Technology | The Guardian

Company complied with a classified directive, scanning hundreds of millions of Yahoo Mail accounts at the behest of NSA or FBI, say former employeesYahoo last year secretly built a custom software program to search all of its customers’ incoming emails for specific information at the request of US intelligence officials, according to a report.The company complied with a classified US government directive, scanning hundreds of millions of Yahoo Mail accounts at the behest of the National Security Agency (NSA) or FBI, two former employees and a third person who knew about the program told Reuters. Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Wednesday. Continue reading...

The anonymous message board represents the darkest corners of the internet, but users aren’t ready to say goodbyeThe anonymous message-board site 4chan has come to represent the darkest corners of internet subculture, rife with the misogyny, web taste and the politically incorrect humor of the alt-right.Now it appears to be in financial trouble, according to the site’s new owner, Hiroyuki Nishimura, who said on Sunday that the site can no longer afford “infrastructure costs, network fee, servers cost and CDN [servers that help distribute high-bandwidth files such as video]”. Continue reading...

Study finds group using wearable fitness tracker did show improved levels of physical activity over a year – but not enough to improve health, say researchersWearable trackers may not increase activity levels enough to significantly benefit health, researchers have said.Pedometers are “unlikely to be a panacea for rising rates of chronic disease”, experts said after a new study concluded that the devices did not appear to improve the health outcomes of wearers after one year. Continue reading...

Until Tuesday, the Tesla boss didn’t follow any women on Twitter. The heads of Apple, Google, and Microsoft aren’t much betterConfusing the real world with the slice of reality reflected by one’s social media accounts is a mistake political reporters and partisans make every day. Algorithms and selection bias have conspired to drastically narrow the world wide web for must of us.But for many of the tech industry’s moguls, the world reflected in their Twitter timelines is bizarrely similar to the bizarre societies they have created in their companies: very, very male. Continue reading...

Stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority has moved from the US government to an international group, but not everyone is happy about itAs of Saturday morning the internet – or at least the bit of it that manages the network’s “address book” – is no longer controlled by an American organization but by an international group.

As virtual reality moves into the mainstream, this is how the Guardian is using it to advance our journalism.This is the year that virtual reality (VR) is expected to move into the mainstream. New headsets backed by all the major tech players are coming to the market, encompassing everything from high end headsets with laser tracking to cardboard. Now more people than ever can have a go for themselves and experience a multitude of different worlds.The launch of Daydream, Google’s platform for high quality mobile VR, is another milestone for virtual reality. As these technologies move forward they bring with them more potential for journalism and storytelling.

Google launches iPhone rival emphasising Google Assistant as well as Daydream VR, Home smart speaker and more at live event

Search company unveils revamped voice assistant AI and launches Home, a rival to Amazon’s Echo smart speaker hub

The decision to include the 3D-printed parts in the two new devices was a purely economic one, says HPHalf the custom parts in HP’s first 3D printer in over a decade were themselves 3D printed, according to the company’s head of 3D printing, Stephen Nigro.The decision to include the 3D-printed parts in the two new devices, which will start shipping by the end of this year, helps the company highlight the quality of the printers’ output, but Nigro insists that the decision was a purely economic one. Continue reading...

Facebook wants the world to know it’s serious about hardware, but just how much is it willing to reveal?It’s an uncharacteristically gloomy day at Building 17 of Facebook’s Menlo Park headquarters. From the outside, it looks like any other office; it’s unremarkable except for the free valet parking booth erected in front of the lobby, a perk that saves staff from having to walk more than a few steps from their cars.

Evidence shows reviewers awarded higher star ratings to products that were discounted in exchange for a reviewAmazon has banned “incentivised reviews” after evidence suggested writers typically awarded almost half a star extra compared with reviews where the reviewer paid for the product themselves.Incentivised reviews involved companies giving big discounts to reviewers on products, although the reviews were still meant to be impartial. Amazon operates its own incentivised reviews programme, Vine, which will continue. Continue reading...

From Witcher 3’s unicorn seduction to Heavy Rain’s polygonal sex crash, games writers Holly Nielsen and Kate Gray go on an erotic odyssey like no otherThis article contains sexual references, including but not limited to: interspecies sex, taxidermilogical sex, extraterrestrial sex and post-coital human sacrificeThere has always been sex in video games. As shocking as this revelation may be to those who have only ever played Call of Duty, Fifa or Pokémon Go, it’s the truth. Continue reading...

One week after Amazon launched Echo in the UK, the search company is also pitching for a smart home future with its own voice recognition deviceTalking to computers was once for the likes of Captain Kirk, but a new product due to be announced by Google on Tuesday demonstrates that it believes devices that can speak to humans are ready for the living room.The search engine giant is expected to launch its Google Home “personal assistant” speaker system – a squat cylinder that will be able to process search requests and other everyday tasks when instructed to by the sound of a human voice. Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Tuesday. Continue reading...

Palm-sized Kirobo Mini ‘wobbles a bit’, blinks and speaks with high-pitched voice in order to ‘invoke an emotional connection’A baby robot designed to “invoke an emotional connection” has been unveiled in Japan, where plummeting birth rates have left many couples without children.The Kirobo Mini was created by Toyota’s non-automotive department and is equiped with artificial intelligence and a camera so it can recognise the face of the person speaking to it and respond. Continue reading...

Marketplace lets Facebook users list items for sale, and could be an attempt to upend the crowded world of peer-to-peer sellingFacebook’s latest product launch appears to be a modest step into a classified advertising market currently fought over by eBay, Craigslist and more nascent startups such as LetGo and OfferUp – the latter recently valued at $1.2bn.Related: A tough sell: why Facebook's e-commerce dream failed to take flight Continue reading...

Twitter UK’s 163 staff get £12.5m in shares as company reports revenues of £76m last year, but analysts say figure is much higherTwitter’s British operation paid £1.24m in tax last year as staff enjoyed a £12.5m shares windfall.The US technology company, which is the subject of rumours of a potential acquisition by Google, Disney or computing company SalesForce reported a rise in UK revenues of 30.5% to £76m in 2015, well short of the £135.7m that it made in Britain, according to estimates from analysts at eMarketer. Continue reading...

Google’s own-brand phone revealed in promotional images by Carphone Warehouse before official unveiling on TuesdayGoogle’s new own-brand Pixel smartphones have been revealed a day before their official unveiling after Carphone Warehouse leaked promotional content.The new Pixel phone by Google marks a step-change for the Android-maker, putting the Google brand front and centre in an obvious direct challenge to Apple and its iPhone. Both Apple, and now Google, have the advantage of being able to develop both hardware and software simultaneously.

According to a new report, week-on-week sales of Xbox One were up 1000% at the end of September. How has the tide turned so dramatically for the console?Last week saw some interesting console news from games industry publication MCV. According to the website, UK sales of Xbox One rose by almost 1,000% in the week ending 24 September, while sales of the slimline PS4 have been comparatively slow.Data obtained from GfK, the market research company that compiles software sales charts in the UK, also showed that Microsoft’s machine had a 71% share of the hardware market for that week. The findings follow news in the US that the Xbox One has been the bestselling console for two months according to NPD Group data. Continue reading...

Broadcaster hopes big-name partnerships and star power will help drive success of virtual reality appSky has entered the world of 360-degree videos with a free new Sky VR app for Android, iOS and Oculus VR headsets, pushing content from sports, films, racing, music and news.

It makes prison officials nervous, but campaigners and tech companies argue that getting inmates digitally connected will help with rehabilitationFor most of the developed world, internet access is a given. Google, Amazon, Facebook offer a privileged world of communication, entertainment, shopping and education that many of us take for granted. Unless, that is, you happen to be incarcerated.Aside from limited connections at a handful of juvenile detention facilities, there’s no way for America’s 2.3 million inmates to access the internet. Worse, institutions may punish inmates when their families post online on their behalf. Prison authorities cite concerns that inmates will use the internet to harass victims or threaten witnesses, arrange for deliveries of contraband or commit new crimes online. Continue reading...

From apps to watches to handheld units, there are a huge number of GPS devices to help you hike safely. We test which is the right one for you and your budget Continue reading...

Apple’s newest smartphone is its biggest and most expensive ever. But with this many compromises, is it worth buying over its sleeker, cheaper rivals?The second of Apple’s newest smartphones, the iPhone 7 Plus, is bigger, more expensive, has a few more features and actually lasts a day per charge. But is it worth buying over its rivals?

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Monday. Continue reading...

ShakeShack founder has announced that the managers and sommeliers at his new Union Square Cafe 2.0 eatery will wear devices to take better care of dinersDanny Meyer, the keeper of the golden flame of hospitality, did the unthinkable this week. He invited even more digital screens into his dining rooms.When it was announced that all the managers and sommeliers at his Union Square Cafe 2.0 would be sporting Apple Watches when it reopened this month, there was a palpable sense of panic among both patrons and pundits that the glow of organic bonhomie would be replaced by the cool inhuman luminescence of smartphones. Continue reading...

The latest version of Apple’s operating system for mobile devices brings a host of new features – not all of them immediately obvious. Here’s our pick of the bestSeveral buttons now have “3D touch”: they respond to the force used (iPhone 6S or newer devices). A hard press on the timer icon pops up shortcuts to common timer lengths, while the torch icon lets you choose brightness and the camera icon lets you jump to video or selfie mode. Several apps have also gained new touch gestures: in Photos, you can now tap and drag to select multiple images, while the email app now lets you swipe down while composing a message to save it as a draft. To return to a saved draft, hold your finger down on the compose button. Continue reading...

The massive attack on Brian Krebs’s website presents huge problems for investigative reportersBrian Krebs is one of the unsung heroes of tech journalism. He’s a former reporter for the Washington Post who decided to focus on cybercrime after his home network was hijacked by Chinese hackers in 2001. Since then, he has become one of the world’s foremost investigators of online crime. In the process, he has become an expert on the activities of the cybercrime groups that operate in eastern Europe and which have stolen millions of dollars from small- to medium-size businesses through online banking fraud. His reporting has identified the crooks behind specific scams and even led to the arrest of some of them.Krebs runs a blog – Krebs on Security – which is a must-read for anyone interested in these matters. Sometimes, one fears for his safety, because he must have accumulated so many enemies in the dark underbelly of the net. And last Tuesday one of them struck back. Continue reading...

One of next-generation virtual reality’s first public outings saw men queuing to fondle a virtual girl at the Tokyo Game ShowIn muggy Tokyo, a man wearing a virtual reality headset crouches in front of a blank-faced mannequin and fondles her breasts. On screen, an animated cartoon version of the girl (despite her nurse-like professional attire, it is unquestionably a girl) smiles coquettishly while a skeletal depiction of the man’s hands move rhythmically, as if testing a nectarine for ripeness. According to the organisers of last month’s Tokyo Game Show, it is the year of virtual reality. For a number of exhibitors at the show, however, it seems more like the year of digital lechery. Such was the outrage on social media at the spectacle of this dummy-groping, the software’s developer was told by event staff to remove the touch sensors from the mannequin’s breasts. It was a diluted compromise. The lascivious, snaking queues remained. The only difference was that now the mannequin didn’t know when she was being felt up.For Luckey, VR is not merely a tool for immersive entertainment, but a mechanism to democratise privileged experience Continue reading...

Apps can give you a GP consultation in minutes, but at what cost to the health service?One Friday afternoon, I decided to check out a pea-sized lump on my neck that was causing me consternation. I started by calling my GP’s surgery in south London. A recorded message informed me there were no appointments that day; after a few minutes, a receptionist came on the line and said that I could have an appointment on Monday. Not too bad, I thought, until I realised she was not talking about the Monday three days hence, but the one 10 days away. Not so good. I could also try for a walk-in slot or a phone consultation from 8am to 10am on weekday mornings.At this point, I downloaded the app from Babylon Health, one of the leaders in online doctor consultations, on to my smartphone. The homepage was purple and teal, the writing welcomingly blobby. I tapped on “check a symptom” and after half-a-dozen questions, it suggested that I “book a consultation”. I was offered a choice between a GP, a specialist or a therapist. The appointment could be on the phone or a video call. Continue reading...

The elfin MX-5 is a world beater. But in Iceland they’ve sold only three. They don’t know what they’re missing…Price: £18,495

What end could be more fitting for the self-respecting modern human than death by a randomly exploding handset?If you take Benjamin Franklin at his word, death is coming. The good and the bad, the young and the old, the in-the-middle: as far as we know, none will live forever. The idea of an eventual death is something that was widely accepted as “true” long ago, but, like many things, it must be updated to suit the modern day. It’s time to accept that when death does come for us, it will be at the hand of our smartphone.And isn’t that comforting? Continue reading...

The social network has never become the online shopping emporium once predicted. Will its most ambitious strategy yet change all that?Technology has been good to 1-800-Flowers. The company has long pioneered new ways of retailing, a toll-free number, direct sales via the internet. So when, in 2009, it opened its online store on Facebook the company was expecting another tech-based success. Like many others they found Facebook was a tough sell.Related: Facebook and Google: most powerful and secretive empires we've ever known Continue reading...

It has almost no acceleration in any gear – it behaves as though it’s carrying too much luggage and an unusual family memberMy initial thought was that the Honda Jazz was nothing like jazz. Then I remembered the definition in the Magnetic Fields song: “It’s divine, it’s asinine, it’s depressing / And it’s almost entirely window dressing / But it’ll do” – and thought maybe that was the reference. Although you wouldn’t call it divine.It is small, but it has no nip. In fact, it has almost no acceleration in any gear, and a bossy LED display constantly tells you to go up a gear when you feel as though you’re almost out of puff in the one you’re in. Setting off on a journey is like driving your regular car after packing it for a holiday: it behaves as though it’s carrying too much luggage and an unusual family member. Continue reading...

Ezekiel Mutua has gained notoriety for banning music and films he feels ‘promotes homosexuality’ in Kenya, where homosexuality is illegalGoogle has invited a Kenyan government official and anti-gay activist to its Web Rangers conference in Mountain View, California, even sponsoring his visa.Ezekiel Mutua, who is the head of the Kenyan film classification board (KCFB), gained notoriety this year for banning from the country’s servers local band Art Attack’s cover of the Macklemore gay marriage anthem Same Love, saying it “promotes homosexuality” in Kenya, where homosexuality is illegal.

The automotive company claimed the bus swerved into vehicle’s lane, which which caused ‘unavoidable’ collision that driver said was unrelated to AutopilotTesla claims that one its cars operating in Autopilot mode was not to blame for a collision with a bus in Germany on Wednesday.The company claims the accident in Ratzeburg was unavoidable because the bus swerved into the vehicle’s lane. Continue reading...

The picture painted by Wiggins tallies with what has become clear in recent years: while even the best cycling teams look perfectly run on the surface, in reality they are scrabbling around trying to hold it all togetherSeveral years ago I had to explain to a leading professional cyclist precisely why it was that the media and hardcore cycling fans were so determined to remain sceptical, in some cases in a very vocal way, about performances that stood out and about explanations that did not quite fit. The analogy I used was that of someone who had suspected for years that their partner was being unfaithful but had continually given him or her the benefit of the doubt, before eventually being presented with conclusive proof.Related: Bradley Wiggins opens up with full story on asthma, allergies and TUEs Continue reading...

The rise of algorithms has been relentless, but we need human input in our world of technological innovationsGreg Linden may not be a household name, but he changed the way we interact with culture and transformed retail forever. An engineer at Amazon in the late 1990s, Linden worked on a curious problem: how to recommend books without human intervention. Until then Amazon relied on editors who wrote hundreds of reviews every year. It was a costly and time-consuming process.Automating recommendations proved trickier than anyone expected. Linden cracked it. He hit on “personalisation”, which paradoxically meant looking not at an individual’s purchasing history, but only at correlations among products. Regardless of what you had bought in the past, Amazon realised that if product A was often bought alongside product B, it meant almost anyone buying product A would also want product B. Amazon tested the results to see which method sold more books. No surprises: the editors were soon looking for new jobs. Humans out; machines in. Some estimates suggest a third of Amazon sales arise from these recommendations. Ever since, the rise of algorithms has been relentless. Now books, articles, music, films, not to mention holidays and clothes, are all suggested by machines. Continue reading...

• Wiggins explains what he says is the complete chronology of his symptoms

Highly anticipated fashion item by skateboarding brand Supreme sold out at original price of $30 within minutesA red clay brick designed and sold by skateboarding brand Supreme is on sale on eBay for up to $1,000 (£772), after selling out in a single day.The item, part of the New York brand’s accessories line that has previously included a hammer, calculator and fire extinguisher, is branded with Supreme’s logo and has been highly anticipated by fashion gurus since its preview last month. Continue reading...

The EA Sports stalwart is facing strong competition from Pro Evolution Soccer, but has come out fighting with plenty of style and just enough substanceWhat do you give the sports simulation that has everything? In Fifa 17’s case, the answer is a 15-20 hour, Mass Effect-inspired story mode called The Journey.Charting the rise of 17-year-old prospect Alex Hunter, it takes you through the first year of a Premier League career, including weekly training and a full slate of fixtures, and is far more enjoyable than it has any right to be. Select Manchester United and you compete with Zlatan Ibrahimovic for a first-team spot. Choose Swansea and you see Francesco Guidolin gesticulating on the touchline. And cut-scenes, featuring an array of hangers-on such as agents and endorsement reps, offer a tantalising glimpse into the life of a fledgeling superstar. Reece Oxford was involved as a consultant – and you sense that much of what’s presented as fiction is reality for the West Ham youngster. Continue reading...

The game was the first to use a new Google feature that let developers share responsibility for keeping the servers upIf you played Pokémon Go anywhere near its launch date, you probably noticed that it broke. A lot.There was always the suspicion that its instability was because the servers were falling over under the weight of the traffic, but today, there’s confirmation of that, from the unlikely source of Google. Continue reading...

EA Sports released the latest edition of their big-money football computer game franchise earlier this week. We figured we’d try out our own motion-capture animations, celebrations and cut-scenes including Arsène Wenger getting in a state over his coat and Jürgen Klopp’s levitating glasses. Unfortunately none of our submissions were used in the final version

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Friday! Continue reading...

The third title in Microsoft’s flashy yet smart driving series offers a new landscape and a host of fresh features – and does it all with a smileDriving games used to matter. Like, really matter. When the original PlayStation was launched against Sega’s Saturn almost 22 years ago, the two consoles were judged on their respective racing sims: Ridge Racer and Daytona USA. Before fighting games took over, these were the standard bearers of polygonal visuals that introduced players to the concept of real-time graphics rendered in three dimensions.Since then, at the accessible end of the driving sim genre, we’ve had the brilliant Burnout, the endlessly reconfigured Need for Speed, the innovative Test Drive Unlimited and the gorgeous Project Gotham Racing – all venerated in their time. But over the last few years, interest in the arcade racer has waned, a state of affairs symbolised by the sad closure of Bizarre Creations in 2011, a British studio that truly understood how to make flashy, beautiful driving games for the mainstream market. Continue reading...

We explore how our addiction to notifications and alerts influences how we use technology and go about our everyday lives

A teenager known online as Abu Sin is in custody after engaging in ‘unethical behaviour’ in live-streaming videos with California personality Christina CrockettA male Saudi Arabian teenager has been arrested in Riyadh over a series of online videos of conversations between him and a female Californian streaming-video star that went viral.

One of the best-selling toys of the 1980s has been resurrected by Wicked Cool Toys, which earlier this year also launched a revamped Cabbage Patch Kid dollChildren of the 1980s, rejoice! Teddy Ruxpin is back. The talking animatronic toy has been given a hi-tech makeover, swapping cassette tapes and plastic eyes for a 4GB hard drive and animated LCD peepers.Teddy has been resurrected by Wicked Cool Toys, which earlier this year also launched a revamped Cabbage Patch Kid doll. An early prototype of Teddy was showcased at the Dallas Toy Fair this week, although it’s not scheduled to launch until 2017. Continue reading...

A venture capitalist’s column for the Wall Street Journal has drawn outrage for suggesting women ‘obscure their gender’ online when applying for tech jobsA Wall Street Journal article encouraging women in technology to “create an online presence that obscures their gender” has drawn expressions of outrage and shocked disbelief from the community it purports to advise.Writing for a regular column dubbed “The Experts”, venture capitalist John Greathouse suggested that women should escape the gender bias that pervades the tech industry by pretending not to be women. Continue reading...

A prank video encouraging iPhone 7 users to drill a hole in their mobiles has gone viral this week. Suddenly my battered phone feels like a statementUnlike the viral prank video, I have not drilled a hole into the bottom left-hand corner of my iPhone, but you wouldn’t know that to look at it. The fascia, after being dropped on to hard concrete a few months ago, had a faint hairline crack across it, which after several more accidents spread outwards like the limbs on a tree until an entire chunk fell off, revealing the naked eye of the camera. Every time I look at it, it feels like staring into the face of a dystopian future. Continue reading...