers hold the lion’s share of the market, giving them a worrying degree of control over our means of payment. It is not well known that credit card companies have the legal right to refuse anyone a card or to revoke an existing card – without giving reasons. Such power needs curtailing by encouraging more providers and other payment avenues. E-payment is data-rich and hence ripe for data-mining – again, the public needs protection. E-payment systems have become indispensable to everyday life, but what happens to some innocent person who becomes cut off from the cashless payment system? Effectively, they become divorced from society. Let last Friday’s chaos serve as a warning. Legislation is required urgently.

The taxi app is attempting to turn around its toxic image with a quirky documentary narrated by Dawn French. But has anything actually changed for its drivers?Near the end of April, Uber dropped a “fireside chat” podcast on to its “partner” channel on SoundCloud. It featured representatives of UberENGAGE (the company’s scheme for soliciting feedback from its drivers) doing a little soul-searching about the taxi app’s toxic public image. Back in 2014, the Guardian had been asking if Uber was the “worst company in Silicon Valley”, and that was before the sexual harassment lawsuits, the #DeleteUber campaign, the employment tribunals over its failure to pay the UK’s minimum wage, Transport for London (TfL) refusing to renew its licence and the forced resignation of its chief executive, Travis Kalanick, last June.On the podcast, Uber London’s marketing strategy boss, Irina Kondrashova, conceded that the company had some “reputational challenges”. But she promised that Uber would come out fighting. “You probably haven’t seen much advertising for Uber in the last six months or so because rebuilding reputation is not just what you say but how you say it,” she said. “Shouting with billboards about how great we are doesn’t feel like the right thing right now. But I have some great news in that [over] the next couple of months we’re going to have some great campaigns coming out.” Uber was ready “to start telling people what we’re about and how we’re doing the right thing and ultimately changing our reputation”. Continue reading...

Smartphones used to be a status symbol. Now they are a necessity for all but the most privileged peopleDigital detoxes are all the rage these days, but did you know that unplugging from your smartphone suddenly can have severe, occasionally nauseating, side-effects? Within minutes of deciding to disconnect from the modern world to live a purer, more analogue life, some people have reported overwhelming feelings of smug superiority. Many of them appear to transform into modern messiahs, eager to preach the virtues of a smartphone-free life to anyone who will listen.A case in point is Simon Cowell who, apparently, has not touched his smartphone for 10 months. Cowell imparted this news to the Mail on Sunday, which, in an uncharacteristic display of hyperbole, labelled it “an astonishing confession”. The entertainment mogul said that abstaining from his mobile has helped his mental health; it has made him happier and more aware of the people around him. It has also made him more focused, he said. “The thing I get irritated with is when you have a meeting [and] everyone’s on their phone ... You can’t concentrate.” Continue reading...

Apple has unveiled its new OS for its smartphones and tablets. What does it mean for notifications, privacy and emoji?Apple has unveiled all the new features heading to iPhones and iPads at its developer conference in San Francisco on Monday, including speed boost for even older devices, improved privacy and a host of new features.

ITP2 anti-tracking and limiting Screen Time app clearly targeting Facebook and InstagramOver a long two hours at WWDC, Apple showed off the roadmap for the next year of its software. Phones will get performance boosts and services aiming to help people fight compulsive use, Macs will get iOS apps and new machine learning technologies, and even the Apple Watch sees an upgrade or two.But some changes didn’t make it on the main stage, either because they’re a bit too technical, a little embarrassing for the company, or just plain old bad news. Continue reading...

Flying at twice the speed of sound was the preserve of the super-rich. If supersonic flight roars back to the skies, could it be more affordable?You could tell without looking up that Concorde was on its final approach to Heathrow: its Rolls Royce Olympus turbojets made the same roar on landing as others did taking off. It was a treat just to watch it in flight, and many of us assumed one day that supersonic flight would be the norm, not a novelty.Concorde’s crash just outside Paris on 25 July, 2000 was actually just the symbolic end for the world’s only supersonic airliner. It may have been ahead of its time, but paradoxically it was already out of date and out of touch. Weighed down with political and economic baggage, Concorde was grounded in 2003, which seemed to signify the end of commercial supersonic travel (SST). Continue reading...

Tim Cook and friends kick off ‘dubdub’ in California, with new Apple Watch features, Siri Shortcuts, new Animoji, group FaceTime, ARKit and more9.37pm BSTThat’s all from us here, but Olivia Solon in San Francisco has condensed it all into one nice piece.

Company is changing its focus from the Windows operating system to tools for developersMicrosoft is buying the code-sharing site GitHub, a developer-focused startup that has become a crucial part of the programming industry, for $7.5bnThe acquisition shows Microsoft further cementing its role as a company built around tools for developers, part of a pivot away from its flagship Windows operating system started by its chief executive, Satya Nadella, four years ago. Continue reading...

Bill Morrow tells senators he is considering ‘throttling back’ customers who use network the most during peak hoursThe head of the NBN has blamed gamers for a significant increase in data consumption on its fixed wireless network and said the company was considering throttling back data consumption of “extreme users” during peak periods.Bill Morrow, the chief executive of the National Broadband Network, appeared before a parliamentary committee on Monday to answer questions about the rollout of the NBN in rural and regional areas. Continue reading...

Four decades ago, Tomohiro Nishikado created the title that became shorthand for video games themselves. He recalls how he wanted to tap into players’ competitive instinctsIn the 1970s, as Tomohiro Nishikado began to consider designing his next arcade game, the video game medium was in a fledgling state. With few rules to follow or break, the pioneering game developer had the creative freedom he needed to build a true cultural phenomenon. The game Nishikado was starting to plot out in his mind was Space Invaders, the iconic shoot ’em up that is celebrating its 40th anniversary.“I had no idea the game would become so popular it would become a social phenomenon,” Nishikado remembers. “I was totally taken aback.”

The champion of clean energy and space travel, who was on a trajectory seemingly forever up, is now locked in battle with the same media which once feted himOnce upon a time Elon Musk was our era’s real-life Tony Stark, a billionaire Iron Man streaking across the sky with technology to save the planet and take us to Mars.Reusable rockets, electric cars, solar power, he did them all, taking time out to advise Robert Downey Jr on how to play the Marvel superhero on a trajectory seemingly forever up, up, up. Continue reading...

GMB union is demanding gig economy drivers get sick pay and national minimum wageDrivers delivering goods for Amazon are to fight for better employment rights, including sick pay, holiday pay and the national minimum wage.The GMB union announced on Monday that it is taking legal action on behalf of members working for three delivery firms used by Amazon, arguing that the companies wrongly classed them as self-employed. Continue reading...

Not using phone is ‘a strange experience but really is good for you’, music producer saysSimon Cowell has revealed that he has not used his mobile phone for 10 months in an attempt to boost his mental health and happiness.The music mogul said the move had paid off in terms of his quality of life. Continue reading...

From Bose to Beats, we assess the cans capable of shutting out the world as well as making your music singBose is one of the pioneers of noise-cancelling technology and is often lauded as the best in the business. The QC35 II are the second edition of the company’s wireless noise-cancelling cans and set the standard by which everyone else is measured. Continue reading...

It played a pivotal role in many campaigns through the Second World War, and now a special limited-edition of the RE/WD 125 is back in actionRoyal Enfield Classic 500 Pegasus

Researchers say wearable fitness trackers could also allow doctors to step in before patients must be sent to hospitalWearable fitness trackers, such as the popular Fitbit, have the potential to help doctors predict which patients will do well on a course of chemotherapy, and be able to intervene before unexpected admissions to the hospital, experts believe. Continue reading...

Numbers using Facebook have dropped significantly since 2015, with YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat more popularTeenagers have abandoned Facebook in favour of other social media platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram, according to a study from the Pew Research Center.Just 51% of US individuals aged 13 to 17 say they use Facebook – a dramatic plunge from the 71% who said they used the social network in Pew’s previous study in 2015, when it was the dominant online platform. Continue reading...

Smart home appliances send data to manufacturers and third parties, Which? warnsBritish homes are vulnerable to “a staggering level of corporate surveillance” through common internet-enabled devices, an investigation has found.Researchers found that a range of connected appliances – increasingly popular features of the so-called smart home – send data to their manufacturers and third-party companies, in some cases failing to keep the information secure. One Samsung smart TV connected to more than 700 distinct internet addresses in 15 minutes. Continue reading...

Company says the feature, which was blamed for the rise of fake news, was unpopularFacebook is shutting down its ill-fated trending news section after four years, according to a company executive.

Jordan Erica Webber questions the significance of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s video game-themed concertSubscribe and review: Acast, Apple, Spotify, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud. Join the discussion on Facebook, Twitter or email us at chipspodcast@theguardian.com.The world premiere of PlayStation in Concert took place this week, featuring PlayStation game music from the 90s to today, arranged by Jim Fowler and performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Continue reading...

As retailer blocks Australia from global sites, treasurer says it’s hard to believe it can’t manage new rules

At annual meeting, investors condemn CEO’s level of sway at the company, telling him: ‘Emulate Washington, not Putin’In the months since Facebook faced one of the greatest crises in its 14-year history over the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, has faced tough questioning and increased scrutiny from his users, the media and governments around the world.On Thursday, the billionaire executive faced another challenge: from angry shareholders at the company’s annual meeting, where activist investors had forced votes on six proposals to change the company’s governance or institute other reforms. Continue reading...

Tech firm acts on accounts created by users under 13 at the time to comply with GDPRIn an effort to comply with GDPR, Twitter is blocking users who were underage when they signed up for the service – even if they’re now well over 18.The company instituted a wave of account suspensions on 25 May, the day the new privacy regulation came into effect, locking the accounts of any user whose self-declared date of birth suggested that they may have been under 13 at the point they signed up for the account. Continue reading...

Is this strange Android app bug an Easter egg? Whatever it is, it has mystified users on RedditSoftware and apps are full of so called Easter eggs, which bored coders put in to trigger something novel just for fun. If this is one of those, it’s the most bizarre Easter eggs for a while. Type “the1975..com” into the Google app on your Android phone and see what happens.

Broadband is slow on June’s farm and BT wants £16,000 to install something faster. What are the options?We’re a rural family of six with three businesses on site and we have three landlines in order to be able to use broadband. It is a disaster – usually less than 1MB, peaks occasionally at 4MB – and sometimes the kids have to go to the village to do homework.Why isn’t BT forced to enable rural homes with the same deals that city people get? BT wanted to charge £16,000 to connect us!BT isn’t forced to offer rural homes the same deals as city people because – as your £16,000 quote illustrates – it would cost too much. BT is busy extending its high-speed network to rural areas but the British government, via the DCMS’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) scheme, and local authorities are contributing to the cost.

Parents have been advised to limit media consumption, but research suggests it’s the nature of it that mattersFor many parents in the digital age, battles over screen time and devices have become a depressing part of family life, and knowing how much is too much has become a moving target.Whether it’s three-year-olds throwing tantrums when the iPad is taken away, seven-year-olds watching YouTube all night, nine-year-olds demanding their own phones, 11-year-olds nagging to play 18-rated video games that “all their friends” are, or 14-year-olds who are never off Instagram, every stage of childhood and adolescence is now accompanied by its own delightful new parenting challenges. Continue reading...

Nest Hello promises to recognise friends and family at the door, but could provoke privacy concernsGoogle’s facial recognition video doorbell, the Nest Hello, is launching in the UK to challenge Amazon’s Ring.

Law introduced banning drones from flying above 400ft and within 1km of an airportThe government has announced measures to tackle the dangers drones can pose to people, aircraft and airports.From 30 July, drones will be banned by law from flying above 400ft and within 1km of an airport boundary, because of fears they could damage the windows or engines of planes and other aircraft during takeoff or landing. Continue reading...

A game promising to let users play the killer in a school shooting has been removed from games store Steam following outcryA video game designed to simulate school shooting scenarios has been removed from the digital games store Steam.Active Shooter was due to be launched on the popular PC gaming site on 6 June, provoking an outcry from politicians and the parents of children killed during the Parkland shooting in Florida. A petition calling for the game to be removed from the store was signed by more than 180,000 people. Continue reading...

PUGB, creator of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, files lawsuit against Epic Games claiming similarities between two titlesThe creator of the smash-hit video game Fortnite is to be sued in South Korea for copyright violation.According to the Korean Times, a lawsuit has been filed by PUGB Corp, a subsidiary of the publisher Bluehole. It alleges that Fortnite bears many similarities to its own title, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, which was launched several months earlier. Continue reading...

New games aim to mix mass appeal of Pokémon Go with nostalgia of classic titlesThe Pokémon Company and Nintendo have announced new Pokémon games for the Nintendo Switch.The announcements were headlined by two games that aim to mix the approachable nature of the hit mobile app Pokémon Go with the more in-depth appeal of the mainline role-playing game series, alongside a healthy hit of nostalgia. Continue reading...