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

Investors are pouring money into apps that allow women to track their fertility. Can tech companies use data to change the world of women’s reproductive health?Will Sacks did not plan to go into the menstruation business. When he travelled from Toronto to Reno to attend his first Burning Man festival in August 2009, he only knew that he needed a change. At the age of 29, he was having a personal crisis. “I had forgotten that I wanted to be an entrepreneur,” he told me earlier this year. “I had forgotten that I wanted to create a company that could put a dent in the universe.” He quit his job as an energy efficiency consultant, shut down the small online business he had been running on the side, and booked a plane ticket to the desert.Before beginning the drive to Burning Man from Reno airport, Sacks posted a message on Craigslist offering a ride in his rental car to anyone who needed one. A young woman named Kati Bicknell answered. Petite and pale, with thick brown hair, Bicknell looks like she stepped out of a pre‑Raphaelite painting. She exudes an intense, slightly mischievous, energy. Sacks comes across as calmer. He locks eyes when he talks to you, pausing every few sentences to check in: are you still with him? Does his optimism sound naive? Continue reading...

Revealed: After postponing a court hearing with Apple, the FBI is testing a new technique which Apple says they will pressure government to revealA new method to crack open locked iPhones is so promising that US government officials have classified it, the Guardian has learned.The Justice Department made headlines on Monday when it postponed a federal court hearing in California. It had been due to confront Apple over an order that would have forced it to write software that would make it easier for investigators to guess the passcode for an iPhone used by San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook. Continue reading...

Nearly a quarter of UK households now subscribe to Netflix, with more than 1.4m joining in 2015Nearly a quarter of UK households subscribe to Netflix, with 1.4 million joining the streaming service in 2015 alone to watch popular series such as House of Cards, a report has said.More than 5 million households, or 24% of the total, subscribed to Netflix at the end of 2015, compared with 14% in 2014.

Bieber’s Vevo channel generated more than 722m video views in February alone, and he now has more than 20m YouTube subscribersThe biggest YouTube channels are getting bigger, with Justin Bieber currently the biggest beneficiary of the Google-owned service’s growth.Bieber had the most popular YouTube channel in February, with his videos watched 721.6m times that month. Bieber now has more than 20 million subscribers to his channel, and is about to reach 10bn lifetime views. Continue reading...

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

Gridlock comes to Indonesian capital with traditional taxi operators claiming ride-hailing apps are leading to income reduction of up to 60%Thousands of taxi drivers have caused traffic chaos in the Indonesian capital in a rowdy protest against competition from ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Grab.TV footage on Tuesday showed long lines of taxis blocking a central expressway, men setting tires alight and jumping on vehicles that refused to join in the protest. An Associated Press reporter witnessed drivers surrounding one taxi, forcing its terrified female passenger out on to the road with her luggage. Continue reading...

Grove’s gamble on microprocessors set the chip maker on course to becoming one of the most profitable and important technology companies of all timeAndy Grove, the former Intel chief executive whose youth under Nazi occupation and escape from the Iron Curtain inspired an “only the paranoid survive” management philosophy that saved the chip maker from financial ruin in the 1980s, has died. He was 79.Intel said Grove died on Monday. It did not specify a cause of death. Continue reading...

Apple chief executive Tim Cook says his company will not ‘shrink’ from the responsibility of protecting customers’ data as the legal battle with the FBI takes a new turn. Cook was speaking at an Apple launch event in Cupertino, California, on Monday. Federal authorities have asked a court to delay a hearing designed to force Apple to compromise its iPhone security systems, saying they may have found another way to unlock the phone

Workers at warehouse in Koblenz, Germany, stage latest walkout as retailer continues its refusal to recognise country’s collective pay deals for the sectorWorkers at an Amazon warehouse in Germany, the company’s second-biggest market behind the US, are starting a new round of strikes in an attempt to pressure the online retailer to increase pay.Related: How do I … avoid using Amazon? Continue reading...

Apple’s latest version of its iPhone and iPad software includes mode for blocking blue light at night and enhancements to the use of iPads in education

Revamped iPhone 5S brings company’s smallest phone up to par with 2015’s iPhone 6S, while catering for those who want a smaller phone

The divorce is amicable and the pair agreed Riley would file the petition to end their latest marriage after roughly two yearsBillionaire Elon Musk and actor Talulah Riley are making another attempt to end their second marriage.Riley filed to divorce Musk on Monday in Los Angeles superior court. Musk filed for divorce on New Year’s Eve in 2014 but withdrew the petition seven months later. Continue reading...

Apple chief executive Tim Cooke and vice-president Greg Joswiak unveiled the new iPhone SE on Monday. It will be the smallest smartphone in Apple’s current lineup and the first smartphone with a screen smaller than 4.7in since the iPhone 6 was released in September 2014 Continue reading...

At an event at its Cupertino headquarters, Apple announced the smaller iPhone SE, the new 9.7in iPad Pro and iOS 9.3

New smaller ‘professional’ tablet brings stylus and Smart Connector features to a more manageable size 9.7in screen

Increases that will come into effect from 1 June will see most customers paying between £1 and £4.25 more a monthSky is putting up the prices of its TV packages by an average of between £2 and £3 a month from 1 June.The TV giant has revealed new prices for both upgrades and its TV deals, with increases ranging between £1 and £4.25 per month. Continue reading...

The flaw, which will be fixed by iOS 9.3, allows the encryption key used by the messaging service to be guessed by a determined attackerResearchers at Johns Hopkins University have cracked the encryption on Apple’s iMessage service, proving that a skilled attacker is capable of reading messages sent between iPads, iPhones and Macs despite the security measures protecting the devices.The attack relies on a flaw in iMessage which will be fixed in iOS 9.3, released today. But until the software update is released, and the companion update for Mac OS, users’ messages are vulnerable to eavesdropping from a determined attacker. Continue reading...

Game developers say Sony is readying a new version of PlayStation 4 with 4K compatibility and more processing power. If it’s true, is it a good idea?On Friday afternoon, video game news site Kotaku dropped a fascinating story. Sony is rumoured to be working on an upgraded version of PlayStation 4 complete with support for the emerging 4K resolution, and more processing power to cope with the demands of virtual reality.Kotaku cited unnamed developers as the source of its report, and claims to have overheard discussions between programmers about the new “PlayStation 4.5” during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco last week (where the hardware was allegedly being revealed in closed demos to key studios). It’s not clear whether the new format is an upgrade that attaches to the existing PS4 or a completely new replacement, but Sony has, of course, said that it won’t comment on rumours and speculation. Continue reading...

It’s Twitter’s 10th birthday, so here are some of the ways it has changed our lives – for better and worseTen years ago today, the co-founder and CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey sent a message which kickstarted Twitter:just setting up my twttr Continue reading...

Writer and broadcaster, who recently repeated criticism of BBC local radio strategy, is looking for partnersWriter and broadcaster Danny Baker is looking to crowdfund the launch of his own radio station.

The child of a Black Panther, Malkia Cyril grew up under the threat of surveillance and says encryption is critical for human rightsWhen the FBI branded Martin Luther King Jr a “dangerous” threat to national security and began tapping his phones, it was part of a long history of spying on black activists in the United States. But the government surveillance of black bodies has never been limited to activists – in fact, according to the FBI; you only had to be black.

Older Kindles need a software update before Tuesday or they will lose connectivityIf you have a Kindle made before 2012, now is the time to dig it out of wherever it’s stashed: if the software isn’t updated before Tuesday 22 March, you’ll be unable to take it online.That means no syncing read states, no accessing the Kindle store and no buying new books – unless you remember to install the latest update. Kindles download and install updates automatically if they’re connected to Wi-Fi, but if yours is lying unplugged somewhere, it has likely disconnected. Continue reading...

An open letter to Twitter on its 10th anniversary – a decade of being captivated, horrified and entertained in 140 charactersDear Twitter,I have to admit that it was not love at first sight when we first met a decade ago. Frankly, I couldn’t figure out what you were about. You were like some nerd hippie who only spoke in Zen koans. Intriguing? Sure, for maybe 15 minutes. I didn’t stick around.

New York is convincingly terrorised in a biological attack, Pokémon meets Tekken in the arena, and it’s not all swords and samurais in feudal Japan Continue reading...

Safety and shipping review identifies developments that will be causing sector headaches for years to comePiracy, cybercrime and the potential salvage challenges posed by “mega ships” are listed among risks facing the shipping industry in an Allianz report on safety in the sector.The 2016 Safety and Shipping review points to the potential risk of pirates using cybercrime to target vessels and warns that the industry needs to protect itself against this threat.

A woman thinks her partner’s online activities are preventing him from being intimate in real life. Mariella Frostrup says he needs to realise sex isn’t a spectator sportThe dilemma My boyfriend has something of a sex addiction. He follows porn accounts on Instagram and Twitter; he has it on his phone and searches for it on nights I’m not about. It’s never bothered me, because I also have an interest in it, but not to that extent.A while ago he started texting another girl inappropriately. When I caught him, he said he didn’t mean anything by it, that it was just words. Afterwards we weren’t as intimate, but his addiction calmed dramatically. Continue reading...

The DS 4, a new premium crossover, is not only over-priced and under-designed, it’s unworthy of its heritagePrice: £23,495

Do the puzzles, say the purveyors of pricey brain training apps, and you’ll boost memory and concentration. Researchers have put their claims to the testEverything you do changes your brain. Even reading this article. Right now, wherever you are, looking at these words is shaping and modifying the connections between neurons inside your head. It seems like a scary thought, but this process – known as neuroplasticity – is fundamental to our ability to learn new skills, keep hold of old ones, and form new memories.Imagine, then, if we could take control of that process. If we could target specific types of skills and cognitive processes, then we could teach our brains to be better at, well, anything. Continue reading...

Many VR side-effects are believed to be temporary and leave no lasting damage, but there have been few long-term studies into use of the technologyVirtual reality might be marching into the mainstream, but questions remain about its long-term effects, scientists say.

I need email, internet and a few useful apps – which phone should I buy?Every 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.This week’s question: Continue reading...

Sony, Oculus and HTC should all settle in for the long haul – having the first launch or selling cheapest at Christmas won’t be enough to win the warSometimes it seems like thebattle to be the must-have Christmas gift starts earlier every year. On Tuesday, 2016’s battle began in earnest, with the announcement of Sony’s virtual reality headset, the PlayStation VR.The headset, which will cost £350 on its launch in October, is the third such device to be revealed in last few months. It will launch to stiff competition from Facebook-owned VR firm Oculus and Taiwanese hardware firm HTC, each of which are bringing their own versions to the market in the coming weeks. Continue reading...

Front suspension, large wheels and a wide range of gears help Helen Pidd survive a demanding mountain bike trailI belong to two cycling clubs. One is women-only and the other is all-male except me. Team Glow prides itself on female empowerment, encouraging women to achieve more than they ever thought possible: whether riding 112 miles of the Fred Whitton or slogging up the 23% gradient of Mow Cop in Cheshire without putting a foot down. From easy “A” rides, through Bs, Cs to dastardly Ds, women cheer you on all the way.It doesn’t work like that in Team Rioja. Zero allowances are made for new members’ weaknesses. “Stop mithering” is a favourite catchphrase of AK, a founder member. He once claimed he couldn’t physically pedal as slowly as me on some climbs. Continue reading...

The passenger jet was close to landing when a drone flew 200ft overhead, fuelling concerns about the safety of the craftThe pilot of a Lufthansa passenger jumbo jet has reported that a drone aircraft nearly collided with his airliner on its landing approach to Los Angeles, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

In an appearance on the Today show, Jack Dorsey put to bed rumors that the site might extend tweets to a 10,000 character limitTwitter’s much-loved 140-character limit is “staying.”That’s what Jack Dorsey, one of the company’s founders and its newly-reinstated CEO said in an appearance on the Today show on Friday. Continue reading...

Chris North’s departure comes just as Amazon accelerates its plans to enter the grocery market in the UKAmazon’s UK boss Chris North has quit the company to join US online photo gift retailer Shutterfly.North’s departure comes just as Amazon accelerates its plans to enter the grocery market in the UK. The US company recently revealed a deal to sell fresh, chilled and frozen food made by Morrisons, the Bradford-based supermarket chain, after it began selling frozen items via its Prime Now service in London, Birmingham, Newcastle, Manchester and Liverpool. Continue reading...

Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead

Facebook founder posts picture of himself running in Tiananmen Square when air pollution was 15 times safe levelA photograph of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg jogging through the smog in downtown Beijing has prompted a torrent of comments – not all of them flattering – on Chinese social media.Zuckerberg, who is in the Chinese capital for an economic forum, posted the photo of himself and five others running through Tiananmen Square on Friday, with the gate to the Forbidden City imperial palace in the background. Continue reading...

Firm failed to integrate with the wider Google workforce, and its ‘terrifying’ robots sparked concern about negative pressGoogle is looking to sell robotics firm Boston Dynamics after concluding that it’s unlikely to produce any marketable robot in the next few years, according to people familiar with the company who spoke to Bloomberg News.Boston Dynamics has become famous for its impressive (and impressively creepy) videos featuring it torturing its robotic creations with pushes, kicks, shoves and heavy weights, to demonstrate their versatility and reliability. Continue reading...

Court-ordered release of Lavabit case files finally reveals Snowden was target of action that shuttered secure and private email serviceA redaction oversight by the US government has finally confirmed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s targeting of secure email service Lavabit was used specifically to spy on Edward Snowden.

From TV spoilers and Deep Drumpf to Kanye West and badly drawn penises, here’s the future of the social network as it enters double figures“Just setting up my twttr”: Jack Dorsey posted the first ever tweet on 21 March 2006, when Twitter was still a vowel-less side project of podcasting firm Odeo. The decade since then has been a riot of hashtags, feuds, breaking news, white and gold black and blue dresses, spoilers, one-liners, furious men’s rights activists, political movements, tweetstorms and celebrity bottoms.What might the next decade hold in store? Here are some confident predictions for the next 10 years of Everyone’s Favourite Social App That Isn’t Facebook, or WhatsApp, or Facebook Messenger, or Instagram or Snapchat. Continue reading...

From the darkest corners of gaming history, here are the shooters, platformers and beat-’em-ups that took no prisonersGames used to be harder. That’s the lament veteran players now mutter whenever encountering some modern shoot-’em-up or action adventure. It sounds like the same sort of nostalgic elitism that music snobs indulge in, criticising current bands for lacking the legendary quality of yesterday’s heroes. But with games, it’s kind of true.

The place to talk about games and other things that matterYay, it’s Friday. You can start the Daredevil season two splurge tonight! Continue reading...

Australian virtual reality artist for Sundance’s New Frontiers Institute set out to break all the rules for her milestone production, CollisionsStanding alone in the Pilbara desert, dusty and desolate sun-scorched land stretches out in every direction. Occasional kangaroos are the only signs of life in a vast, brown, natural nothingness.But the peace is about to be shattered. An atomic bomb explodes somewhere in the distance, creating a monstrous mushroom cloud that rises into the sky as ash falls from above, showering me like rain. Continue reading...

Federal parliamentary press gallery demands explanation after Buzzfeed journalist’s phone was seized and searched during Senate question timeThe federal parliamentary press gallery has said the search and seizure of a journalist’s phone in Senate question time was an “unconscionable and unacceptable transgression of press freedom”.The press gallery president, Fairfax photographer Andrew Meares, has written to the president of the Senate, Stephen Parry, asking him to investigate the encounter, in which the phone of a BuzzFeed journalist, Alice Workman, was searched after she tweeted about Labor senator Stephen Conroy playing Candy Crush in the chamber. Continue reading...

CEO gives on-the-record answers to Time magazine about company’s encryption battle with government and what could be a problem going forwardApple’s chief executive Tim Cook has taken to national TV, Capitol Hill and his company’s shareholders’ meeting to try to persuade consumers that the iPhone maker is right in its privacy standoff with the US government.

On Wednesday, when Bay Area Rapid Transit was experiencing yet another set of delays, @SFBART became active on Twitter – and alarmingly honestSan Francisco’s public transportation system, Bart, is an overcrowded, broken escalator-filled mess. No one ever argues otherwise.Now, not even Bart. Continue reading...

Apple CEO dismisses FBI’s argument that only one iPhone will be affected by case of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook: ‘It puts millions of people at risk’The FBI’s claims that its powers of surveillance have “gone dark” are a “crock”, Apple boss Tim Cook has told Time magazine.Cook is currently embroiled in an escalating war of words with the US authorities over Apple’s refusal to break into the iPhone of San Bernardino terrorist Syed Farook. Continue reading...

The Swedish inventor, called ‘the queen of shitty robots’, has attracted thousands of followers with her quirky contraptions for eating cereal or applying lipstickKnown as “the queen of shitty robots”, Swedish inventor Simone Giertz builds robots to help with everyday activities – except, they don’t work. Well, mechanically they work beautifully, but her robots show we’ve got a while to go before every part of our life is automated.The 25-year-old lives on a houseboat in Stockholm and runs a highly successful YouTube channel with 124,000 subscribers, where she posts videos of her surreal and hilarious contraptions, such as robots to feed her cereal, put on her lipstick and chop vegetables. Continue reading...