Technology | The Guardian

Charity finds more than half of consumers unable to identify cheapest deal when comparing offers, potentially leaving them heavily out of pocketMisleading broadband ads are hiding the real cost of contracts and are making it too difficult for consumers to compare prices, Citizens Advice has warned.The charity found more than half of consumers (56%) are unable to identify the cheapest deal when comparing broadband offers. The confusion means potential customers could be left up to £197 out of pocket over the length of their contract, the charity said. Continue reading...

Fab Four’s full catalogue will make Christmas Eve debut on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play and Amazon Prime, ending long streaming site holdoutAs a band, the Beatles were famed for their adoption of new recording technology, everything from tape-looped studio effects to double-tracked vocals. But in more recent years their songs have been absent from that most modern of ways to consume music: streaming websites. Until now, that is.From Christmas Eve the full Beatles catalogue will become available on nine separate music streaming sites, including Spotify, Google Play and Amazon Prime. It will even be on Apple Music, eight years after the end of a long and brutal legal battle between the technology company and the Beatles’ Apple record label over the use of the Apple logo in the music business. Continue reading...

Megaupload founder is wanted by American authorities on charges of copyright infringement, racketeering and money launderingA New Zealand court has ruled that Kim Dotcom, the Megaupload founder, can be extradited to the United States to face charges of copyright infringement, racketeering and money laundering.Related: Kim Dotcom case is ’simple fraud’, court told Continue reading...

Secure networking devices used by the US Defense Department and the FBI could have been targeted by a vulnerability that lay undetected for three yearsTwo security flaws that lay undiscovered in Juniper Networks’ widely used corporate virtual private network (VPN) software for three years could have exposed sensitive informative to foreign governments or criminal groups, researchers have said.The vulnerabilities were in the form of “unauthorised code” discovered during a recent internal code review and announced on 17 December. One of the flaws could have allowed hackers to decrypt information passing through Juniper’s devices, including equipment for a secure network used by companies internally. Continue reading...

Was it black and blue or white and gold? The internet was divided but for Cecilia Bleasdale, who bought the dress for her daughter’s wedding, going viral left her confused – and caused family frictionIn a small village in Lancashire, in an upstairs wardrobe, in a Roman Originals bag, still with its receipt, lies The Dress. Which dress? Like you need to ask. When Twitter released its list of the most influential moments of 2015, only big political events, the Women’s World Cup and humanity’s first trip to Pluto were ranked ahead of the dress that Cecilia Bleasdale bought to wear at her daughter’s Grace’s wedding. Was it #blueandblack or was it #whiteandgold? For a few days in late February and early March, millions of people, perhaps hundreds of millions, including Taylor Swift, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, all had an opinion.“I’m not a very public person,” Bleasdale says now. “I’m not a blogger or anything like that. So it’s been quite stressful having to deal with it and thinking, What’s going to happen next?” Most people still don’t know what happened to begin with. Continue reading...

Twitter spat between space-exploring technology billionaires continues as Falcon 9 rocket finally lands vertically, dwarfing Blue Origin’s New ShepardAmazon’s founder and owner of space privateer firm Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos, decided that Elon Musk’s big moment – vertically landing the 48m SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket after delivering satellites into orbit – was too good a moment to pass up the opportunity for some backhanded compliments on Twitter.

From March, adware on Windows will have to be easily removable and not able to hijack users’ connections

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

The incredible frustration of teaching your mum and dad how to connect to Wi-Fi can result in family slanging matches. But fear not, we are to here to help …Leo Tolstoy famously wrote: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” But that was before the advent of tech.Now, family unhappiness is a stressed-out mother trying to work out how to send an emoji, and a dad repeatedly getting a Wi-Fi password wrong while his belligerent, unsympathetic teenagers lose all patience and end up screaming at him. Continue reading...

The breach occurred in 2013 at a dam in New York state and raises concerns over the security of computer systems that govern America’s infrastructureIranian hackers reportedly breached the control system of a dam near New York City in 2013, raising concerns about the security of the country’s infrastructure.Two people familiar with the breach told the Wall Street Journal it occurred at the Bowman Avenue dam in Rye, New York. The small structure about 20 miles from New York City is used for flood control. Continue reading...

Colours of some birds created through light manipulation by feather nanostructure; knowledge could lead to non-fading fabric and paint coloursSheffield scientists now know why kingfishers catch fire, robins are red, and jays are blue: the pattern of colour on a bird’s wing may have nothing to do with pigment, and everything to do with feather structure on a scale of billionths of a metre.The research has a potential pay-off for fabric manufacturers and the paint industry. If blue jays never turn grey with age because their colour is based on the way light is manipulated rather than a splash of natural dye, then fashion designers could perhaps dream up amazing technicoloured coats that would never fade in the wash. Continue reading...

Telecoms provider to filter content for porn unless customers specify otherwise, as it seeks to comply with David Cameron proposals

Reports suggest Netplay, backed by billionaire Teddi Sagi, is prepared to pay £100m for pools businessThe football pools, long the bedrock of Britain’s gambling industry, may be about to change hands after a company backed by the billionaire owner of London’s Camden Market confirmed it was interested in a takeover bid.Netplay TV, a £20m company listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market, asked for its shares to be suspended on Monday after it announced it was considering a reverse takeover of the larger football pools business. It said no deal could be guaranteed. Continue reading...

With its taut, tense action and destructible environments, Siege is the best Rainbow Six for years – if only Ubisoft would rethink its business modelDeath is a contradiction in the modern competitive shooter. Call of Duty and Battlefront, the big mainstream titles, are all about empowering the player and making them feel like a one-man army – easy enough in single-player, if your explosions are big enough, but much harder in multiplayer. And so dying becomes an inconvenience, with near-instant respawns alongside constant experience points for common in-game actions. Even if someone plays badly, goes the reasoning, it should still be rewarding.You won’t find such sunshine and lollipops in the Rainbow Six: Siege. The earlier entries in this Tom Clancy-branded series were popular for their unforgiving, simulation-heavy approach to virtual combat, and when later titles attempted to make this more accessible, they predictably flailed (with the exception of the excellent R6: Vegas). Siege is not just a return to form, but a return to first principles – and it’s not aiming at Call of Duty, but at Counter-Strike. Continue reading...

SanrioTown, the online community for Hello Kitty fans, suffers leak of information including names, birth dates and email addressesA data breach at SanrioTown.com, the online community for Hello Kitty fans, has leaked details of more than 3 million user accounts online.The information exposed in the breach includes the first and last names, birth dates, genders, countries of origin, and email addresses for 3.3 million accounts. Continue reading...

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A care home in Florence is pioneering the use of a robot as a carer for its 20 elderly residents. Robot-Era is coordinated by the Robotics Institute of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa as part of the world’s largest experiment ever carried out using service robots, which involves 160 people in real-world environments over four years Continue reading...

Find out what happened to Motorola’s latest flagship Android smartphone (also known as the Droid Turbo 2 in the US) when it was dropped two-storeys, stamped on, thrown downstairs, hurled at the wall and given an intense beating with a hammer. Spoiler: the screen didn’t shatter, even if the phone wouldn’t turn on, got very very hot and started to smell

Dropped from two-storeys, stomped on, tumbled down stairs, slammed into a wall – even hitting it with a hammer can’t smash the screen on this top-end smartphoneThe Moto X Force (known as the Droid Turbo 2 in the US) is the third in Motorola’s new Moto X smartphone line and claims to have a screen that will not break, no matter how many times you drop it. So we tested it to destruction.

A checklist for an angst-free Christmas filled with technology fun, to avoid the frustration of lacking a vital componentA gadget-filled Christmas is one of the best types of holiday season, but when the shops are shut and you’re tearing into the wrapping paper what if you realise you haven’t got the right cable or battery?

Telstra wins two national broadband network deals and is in negotiations for a third, which could be finalised early next yearTelstra has secured two contracts from the national broadband network (NBN), with combined first-year revenue of about $80m.The telecommunications group is also negotiating a third contract with NBN to cover design, engineering, procurement and construction management of the network, and the agreement is likely to be finalised in early 2016. Continue reading...

Technology expected to cut paperwork and errors as well as to improve patient experienceFree Wi-Fi is to be provided in all NHS buildings in a bid to improve medical treatment and patient experience, said Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary.Related: Prof Bruce Keogh: wearable technology plays a crucial part in NHS future Continue reading...

Streaming service apparently generated £200m in revenue from UK and paid no tax but company says its rapid expansion means overall it is making a lossNetflix paid no UK corporation tax last year despite being estimated to have around 4.5m subscribers in the country, it has been reported.The video streaming service behind award-winning series such as Orange is the New Black and House of Cards charges customers a minimum of £5.99 a month to subscribe and has grown rapidly since its UK launch in 2012. Continue reading...

The planet Mira delights in Xenoblade Chronicles X; the latest in the Darius series is exceptional; and Beyond: Two Souls gets a makeover(Wii U, Nintendo, cert: 12)

Don’t go to the shops for your holiday entertainment. Here are some ideas that will spark creativity and won’t empty the bank

Welcome to the Guide’s end of year review, a tradition as beloved as grubby Santas and unwanted guests. We’ve got special contributions from Limmy, Steven Toast, Young Fathers, Stormzy, the Kurupt FM crew and many moreModern Toss’s review of the yearStar Wars, Cereal Killer and Ronnie Pickering fall under the cartoonists’ eye Continue reading...

Nine out of 10 people are paying too much for the wrong mobile phone contract, but there are ways to save moneyMobile phone users in the UK are wasting about £160 a year by being on the wrong contract, according to a new report. Furthermore, 90% of those with a mobile are losing out this way.Overpaying subscribers tend to either be on contracts that give them more minutes and data than they use, or on contracts with limits they regularly exceed, which means they rack up extra charges each month. The latter group tend to be the biggest overspenders. Continue reading...

It’s amazing how often it feels like a regular car, when it’s closer to the price of a prestige bicycleDriving a Vauxhall Viva SE 1.0 is like flying Ryanair. Every time you look for a thing – satnav, parking sensor, pretzels, aircon, a smile, some acceleration in second gear – it isn’t there. Seriously? Vauxhall’s idea of a “feature” is a driver’s seat head adjuster and a removable luggage compartment cover?Then you have to talk yourself down: it is very cheap. It’s cheap to buy and cheap to run. It’s cheap enough to represent a social shift, the democratisation of new car ownership. It’s so cheap that to drop a monkey on green metallic paint, as on my version, is like garnishing a Happy Meal with saffron. Keep that in mind. It didn’t cost very much. Or, in industry parlance, it is “affordable”. Continue reading...

Apple CEO says the company pays ‘every tax dollar we owe’ amid debate in the US over corporations avoiding tax by using offshore unitsApple’s chief executive Tim Cook has dismissed as “total political crap” the notion that the technology giant was avoiding taxes.

Concerns grow after disclosure Google enlisted US politicians to pressure EU brought attention to tech giant’s close relationship with Washington politiciansGoogle has made political donations to 162 members of the US Congress in the latest election cycle, figures show, as concerns grow over the internet giant’s lobbying influence in Washington.

Whether it’s 12 strangers in a two-bed flat or friends sharing ideas over a cup of tea, living with other business owners can be a route to successCommunes may have gone out of fashion since their hippy heyday in the 1960s, but the concept of people with a shared outlook living and working together is being reinvented for the 21st century entrepreneur. House shares where small business owners sound out ideas with like-minded peers are popping up in cities around the world.Berlin has been experimenting with the concept for years. Palomar5 was the first “innovation camp” to launch in Germany back in 2009. Over a seven-week period, 30 participants under the age of 30 from 17 countries lived and worked together in an old warehouse in the city’s Tempelhof neighbourhood, coming up with tech projects around the topic of “the future of work”. Continue reading...

TFI hosts Alan Partridge; Captain Webb sets out to swim the Channel and Queen revisit the birth of Bohemian Rhapsody. Plus: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel plonks ageing thesps in RajasthanKnockabout laughs from the charismatic Sam and Mark, a double act who know how to hold a kids’ TV show together. Their Christmas extravaganza features crooners the Overtones, Leona Vaughan (Wolfblood), Akai Osei (4 O’Clock Club) and Amy-Leigh Hickman (The Dumping Ground). If you’re not in your early teens, those names may mean little to you, so all you need to know is that Sam and Mark bring the chuckles in a style reminiscent of Ant and Dec’s SM:TV. Hannah Verdier Continue reading...

US tech firm has stepped up lobbying efforts with $3.5m charm offensive to persuade EU to drop punitive action over alleged abuse of monopoly positionGoogle enlisted members of the US congress, whose election campaigns it had funded, to pressure the European Union to drop a €6bn antitrust case which threatens to decimate the US tech firm’s business in Europe.The coordinated effort by senators and members of the House of Representatives, as well as by a congressional committee, formed part of a sophisticated, multimillion-pound lobbying drive in Brussels, which Google has significantly ramped up as it fends off challenges to its dominance in Europe. Continue reading...

Labour MP backs Reclaim the Internet campaign and compares fight against online abuse to past struggle to ensure domestic violence is taken seriouslySexist online abuse should become as outdated and unacceptable as making jokes about domestic violence, Labour’s Yvette Cooper has said.The MP, who is backing a campaign called Reclaim the Internet, said institutions, political parties and social media platforms should not tolerate aggressive misogynist behaviour by their members. Continue reading...

Retail ombudsman says items should be returned and vendors can be held liable under Consumer Protection ActBritain’s biggest retailers have recalled hoverboards after the government told consumers to think twice about buying them as Christmas gifts and new figures showed that a large number of unsafe devices have been shipped to the UK.A spokesman for National Trading Standards said that of over 38,000 devices inspected between 15 October and the end of last week, more than 32,000 were deemed unsafe. Several hoverboards are known to have exploded or caught fire around the world. Continue reading...

Britain is supposed to have some of the tightest laws on offensive weapons and firearms in the world. But if you know what you’re looking for, there’s an illegal arsenal just a click away on Amazon.co.uk. Among the items offered for sale we found guns, banned weapons and other dangerous items. Amazon will even giftwrap them for you Continue reading...

The Guardian was able to purchase a pepper pistol, a concealed stabbing device and a stun gun – all illegal to sell in the UK – over the popular online retailerThe Guardian Angel II is advertised for sale on Amazon.co.uk as a “handy animal deterrent model gun”, priced at £36.73, dispatched and sold by Amazon itself. Continue reading...

US studio attempt to get details of thousands of Australians accused of illegal downloading is terminated over ‘unrealistic’ proposal for claiming paymentA landmark bid by a US studio to access the private details of thousands of Australians accused of illegally downloading the film Dallas Buyers Club has been dismissed by the federal court.Justice Nye Perram on Wednesday made an order to terminate the proceedings on 11 February after rejecting the latest proposed method by Voltage Pictures to deal with the more than 4,700 internet users it claimed had pirated the 2013 film. The studio can appeal the decision before then. Continue reading...

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

Leave the old property game in the cupboard where it belongs, with options from a lighthearted matching game to saving humanity from a deadly pandemicChristmas is here! And so too is the time of year when families across the nation drag out their one dusty copy of Monopoly, play it for half an hour before realising Monopoly is a bit crap, and then watch as the game drags on for another three hours before a drunk uncle storms off in outrage after losing their final property to a precocious five-year-old.

Even as prominent free speech advocate is put on trial for online posts, president says governments must respect citizens’ right to exchange ideasChinese citizens should have the right to speak their minds on the internet, president Xi Jinping has claimed, just two days after a prominent free speech advocate was put on trial for sending seven tweets.

Around 120 were let go from the Júarez Lexmark plant after striking, and layoffs suggest collusion between the company and state governmentPrinter and software giant Lexmark has fired dozens of workers from its factory in the Mexican city of Ciudad Júarez after they demanded a pay rise of $0.35 per day.

Dido Harding, chief executive, says she doesn’t know if Cyber Essentials is a sufficient benchmark for protectionThe huge hack on TalkTalk could not have been fully prevented, even if the company had been accredited by Cyber Essentials, a government-backed scheme to help organisations protect themselves against digital attacks, telcoms company’s chief executive said.In October, hackers obtained the details of nearly 157,000 TalkTalk customers, 15,000 of which had their bank details accessed. It was the third in a spate of similar attacks affecting the telecommunications company in the past year, with incidents in December 2014 and August 2015 also resulting in customers’ data being stolen. Continue reading...

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

Investors react to reports that UK government could take over firm’s nuclear submarine power arm or force it to merge with BAE SystemsConcerns are growing over the future of Rolls-Royce after it emerged the government has drawn up contingency plans to nationalise part of the power systems engineering firm if the crisis facing it worsens.Shares in Rolls fell on Monday as investors digested reports that the government could nationalise the company’s nuclear submarine business or force it to merge with defence manufacturer BAE Systems. Continue reading...

City council set to vote on legislation that would allow on-demand drivers to bargain their future contract and paySeattle drivers working for taxi-hailing apps Uber and Lyft could get an early Christmas present on Monday when the city council is set to vote on whether to let them unionize. If the legislation were to pass, these on-demand drivers would be able to collectively bargain their future contract and pay. Continue reading...

Drama starring Michael Shannon drama as a dad on the run from extremists joins biopic of legendary editor Max Perkins, played by Colin FirthThe Berlin film festival has released details of a clutch of new titles in its competition and special sections to join the already announced opening film Hail, Caesar!Among the films having their world premiere on the Potsdamer Platz is Midnight Special, a thriller by Jeff “Mud” Nichols, which sees the director reunited with regular collaborator Michael Shannon. Shannon, who played a man haunted by apocalyptic visions in Nichols’ 2011 film Take Shelter, here takes the role of a father who goes on the run with his son, whose extrasensory powers make him a target of government agents and extremists. Continue reading...

High-profile names including Olympic gold medallist Jade Jones will promote campaign designed to highlight the difficulty in finding an organ matchYoung people hoping for a date on Tinder will be exposed to a different kind of match over the next fortnight after the popular app joined up with the NHS to raise awareness about organ donation.Users who swipe right to match three high-profile personalities involved in The Wait campaign will be reminded of the delay many face when trying to find a suitable organ match and will be encouraged to register as potential donors.

Social media company emails more than 20 users, warning them they may have been targeted by hackers ‘possibly associated with a government’

Vandals smash glass, throw paint and spray ‘Facebook dislike’ on entrance of social network’s building in northern German cityVandals have damaged the entrance to a building in Hamburg that houses the offices of social network Facebook, smashing glass, throwing paint and spraying “Facebook dislike” on a wall, according to police in the northern German city.Police said in a statement on Sunday that the overnight attack was carried out by a group of 15-20 people wearing black clothes and hoods. An investigation has been launched. Facebook was not immediately available to comment. Continue reading...