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Flaws that could give hackers complete access to a smartphone have been found in the microchips of millions of Android devicesSecurity flaws that could give hackers complete access to a smartphone have been found in the processors of hundreds of millions of Android devices, researchers claim.Computer security firm Check Point says that the bugs could affect up to 900m Android phones, including some made by BlackBerry, Google and LG among others. Continue reading...

We now spend more time deciding what to take with us on our tablets, phones and e-readers than we do packing our bags. Here’s how to organise your digital luggageNever mind the old ways of rolling up clothes to maximise space, splurging on travel size toiletries, then flipping out and throwing the contents of your case all over the gate when it doesn’t meet the hand luggage requirements. Holidaying is now all about what goes in your digital suitcase.According to a survey commissioned by audiobook retailer Audible, travellers spend more time doing their “digital packing” for a week-long break – four hours and 16 minutes to be precise – than they do packing their physical case, on which they spend a comparatively measly two hours and 30 minutes. A third of under-35s pack their digi-case – which contains music, audiobooks, ebooks, films and TV shows – before they think about the actual stuff they will take on holiday. Continue reading...

Country becomes the first to block access to game, citing concerns about its use of location-based virtual reality technologyIran has become the first country to ban the Pokémon Go mobile game, citing security concerns about the game’s use of location-based virtual reality technology.“Any game that wants to operate nationwide in Iran needs to obtain permission from the ministry of culture and Islamic guidance, and the Pokémon Go app has not yet requested such a permission,” the semi-official Isna news agency quoted Abolhasan Firouzabadi, the head of Iran’s supreme council of virtual space, as saying. Continue reading...

Ten million Australian households are expected to take part but the census has been marred by privacy fearsBilled variously as a valuable snapshot of the nation, a dangerous violation of privacy, or an opportunity to briefly convert to Jediism, Australia’s five-yearly census takes place on Tuesday night.Ten million Australian households are expected to take part but the national headcount is mired in unprecedented controversy, with allegations that the move to collect the census online, and the requirement that personal details such as names will be retained for four years, pose an unprecedented risk to the safety of Australians’ data. Continue reading...

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As a study shows many people feel unable to switch off from the internet, we ask our readers how much time a week they spend onlineDo you spend too much time online? It’s a question that may unearth some uncomfortable truths, and if you are worried about how much you use Facebook/Google et al, you’re not alone.The annual communications market report from media and telecoms regulator Ofcom looks at how people cope with spending so much time connected, and this year it found that more than a third of UK internet users are taking “digital detox” breaks from the web. It found an increasing amount of time we spend online is leading to lost sleep and less time spent with friends and family. Continue reading...

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

Most of the 349 fines were issued to people playing the game on motorcycles since the game was released on SaturdayPokémon Go was only released in Taiwan on Saturday – but hundreds of eager players have already been fined for playing the game on their phones while driving.According to the National Police Agency, 349 fines have been doled out since Saturday. Most of those fines went to people playing the game on motorcycles. Continue reading...

Calvin Riley was killed by an unknown assailant at Aquatic Park on Saturday nightA 20-year-old man has been shot dead while playing Pokémon Go at a tourist spot on San Francisco’s waterfront, authorities have said.Calvin Riley was shot on Saturday night by an unknown assailant at Aquatic Park near Ghirardelli Square, the US Park police said.

Explosive growth in mobile broadband use across the continent is improving transparency and giving a voice to citizensMobile phones will account for almost one-tenth of African GDP by the end of the decade, as mobile broadband connections triple in five years, underlining how the explosive growth in the telecoms industry is having a major economic, social and political impact on the continent.Market analysts Ovum expect mobile broadband connections, which stood at 147m in 2014, to account for a substantial share of the mobile market, forecasting a rise to 76% at the end of 2020, up from just 17% in 2014. Continue reading...

Footage of the accident in Virginia, which will make car lovers wince, showed the red Mercedes wedged on top of the front of the luxury sports carThe driver of a Mercedes 380 SL has made a potentially costly mistake when she ended up reversing over the bonnet of a nearby $300,000 Ferrari while attempting a parallel park.Footage of the accident in Great Falls, Virginia on Saturday, shows the red Mercedes wedged on top of the front of the luxury sports car. Continue reading...

Grattan Institute reports only half of those graduating with degrees in science found work within four months, 17% below the average for all graduatesGraduates with bachelor degrees in science struggle to find work in comparison with their counterparts in other science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) disciplines, the Grattan Institute has found in a new report.The Mapping Australian Higher Education 2016 report, released on Monday, shows that science and information technology graduates have patchy prospects in the labour market despite increasing demand for Stem skills. Continue reading...

Cryptocurrency platform to issue compensation for £55m bitcoins theft in form of credit tokens

China National Nuclear Corporation on government list of preferred bidders for development funding for next-generation modular reactorsA controversial Chinese company has been selected to bid for millions of pounds of public money in a UK government competition to develop mini nuclear power stations.The China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) features twice in a government list of 33 projects and companies deemed eligible to compete for a share in up to £250m to develop so-called small modular reactors (SMR). Continue reading...

This summer’s video game phenomenon has brought the physical realm – including the human body itself – back into gamingThis is weird, I thought to myself recently, while standing at the urinal. That still we must live inside these leaky bodies. Pissing feels so anachronistic, doesn’t it? The body is in decline, culturally speaking. We access the office, the theatre, the supermarket and even the university from chairs via screens. Bodies increasingly feel like a hangover from those dark days before Anno Internet, when we had to go out in search of nourishment, ideas, wonder and delight. Nowadays it all comes to us: via Just Eat, via Netflix, via Attenborough and, of course, via social media, with its endless stream of data that froths over our minds. We’re happy to become brains in jars – so long as the jar is Wi-Fi enabled.Pokémon was a way for its creator Satoshi Tajiri to revisit his lost childhood hobby of entomology Continue reading...

With 1bn smartphones lying idle in the US, meet the companies repurposing old smartphones into sensors and security cameras in a bid to tackle e-wasteIf Jim Poss hadn’t dropped his phone in the bath while bathing his son, he might never have hit upon the idea for his business. While researching a cheap replacement for his waterlogged iPhone, he had an epiphany: the used phones sold online for $60 (£45) or less could be repurposed as Internet of Things sensors and used to form flexible, low-cost security and vehicle telematics systems.Related: Apple announces new recycling program as interest in green gadgets grows Continue reading...

Overseen by a UK government board, the Cell is a part of Huawei in Oxfordshire ensuring its own technology cannot be compromised for nefarious purposesWelcome to the Cell. All visitors must surrender their phones at the door. No cameras or filming equipment allowed.In a deceptively humdrum office block on the outskirts of Banbury, Oxfordshire, a team of cybersecurity experts is working to combat the risk of surveillance and hacking attacks from China. Continue reading...

The departure of Saatchi & Saatchi’s Kevin Roberts after his complacent and misguided interview leaves gender bias in corporate life unaffectedSo farewell, Kevin Roberts. The Saatchi & Saatchi executive chairman resigned last week after giving an interview to Business Insider that was so riddled with sexism and complacency it is difficult to pick out a particular soundbite.To summarise, Roberts said that there was no problem with sexual discrimination at Saatchi & Saatchi and that some women, and men, were looking just to be happy in life rather than climb up the ranks of a company. He also accused a female campaigner of “making up a lot of stuff to create a profile”. Continue reading...

As artificial intelligence increases its influence on our lives, the talk is of job losses, self-driving car crashes, algorithms running amok. But there is an upside…AI might be shaking up life as we know it, but like any good party guest, it’s about bringing the beers. That’s according to the work of London-based company IntelligentX, which is using artificial intelligence to brew the perfect pint. What makes IntelligentX’s beers smart is the speed at which the firm is able to respond to the changing tastes of customers – on a batch-by-batch basis. The company currently brews four beers: golden, pale, amber and black. Continue reading...

If you think you’re a big clever grown-up who can handle a car, think again… Lexus’s latest SUV is in charge

Commuter, road bike, cross-rider – three bicycles for the price of oneHow many bikes do you need? There’s an old equation which states the ideal number is n + 1 where n is the number you currently own. Well, here’s a novel way to get three bikes for the price of one. British brand Quella has just launched the Evo which has been engineered to be incredibly versatile and durable. Starting with the basic frame you can use it as a no-nonsense, single-speed commuter. Or you can upgrade the gears and handlebars so it becomes an entry-level road bike. And if that doesn’t appeal, you can swap in chunkier rubber and use it as a rugged cross-rider for country trails and muddy lanes. Bottle holders, mudguards and racks can also be added, while a custom colour will cost you a further £100. It’s a great result for the chronically indecisive.Price: £599

The ride sharing firm will now be eyeing the Indian market, and has its sights set on even bigger rivalsOnly a Chinese wall could slow the progress of the Uber juggernaut. The ride-sharing app, pugnacious pioneer of the sharing economy, has given up on its attempt to get the better of Chinese domestic rival Didi Chuxing.Uber agreed instead to hand over its branding, operations and data in exchange for a 20% holding in Didi, which is valued at $35bn. That makes Uber’s stake worth some $7bn, not a bad return on the $2bn the San Francisco tech firm has already spent trying to establish a profitable beachhead in the People’s Republic. Didi will also invest $1bn in Uber Technologies, adding to the company’s already hefty pot. Continue reading...

‘Pilots’ gathered for a test flight before the National Drone Racing Championship, a budding sport competitors hope will become an ‘everybody hobby’A pack of drones whizzed across Governor’s Island against the backdrop of the Manhattan skyline. About the size of a plate, they whipped through the track of the second annual National Drone Racing Championship, piloted by racers in goggles standing a few yards away.Friday was a practice day at the drone race, a sport that’s still in its infancy. But this weekend’s event is its big moment. For the first time in drone racing’s short existence, the competition will be broadcast on ESPN. Continue reading...

The fact that most election machines are not connected to the internet makes hacking unlikely, but the software itself could be vulnerableIt’s been a topic of debate ever since hackers – presumably working for Russia – stole thousands of private emails from the Democratic National Committee and leaked them on the net. Could a nation state or other adversary hack our elections and determine the next president of the United States?The answer depends on how they try to go about it, says Avi Rubin, computer science professor at Johns Hopkins University and technical director of the university’s Information Security Institute. Continue reading...

There are sports-style seats, lots of red stitching, a large rear spoiler, a front grille that looks like the mouth of a predator…“People,” (I am channelling Ford’s marketing manager, talking to the car designers here) “who is the Focus actually for?”“Is it,” suggests a middle-ranking designer, possibly wearing a bow tie, “a young executive who hasn’t hit his full earning potential and enjoys the open road?” Continue reading...

The agency’s stockpile of unpatched, undisclosed vulnerabilities is a big concern to the security community, but research suggests it discloses more than it keepsAmerica’s National Security Agency (NSA) spends upwards of $25m in a year buying previously undisclosed security vulnerabilities – known as zero days, because that’s the length of time the target has had to fix them – but the large investment may not result in as much of a collection of hacking capabilities as is widely assumed.Jason Healey, a senior research scholar at Columbia University and director at the Atlantic Council policy thinktank, argues that the true number of zero days stockpiled by the NSA is likely in the “dozens”, and that the agency only adds to that amount by a very small amount each year. “Right now it looks like single digits,” he says, adding that he has “high confidence in this assessment.” Continue reading...

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Threat posed by short-term rentals has always been high, but security researcher says it should now be considered one of the biggest risks of travelingAirbnb and other home-sharing startups may be eating the hotel industry from the inside out, but as the number of people staying in strangers’ houses rises, so too does the security threat the whole industry poses.When it comes to connecting to unknown networks, the typical Airbnb home network is likely to be less secure than a coffee shop Wi-Fi, hotel internet or even the extensive university network, according to security researcher Jeremy Galloway. Continue reading...

Fans of the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team have long cheered ‘Go Big Red’ – so why is the Union Jack now latching onto their tweets?On the wind-swept plains of Nebraska, the abbreviation “GBR” means a specific thing to supporters of the University of Nebraska football team.

I saw this Lapras was close. As it’s a water-type creature I assumed it must be down by the nearby lake. I jumped into my younger brother’s carIt was a quiet Tuesday evening last month, around 10.30pm, and I was sitting watching TV at my mother’s house. I had driven across the States from Oregon to New York and was back from college for the summer. I checked the Pokémon Go app on my phone and a creature showed up. It was a Lapras: an unusual one that I hadn’t encountered before.When I was about 12, I got the original Pokémon Yellow game on my Gameboy. My friends and I used to play it on the bus on our way to school. Continue reading...

When grown adults dressed as Pikachu take to the streets and hit bystanders in the face with giant Pokéballs fired from slingshots, you know it’s gone too farPokémon Go has taken the world by storm but now the phenomenon has definitely jumped the shark, with life-sized Pokéballs and humans dressed as Pikachu being used for a marketing stunt. Continue reading...

New open source project hopes to remove burden of remembering passwords and instantly log you into apps on Android, with plans to roll out across every platformGoogle has taken the next big step forward in its war against the password – an open source system to instantly and securely log you into apps on your phone using your password manager.

Like many young people, I live much of my life online. While it can be isolating, the internet can also aid mental healthLast week, in a largely futile attempt to actually do some work, I installed a browser extension that blocked pretty much any website I could possibly distract myself with. Twitter: gone. Facebook: gone. Even my emails, which I obsessively tend to in order to feel moderately productive, were off limits for an hour.Having found new and imaginative ways to waste my own time, what surprised me most was not how much more work I did, but the sheer frequency with which I attempted to access the internet. I’d incessantly tap “twitter.com” into the address bar, somehow immediately forgetting it was blocked. I’d click on my still-open Facebook tab to check my feed before remembering there was no point. Every time I finished a sentence I’d flit away from my work again, trying to exchange 10 seconds of productivity for 10 minutes of distraction. I knew I spent a lot of time online – but not this much. Continue reading...

From 3D-printed limbs to hacktivists tackling oppression, Africa is the perfect place for tech innovation against the oddsAfrica may be taking a great leap forward into the digital era. But when technology reaches a new area, the hackers are never far behind.Many are familiar with the African hacker cliche: revolving around a badly written email from someone, claiming to be a friend, for example, who has been mugged and needs an urgent money transfer. Continue reading...

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

Gamers help find hard-to-reach communities as Médecins Sans Frontières uses data from MapSwipe app to produce detailed local mapsGamers can now help aid workers locate communities affected by natural disasters, disease outbreaks or conflict using a mobile app developed by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).MapSwipe users swipe through satellite images of remote areas and tap the screen when they see features such as settlements, roads and rivers. Information is then fed back to mappers, who use it to draw detailed maps. Continue reading...

Here are six easy steps to rid yourself of Pokémon Go for good. Follow them all Continue reading...

The top prize will be given for finding bugs in Apple’s ‘secure boot’ firmware for blocking unwanted programs when an iOS device powers upApple has said it plans to offer rewards of up to $200,000 to researchers who find critical security bugs in its products, joining dozens of firms that already offer payments for help uncovering flaws in their products.

The developers behind Bureaucrazy want to help natives and newcomers who share their bewilderment at the nation’s red tapeMunzer Khattab likens German bureaucracy to a game of snakes and ladders. When the 23-year-old from Latakia on the Syrian coast arrived and registered in Berlin last year, he was given the address of a job centre in another part of the city. But when he turned up at the address, the building was shut for renovation. He eventually stumbled into the replacement office by accident two weeks later.“In Syria, there was always a way to avoid bureaucracy, even if it meant paying a bit of extra money. Here, there is no way around the paperwork,” Khattab said.

Stepping up its battle against much-reviled (but effective) ‘clickbait’ headlines in its newsfeed, Facebook has instituted an algorithm that weeds out the worstFacebook is escalating its war on “clickbait” headlines by instituting a new system on its newsfeed that will weed out misleading and exaggerated headlines the same way that email spam filters weed out fantastic offers to help Nigerian princes recover their lost fortunes.The tweaks to the algorithm, announced today in a blog post, will de-prioritize posts with headlines that “withhold information required to understand what the content of the article is and headlines that exaggerate the article to create misleading expectations”. Continue reading...

Group of design industry professionals say Apple deserves $548m in damages Samsung paid last December for infringing patented iPhone designsApple deserved the hundreds of millions of dollars in damages Samsung paid for infringing patented designs of the iPhone, because the product’s distinctive look drives people to purchase it, a group of design industry professionals told the US supreme court on Thursday.Setting up a clash with a number of Silicon Valley companies that have come out on the side of Samsung, more than 100 designers and educators signed on to a new court brief supporting Apple. Continue reading...

The record company is trying to force the website to hand over a user’s details as it seeks to sue over the leak of a song featured in the DC Comic movieAtlantic Records is on the hunt for the identity of a Reddit user who leaked a Twenty One Pilots single, and is taking legal action in order to find out.According to court records, a copy of the song, Heathens, was posted to Reddit on 15 June, nine days before Atlantic planned to release the single, which was to be featured on the soundtrack to the upcoming Suicide Squad movie. Continue reading...

After projects with Run the Jewels and Reggie Watts, virtual reality company Wevr wants to break the fourth wall and bring music fans into the actionWhen Beyoncé released her “visual album” Lemonade on HBO earlier this year, many people were stunned by its ambition, its lack of a promo campaign and its visual impact.But what if instead of pulling that hot sauce out of her bag she pulled out a can of magical spray paint that transported viewers to a fantasy world? A world where she participated in a space fight with an evil dimensional overlord, lay on the beach with Game of Thrones’ Nathalie Emmanuel, and watched Reggie Watts simultaneously play all of the world’s instruments while bathed in the many colors of the rainbow. Continue reading...

Analysis by the car manufacturer marks end of the decade as a potential tipping point for the mass take up of electric vehicles, reports Business GreenPublic electric vehicle (EV) charge points will outnumber petrol stations in the UK by the end of the decade, marking a potential tipping point in the adoption of zero emission vehicles.That is the conclusion of a new analysis by auto giant and EV manufacturer Nissan, which argues that based on current trends EV charge points will overtake traditional petrol stations by August 2020. Continue reading...

Microsoft’s first major upgrade to console offers a sleek new chassis and 4K Ultra HD features – but do you need them?The first major hardware update of this console generation has arrived. And while the Xbox One S provides a striking visual contrast to its aesthetically maligned predecessor, is there enough going on under the hood to justify an upgrade? Continue reading...

A study shows many people feel unable to switch off from the internet. Have you managed to get the balance right? Share your experiencesIf you’ve ever been to dinner with someone constantly Googling on their phone, then you won’t be surprised by a new study that exposes our internet obsession.Related: More than a third of UK internet users have tried 'digital detox' – Ofcom Continue reading...

Vista users need to estimate how long their PC will remain usable before they decide to upgrade, but a few loopholes existI currently have Windows Vista. Can I upgrade to Windows 10? If buying a new machine, for normal personal use for email and internet, what would you recommend? Laptop and desktop options would be useful. E&ABSadly, you can’t upgrade directly from Windows Vista to Windows 10: Microsoft only supports upgrades from Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. Vista was the current version of Windows from January 2007 until July 2009, so any surviving Vista PCs are presumably more than seven years old. If they are laptops, they are probably due for replacement. Even if they are desktops, they may not be worth the upgrade cost. Continue reading...

A third of people have tried to take time offline, according to an Ofcom report, but just imagine what they’re missing …One in three people have tried to have a “digital detox”, giving up using the internet because it’s taking over their lives, according to an Ofcom report. But while returning to a simpler time may have some appeal, most of us would never want to go back to the age before connectivity. Here’s a few reasons we love being always online - add yours in the comments below: Continue reading...

As recent high-profile hacks show, cyberwar is a very real danger and is likely to get much worse, says a US security expertAs the recent hacks of the Democratic National Committee and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign have shown, cyberwarfare has reached US shores – and it’s likely to get much worse, says Kenneth Geers, a senior research scientist with cyber security firm Comodo.

The project by a Seattle-based artist lets strangers help a person of color with anything from childcare to taxes, and has attracted both praise and criticismEnne had no expectations when she posted her request for an engagement ring.She had posted it to Reparations – a half art project, half social experiment, the idea of which is this: people of color can request help or services, and others (white people, other people of color, anyone) could offer help. Continue reading...