Technology | The Guardian

These new aluminium wire-freeheadphones sound better than most. Linked by a subtle cable, they clip to each other magnetically – but battery life could be betterBluetooth earbuds offer the holy grail of wire-free listening without the bulk of headphones. Optoma’s new NuForce BE6 promise better sound and a premium aluminium design, but are they worth the extra cost over cheaper rivals?The NuForce BE6 are about as simple and understated as Bluetooth earbuds can get. Continue reading...

Matthew Keys was fired by a TV station owned by the same company two months before the website was hackedThe well-known social media journalist Matthew Keys has been found guilty of conspiring with the hacking group Anonymous to break into the Los Angeles Times’ website and alter a story.

Sensitive information about patients’ conditions could become public if phones are lost or stolen, warn researchersDetails of patients’ illnesses and treatment could be leaked because so many doctors use smartphones to send details of their cases to each other, including x-ray results and photographs of wounds, warns research.Patients are at risk of having their confidentiality breached because up to two-thirds of doctors are using SMS texts and picture messages to share information, including photographs of wounds, in the search for a second opinion. Continue reading...

Companies are pushing for the ability to fly their drones without the strict supervision that is currently required, but regulators say it could be a long waitIf you’re hoping Amazon will send the next George R R Martin novel to you by drone, you may have even longer to wait than you thought: the FAA estimates it will be three years before it has a framework for drone operators to fly the machines without direct human oversight.At a conference for commercial drone operators in Las Vegas on Wednesday morning, the US Federal Aviation Adminstration (FAA) told the drone industry its new rules for drones will be given to the White House by the end of the year, including some more relaxed policies for corporate drone users.

People could use it to disable hobbyists’ drones but Liteye’s Anti-UAV Defense System has practical applications for law enforcement and government tooA team of British technology firms has developed a “death ray” for drones that can knock an unmanned aerial vehicle out of the sky by turning it off in midair up to a mile away.

Microsoft is betting big on a premium laptop that rivals Apple’s MacBook Pro and turns into a tablet – but it’s the kind of innovation it needsMicrosoft did something shocking last night. It launched something people might actually lust over, something sleek, something powerful, something innovative. The Surface Book.

Urban smellscape researcher Kate McLean travels the world mapping scents: Edinburgh smells of the brewery and penguin poo, New York’s summer is ripe with garlic and spilled beer, while Amsterdam smells of ... damp?“It smells like Amsterdam” is a well-turned phrase. Each year, about 1.5 million tourists visit the city to legally consume cannabis in specially licensed coffee shops, and every time their doors open to welcome a new customer, a potent waft escapes with the force of a jet missile into the street.Whatever your views on the subject, the scent of marijuana and hashish is strong. The distinctive and easily identifiable smell curls along the narrow streets of De Wallen, lingers among the pubs, clubs, bars and coffee shops of the red light district and wafts across the open expanse of Stationsplein as newcomers in transit cram in a full, enhanced, poly-sensory experience of the city. Continue reading...

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Attorney general tells billion-dollar companies to explain how they stop player data being misused by employees to line their own pocketsNew York’s attorney general has started investigating the fantasy sports companies DraftKings and FanDuel after reports that an employee may have used inside information to win $350,000 in a football contest.

European court of justice struck down provisions allowing transfer of EU citizens’ data to the US after Austrian student argued NSA might get access to itIreland has said it plans to investigate the transfer of data on Facebook users in Europe to the United States after an EU court invalidated the “safe harbour” provisions under which it took place.

New devices include the new Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book, challenging Apple’s dominance at the top end of the laptop marketMicrosoft is bringing “the thunder”. That was the message sent to its competitors today, when Microsoft unveiled its Windows 10 devices, including the new Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book, challenging Apple’s dominance at the top end of the laptop market.“We have competitors, you might have noticed. They are chasing us,” Panos Panay, head of engineering of all Microsoft devices, said during the hour-and-a-half-long presentation. “What do you do? Do you double down and bring the thunder or do you reinvent the category again?” Continue reading...

Budget airline says screenscraper websites such as eDreams, which pay to appear top of search engine, charge consumers moreRyanair has called on Google to take action to protect customers from booking flights with the airline at inflated prices on websites that it claims are masquerading as its own.In a turn of events that would have appeared unlikely a few years back, the no-frills carrier will champion consumers over what it believes is misleading advertising on Google. Continue reading...

The European Court of Justice decision in the Facebook case is the latest evidence of difference in attitude towards data protection

Want to pimp out your Sparrow? You’ll be able to from 13 October, if you’re prepared to payAll the new story content for the next year of Destiny, Bungie’s first new franchise since it launched Halo in 2001, will be free, as the company continues with a major overhaul of the multiplayer online game following its troubled first year.To make up for the lost revenue from giving away the content for free, Bungie has announced plans to introduce microtransactions to the game for the first time, letting users spend real money to buy cosmetic items such as character gestures and visual changes to their “Sparrow” hover bike in game. Continue reading...

Resistance to autonomous cars is understandable but it comes mainly from people who haven’t tried one themselvesThe room went quiet, as if everyone had just held their breath. Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founder, had just walked in wearing Crocs. I think it was the fact it was billionaire Brin, rather than the Crocs. Brin has the loosest of schedules and works on whatever takes his fancy. This morning it was self-driving cars. Regularly deferring to his engineers for the detail, Brin was there to emphasise how important and impressive the technology is, as if we needed reminding.I asked Brin how he planned to humanise the technology, how to take it beyond Google’s privileged and pro-technology bubble into a real world where citizens are more sceptical and less trusting. He looked disappointed with the question. Continue reading...

Social media site announces move into news publishing with launch of standalone site – but users won’t be able to upvote, or commentReddit has announced its move into news publishing (along with everyone else) with the launch of standalone site, Upvoted. The new site intends to capitalise on the popular content posted to Reddit, which is often picked up by other online media organisations.Upvoted will be headed by former MySpace editorial director Vickie Chang, in charge of a team of around 10. Initially, the site hopes to produce around 20 stories a day, increasing to 40 later. Continue reading...

Staff benefit from shares windfall as social media site doubles profits and revenuesTwitter UK staff benefited from a £14m share bonanza last year as the social media site doubled profits and revenues.Twitter made a pre-tax profit of £3.2m last year, almost double the £1.7m reported in 2013, according to the latest financial records at Companies House.

European Court of Justice rules 2000’s data protection agreement with US invalid, but will that stop Facebook from transferring your EU data to America?The European Court of Justice has ruled that the “safe harbour” agreement that allowed the transfer of European citizens data to the US is no longer valid. But what does that mean for the Facebooks, Googles and Microsofts of this world?

Backlash prompts social media app to abandon raft of features including plans to let people give anyone a negative ratingPeeple, the controversial app that promised to let users “review” other people and give them a rating out of five, has softened its offering just weeks before its planned launch.The company had previously scheduled the launch of the new social app, dubbed “Yelp for people”, for November this year. Revealed in early October, the app promised users the ability to “revolutionise the way we’re seen in the world through our relationships”. Continue reading...

Mark Zuckerberg details plans on how company is ‘exploring ways to use aircraft and satellites to beam internet access down into communities from the sky’Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg took to his own timeline on Monday to announce that the company would be providing web access … from space. A new satellite called Amos-6 will make the web accessible from big chunks of sub-Saharan Africa, orbiting over the continent and serving what Zuckerberg characterized as “large parts of west, east and southern Africa”.

Ownership of tablet computers among under-fives in the UK is widespread, with a quarter of under-threes having one of their ownA third of pre-school children in the UK have their own iPad or a similar tablet that they use for an average of one hour and 19 minutes every weekday, often on their own without a parent or guardian, according to research.The study found that in households that have tablets, 31% of children aged five and under have their own tablet; among even the youngest children ownership is widespread with a quarter of those under three having a tablet of their own. Continue reading...

Apple’s latest iPhone has a better camera, pressure sensitive 3D Touch screen, faster processor and quick fingerprint sensor, but lives fast and dies before bedThe iPhone 6S is one of only a handful of smaller premium smartphones and promises fast performance, a great camera and new pressure-sensitive touchscreen.

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

Benjamin Wash says Uber must accept some responsibility for the attacks and urged immediate political action from the Palaszczuk governmentThe Taxi Council Queensland has called on the state government to intervene after conflict with the ride-sharing app company Uber escalated to physical violence.Two Uber drivers were bashed by a group of men in Fortitude Valley and Kangaroo Point early on Monday morning. A third motorist who did not work for Uber was also bashed. Continue reading...

Main companies in fantasy sports industry worth billions insist they monitor for fraud after admission that employee accessed data and then won $350,000DraftKings and FanDuel, the two major US sports fantasy companies, defended their businesses’ integrity on Monday after an employee released insider information and then placed winning bets in the unregulated industry worth billions.Related: SEC Network bans ads for DraftKings and FanDuel citing gambling concerns Continue reading...

Local artist Ivan Cash unveils himself as the perpetrator of the infamous signs, which have reappeared in several parks across the cityWhen an official-looking “No Tech Zone” sign appeared in San Francisco last month, authorities were left confused by its mysterious arrival.

Malware that was active for over a year could have ‘accessed payment card information as it was being inputted,’ Trump Hotel Collection executives sayPresidential candidate and real-estate baron Donald Trump’s chain of high-end hotels “may have been the victim of a data security incident”, the company has informed customers.Trump Hotel Collection (THC) executives ascribed the breach to malware that was active on its systems “between May 19, 2014, and June 2, 2015”.

Recent high-profile cyber-attacks have highlighted the importance of online security. But are technological solutions at the mercy of human error?Businesses are coming under frequent and increasingly brazen attacks from computer hackers looking to steal sensitive data about customers and disrupt their operations. But many organisations are failing to take adequate steps to repel these onslaughts and often seem clueless about what to do when they happen.This summer’s scandal, when hackers attacked the Ashley Madison adultery website – posting confidential details online about 33 million accounts – should serve as a wake-up call to businesses, especially those dealing with personal data. They need to protect their customers’ data from cyber-attack – or see their reputations shredded. Continue reading...

Monthly line rental fee will rise by 6%, with the cost of calls also rising sharplySky is to increase the cost of its landline and other telecoms charges just five months after it increased the cost of watching its TV packages.From 1 December Sky’s phone customers will see their line rental increase from £16.40 to £17.40 a month – a 6% increase. Continue reading...

Twitter co-founder returns to permanently head up company of which he was also the first chief executiveTwitter has confirmed Jack Dorsey as its new chief executive. Dorsey, currently the company’s interim CEO, co-founded Twitter in 2007 and was its first CEO.He has served as the interim head of the firm for the past three months, after former boss Dick Costolo stepped down on 1 July. Alongside his appointment, the company also promoted Adam Bain, formerly the company’s president of global revenue & partnerships, to a chief operating officer role. Continue reading...

Lego finally enters the popular toys-to-life genre with a consistently delightful game that adds bricks and building to its on-screen adventuresIt’s hard to believe now, but during the late 90s, the Lego company faced an enormous struggle to stay relevant and profitable as children turned elsewhere for entertainment. Now, however, the Danish toy outfit has established itself as a cultural giant built not just from little bricks, but from licensed toys, animated feature films and, of course, video games.The unique, symbiotic connection between key brands like Star Wars, physical Lego playsets and the hugely successful Lego series of games was always going to lead toward a “toys-to-life” title. In this genre, created by Activision’s Skylanders series, special action figures can be placed on a USB portal, which then renders them into the on-screen action (using a rather unglamorous technology close to that which sees an Oyster card open a Tube station’s gate). The only surprise is that it’s taken so long for Dimensions to arrive. Continue reading...

Alphabet’s code of conduct is slightly less strict than Google’sGoogle is now Alphabet. Temporary Holding Company Number Two is now Google. And “don’t be evil” is now one step closer to being a thing of the past.Following the corporate reshuffle at Google, the world’s largest search firm is now owned by a holding company called “Alphabet” – which, confusingly, was temporarily a subsidiary of Google but then executed a “reverse takeover” of its parent company to become the new boss, at which point Google spun off a number of its own subsidiaries such as its life sciences subsidiary Calico and “moonshot” division X to sit under Alphabet. Continue reading...

Pressure on taxi app increases ahead of court hearing after London mayor says its technology dodges the law by mimicking the act of hailing a cabUber is coming under increasing pressure after Boris Johnson accused the taxi-hailing app of systematically breaking the law.In his weekly column for the Telegraph, the mayor of London said Uber’s mobile phone technology is effectively mimicking the act of hailing a taxi – a process that only black cabs can legally carry out. Continue reading...

Fujisawa residents will be ferried in driverless cars, which, if successful, could be used to transport spectators for the 2020 Tokyo OlympicsDozens of people in Japan will be whisked to the local shops in driverless taxis from next year in an experiment with robot technology that could be fully commercial by the time Tokyo hosts the Olympics in 2020.

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

There’s been a reported increase in the number of serious accidents caused by smartphone users not looking where they are going. So what are people so absorbed by? We took to the streets to find out Continue reading...

In Silicon Valley, millions of dollars change hands every day as investors hunt the next big thing – the ‘unicorn’, or billion-dollar tech firm. There are now almost 150, but can they all succeed?

Startups vying for attention at TechCrunch’s recent Disrupt event in San Francisco talk about their dog-eat-dog world, and in one case, their dog-eat world

Whistleblower Edward Snowden made a barnstorming start on the micro-blogging site, and here are 10 othersNSA whistleblower Edward Snowden arrived on Twitter last week. Within half an hour of his @Snowden account launching, he’d beaten the 72,000 followers amassed by the only feed Snowden himself is following - that of the National Security Agency itself. He’s currently on 1.2m and rising, while his first Tweet was, “Can you hear me now?” – a jingle used by US telecoms giant Verizon in television ads. He’s right up there with our top 10 Twitter debuts… Continue reading...

Transport for London’s belated attempt to regulate the sector is wrongheadedUber is not perfect. It is important to make that point before analysing Transport for London’s attempts to curtail its expansion. The taxi app has not done enough to guarantee the safety of its passengers or stop its prices surging when cities face unique events. On a lighter note, its drivers’ obsession with rigidly following their satnavs can be hugely irritating when that means flying over speed bumps and avoiding traffic-free routes that as a local resident you know are quicker.However, this not an excuse for TfL’s ham-fisted attempt to protect the status quo. The organisation has launched a consultation on plans to overhaul the private-hire car market in London. The proposals include an interval of at least five minutes between booking a car and the start of a journey, a requirement for drivers to pass an English-language test and a map-reading assessment. Taxi firms may also have to operate a landline telephone service and accept bookings up to seven days in advance. Continue reading...

Apple has made ad-blocking mainstream, prompting fears in the $31.9bn mobile ad market. But those grappling with the problem say the user must come firstEveryone hates mobile ads – even advertisers.Related: Can publishers stop the ad blocking wave? Continue reading...

Women’s groups call for advertisers to boycott internet starOne of YouTube’s biggest stars has been accused of trivialising rape amid pressure for firms to distance themselves from the online sensation.Olajide Olatunji, better known as KSI, whose YouTube channel has more than 10.2m subscribers, has been criticised by a coalition of women’s groups for denigrating victims of sexual violence and propagating misogynistic views of women by calling them “sluts”. Continue reading...

European Court of Justice decision has ‘changed face of data protection’ for internet companies claim experts by changing rules of one-stop-shopThe European Court of Justice has ruled in favour of the Hungarian data protection authority in its case against Slovakian property site Weltimmo. It’s a landmark ruling that could have big implications for companies such as Facebook and Google, operating across multiple EU countries.

Holes in audio and video handling systems could allow hackers to take over your device by just visiting a website, warn security expertsMore than 1bn Android smartphones and devices are vulnerable to a new security vulnerability dubbed Stagefright 2.0, warn security experts.

Christopher Miller, Phil Lord and Fox 21 Television Studios option rights to chronicle making of podcast as it follows new caseHit true crime podcast Serial is to turned into a television series by the directors of The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street films.

Faster fingerprint sensor, slightly better camera, and novelties such as a pressure sensitive screen cannot make up for the lack of extended battery lifeThe iPhone 6S Plus promises richer interactions with a pressure sensitive screen, a better camera with new “Live Photos” and longer battery life, despite it having a smaller capacity battery. Does it deliver?

Unauthorised access involved names, email addresses, mailing addresses and order details of customers who have shopped on the store’s websitesThe details of David Jones online customers have been hacked after a vulnerability in the department store’s website was discovered.David Jones is not saying how many customers have been affected but has moved to reassure people no credit card details were accessed. Continue reading...

Hack of one of the largest data brokers and credit agencies in the world affects T-Mobile USA users who applied for credit checks, company saysExperian, one of the largest credit agency data brokers in the world, has been hacked. Some 15 million people who used the company’s services, among them customers of cellular company T-Mobile who had applied for Experian credit checks, may have had their private information exposed, the company confirmed on Thursday.Information from the hack includes names, addresses, and social security, driver’s license and passport numbers. The license and passport numbers were in an encrypted field, but Experian said that encryption may also have been compromised. Continue reading...

Cheating on vehicle emissions is not an industry-wide problem, insists UK’s top representative of the car industryThe row that has engulfed the diesel car industry over cheating on vehicle emissions tests is limited to one company and should not be taken to indicate an industry-wide problem, the UK’s top representative of the car industry insisted on Thursday.

Author Lisa Watts, who helped to teach a generation of children about computers a quarter of a century ago, hopes new books will inspire tomorrow’s programmers