Tech company blames phonetic overlap' for problem where US president's name appearsApple has promised to fix a bug in its iPhone automatic dictation tool after some users reported it had suggested to them Trump" when they said the word racist".The glitch was first highlighted in a viral post on TikTok, when the speech-to-text tool sometimes briefly flashed up the word Trump" when they said racist", and was later repeated by others on social media. Continue reading...
by Sally Weale Education correspondent on (#6VHEX)
Survey of 1,000 students shows explosive increase' in use of generative AI in particular over past 12 monthsBritish universities have been warned to stress-test" all assessments after new research revealed almost all" undergraduates are using generative artificial intelligence (genAI) in their studies.A survey of 1,000 students - both domestic and international - found there had been an explosive increase" in the use of genAI in the past 12 months. Almost nine out of 10 (88%) in the 2025 poll said they used tools such as ChatGPT for their assessments, up from 53% last year. Continue reading...
Decision to shutter development studios comes as gamers cut back on new purchases and instead opt for proven titlesWarner Bros Discovery is shutting down three of its video game development studios in a move aimed at boosting profitability for its gaming division amid a sluggish recovery in the market, a spokesperson for the company's games unit said on Tuesday.The studios to be closed are Player First Games, WB Games San Diego and Monolith Productions. Development on Monolith's Wonder Woman game will also halt, following the shuttering. Continue reading...
The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said more than 1 million US federal employees responded to an email sent by Elon Musk's Department of government efficiency asking them to list five things they had accomplished in the last week. 'It took me about a minute and a half to think of five things I did last week. I do five things in about 10 minutes, and all federal workers should be working at the same pace that President Trump is working,' said Leavitt. She added that a new email was being sent threatening employees that they will be fired if they don't respond
Vote vindicates tech company's decision to uphold diversity initiatives as other firms give into pressure from presidentApple shareholders voted down an attempt to pressure the technology company into yielding to Donald Trump's push to scrub corporate programs designed to diversify its workforce.A proposal drafted by the National Center for Public Policy Research - a self-described conservative thinktank - urged Apple to follow a litany of high-profile companies that have retreated from diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives currently in the Trump administration's crosshairs. Continue reading...
Barney Ronay on Arne Slot | Church of England | Tech revolution | Too many questions | Last word on school reports?Last month, Barney Ronay said Liverpool's manager, Arne Slot, had the look of a prosperous provincial butcher here to pick up a civic award". This month (23 February), he said Slot had the air of a friendly neighbourhood greengrocer who juggles apples on his forearm". Nextmonth, the jolly baker?
Tech billionaire, a close adviser to the US president, is a vocal supporter of Germany's far-right AfD partySales of new Tesla cars almost halved in Europe last month, indicating waning demand for the US carmaker's vehicles as its chief executive Elon Musk intervened repeatedly in the politics on both sides of the Atlantic.The Texas-based carmaker sold 9,945 vehicles in Europe in January, down 45% from last year's 18,161, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA). Tesla's share of the market dropped to 1% from 1.8%. Continue reading...
Fickle financial dealings leave a man and his friends in debt, prompting them to go in search of the slippery crypto king responsible and hold him to accountThe opening crawl for this timely, acute thriller proclaims it's a Steven Soderbergh presentation, although that's the only place that the veteran film-maker's name crops up in the credits. No doubt kudos here should mostly be due to director Cutter Hodierne and screenwriter John Hibey, as well as their crew and cast, but it's tempting to sense a light Soderberghian touch in Cold Wallet's blackly comic look at how cryptocurrency eats the soul of all who meddle in its black arts.Charismatic Raul Castillo stars as protagonist Billy, a bit of a screw-up who is neck deep in a crypto called - tellingly for those aware of the history of bubble stocks - Tulip. Hoping to cash out enough to buy a house so he can gain better access to his daughter who lives with his bitter ex-wife (Zoe Winters from Succession), Billy is the proverbial this close to his goal when the currency suddenly tanks after reports of the sudden death of its founder. Now, Billy finds he actually owes money. The same goes for his good friend, hippy-jock Dom (Tony Cavalero), who Billy talked into investing in Tulip and is now at risk of losing his gym business. Continue reading...
Recordings of empty studios represent impact on musicians of UK's plans to let AI train on their work without permissionMore than 1,000 musicians, including Kate Bush, Damon Albarn and Annie Lennox, have released a silent album in protest against UK government plans to let artificial intelligence companies use copyright-protected work without permission, as a celebrity backlash builds against the proposals.The recordings of dormant music studios and performance spaces, called Is This What We Want?, are being released as leading cultural figures warn livelihoods are under threat from proposed changes to copyright law. Continue reading...
Parliamentary petition launched due to billionaire's link to Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to conquer CanadaMore than 200,000 people from Canada have signed a parliamentary petition calling for their country to strip Elon Musk's Canadian citizenship because of the tech billionaire's alliance with Donald Trump, who has spent his second US presidency repeatedly threatening to conquer its independent neighbor to the north and turn it into its 51st state.The British Columbia author Qualia Reed launched the petition in Canada's House of Commons, where it was sponsored by the New Democrat parliamentary member and avowed Musk critic Charlie Angus, as the Canadian Press first reported over the weekend. Continue reading...
Holmes, who is serving nine years, attempted to overturn conviction over multimillion-dollar investor fraud scandalA US court upheld the conviction of the Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes for defrauding investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars while operating her failed blood-testing startup, once valued at $9bn, rejecting her multi-year appeal. The court also upheld the conviction of Ramesh Sunny" Balwani, once Holmes's romantic partner and president of Theranos.A three-judge panel for the 9th US circuit court of appeals in San Francisco rejected claims of legal errors at their separate trials held in 2022. Continue reading...
Spending ranges from new AI server factory in Texas to film and TV content and may add 20,000 jobsApple announced Monday it would invest $500bn in the US in the next four years that would include a giant factory in Texas for artificial intelligence servers and add about 20,000 research and development jobs across the country.The move comes on the heels of reports that the Apple CEO, Tim Cook, met Donald Trump last week. Many of Apple's products that are assembled in China and imported to the US could face 10% tariffs introduced by the White House earlier this month, though the iPhone maker secured some waivers from China tariffs during the first Trump administration. Continue reading...
The Last Week Tonight host looked at content moderation and how Mark Zuckerberg has bent to Trump's willJohn Oliver took aim at Mark Zuckerberg and the world of content moderation in this week's episode of Last Week Tonight.The host of the HBO series looked at just how much the tech industry seemed to swing toward Trump" since the election last year. Continue reading...
Many start their studies hoping to find friends, themselves and intellectual stimulation. More and more are finding they've been sold something elseWhen Mai* started studying psychology in mid-2019, she looked forward to making the trip to the university for her tutorials, where she'd have lively conversations with classmates as they grappled with new ideas.But her excitement turned to dread when her face-to-face tutorials were swapped for Zoom meetings in 2020.Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading...
Despite its early detractors at Sega, the legendary driving game was released to great success and millions of salesKenji Kanno, director of Sega's legendary driving game Crazy Taxi, remembers the exact moment he knew the game had made a seismic impression. I was going to Las Vegas for promotional work," he says. I got into the taxi and the driver drove me very fast, arriving at my destination quickly. At the end, he laughed and said: I am the real Crazy Taxi!' It was a strange experience."Initially released in arcades, the zany, pop-punk drive-em'-up celebrates its 25th anniversary this month. Crazy Taxi was an addictive coin-swallowing thrill ride, the game's eccentric cabbies continually yelling Ready to have some fun?" and Time to make some crazy money!" in the faces of perturbed-looking normies who simply wish to be chauffeured over to Pizza Hut. Driving green-haired Axel's yellow 1960 Cadillac Eldorado so fast that its front bumper smashed into sunny San Francisco's concrete hills was a memorable experience for all who played. (The Ford Mustang-driving Gena was my mum's character of choice.) Continue reading...
Bybit platform appeals to brightest minds' in cybersecurity for help after attacker transfers Ethereum currencyThe cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has called on the brightest minds" in cybersecurity to help it recover $1.5bn (1.2bn) stolen by hackers in what is thought to be the biggest single digital theft in history.The Dubai-based crypto platform said an attacker gained control of a wallet of Ethereum, one of the most popular digital currencies after bitcoin, and transferred the contents to an unknown address. Continue reading...
by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and media correspondent on (#6VFBP)
More than 2,000 cultural figures challenge Whitehall's eagerness to wrap our lives' work in attractive paper for automated competitors'Original British art and creative skill is in peril thanks to the rise of AI and the government's plans to loosen copyright rules, some of the UK's leading cultural figures have said.More than 2,000 people, including leading creative names such as Mark Haddon, Axel Scheffler, Benji Davies and Michael Rosen, have signed a letter published in the Observer today calling on the government to keep thelegal safeguards that offer artists and writers the prospect of a sustainable income. Continue reading...
As much as we need to stay informed, that relentless ping of potential horrors can't be good for usHow are you not going mad?" is a thing I've heard recently. How are you not talking about this all the time, how are you merrily, some say stupidly, going about your business as if the world did not feel like a coin in an arcade 2p machine, being pushed slowly but definitely off the edge and tasting of blood?" My answer: I've turned off breaking news alerts. More than that, I've dramatically limited the news I read. How am I not going mad? This is how I'm not going mad.Perhaps turning away from the news is a silly and job-endangering thing to admit to as somebody employed by a news organisation. Perhaps it's unattractive or exposing, as somebody living in a time when news is currency and ignorance is fatal. But I have seen the red-eyed horror of people immersed, I have felt the heat of anxiety, that burning shiver of the spine, and I've lain awake beside scrolling thumbs that dig deeper and deeper into algorithms that know us better than our own mothers, and are just as likely to shape who we become. Continue reading...
by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and media correspondent on (#6VF65)
Jony Ive, the man behind the look of Apple's iconic brands says the firm's co-founder specifically asked him not to consider what Steve would do'Sir Jony Ive, the innovative designer of Apple's iMac, iPhone and Apple Watch, and a close friend and collaborator ofthe late Steve Jobs, says he still often asks himself: I wonder what Steve would do?"Ive told BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs on Sunday that he does so despite the fact that Jobs had specifically toldhim not to before his death in 2011, aged 56. Continue reading...
The tech firms' efforts to change copyright laws and gain free access to intellectual property is patently wrongThere are decades when nothing happens (as Lenin is - wrongly - supposed to have said) and weeks when decades happen. We've just lived through a few weeks like that. We've known for decades that some American tech companies were problematic for democracy because they were fragmenting the public sphere and fostering polarisation. They were a worrying nuisance, to be sure, but not central to the polity.And then, suddenly, those corporations were inextricably bound into government, and their narrow sectional interests became the national interest of the US. Which means that any foreign government with ideas about regulating, say, hate speech on X, may have to deal with the intemperate wrath of Donald Trump or the more coherent abuse of JD Vance. Continue reading...
Gathering data used to be a fringe pursuit of Silicon Valley nerds. Now we're all at it, recording everything from menstrual cycles and mobility to toothbrushing and time spent in daylight. Is this just narcissism redesigned for the big tech age?I first heard about my friend Adam's curious new habit in a busy pub. He said he'd been doing it for over a year, but had never spoken to anyone about it before. He had a furtive look around, then took out his phone and showed me the product of his burning obsession: a spreadsheet.This was not a record of his annual tax return or numbers he was crunching for work (Adam is a data scientist). Instead, it was a spreadsheet recording the minutiae of his life, with dozens of columns tracking every element of his daily routine. It all started, he told me, because of a recurring argument with his boyfriend. His partner didn't think they spent enough time together, but Adam thought that they did. There was only one way to settle this, he decided: cold, hard data. So he began keeping a note of the days they saw each other and the days they didn't. Continue reading...
An explosive succession trial and an astonishing interview with one of Rupert's sons have exposed the paranoia and hatred at the heart of global media's most powerful family. This could get messy...When some of the mind games and manoeuvres that turned a Murdoch family retreat" into an ordeal appeared in Succession, the TV drama about squabbling family members of a right-wing media company, members of the real-life family started to suspect each other of leaking details to the writers. The truth was more straightforward. Succession's creator, Jesse Armstrong, said that his team hadn't needed inside sources - they had simply read press reports.Future screenwriters have been gifted a whole load of new Murdoch material in the past few days, after two astonishing stories in the New York Times and the Atlantic lifted the lid on the dysfunction, paranoia and despair at the heart of the most powerful family in global media. Continue reading...
Flurry of directives relaxes regulations and drop lawsuit - and billionaires who donated to Trump are ready to benefitThe millions that US tech companies invested in currying favor with Donald Trump seemed to pay off this week as the new administration issued a flurry of directives that relaxed regulations and dropped lawsuits previously aimed at holding the industry to account. Crypto, AI and social media companies, many of which made donations to Trump, are all expecting to benefit.At the center of the administration's moves is Elon Musk, the world's richest man. Over the past week, federal agencies under the president's authority dropped legal fights against his rocket company and the US's biggest cryptocurrency exchange. The White House also issued a deregulatory initiative" aimed at loosening tech-sector regulation by empowering Musk's Doge. Continue reading...
A block for under-16s would soothe many parents' concerns, but experts are divided over the evidence in support of it, and how it might work in practiceSocial media has transformed our relationships with our friends and family, brought unfiltered news from around the world to our handsets and introduced us to an unending supply of cat memes. Some of this has been positive, some negative and, for much of it, the jury is still out. But as the first generation of social media natives start to have children of their own, there is increasing unease about tech's impact on children. These concerns prompted Australia to pass legislation last November banning access to social media for under-16s.So many things are happening at once," says Sonia Livingstone, professor of social psychology at the London School of Economics and a specialist in children and social media. We clearly have a silent problem of parents at home struggling with social media and feeling unsupported. We have a small number of parents whose children have come to serious harm, or died, who have become mobilised. We have politicians worried about complaints in their constituencies and also looking for a good news story in gloomy times. And we have big tech outrunning regulation in all directions." It is a perfect storm, she says, into which discussion of an outright ban on social media for under-16s has come as a supposed saviour. Continue reading...
Platform cites legal requirements around when we remove data' after lawsuit filed over deaths of children attempting blackout challenge'Four British parents who are suing TikTok for the alleged wrongful deaths of their children say they are suspicious" about the social media platform's claim to have deleted their children's data.The parents have filed a lawsuit in the US that claims that their four children died in 2022 as a result of attempting the blackout challenge", a viral trend that circulated on social media in 2021. Continue reading...
by Miranda Bryant Nordic correspondent and Agence Fra on (#6VE1E)
Musk claimed without evidence Nasa's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were left stranded on orbital outpost for political reasons'Elon Musk has become embroiled in a heated row with a Danish astronaut who criticised the tech billionaire's claim that the former US president Joe Biden abandoned two American astronauts at the International Space Station on purpose.Andreas Andy" Mogensen accused Musk of lying when he claimed in a Fox News interview alongside Donald Trump that Nasa's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were left stranded for political reasons" by Biden. Continue reading...
by Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor on (#6VE4B)
Compact phone has flagship chip and buckets of AI, but hasn't changed much from predecessorsThe smallest and cheapest of Samsung's new Galaxy S25 line might be the one to buy, offering top performance and the very latest AI features for less and proving that smaller-sized Androids can still be great.Unlike previous generations of Samsung's smaller models sold in the UK and Europe, the regular S25 has the same top-flight chip as the enormous and pricey Ultra model, offering a lot of performance while costing 799 (919/$800/A$1,399). Continue reading...
We asked top DJs to share their favourite headphones for seamless setsAsk any DJ what their most important bit of kit is and they'll tell you it's what goes around their head. Whether playing off a laptop, CDJs or decks, a pair of decent headphones is your portal to the mix and an essential element to get right.Luckily, we've assembled some of the world's best selectors to evangelise about the pairs they're faithful to: from reliable specialist brands to old-school one-ear models, these are the best DJ headphones for crystal-clear sound and to hear that all-important bass. Continue reading...
The team behind Capcom's hit series was known for its extensive grounding in real-world adventures. The latest chapter, developed during Covid, required a different kind of daringMy favourite thing about Monster Hunter is that despite the name, you often feel more like the prey than the predator. Even armed with a sword several times your own size and weight, you are often outmatched by the incredible creatures in this action game. In Monster Hunter Wilds, out next week, you are also frequently outmatched by the weather. A routine hunt for some relatively unthreatening creature can go awry as storm clouds gather, bringing with them some terrifying lightning-dragon that will eat you for breakfast. Monsters entangle with each other, tearing with teeth and claws as you turn tail and head for the hills.Over the past couple of weekends, players have been able to get hands-on with Wilds in beta tests, trying out the exquisite character creator and a couple of hunts against a horrid lion (Doshaguma) and an overgrown poisonous chicken (Gypceros). As someone old enough to have played these games on the PlayStation 2, and then later with my fingers contorted uncomfortably around a PlayStation Portable during a student year abroad in Japan, I am amazed and delighted by what Monster Hunter has become. What was once a stiff and densely complex game that hid all its thrills behind a barricade of mushroom-gathering quests is now a fluid, inviting and globally popular spectacle of a thing. Monster Hunter World, 2018's entry, broke Capcom records and reached 23m sales. Continue reading...
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative ends internal inclusion efforts and social advocacy' grants and scrubs site of commitmentThe for-profit charity organization founded by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, has done an about-face on its commitment to corporate diversity.Executives at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) informed employees on Tuesday evening that the organization would in effect do away with both internal and external diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, according to an internal email and other correspondence viewed by the Guardian. On 10 January, leaders at CZI reassured staff that its longstanding support for DEI was not changing. Zuckerberg's company Meta had announced earlier that day it would terminate its DEI programs, in the days before Donald Trump's second inauguration. Continue reading...
A friend sent me the image by surprise and I felt a lot of things very strongly: love, upset, amusement, pleasure and angerAn old friend sent me a photo that caused me to stop whatever I was doing. I stared at it for a long time, possibly without drawing breath. Martin and I grew up living next door to each other. He now lives in Australia. It was from there that he sent me a screenshot of Google Maps' Street View, showing what had been our homes. Side by side, just bricks and mortar obviously, but teeming with meaning for both of us. That wasn't the thing though. The thing was that in a corner of the photo stood a familiar figure in a red jumper. My dad.He died this time last year. And yet here he was, standing under the tree next to his car. I felt a lot of things very strongly all at the same time: love, surprise, upset, amusement, anger, pleasure and other things. This was a month ago, but it's on my mind again this week as it would have been his 87th birthday. And I'm still no nearer computing what I feel about the image being there, available to all, on what my dad always referred to as the net". Continue reading...
by Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor on (#6VCRJ)
Revamped entry-level iPhone is last to exchange touch ID home button for face ID, modern design - and a price hikeApple has put the final nail in the coffin of the home button after 18 years with the release of the new iPhone 16e.The lowest-cost new iPhone replaces the 2022 iPhone SE, which was the last Apple product standing with the touch ID button, finishing off its drawn-out demise, which started with the iPhone X back in 2017. Continue reading...
Authorities blame crypto exchange, already facing four counts of tax evasion in the country, for currency woesNigeria has filed a lawsuit seeking to compel Binance to pay $79.5bn for economic losses the country's government says were caused by the cryptocurrency exchange's operations there and $2bn in back taxes, court documents showed on Wednesday.Authorities blame Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, for Nigeria's currency woes and detained two of its executives in 2024 after crypto websites emerged as platforms of choice for trading the local naira currency. Continue reading...
Chip is powered by world's first topoconductor, which can create new state of matter that is not solid, liquid or gasQuantum computers could be built within years rather than decades, according to Microsoft, which has unveiled a breakthrough that it said could pave the way for faster development.The tech firm has developed a chip which, it says, echoes the invention of the semiconductors that made today's smartphones, computers and electronics possible by miniaturisation and increased processing power. Continue reading...
Discovery Mode gets artists noticed in exchange for a 30% royalty reduction. A new book suggests that the platform is squeezing musicians and misleading listenersIn November 2020, Spotify published an opaque headline on its company blog: Amplifying Artist Input in Your Personalised Recommendations." The post introduced a new program called Discovery Mode, which would ask artists to accept lower royalty rates in exchange for algorithmic promotion. It was pay-to-play, but Spotify introduced the scheme using neutral language: artists would be able to identify music that's a priority for them", which would become one of thousands" of data inputs influencing how Spotify delivers the perfect song for the moment, just for you". Rather than charge an upfront fee, labels or rights-holders agree to be paid a promotional recording royalty rate for streams in personalised listening sessions where Spotify provided this service".Participating artists and labels take a 30% royalty reduction on tracks enrolled in the program, when they are discovered through its channels. Only tracks more than 30 days old are eligible. Notably, there have been no signs that Spotify plans to publicly label which songs are enrolled: a lack of disclosure that has caused many music advocacy groups to liken Discovery Mode to the radio payola of the 1950s, which was eventually outlawed by the US Federal Trade Commission. (Though the company points out that it has published a broad guide to understanding recommendations on Spotify, including a paragraph on commercial considerations".) Continue reading...
Architect of copyright law says EU is supporting big tech instead of protecting European creative ideas'An architect of EU copyright law has said legislation is needed to protect writers, musicians and creatives left exposed by an irresponsible" legal gap in the bloc's Artificial Intelligence Act.The intervention came as 15 cultural organisations wrote to the European Commission this week warning that draft rules to implement the AI Act were taking several steps backwards" on copyright, while one writer spoke of a devastating" loophole. Continue reading...
Is this fun fathering or a cynical and exploitative PR strategy from the tech billionaire? I suspect the latter ...Welcome to the White House, where every day seems to be bring-your-kid-to-work-day if you're Elon Musk. The tech billionaire, fascist-salute-enthusiast, and de facto president of the US hasn't just moved himself into government digs - he has seemingly moved in a selection of his kids as well. Over the last couple of weeks, mini-Musks have been popping up at high-profile political events, generating a steady stream of memes, headlines and analysis.Three of Musk's young children were at a meeting with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi last Thursday, for example. Why were Musk and Modi meeting? Good question. Even Trump doesn't seem to know, but told reporters he assumed Musk wants to do business in India". Which, considering Musk has burrowed his way deep into the US government, sounds a teeny bit like a conflict of interest. But let's not focus on that, eh? Let's focus on Musk's parenting instead! Don't ask any difficult questions, just look at the cute pictures - disseminated widely - of Modi showering Musk's kids with gifts. Adorbs. Continue reading...
Amazon's hugely successful extreme competition series is the latest attempt to lure younger online viewers to TVBeast Games, Amazon Prime Video's reality competition series hosted by the YouTuber known as MrBeast, is not a well-made show. It is certainly an expensive show, something Mr Beast, the alter ego for 26-year-old Jimmy Donaldson of Greenville, North Carolina, likes to frequently remind viewers. The series is a feat of scale shocking to audiences outside the realm of YouTube, and especially Donaldson's fiefdom: 1,000 contestants, filmed by a system of 1,107 cameras, battling each other for a $5m cash prize - the largest in entertainment history, according to Donaldson. For the competition, Donaldson and his posse designed a warehouse war zone modeled on the Netflix dystopian series Squid Game, constructed a bespoke city and purchased a private island (also to be given away, along with a Lamborghini and other lavish prizes). Contestants eliminated in the first episode are dropped through trap doors to unseen depths; there is a pirate ship with cannons.Yet for all the ostentatious displays of wealth, the show still looks terrible - garishly lit, frenetically edited, poorly structured, annoyingly loud and tackily designed. Many have pointed out that the show's central conceit - broke Americans duking it out and playing psychological warfare for luxury prizes, many in the name of paying their bills - is as dystopian as the Netflix series it's based on, a depressing spectacle of aggro-capitalism for our neo-Gilded Age times, with Donaldson as a self-styled Willy Wonka figure. Continue reading...
Project Waterworth, which involves cable longer than Earth's circumference, to also reach South Africa and BrazilMeta has announced plans to build the world's longest underwater cable project, which aims to connect the US, India, South Africa, Brazil and other regions.The tech company said Project Waterworth involved a 50,000km (31,000-mile) subsea cable, which is longer than the Earth's circumference. Continue reading...
This week: mornings made better, affordable jewellery and the ultimate wild swimming kit list Don't get the Filter delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereI've always disliked getting up in winter. As a kid, I'd hurkle-durkle while blearily watching my school uniform warming on the radiator. These days, I set smartphone alarms for several consecutive minutes, just to make sure I'm roused. It's too dark, and I'm too groggy.I'd heard of sunrise alarm clocks before the Filter asked me to review them, but little did I suspect they could resolve my waking woes. Essentially, they're a combination of alarm clock and light-therapy device that glows with increasing brightness as your wake-up time approaches. The light interacts with our circadian rhythms, much as the sun does when it rises, so we wake up biologically prepared for the day.12 affordable jewellery brands, worn and rated for style and qualityThe best iPhones in 2025: which Apple smartphone is right for you, according to our expertThe best bike lights to see and be seen when cycling in the dark, tried and testedThe best online flower delivery services: seven favourites, freshly picked Continue reading...
by Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor on (#6VB10)
Huge glass and metal slab packs super-fast chip, long battery life and unrivalled camera zoom, but its AI features are overhypedThe Ultra is Samsung's largest and greatest phone and is packed to the gills with the very latest technology, which means more artificial intelligence than ever before.The Galaxy S25 Ultra is at the front of the line of a new wave of Android phones that promise to basically do everything for you. It combines Google's advanced AI assistance with numerous Samsung tools for writing, drawing, photography and chatting.Main screen: 6.9in QHD+ Dynamic Amoled 2X (500ppi) 120HzProcessor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for GalaxyRAM: 12GBStorage: 256, 512GB or 1TBOperating system: One UI 7 (Android 15)Camera: 200MP + 50MP 0.6x + 10MP 3x + 50MP 5x; 12MP front-facingConnectivity: 5G, USB-C, wifi 7, NFC, Bluetooth 5.4, UWB and GNSSWater resistance: IP68 (1.5m for 30 mins)Dimensions: 162.8 x 77.6 x 8.2mmWeight: 218g Continue reading...
Software engineer and developer Nadia Odunayo created the social media readers' platform StoryGraph and its popularity has rocketedNadia Odunayo never planned to take on the mighty global juggernaut that is Amazon, but for many book lovers, she has become the hero they didn'tknow they needed.For 18 years, bibliophiles have been able to catalogue their reading, leave reviews and star ratings, and get recommendations for their next read on Goodreads, which was set up by two Stanford University alumni from California. Continue reading...
The Kids Online Safety act passed the Senate 91-to-3 but died in the House. Advocates on both sides say they won't give upWhen Congress adjourned for the holidays in December, a landmark bill meant to overhaul how tech companies protect their youngest users had officially failed to pass. Introduced in 2022, the Kids Online Safety act (Kosa) was meant to be a huge reckoning for big tech. Instead, despite sailing through the Senate with a 91-to-3 vote in July, the bill languished and died in the House.Kosa had been passionately championed by families who said their children had fallen victim to the harmful policies of social media platforms and advocates who said a bill reining in the unchecked power of big tech was long overdue. They are bitterly disappointed that a strong chance to check big tech failed because of congressional apathy. But human rights organizations had argued that the legislation could have led to unintended consequences affecting freedom of speech online. Continue reading...
Technology | The Guardian