Technology | The Guardian

In interview before his last day in job, CEO says going public accelerated short-term-thinking, and regulation would pose threat to free speechThe outgoing chief executive of Twitter has said he underestimated the pressures that going public would place on the company and warned that his successor would nevertheless have to manage an increasingly complex set of geopolitical challenges as well as the demands of Wall Street.Speaking to the Guardian before his last day at the company on Wednesday, Dick Costolo said that while Twitter had grown revenue by 97% year on year to $1.7bn (£1.1bn), the pressure placed on the company obscured its other achievements in bringing 302 million monthly active users on to the service. Continue reading...

Streaming music service goes live with on-demand music, programmed playlists and live radio stationApple has launched its Apple Music streaming service, kicking off a three-month free trial with hopes of competing with entities as varied as Spotify, broadcast radio and Facebook.Apple Music was launched for iOS devices as part of the company’s iOS 8.4 software update, which was due to go live at 4pm BST. Continue reading...

Why no character classes and space battles? We put some of the key questions to the gaming company’s general manager, Patrick BachBattlefield is one of the most respected military shooters of the decade, and Star Wars is a reasonably well-known science fiction film. So when the developer of the former set out to make a game based on the latter it was always going to be controversial.Ever since its official unveiling at the Star Wars Experience event in April, gamers and movie fans have worried about Star Wars Battlefront, the multiplayer shooter based on the original trilogy. EA Dice has largely weathered that storm, producing a convincing E3 demo, based around the Hoth and Tatooine levels, but we put several lingering doubts to the studio’s general manager Patrick Bach. Here’s what he had to say. Continue reading...

From the Apple Watch, the Pebble Time and a raft of Google Android Wear watches, there are a lot to choose from. Here are the five best.Smartwatches are the hottest thing in technology right now. The little wrist-based screens are dragging timepieces into the 21st century and shifting the buzzing, binging and bonging of modern life away from our phones.The choice is staggering: from the high end luxury of the Apple Watch to Google’s growing army of Android Wear to the elegantly simplicity of the Pebble. But which one should you choose if you fancy joining the shift to wearables? Continue reading...

How can “sharing economy” enterprises, like taxi-finding scheme Uber, be “a throwback to … when villages used to share” based on personal trust, yet also generate Luddite protests of a similar pre-industrial mindset (Uber bears brunt of sharing economy backlash, 27 June)? Perhaps it’s because Uber et al are not unleashing “new sources of economic activity” at all. Isn’t it simply another corporate finance initiative (with a pre-flotation estimate of $17bn) to transfer income streams away from regulated trades and occupations to big business on the basis of more precarious, casual work?

Tom Blomfield’s Mondo is one of a number of new startups hoping to tap into customers’ increasing use of digital technology as branch use falls steeplyIt was 21 May, and a historic moment for Tom Blomfield. Stood at a cash machine in Clerkenwell, central London, the ambitious young entrepreneur withdrew money from a brand new account with a new bank at which he was the only customer.Five weeks later, Mondo has 30 customers testing its prototype account. Blomfield – a former management consultant now on his third business startup, all before the age of 30 – said a crunch meeting with the Bank of England on Wednesday would determine whether Mondo gets the formal go-ahead to apply for a banking licence. The full process would take another six months. Continue reading...

London mayor Boris Johnson announces the trial of all-electric bus on route 16 between Cricklewood and Victoria stationThe first fully electric London doubledecker bus will enter service in October, as transport authorities try to reduce the capital’s air pollution levels.Transport for London said the Chinese-built bus would be the the world’s first purpose-built electric doubledecker. Continue reading...

Proponents hope cryptocurrency could soar in value as Greeks try to find ways to keep their money safe and avoid currency controlsThe world is watching with bated breath as the Greek people consider how to vote in the country’s upcoming referendum. A yes vote on Sunday will see Greece accept the terms of the troika’s bailout, and commit itself to further austerity; a no vote will see the country taking the first step towards exiting the Euro entirely.But not everyone is afraid of the prospect of “Grexit”. For proponents of Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency, a shaky Mediterranean economy implementing capital controls amid the prospect of full-blown exit from the euro recalls halcyon days gone by. Continue reading...

Google’s urban innovation startup Sidewalk Labs has made its first big investment – turning NYC’s disused phone booths into 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspotsThe goal of free, high-speed internet for everyone in New York City has jumped much closer: Sidewalk Labs, the new Google-backed startup that was created last month to improve city life though technological innovation, has announced it is investing in a project to turn the city’s payphones into Wi-Fi hotspots.The company is among a group of investors acquiring two New York-based firms that have been leading the effort to turn disused payphones into 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots and information kiosks, beginning later this year. In a stroke, it puts Sidewalk Labs – and, by proxy, Google – in the lead of the world’s highest-profile rollout of free, citywide Wi-Fi. Continue reading...

The web can be liberating for disabled adults – but a lack of training, accessibility and funding means the online world is a step too far for manyElaine suffers from depression and anxiety. A psychiatric nurse suggested that she learn how to use a computer to keep in contact with her family so that she didn’t feel so isolated. So Elaine decided to attend one-to-one tutorials at Cambridge Online. “I’m in my 50s. We didn’t have computers when I was at school, so it was quite a job to teach me. I didn’t even know how to use a keyboard and was afraid if I hit a wrong button, I would break it.”Since then she has learned how to type, use a search engine, send emails, save photos and make birthday cards by following the Tinder Foundation’s Learn My Way courses. “My family lives in Scotland, but because of the computer I was able to see my nephew’s fourth birthday pictures the next day. It’s opened up a whole new life for me. If I go online I can lose myself for quite a while and it stops my mind wandering and thinking about myself.” Continue reading...

The long-awaited streaming service from Apple goes live tomorrow. Will it be a smash hit?The new music streaming service from Apple – yep, it’s called Apple Music – goes live on Tuesday. Here’s everything you need to know.What is Apple Music? Continue reading...

Capcom is bringing its hack-n-slash classic to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but do improved visuals and new characters add enough to the bill?The arrival of a Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition on Playstation 4 and Xbox One is a welcome, though somewhat perplexing.Sure, Capcom’s slick hack-n-slasher was favourably received when it first arrived on PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2008. This is a much-loved franchise, characterised by its frenetic, stylised gameplay, which is both satisfying to play and exciting to watch – not least because lead protagonist Dante remains one of gaming’s most suave and compelling characters. This enhanced edition of the fourth title in the series keeps the excellent combo-based and enthrallingly deep gameplay intact whilst updating the visuals to make it truly the best version of any of the original games. Continue reading...

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

Broadcaster to challenge YouTube kids, allowing children to watch The Cartoon Network, Disney and Nickelodeon on mobiles and tablets

PS3/4, Xbox One; Focus Home Interactive, cert: 3It takes a bold developer to tackle long-distance cycling as a subject matter. Arduous uphill climbs and hours in the peloton simply aren’t obvious elements for enthralling gameplay. But despite the challenges, Cyanide has crafted a surprisingly captivating game with Tour de France 2015, by offering a winning blend of strategy and racing.Asking the player to take teams through the titular contest’s stages, the experience swings between flashes of intensity akin to those in the most sincere and realistic motor racing titles and peculiarly meditative, protracted stretches of drifting through rural France. Continue reading...

Xbox One, PS4; 505 Games, cert: 18An anarchic injection of bonus content makes this team-based shooter a fun social experience for the, well, shall we say, morally flexible. As the masked Payday Gang, a group of violent crooks for hire, you blow chunks out of Washington DC for fun and profit. Most missions are riffs on “fend off the cops while getting away with filthy lucre”. This Xbox One and PS4 port gives you more – more guns, more missions, more crooks – including DLC crossovers with Hotline Miami and John Wick, while the ability to plan raids with a team makes a huge difference.You can dabble in different play styles, going in sneaky or guns blazing, but unfortunately some cracks haven’t really been papered over – certain parts still look last-gen, connections can be finicky and the bot AI is barely there. However, when it all comes together, with a full team that works well, there are many blasts to be had (and made). Continue reading...

3DS; Natsume, cert: 3In the hands of developer Natsume, the labyrinthine history of Harvest Moon takes a fresh turn. After 2013’s A New Beginning reboot, Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley develops things beyond a simple farm simulation to the rather grander story of placating the Harvest Goddess and restoring peace to the village.Nonetheless, planting, watering and tending crops, along with caring for animals, are still central; they result in goods to trade with townsfolk, which in turn develops relationships and uncovers specific tasks. Do well at these and a life partner can be won, as well as the prospect of having children. There’s also a nod to the Minecraft set, with The Lost Valley granting terrain sculpting for the first time. Shovel and hoe, flatten or raise farmland to create custom landscapes and more space to grow. Continue reading...

ACCC says falling number of customers using Telstra network, as it is replaced by NBN, should not be hit with sizeable cost of maintaining itThe competition watchdog has recommended that Telstra should cut the price it charges other telcos to access its copper wire network, which is likely to lead to lower phone and internet bills for consumers.Many of Telstra’s phone and internet rivals pay the telco giant to provide phone and broadband services via the Telstra network. Continue reading...

Human drivers may be the real cause of the vehicles’ recent fender benders: the cars keep getting rear-ended, perhaps because they distract usGoogle’s self-driving cars are having a rough time on the streets of Mountain View, California. But a look at the evidence suggests it’s human error and not robots that are to blame.In recent months, Google’s fleet of experimental self-driving cars have suffered five minor accidents while driving 200,000 miles around this sleepy Silicon Valley suburb. That is nearly ten times the national average for ‘property only’ fender benders, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Continue reading...

Half the size, twice as smart… Here’s the pick of today’s hottest superminisThere has never been a better time to buy a small car. The current crop of compact, ingenious, well-designed and super-economic vehicles are the best there has ever been. Manufacturers know that emerging electric and hybrid technology will dramatically change the cars we drive in the future, but this Class of 2015 proves that, until then, the dinky car can be frisky, frugal and a lot of fun to drive. Continue reading...

Site particularly aims to advise women and LGBT people after figures from Stonewall show 23% of LGBT pupils experienced cyberbullyingThe government has launched an anti-trolling website offering practical tips to people who find themselves the victims of online abuse on how to report the offence and where to seek help.The site is particularly aimed at women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, because they have suffered some of the most extreme online abuse since the explosion in use of social media. It explains how to identify abuse and get offensive content removed. Continue reading...

‘The emissions are roughly what you’d emit smoking a cigar. A cigar made of coal’Everything’s easy once you’re used to it, so I try not to mention how long I normally spend figuring out the touch screen in cars, even though that accounts for roughly a third of my life. The Golf GTE (Gran Turismo Electricity) is brilliantly intuitive. Its technology is remarkable and it has five operating modes: pure electric, electric plus, battery hold, battery charge and auto hybrid. If they hadn’t managed to mask all that and make it easy to use, I would still be sitting in the car right now, waiting to move.The battery life display is a bit boastful and unrealistic, constantly claiming 16 miles and going six, though obviously that doesn’t matter in a hybrid that you can just switch to battery charge (unlike next week: a little electric-car cliffhanger for you there). This exaggeration – the claimed combined cycle is a preposterous 166mpg, which I didn’t get anywhere near – is softened by ridiculous riders telling you that you make your own bed with your “driving style, speed, use of additional electrical consuming equipment, outside temperature, number of people in the car, driving style selection and topology”. What they really mean to say is, “There must be a way to guesstimate hybrid range, but we don’t yet know it.” Continue reading...

Cities around the world are banning Uber because of its lack of safety measures and knowledge, while licensed cabbies protest at the unfair competitionThe rapid global expansion of Uber has sparked interventions from taxi drivers and authorities around the world. “A city that welcomes Uber will be a better city,” said Uber chief executive, Travis Kalanick. Some cities and jurisdictions, disagree.Related: Uber backlash: taxi drivers' protests in Paris part of global revolt Continue reading...

Singer Courtney Love finds herself caught up in protests in Paris against the Uber ride app during a journey from Charles de Gaulle airport on Thursday. Taxi drivers have been protesting against Uber because, they say, the facility undercuts their service. Love, 50, has criticised the French president in a series of tweets, claiming she would have been safer in Baghdad after her taxi became caught up in the protests Continue reading...

Singer gives permission for the LP to appear on the new Apple Music service after it reversed its decision not to pay artists royalties during its trial periodTaylor Swift has agreed to stream her album 1989 on Apple Music after the company reversed its decision not to pay artists royalties for the first three trial months their music is available on the company’s new streaming service.The pop star made the announcement on Twitter, writing: “After the events of this week, I’ve decided to put 1989 on Apple Music ... and happily so”. The artist and the company had traded tweets and blogposts over whether artists should be paid during the trial period. Continue reading...

Singer uses tweets to complain of her driver ‘being taken hostage’ during protests by taxi drivers in France against the Uber ride appCourtney Love has criticised the French president, François Hollande, claiming she would have been safer in Baghdad after her taxi became caught up in a protest in Paris against the Uber taxi app.paid some guys on motorcycles to sneak us out, got chased by a mob of taxi drivers who threw rocks, passed two police and they did nothing Continue reading...

The competition chief gave the company 10 weeks to respond to accusations of it favouring its own services in Google Shopping – so what is happening?

Developers claim flag was used in historical context, after company ban turn-based games over alledged ‘offensive and mean-spirited’ use of it

At this year’s Founders Forum the power hierarchies that make it so hard for female entrepreneurs to break through were on full display

Visual bookmarking service beefs up its UK team, although no confirmed launch yet for ads and shopping featuresSocial service Pinterest has doubled its number of users in the UK in the past year as Britons “pinned” 1.6bn items with DIY and recipes among their favourite topics.The US-based visual bookmarking site launched in 2010 and debuted a British-English version in 2013, with a London office focused on working with local brands and users. Continue reading...

Users hijack hashtag of PR tweet from state news agency to share images of injured civilians and devastation from four-year conflictPictures of colourful Damascus markets, squad photos at pool parties, or panoramas of festival crowds holding glow sticks were not what Syria’s state news agency got when it tweeted asking for Syrians to share their summer snaps.Instead, users have been sharing photographs of the country’s conflict in response to the tweet sent out this week as part of a social media campaign from Sana English. Continue reading...

90m players will be able to buy Korean rapper as an in-app purchase, complete with signature moves and a new dance-pad scoring systemGangnam Style made South Korean rapper Psy a global star, with nearly 2.4bn views of the YouTube video since its release in July 2012. Now he’s extending his digital fame into mobile game Crossy Road.The game, which has attracted more than 90 million players since its launch in November 2014, has focused on Korean pop culture for its latest update, including a playable Psy. Continue reading...

Videos from social media sites and apps shared on Twitter to be aired between programmes as broadcaster aims to ‘shed our skin and reinvent again’It has been MTV’s trademark for more than 30 years and was immortalised by Sting in Dire Straits’ Money for Nothing.

In this fresh take on the interactive movie genre, players must analyse clips to solve a crime – it’s a fascinating new way to tell stories through gamesRaise your hands and scream if you remember “interactive movies”. The games industry has foisted some awful fads upon us over the last 40 years, but the full motion video (FMV) games of the early 1990s are among the worst. From the stodgy teen horror of Sega’s Night Trap to the blink-and-you’ll-complete-it brevity of Critical Path, it turned out that non-interactivity and Z-list B-movie footage was a bad combination.Two decades later, Her Story is a new breed of narrative game that does looks suspiciously like an interactive movie. You play an anonymous protagonist looking at an internal police computer. The terminal has been unlocked by a friend, you’ve been left alone, and it contains several hundred interview clips concerning a fictional 1994 murder case. Continue reading...

Rocksteady Studios proves its mastery of the Dark Knight with this third and apparently final gothic adventureNote: this is a review of the PlayStation 4 version of Arkham Knight. The PC version has been withdrawn from sale by Warner Bros owing to technical issues. This review should not be considered a reflection of the PC version of the game.If Arkham Knight really is the end for developer Rocksteady Studios and the Dark Knight, at least the two are parting on a high. Not only has this development team polished its series game mechanics to near-perfection, it has also reached a perfect understanding of this grimy comic book world. Continue reading...

Warner Brothers apologises for the port, and suggests unhappy gamers apply for a refundWarner Brothers have pulled the PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight from sale, after widespread reports of massive technical issues with the game.Released on Tuesday for PC, PS4 and Xbox One, the game has been well received by critics, with an 89% rating on aggregation site Metacritic. But the PC version has been repeatedly criticised for performance issues. A Reddit thread details multiple gamers having issues, with frame-rate dropping below 30 even on ultra-high-spec computers. Continue reading...

Search company removes ‘eavesdropping’ audio-monitoring software from open-source base of Chrome browser after outcry from privacy campaignersGoogle has pulled its listening software from the open-source Chromium browser after complaints from developers and privacy campaigners.

After 600k personalised picture-book sales, London firm secures investment from Silicon Valley firms Google Ventures and GreycroftChildren’s storytelling startup Lost My Name raised its first $100k of funding in 2014 on TV show Dragon’s Den. Now the London-based firm is turning to Silicon Valley for a $9m funding round.The investment – led by Google Ventures with venture capital firms Greycroft and The Chernin Group also participating – follows more than 600k sales of Lost My Name’s first personalised picture-book since its launch two years ago. Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Thursday and today’s screenshot comes from Counter-Strike Nexon: Zombies which is getting a content update at the end of June, in the form of the ‘Into the Darkness’ expansion. Which has zombie giants. ZOMBIE GIANTS. Continue reading...

It was born as a niche project, but went on to become one of the biggest games of the decade. Here’s part one of our inside story on Blizzard’s big adventureOn the set of ITV’s costume drama Mr Selfridge, in a quiet moment between takes, actor Greg Austin is a world away from his co-stars. Although dressed as an Edwardian gentlemen, he is glued to his iPhone, and to one game in particular. Hearthstone.“I got into it somewhat late, about a year after its release,” he says. “But since then I’ve been playing avidly. It is easy to learn, which means anyone can play it and enjoy themselves, but it is also difficult to master.” Austin loves the game so much, he now has his own dedicated YouTube gaming channel, EuphAuric, posting regular Hearthstone videos. Continue reading...

‘High-definition digital terror’ proliferating too easily online, says panel, calling for industry to brief security council on what is being doing to stop itA UN panel that advises the security council has called for internet and social media companies to respond to the exploitation of their services by al-Qaida and other extremist groups who use the web to recruit fighters and spout “increasingly horrific propaganda”.The panel recommended in a report circulated on Wednesday that these companies brief the security council committee monitoring sanctions against al-Qaida, its affiliates and the Islamic State group on measures they are taking to prevent such misuse. Continue reading...

If there was an electronic device that claimed it could make you feel relaxed (extremely relaxed) or energised (extremely energised) would you buy it? Thync is a new breed of 'mood-altering wearable' that promises it can do both.

Online retailer’s Luxembourg unit took £5.3bn sales from British internet shoppers, a rise of 14%, but Amazon.co.uk Limited recorded profit of just £34.4m

My father, Michael Westbrook, who has died aged 88, was one of the first professionally trained electronics engineers in the UK and, during a long career in the field, invented and patented a number of useful devices, including a fuel injection system for cars and a photoelectric fog detector for ships. He also became an early expert in the technology behind electric vehicles.Born an only child into a farming family in Preston Candover, Hampshire, to George and Phyllis (George’s cousin, also born Westbrook), Mike went to Peter Symonds school in Winchester, where even then he showed ability in the emerging field of electronics. From 1945 to 1948 he served in the RAF near Cheltenham. He married Barbara (nee Maw), a secretary, in 1949, and they moved to Upham in Hampshire while Michael studied at University College, Southampton (now the University of Southampton) under the electronics pioneer Eric Zepler. Continue reading...

Mayor speaks out in defence of black cab drivers, and says Transport for London are consulting on language and geography tests for minicab firmsBoris Johnson, the mayor of London, has suggested that Uber drivers should have to pass language and geography tests before being allowed to operate in the city.Speaking at his last ever State of London debate, Johnson came to the defence of black cab drivers, who have been locked in a rivalry with cab app Uber since the firm came to the UK. Continue reading...

Executives vow video site will not be used as a platform for ‘brutally violent propaganda produced by terrorists’, but argue against blanket censorshipGoogle has issued a call to arms against Isis, arguing that the terror group has engineered a “viral moment” on social networks with propaganda and beheading videos that needs to be challenged.Two of Google’s top executives – legal chief David Drummond and policy director Victoria Grand – used the Cannes Lions advertising festival to launch an attack, and appeal, against terrorist propaganda on Google-owned YouTube. Continue reading...

Popular feature that recalls email after sending will become standard part of Google’s webmail after years in beta modeIf you’ve ever drunkenly emailed your devotion to a former partner or accidentally used reply-all on an email thread to thousands of colleagues, good news: Gmail’s “undo send” feature has come to the masses.The feature, which can prevent massive social embarrassment and help avoid long chats with the HR department about what you just mistakenly sent to a colleague, is to be a standard part of Google’s webmail. Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterWednesday! Today’s screenshot is Crossed from Gaijin Entertainment and Targem Games. It’s a team based multiplayer vehicle combat game set in a post-apocalyptic world, where society has seemingly descended into a series of truck battles. This is a very realistic scenario, so Crossed is basically a training sim. Continue reading...

The San Andreas star will headline video game adaptation Rampage, reuniting him with the producer of the hit earthquake rompEven though he’s only just finished surviving an earthquake in this summer’s disaster hit San Andreas, poor Dwayne Johnson will have to protect America from a gorilla, a lizard and a wolf in an adaptation of 1980s arcade game Rampage.According to Deadline, Johnson will reunite with San Andreas producer Beau Flynn for the action film, set to start production next summer. The script will come from Ryan Engle, who wrote the Liam Neeson airborne thriller Non-Stop. The project is still seeking a director. Continue reading...

Researchers find corresponding decline in STI transmission as high-speed internet access rolls out