Technology | The Guardian

Smart ovens, living carpets, robot butlers and beds that remind you to have sex – then make themselves. Welcome to your home of tomorrowGrab the keys and get set to unpack your boxes. It’s time to move into the future. But before you cross the threshold and command your robo-butler to get the kettle on, take a moment to stand back and admire this feat of engineering.First off, traditional clay bricks are out. Future houses are likely to be eco-friendly, eschewing CO²-heavy manufacturing processes. Your home might incorporate building blocks constructed from natural cement churned out by bacteria (1), or be fashioned from fungi – indeed several companies including MycoWorks and EvocativeDesign are exploring the potential of mushroom-based materials. Alternatively, if retro-chic is your thing, super-insulating straw-bale panels appear to be in for a renaissance, while new developments with aerogels also promise a well-insulated abode. Continue reading...

Whether you’re a beginner, keen to get into racing, a photography buff or just curious about a possible new hobby, there’s a drone to suit you. We try out some of the best with the UK’s top FPV drone pilot“I hate the word drone,” says James Bowles, aka JAB1a, the best drone pilot in the country. He’s acknowledging the less than warm reputation they enjoy, as death-dealing instruments of war and surveillance.

James Bowles, one of the UK’s leading FPV drone pilots, shot some footage on the tiny aircrafts’ on-board cameras to accompany his trial of six popular models.Read his verdict here. Continue reading...

Silicon Valley has delusions of grandeur and should concentrate on problems closer to homeIt’s something of a running joke in San Francisco that there are so many startups designed to meet the needs of twentysomething, freshly dropped out of college wannabe startups: food delivery to your door (SpoonRocket, DoorDash, Instacart), laundry delivery to your door (Rinse, Sudzee, Instawash), marijuana to your door (Eaze, MediThrive, the Green Cross), car parking from your door (Luxe, ZIRX). A rich variety of chores outsourced to some poorly paid service worker. Does this sound like the future?Given how many niche startups there are for this shut-in generation, and how many entrepreneurs and developers move to San Francisco, it’s slightly surprising there isn’t a service to help with the move itself. Ever since some Europeans got lost a few hundred years ago and controversially claimed parts of North America, there has been a westward drift, culturally and economically. Continue reading...

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New release available on Apple Music and other subscription services as band makes stand against free on-demand streaming

Legislation proposes telecommunications companies, federal police and other agencies not be made to tell people their data has been stolenAustralian law enforcement agencies and telcos that suffer certain types of data breaches are likely to be exempt from rules requiring them to notify the people affected, under a draft bill.The federal government published on Thursday an exposure draft of mandatory data breach laws that would compel Australian companies – and in some circumstances overseas companies they pass data on to – to notify customers in the event their personal data has been exposed. Continue reading...

Critics are charging once celebrated CEO Marissa Mayer with failing to pick a direction for the tech company, and questioning whether it can ever recoverIs Yahoo approaching its final yodel? The tech company is reportedly in talks to spin off its core business, as well as whether to finally divest its remaining stake in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba, the latter fabulously lucrative, the former … well, not so much.The lion’s share of the blame for what ad industry analyst Brian Wieser called a state of “seemingly permanent decline” in a note to investors this week is falling on its once celebrated CEO, Marissa Mayer. Continue reading...

Mouse Mingle gives users chance to find partner who might be the Belle to their Beast - with Mickey playing cupidJasmine and Aladdin, Belle and the Beast, Carl and Ellie, Lady and the … you get the picture; Disney couples have set the standard for relationship goals for decades.They (probably) never fight over what to watch on the television; never have arguments about putting the toilet seat down; never end up screaming at each other in the supermarket. Continue reading...

Private data including emails, usernames and phone numbers of 1,415 delegates posted online by Anonymous in protest against arrests of activistsHackers have leaked the private login details of nearly 1,415 officials at the UN climate talks in Paris in an apparent act of protest against arrests of activists in the city.Anonymous, the hacktivist movement, hacked the website of the summit organisers, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and posted names, phone numbers, usernames, email addresses, and secret questions and answers onto an anonymous publishing site. Continue reading...

Japanese firms are betting on robots to look after our ageing populations in the futureRobot carers will be the next big thing coming out of Japan, if Toyota, Honda and other firms ploughing money into robo-helpers are to be believed.From robotic toys that simulate pets for companionship, to big mechanical bears that can physically carry you between beds and wheelchairs – all with a friendly smile – the robots aren’t only coming to take your jobs, but to take care of older people too. Continue reading...

Ed Catmull says he’s open to being proved wrong by new generation of VR creators: ‘I think they should keep running the experiments’Pixar Animation co-founder Ed Catmull has warned that virtual reality technology may not be the revolution in storytelling that some of its evangelists have claimed.“It’s not storytelling. People have been trying to do [virtual reality] storytelling for 40 years. They haven’t succeeded. Why is that? Because we know that if they succeed then people would jump on it.” Continue reading...

Updated complaints to Irish, German and Belgian watchdogs call for Facebook to stop transferring EU citizens’ data to US following Safe Harbour collapseThe Austrian privacy campaigner Max Schrems is demanding that Ireland, Germany and Belgium stop Facebook from transferring EU citizens’ data to the US.After successfully prompting the European Court of Justice to invalidate the Safe Harbour agreement, which governed the privacy of EU citizens’ data transferred to the US until October, Schrems is attempting to force through the consequences of the court’s decision. Continue reading...

Lucasfilm works with Google and Verizon on latest teaser for The Force Awakens film under the title Jakku Spy, using ‘real sets’ from upcoming movieA long time ago in a galaxy far, far away ... there weren’t 721 different ways to get teasers on the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens film. But those days are gone.Lucasfilm’s latest tactic to raise anticipation for the new movie is a series of virtual-reality videos under the title Jakku Spy, released through the official Star Wars app. Continue reading...

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The award-winning Halo device builds on selfie culture to allow you to express your moodSocial media might be all about putting yourself in the spotlight, but a wearable device aims to make it a physical reality, too.After working on indoor lighting projects, Nan Zhao, a PhD student in the Responsive Environments Group at MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was inspired to create Halo in an effort to wrestle lighting away from architecture and marry it to individuals. The resulting device contains 180 independently programmed LEDs that can change the colour and pattern of the hoop’s light, reflecting your mood, movement levels and the weather around you by syncing the information via an app. Continue reading...

Businessman and innovator says a scheme similar to the one Australia abandoned would make a huge difference in tackling climate changeOne of the world’s greatest innovators, Elon Musk, says the key to tackling climate change and driving clean energy innovation is a carbon price very similar to the one Australia abolished.

Good intentions can’t guarantee good results as the new breed of venture philanthropists are learning. But three cheers for generosityWho could quibble with the decision by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan to celebrate the birth of their daughter by donating almost all of their private fortune – $45bn – to a new philanthropic foundation? Quite a lot of people, it turns out, are not quite dazzled by what, in the global league of success, amounts to voluntary impoverishment. There is some justice to the criticism: the ambition and scale of contemporary philanthropy can raise some very particular problems of transparency, accountability and unintended consequences.Mark Zuckerberg – who has already given away more than $1bn – knows that from experience. Five years ago, he pledged $100m to the StartUp:Education foundation. It was in support of a cross-party alliance to transform Newark’s dire public schools. After five tumultuous years, the project is still going, but it is smaller in its purpose and wider in its focus. The possibilities of a top-down revolution were more or less defeated by Newark’s disfiguring poverty. Now it embraces social workers, physical and mental health and even the quality of school meals. It was an object lesson in the limitations of philanthropy. Doing good is not the same as doing business. Continue reading...

The tech billionaire was already one of the essential figures of our age. Now, with his $45bn pledge, he’s being seen as a generational Superman. But does a state-like level of spending run the risk of making him a ‘chequebook dictator’?Mark Zuckerberg drives a Volkswagen Golf. He pays himself an annual salary of a dollar. In 2006, at the age of 22, he turned down a billion times that for Facebook. In 2010, when his then-girlfriend (now wife) Priscilla Chan moved in to his home, he posted an update offering their crockery and appliances because they had “2x everything”. He dresses in grey T-shirts and hoodies.As quiet a life as Zuckerberg and Chan lead in some respects, they are in others fairly conspicuous. And on Tuesday they took an extraordinary action in the most visible way possible. Via an open letter to their new daughter Max (posted, obviously, on Facebook) the Chan Zuckerbergs announced that they would be donating 99% of their Facebook shares to charity during their lifetime. A missive featuring a bullet-pointed mission statement and the phrase “personalised learning tools” may lack the gooey warmth that little Max might have been entitled to expect, but no one can deny its potential impact: at current values, the family’s donation is worth more than $45bn. Continue reading...

Junglepussy’s free album could be one of 2015’s best, Wiki unleashes a track from Lil Me, Tink kicks you to the kerb and A$AP Rocky’s out to lunchJunglepussy’s free album is a late contender for one of the best hip-hop releases of 2015. Distorted vocals are accompanied by lines about making porn to watch while eating popcorn. It’s unlike anything that’s come out this year and builds on Junglepussy’s reputation as one of Brooklyn’s best rappers. Continue reading...

Today’s tech billionaires blur the line between philanthropist and entrepreneur. Time will tell if Facebook’s CEO and his wife will succeed in doing good – but by then they might have changed the act of giving foreverIt seems fitting that on the day that the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History unveiled its Giving in America exhibit — with Bill Gates and Warren Buffett presiding — Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, and his wife Priscilla Chan, made a claim for the inauguration of a new chapter in the history of philanthropy, one dominated by the mushrooming fortunes of Silicon Valley.In a post on Facebook to their newborn daughter Max, the couple announced that they would turn over 99% of their Facebook shares — with a current value of around $45bnn — “during our lives” to advance a mission of “advancing human potential and promoting equality for all children in the next generation”. This is a big deal, one of the largest philanthropic pledges ever made. But how much of a rupture it represents in the tradition of modern US philanthropy isn’t entirely clear. The Smithsonian might not need to add another display case just yet. Continue reading...

EFF says Google is tracking and mining student browsing data without asking for consent, despite promise of privacyUS privacy campaigner the Electronic Frontier Foundation has accused Google of spying on students and logged a complaint with US regulator the Federal Trade Commission.

Broadcaster aiming at international market seeking to learn ‘business-level’ EnglishCNN is to enter the learning market with the launch of an international online English language learning service.The international arm of the news organisation is to launch the new business, CNN Learn English, after striking a deal with learning company Papagei.com. Continue reading...

Launched 2 December 2005 in Europe, Xbox 360 is one of the greatest consoles of all time. Tell us your favourite moments from a decade of HD gamingAs incredible as it may seem to some veteran gamers, the Xbox 360 is now 10 years old. Launched on 22 November in the US and 2 December in Europe, Microsoft’s second console arrived at a time in which HD televisions were just about taking off, and broadband internet connections were accelerating. Consequently, while the PlayStation 3 floundered in development hell, it was the 360 that brought in a new era of high-definition, highly connected play.It was the Xbox 360 that really brought seamless social gaming to the console space. Although previous consoles had included internet connectivity, Microsoft made Xbox Live the centre of the gaming experience, providing players with intuitive online multiplayer experiences, as well as the ability to chat with friends as they played. The arrival of the Gamerscore and achievement points also brought a new high-score metric to gaming, giving owners a chance to compare themselves with their mates, and providing developers with a new way to get players really exploring their worlds. Continue reading...

The absence of a western release of the latest in the salacious and skimpily-clad beach volleyball series has caused controversy – but this is not about free speechTen years ago, Japanese video game publisher Tecmo had a brilliant money-spinning idea. It decided to take the female characters from its successful fighting game series Dead or Alive and put them into a beach volleyball simulation set on a tropical island. There would be a lot of bikinis and thanks to a then cutting edge graphics engine, a lot of bounce physics. Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball sold hundreds of thousands of copies. A new gaming franchise was born.But now that same franchise is in trouble. Kind of. Continue reading...

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In a promotional video filmed shortly before the birth of their first daughter, Max, the Facebook chief and his wife, Priscilla Chan, discuss their decision to donate 99% of their Facebook shares to charity over the course of their lifetimes. The couple will invest the worth of their shares – valued at about $45bn – into their joint charitable venture, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Speaking about the project, Zuckerberg says they feel they have a “basic moral responsibility” to “tilt their investments” towards making the world better for their daughter Continue reading...

In a Facebook post to newborn child Max, the Facebook CEO says he will administer the initiative himself using 99% of shares in company’s stockThe Zuckerbergs announced two births on Tuesday: a baby girl, and to one of the world’s biggest charities.That sterling spoon you might have been considering for Mark Zuckerberg’s new baby may no longer be the most exciting gift to the Facebook billionaire’s daughter: after revealing his wife, Priscilla Chan, had given birth to their first child, Max, Zuckerberg announced the creation of a charity organization called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Continue reading...

Study examines thriving hierarchy of ‘nodes’, ‘amplifiers’ and ‘shout-outs’ among Isis supporters on Twitter, where a suspended account is a ‘badge of honour’Islamic State sympathisers in America prefer Twitter to any other social media platform and use avatars of black flags, green birds and lions – including the Detroit Lions NFL team – in their online propaganda, a study has shown.Having a Twitter account suspended has become a “badge of honour” among US-based Isis supporters, researchers found, and they are adopting increasingly sophisticated techniques to circumvent the authorities in a “never-ending cat-and-mouse game”. Continue reading...

Internet in the home lives and dies by the strength of your Wi-Fi, but lots of things cause interference. Here’s why, and what to do about itThe UK’s telecoms regulator Ofcom has warned that Christmas lights can slow down your Wi-Fi, but is it really time for those lights to stay in the box? Continue reading...

The Radiohead frontman hits out at video-sharing site’s supposed double standards over ad-blocking: ‘Artists don’t get paid, but if YouTube don’t get a profit out of it, it’s not fair’Thom Yorke has shared his views on YouTube, suggesting that the corporation, along with parent company Google, have “seized control” of art in the same way Nazi Germany did during the second world war.Yorke, who famously called Spotify “the last desperate fart of a dying corpse”, shared his thoughts on the video-sharing service during an interview for Italian newspaper La Repubblica. Continue reading...

From wearable devices that interact with the internet of things to immersive video experiences, the global head of digital at Philips looks to marketing in 2016Marketers look to the future. Every year, new players, products and consumer habits come to the fore, the industry evolves, adapts and what was once cutting edge best-practice becomes sub-standard. It looks like next year is shaping up to be full of surprises.Seeds have been planted over the past 18 months that will start bearing fruit – from the rise and rise of wearable technology, to mobile payments and even virtual reality. There’s no guarantee exactly which trends will develop during the year but the sooner you change your thinking, the longer you’ll have to adjust and stay ahead of the game. Continue reading...

Watchdog finds festive angle as it launches app to test home broadband speed and releases findings that millions of British homes still lack high-speed accessFairy lights on Christmas trees could cause slower Wi-Fi speeds, the UK regulator Ofcom has warned, as it launched a new app to test coverage in homes.

Nicholas Rabone Hogan’s lawyer says post was ‘ill-advised’ satire but magistrate says it was ‘reckless and irresponsible’ and gives two-year good behaviour bondAn SBS employee who drunkenly posted a threat to murder police in the name of Allah has been given a two-year good behaviour bond in a Sydney court.Nicholas Rabone Hogan, 32, posted the threat to Facebook just hours after the funeral of the murdered NSW police accountant Curtis Cheng on 16 October, Newtown local court heard during sentencing on Tuesday. Continue reading...

The Breakthrough Energy Coalition includes Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and Virgin Group head Richard BransonBillionaires Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson and other high-profile entrepreneurs have pledged to spark a “new economic revolution” based around clean energy after launching a new investment drive for renewables.The Breakthrough Energy Coalition, made up of more than 25 investors from 10 countries, launched in Paris on Monday as part of the UN talks where nations are thrashing out an agreement to finally confront the issue of runaway climate change. Continue reading...

Analysis of shared images for exhibition at Somerset House compares happiness of selfies taken in London with those from other citiesLondoners take more glum-faced selfies than residents of other world cities, according to a data project.Analysis of images uploaded publicly on to Instagram in September found that the London style of selfie-taking was one of a restrained upright pose. Continue reading...

Uber innovation, which lets passengers split taxi rides and costs, has been hailed as an affordable and credible alternative to car ownershipUber, the ride-hailing app firm that is taking on taxi drivers around the world, is launching its car-sharing service in London.UberPool will be available to customers in the capital from Friday, enabling passengers to share taxi rides if they are heading in the same direction.

Stockholm District Court blocks rightsholder action against second-largest Swedish internet service provider, leaving file-sharing site accessibleSweden’s internet service providers cannot be forced to block file sharing site the Pirate Bay nor be held responsible for copyright infringements by users, a court has ruled.Stockholm District Court rejected a lawsuit filed by the Swedish Film Industry, Nordisk Film, Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music last year which argued that Sweden’s second-largest internet service provider (ISP) Bredbandsbolaget should be held liable for the copyright infringements of its users should it refuse to block access to the Pirate Bay. Continue reading...

Company admits breach and suspends trading on Hong Kong stock exchange, while security experts criticise poor security and lack of encryptionChildren’s technology and toy firm Vtech has suspended trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange after admitting a hack that allegedly saw 4.8 million customer details stolen, including sensitive information about children and their parents.

First award of damages for sexting after teacher encouraged woman when 16 years old to send naked photographs of herselfA woman has received £25,000 in compensation in the first award of damages for a civil case involving sexting.The woman was encouraged as a 16-year-old schoolgirl to send naked photographs of herself to a teacher at the New School, a private school near Sevenoaks in Kent. Continue reading...

Detecting cars from 140m, the light brightens when cars approach and shows their position on a handlebar-mounted display – which gets quite distractingThe Garmin Varia Rearview Radar is a smart rear bike light that aims to improve your visibility, situational awareness and safety with adaptive brightness and a radar display.It’s a rear bike light with built-in radar, which tells you when a car is approaching by showing the vehicle’s position on a handlebar-mounted display. It detects cars from up to 140m away and can track up to eight separate vehicles at once. Continue reading...

Retail company’s UAV can fly vertically, like a helicopter, and horizontally like a plane but may still face regulatory obstacles in US, despite safety featuresAmazon has unveiled a new hybrid delivery drone that can fly both vertically, as a helicopter capable of landing in customers’ backyards, and horizontally like a conventional plane. The drone can travel up to 15 miles at high speed.

Apple’s big-screen wonder has the specs to match its looks, with huge potential for gamers and artistsThe first impression of the latest entry to Apple’s tablet range – the iPad Pro (from £679, apple.com) – is of its 5.6 megapixel, 32.8cm (12.9in) screen, which surpasses the size and resolution of anything Apple has previously offered. It looks stunning. Fire up a Pro-optimised game such as The Room Three (£3.99, Fireproof, App Store) and it bursts into life. As well as the obvious aesthetic charms, with a tricksy puzzler like this, the added detail is of real benefit as you prod, poke and drag puzzle boxes around to progress. The scope of the series is expanded in its second sequel, with multiple rooms each becoming part of the puzzle rather than focusing only on the boxes themselves. It’s a satisfying development and showcased best on this new hardware.

(PS4, Xbox One, PC, Electronic Arts, cert: 16)

Without ARM, the iPhone and other smartphones wouldn’t work. Hardly anyone knows it – and that’s just how Cambridge’s ‘Silicon Fen’ company likes itIn a loose collection of offices on an underwhelming business park outside of Cambridge sits Britain’s most successful technology company, ARM. You’ve probably never heard of it, but ARM’s designs are at the heart of the iPhone and nearly every other modern smartphone. It has fingers in almost every other area of technology, from fitness trackers to server farms. It records profit margins that analysts have described as “impossible” (in a good way), and goes a long way to helping justify the “Silicon Fen” label sometimes applied to Cambridge’s tech scene. So how did one company get so successful without anyone really noticing? And, more importantly, what does ARM actually do? Continue reading...

Snobbery has been replaced by pure envy in Skoda’s new Superb – the greatest car they’ve made yet

The new range of Boardman bikes has some real gems, and this road bike with disc brakes is one of the starsLast week Chris Boardman, the former pro cyclist, unveiled his new-look range. There is a refreshed logo and there was much talk of things like Aero Surface Trip technology and improved aerodynamics. But the real news is that, with Halfords backing his range, Chris has been able to give full vent to his passion for precision-engineered racing bicycles that can be afforded (just about) and ridden by us mere mortals.Boardman bikes have long had a reputation for being great value – perhaps among the best that you could buy on the high street. This new generation lifts that bar still further. The team has also created a new slogan: “Out there with you” – and looking at the range you get a real sense that Boardman and his gang want you to get the most out of every ride. Continue reading...

Firms such as Deloitte hope to hire people using smartphone apps – but can they produce accurate results?Job interviews have traditionally been painful affairs, with applicants sitting, sweaty-palmed, in some anteroom wondering whether or not to accept a biscuit. But today’s job applicants may well find themselves facing not an intimidating interview panel but a computer-based “psychometric” test.And anyone after a job with accountant Deloitte had better start honing their skills on Angry Birds, because the company’s latest recruiting tool is a mobile phone game. Called Firefly Freedom, it is set in a fictional forested world in which players must catch fireflies to provide light for their family during the winter. Continue reading...

Holiday shopping triggers spike in cybercrime, experts say, so ignore dodgy-looking emails and social media posts and verify orders on retailers’ websitesThis weekend kicks off the busiest shopping season in many parts of the world – and, starting Cyber Monday, the most popular season for cyber-attacks.

‘Passengers, especially young, stupid ones, were constantly asking me to floor it’This is the new way of things, I start to realise: cars that are cute like Minis or Beetles, but the size of something larger. Such a car – my first encounter was the Fiat 500X, now it’s Korean brand Ssangyong’s Tivoli – may discombobulate you for a while. You think you’re in a city runabout, and you’re not. If you have a very visual imagination, you might crash it a few times. Then one day, you’ll be used to it.The Tivoli is a relentlessly cheerful car, not only because it is flaming red (their description; not my archaic swearing). Its demeanour is bouncy, despite its square, bossy nose and trad interior. There’s a lot of zing in the middle gears; in third, it holds its speed and responds smartly. It’s always ready with a bit more push than you expect, and sometimes feels a bit like flying. It has neither a wild top speed – 107mph – nor a particularly impressive zero to 62mph – 12 seconds – but it feels like it should have: passengers, especially young, stupid ones, were constantly asking me to floor it. It is more fun in the city than on a motorway; the handling is fine but a bit monotonous, and the ride isn’t completely smooth. That said, acceleration was never any bother and if it was a little bit whiny in sixth, well, aren’t we all? Continue reading...