Technology | The Guardian

Controversy over a censored Vietnam war photo highlights concerns over the social network’s vital – if reluctant – role as users’ primary news sourceTensions between Facebook and the news industry boiled over this week when the social media corporation censored a Pulitzer-winning Vietnam war photo, because it featured a naked child and violated site “community standards”.The dispute over the “napalm girl” image, which a Norwegian writer published in a post about historic warfare photography, ended Friday when Facebook reversed its decision, acknowledging the “global importance of this image in documenting a particular moment in time”. Continue reading...

The social network’s latest results have left its investors more eager than ever for a takeover – but no suitors are visible on the horizonWhy doesn’t anyone want to buy Twitter? After the company’s board met on Thursday, it told CNBC that there were “no bids on the table” and that instead it was exploring cost cuts – an announcement that drove another sell-off in the stock and pushed it down 6%, as shareholders who had hoped to see a September swoop from a tech or media company were disappointed. On Friday the shares were changing hands at around $18 – 20% down this year and well short of their float price of $26 three years ago.That doesn’t mean, however, that Twitter is not a target. It can boast 313 million monthly active users, of whom 66 million, or 21%, are in the US. But unlike that other social network Facebook, its growth has stalled (user numbers were up just 1% year-on-year in the quarter to the end of June), and it is far from profit, losing $107m on revenues of $602m – although the latter, at least, were up an encouraging 20%. Continue reading...

British surgeons hail successful procedure to remove membrane 100th of a millimetre thick from retinaBritish surgeons have successfully performed the world’s first robotic operation inside the eye, potentially revolutionising the way such conditions are treated.The procedure was carried out at John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford, where surgeons welcomed its success. Continue reading...

After a week of public silence, Musk says the company is investigating the accident, its second in 15 monthsSpaceX chief executive Elon Musk is calling last week’s launch pad accident the “most difficult and complex failure” in the company’s 14-year history.After a week of public silence, Musk said via Twitter the company is still investigating the accident, its second in just 15 months. Continue reading...

US product safety agency says owners of the smartphone should stop using their device, and that it’s working on an official recall just weeks after launchThe US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says owners of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones should turn them off and stop using them because of the risk that their batteries can explode.The agency said Friday that it’s working with Samsung on an official recall of the phones “as soon as possible” and that it’s trying to figure out if the company’s replacement Note 7s are an “acceptable remedy”. Continue reading...

In a new column, we find the bogus stories, clickbait and disinformation framed as legitimate ‘trending’ news by one of the most powerful companies on EarthIn the weeks since Facebook fired the humans who curated its “trending” news feed, its algorithmic floodgates opened up for fake stories, conspiracy theories and internet bile. This week, the company insisted it is a “neutral” platform that needs no editors, even while it censored art, spread false news and deleted a post by Norway’s prime minister because it included a Pulitzer-winning photo from the Vietnam war. The leader had called for Facebook to “review its editing policy”, and the company eventually restored the post.In a semi-regular column, we’ll highlight what Facebook doesn’t want to: the bogus stories, clickbait and disinformation being framed as legitimate news by one of the most powerful tech companies on Earth. Continue reading...

Espen Egil Hansen, editor-in-chief of Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, reads out an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg on Friday, criticising him for Facebook deleting Nick Ut’s iconic photograph of the ‘napalm girl’. Norway’s prime minister Erna Solberg says Facebook has to change its photo censorship policy and take responsibility over its emerging dominance in news dissemination. Photograph: AP Photo/Nick Ut

Company U-turns on its decision to remove the iconic Vietnam war photo featuring a naked girl after global outcry and accusations of ‘abusing power’Facebook has decided to allow users to share an iconic Vietnam war photo featuring a naked girl after CEO Mark Zuckerberg was accused of abusing his power when the social media company censored the image.Norway’s largest newspaper published a front-page open letter to Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, slamming Facebook’s decision to censor the historic photograph of nine-year-old Kim Phúc running away from a napalm attack and calling on the CEO to live up to his role as “the world’s most powerful editor”. Continue reading...

Death, meet the 21st century. Here’s an inside look at how you can have your social media profile managed after you die with Facebook’s memorialisation serviceWe do everything on social media these days. We live tweet the Oscars, we Instagram our pets, we secretly block our friends for posting far too many baby photos. And now, with the help of Facebook, we can keep up our social media presence after we die.In this episode, we take a look at Facebook’s memorialisation platform, and ask the question, “What happens to our Facebook accounts when we die?” To explore, we speak to Jasmine Probst and Vanessa Callison-Burch from Facebook’s memorialisation team, and Karen Marcus, a woman who used Facebook’s service to memorialise her late husband’s account. Continue reading...

Weak pound against the dollar hits UK technology buyers after Brexit decision as Apple ups the price of the iPhone, iPad and accessoriesApple’s iPhone 7 has gone on pre-order around the world, but customers in the UK have woken up to a very real-world impact of the Brexit referendum: the iPhone 7 as well as the iPad line is more expensive than ever.

The company has announced that the iPhone 7’s AirPods won’t have leads – but why stop there? The world needs a wireless declutterAfter banishing billions of earphones to the dustbin of history with its new AirPods, Apple finds itself at a crossroads. Clearly, the corporation hates cables. But which cables should it destroy next? Here are some suggestions. Continue reading...

Social network’s deletion of Pulitzer-prize winning Vietnam photograph is just latest in a long list of controversies

Erna Solberg shared photo that had resulted in writer and newspaper falling foul of social media giant’s rulesFacebook has deleted a post by the Norwegian prime minister in an escalating row over the website’s decision to remove content featuring the Pulitzer-prize winning “napalm girl” photograph from the Vietnam war.Erna Solberg, the Conservative prime minister, called on Facebook to “review its editing policy” after it deleted her post voicing support for a Norwegian newspaper that had fallen foul of the social media giant’s guidelines. Continue reading...

Charging while listening to music now requires an adapter – and things get really complicated if you want to plug into power while using old 3.5mm headphonesApple’s removal of the headphone socket on its latest iPhone 7 has had several knock-on effects, but one thing most people might not realise is that if you’re using wired headphones with it, you can’t charge it at the same time. Unless you buy a £35 adapter. Or a £49 dock.

I interviewed my grandmother to get a century of perspective on technology, from the cellphone she uses ‘only for emergencies’ to Twitter and SnapchatAbout 20 years ago, a woman named Rose Wong moved to a small town in the heart of Silicon Valley and purchased her first computer.“I had no idea how to use it. I taught myself,” she recalled this week. Continue reading...

Material stolen from Open Society Foundations in a cyber-attack is being used to embarrass and discredit us. These Watergate-style tactics can’t be allowed to succeedHackers are stepping up their cyber-attacks on American democratic institutions. The Open Society Foundations, the global philanthropy I lead, is among many to have been targeted. DC Leaks has posted over 2,500 documents reflecting our grant-making strategies over the last decade, prompting a flurry of press reports from far-right news sites in the US and around the world.

Danny Lucas is given deadline to confirm he will rename LitterGram because it could undermine brand owned by FacebookLawyers for Facebook and Instagram have given the British owner of an anti-litter app a deadline to confirm that he plans to change its name, he has said.

Norway’s largest newspaper published a front-page letter to the Facebook CEO lambasting the company’s decision to censor a photograph of the Vietnam warNorway’s largest newspaper has published a front-page open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, lambasting the company’s decision to censor a historic photograph of the Vietnam war and calling on Zuckerberg to recognize and live up to his role as “the world’s most powerful editor”.Espen Egil Hansen, the editor-in-chief and CEO of Aftenposten, accused Zuckerberg of thoughtlessly “abusing your power” over the social media site that has become a lynchpin of the distribution of news and information around the world, writing, “I am upset, disappointed – well, in fact even afraid – of what you are about to do to a mainstay of our democratic society.” Continue reading...

EA’s seminal franchise is back with new guides for newbies, trickier special teams, glitzy graphics and a fantasy-football cash-in that’s safely ignoredMadden 17 begins with the usual glitzy opening sequence throwing the player straight into the action, whetting the appetite while showcasing the latest bells and whistles. Fortunately for EA, the off-season move of the Rams to Los Angeles gave them the perfect scenario.We find ourselves at the LA Memorial Coliseum with the Washington Redskins poised to break the hearts of all in the City of Angels by knocking the Rams out of the play-offs. In true Hollywood fashion, Washington’s game-winning field goal is blocked and we are tasked with leading Jeff Fisher’s team to glory. Continue reading...

Phones are known to catch fire and should be kept switched off, Federal Aviation Administration advises, as manufacturer carries out global recallAirline passengers should not turn on or charge their Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones during flights or stow them in checked baggage due to concerns over the phone’s fire-prone batteries, the US Federal Aviation Administration has said.

The first international beauty contest decided by an algorithm has sparked controversy after the results revealed one glaring factor linking the winnersThe first international beauty contest judged by “machines” was supposed to use objective factors such as facial symmetry and wrinkles to identify the most attractive contestants. After Beauty.AI launched this year, roughly 6,000 people from more than 100 countries submitted photos in the hopes that artificial intelligence, supported by complex algorithms, would determine that their faces most closely resembled “human beauty”.But when the results came in, the creators were dismayed to see that there was a glaring factor linking the winners: the robots did not like people with dark skin. Continue reading...

Retailers report surge in wireless headphones sales but analysts say Apple has taken a ‘misstep’ with some critics calling it ‘user-hostile’ and wastefulApple faces a battle to convince consumers to switch to wireless headphones after controversially scrapping the headphone jack on the new iPhone 7, analysts have warned.Electrical shops are enjoying an increase in wireless headphone sales after Apple’s announcement on Wednesday, but the market has been dogged by concerns about the sound quality, price and durability of products. Continue reading...

22-year old engineering student Will Broadway explains how his portable cooling device works to improve vaccine transportation in developing countries. Broadway was announced UK winner of the 2016 James Dyson Award on Thursday. The video was posted on Loughborough University’s YouTube channel in July. Photograph: Martin Godwin Continue reading...

Rental service has faced widespread criticism over hosts refusing to rent to black guests but some say reforms will allow for continued racial prejudicesAirbnb is planning a number of product and policy changes aimed at fighting discrimination on the short-term rental platform, but some critics say the reforms don’t go far enough and will allow for continued racial prejudices.Airbnb – which has faced widespread backlash over hosts refusing to rent to black guests – released a 30-page report on Thursday outlining new nondiscrimination policies and systems designed to address user complaints. Continue reading...

Will your device survive trip down the toilet? What does ‘IP67’ actually mean, and how do smartphones fare against waterproof watches?Apple launched the iPhone 7 on Wednesday, the first of its waterproof devices, which joins a collection of similar water resistant smartphones from Samsung’s Galaxy S7 to Sony’s Xperia XZ. But just how waterproof is “waterproof”?

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is calling for the labelling of products encumbered with digital rights management – an increasingly important issue as we trust technology with our livesDigital products are weird: they are inert without software to animate them, and software is so technologically and legally weird that it can be very hard to know exactly what you’re buying.But there just might be some clarity on the horizon, thanks to documents I recently filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), signed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), several publishers and public interest groups and 20 EFF supporters with important (and alarming!) stories to tell. Continue reading...

John Lewis says sales of wireless headphones have climbed 60% this week after Apple axed its headphone jackRetailers are braced for a surge in sales of wireless headphones after Apple scrapped the headphone jack on the new iPhone 7.Related: iPhone 7 launch: Apple gambles on headphone jack and introduces new Apple Watch Continue reading...

Designed to keep temperature-sensitive vaccines stable in transit in remote regions, Will Broadway’s Isobar is based on invention from early 1900sA portable cooling system for temperature-sensitive vaccines which could save millions of lives in developing countries has won its 22-year-old designer a prestigious James Dyson award.

Andrew House also discussed relevance of physical media in gaming, following launch of Sony’s Ultra 4k streaming serviceThe head of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Andrew House has claimed there is not enough consumer interest in 4K UHD discs to support the format on the new PlayStation 4 Pro.Speaking to the Guardian after the company’s PlayStation Meeting event in New York, House said it would not be possible to add support for UHD discs in a later firmware update, but argued that such support was unnecessary.

Sony has revealed the mid-generation update for its latest PlayStation console, featuring doubled graphics performance and support for HDR and 4K technologiesSony has announced a new, more powerful version of its PlayStation 4 console. Named the PlayStation 4 Pro, the machine features 4K compatibility, faster processor and enhanced graphics capabilities. It will launch on 10 November with a price point of $399, £349 and 399 euros.PlayStation boss Andrew House said the new machine is, “targeted to the hardcore gamer or those who have invested in high end display technology”. System architect Mark Cerny promised that the new model has twice the graphics processing power, with a GPU based on – and exceeding - AMD’s new Polaris tech. Continue reading...

Lloyd would like to upgrade his old Sony television but doesn’t want one with ‘smart’ features that go out of dateI’m still running a 12-year-old Sony LCD TV and fancy something a bit bigger, but I don’t want “smart” features that that will be dead before I buy another TV. I am a Virgin TV subscriber so my TiVo is smarter than most TVs, and I use an Amazon Prime TV Stick for streaming. I prefer to be able to upgrade these external devices as and when I please, rather than upgrade the whole TV when the smart part is no longer smart. LloydAs the co-owner of another old but good Sony LCD TV, I feel your pain. It seems obvious to us that the TV industry should offer some reasonably priced, high-quality TV displays with lots of HDMI inputs and – hello Sony – a simple way to switch between feeds using a remote control. But if it does, they are hard to find in the UK. Continue reading...

Shares in Berkshire-based firm surge 21% after it announces one of the biggest takeovers by a UK company in recent yearsOne of Britain’s largest technology firms has announced a multibillion-pound deal to buy part of Hewlett Packard’s business in what will create one of the world’s leading software companies.Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) will spin off and merge its non-core software assets with Berkshire-based Micro Focus International in a deal worth $8.8bn (£6.6bn). Continue reading...

Nintendo’s iconic character, Mario, will finally make an appearance on smartphones in a fully-fledged running game on the iPhone first

Apple launched a new iPhone that comes with improved processor, cameras and no headphone jack, along with a new Apple Watch

New colours, faster processor and longer battery life for the smaller iPhone 7, and dual-cameras on the back for the iPhone 7 Plus – but as predicted, the headphone jack is no more

Apple COO Jeff Williams announced the new wearable device in San Francisco, which is faster and performs more functions when not tethered to an iPhone

Consumers are perplexed by Apple’s new iPhone 7 AirPods because of one obvious oversight: that string is there so they don’t get lostApple’s new wireless AirPods, introduced today at the launch of the iPhone 7, deliver a “magical experience,” the senior vice-president of marketing, Phil Schiller, promised.Related: Apple iPhone 7 launch event: key points at a glance Continue reading...

New design paired with release of AirPods that represents characteristic gamble for tech firm in bid to outpace rivals and usher in wireless listening

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

‘People with disabilities deserve a choice,’ disability awareness worker tells hearing, saying Uber changed his world ‘forever’Uber should be given government subsidies to make it more accessible to people with disabilities, a Victorian inquiry has been told.The company’s Victorian general manager, Matthew Denman, and the director of the disability awareness business Centre for Access, Thomas Banks, gave evidence to the inquiry into ride-sourcing services on Thursday. Continue reading...

In a victory for Uber, a federal court says drivers for the most part must resolve claims against the company individually, meaning they’ll have less leverageIn a victory for Uber, a federal appeals court says drivers for the most part have to resolve claims against the company individually and not through a class-action lawsuit.The ruling by the ninth US circuit court of appeals on Wednesday came in a lawsuit by Uber drivers over the company’s background checks. Continue reading...

Apple unveiled the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus on Wednesday. The biggest change in the new model was the decision to remove the audio jack in favor of wireless AirPods. The phone is also water resistant and dust-proof and has a dual-camera system with 2x optical zoom. The iPhone 7 will be available in four colors starting 16 September Continue reading...

The journey to Wednesday’s Apple event raises important questions: was the OneRepublic song really about Steve Jobs? And why Sweet Home Alabama?The Apple event that saw the unveiling of the iPhone 7 and AirPods opened with a short film of CEO Tim Cook in a Carpool Karaoke session with Late Late Show host James Corden. It was just about as awkward as it sounds.The video of Corden escorting Cook to the event in San Francisco, opens with the pair belting OneRepublic’s I Lived, which includes the lyric: “Hope when the crowd screams out, they’re screaming your name.” Continue reading...

Apple CEO Tim Cook sang Sweet Home Alabama during a ride with James Corden on his way to the launch of the iPhone 7, and Pharrell joined the special edition of Corden’s popular Carpool Karaoke. Apple recently announced that it has acquired the streaming rights to Carpool Karaoke, a spinoff segment from Corden’s The Late Late Show Continue reading...

According to our readers, there will be dual cameras and colours for the iPhone, a new iPad and the Apple Watch will gain GPS – but you can forget about seeing an Apple car anytime soon iPhone 7 launch: key points from Apple’s event There will be a new iPhone without a headphone jack launched on stage in San Francisco Wednesday, as well as an Apple Watch with GPS and at least one speed bump to the iPad – if the collective wisdom of over 1,800 Guardian readers is to be trusted.

Limited edition version of sports car maker’s all-electric EV3 costs £52,500 and aims to promote British craftmanshipThe world’s first zero-emissions, all-electric three-wheel car will go on sale in November – in the unlikely setting of a London department store, where it will jostle for shoppers’ attention alongside Louis Vuitton handbags and Tiffany jewellery.Hand-built by Morgan, the British bespoke sports carmaker, the two-seater will cost £52,500 and is the result of a collaboration with retailer Selfridges that aims to promote craftsmanship within British manufacturing and sustainability. Continue reading...

From a hurricane to Brock Turner’s release, a lot happened last week. But Facebook calculated that a celebrity losing some weight was more importantLast week, I decided to spend an entire day getting my news solely from Facebook’s trending topics. Surely the wisdom, culture and intellectual curiosity of the people of the world – the great global public – will be reflected in this collection of their favorite diverse and engaging news stories?Here’s what greeted me at 8.15 that morning: the world, as defined by Facebook’s trending news stories: Continue reading...

Demand for wearable gadgets hasn’t lived up to the hype, and a report suggests things are only getting worse ahead of the company’s expected Watch rebootThe Apple Watch looks set to get a reboot on Wednesday, but is it already too late? Even before its announcement in 2014, the Apple Watch was seen as the device that would ignite a boom for wearable technology the way the iPhone had for smartphones and the iPad for tablets. It would, in effect, create a new consumer tech category by itself.Two years later, the anticipated craze for wearable devices – from smartwatches to fitness bands to smart eyewear and clothing – has yet to materialize. Not only has demand not lived up to the hype, but consumer excitement around wearables appears to be waning.