Consortium plans to adapt turboprop aircraft with 40-80 seats to run on environmentally friendly fuelThe world’s first hydrogen-fuelled commercial flight of a passenger plane could take place between Rotterdam and London in six years’ time, under a plan to make short-haul air travel more environmentally friendly.The 2028 target set by a Dutch consortium is ambitious. Airbus announced its intention 18 months ago to be the first to offer zero-emission commercial aircraft models running on hydrogen, by 2035. Continue reading...
Value of assets dips below $1tn after Celsius Network halts withdrawals over ‘extreme’ conditionsThe cryptocurrency market has endured another day of volatility as the Binance exchange temporarily suspended bitcoin withdrawals and the total value of the digital asset market dipped below $1tn (£820bn), after a cryptocurrency lender stopped customers from taking back their funds.The cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network halted withdrawals because of “extreme market conditions”, prompting a selloff. Continue reading...
by Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor on (#609Q5)
From music on the go to GPS watches and apps such as Strava, tech to help you clock up the milesRunning is a great way to keep fit this summer and needs little more than some trainers and a pavement or a park. But even the most enthusiastic of us need some way to keep motivated for regular exercise when the couch, TV or sun lounger looks inviting.These gadgets can help: from music on the go to the social power of Strava, they make pounding the streets a little more interesting. Continue reading...
Blake Lemoine says system has perception of, and ability to express thoughts and feelings equivalent to a human childThe suspension of a Google engineer who claimed a computer chatbot he was working on had become sentient and was thinking and reasoning like a human being has put new scrutiny on the capacity of, and secrecy surrounding, the world of artificial intelligence (AI).The technology giant placed Blake Lemoine on leave last week after he published transcripts of conversations between himself, a Google “collaborator”, and the company’s LaMDA (language model for dialogue applications) chatbot development system. Continue reading...
The desire to meet a new partner remains undimmed. But they might be more easily found at a film club than on a phone screenIt all started a year ago when, having been divorced for a while, I thought I might dip a toe in the dating world. I wasn’t thrilled by the idea as it is not where I expected to be in my mid-50s. But, as a hopeful soul, it felt important to see if there was life after divorce.I was warned by friends that dating online is not for the fainthearted, but I’m a naturally curious person and, as a podcaster on various forms of dating (Later Dater) and a love coach, I thought it was about time I ventured into a world that I spend a lot of time talking about with clients and interviewees. Continue reading...
The rising price of electricity and the plunging value of the cryptocurrency could burst the speculative bubble for today’s prospectorsIn the bad old days, prospecting for gold was a grisly business involving hysterical crowds, pickaxes, digging, the wearing of appalling hats, standing in rivers panning for nuggets, “staking” claims and so on. The California gold rush of 1848-55, for example, brought 300,000 hopefuls to the Sierra Nevada and northern California and involved the massacre of thousands of Indigenous people.In our day, the new gold is bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, and prospecting for it has become a genteel armchair activity, although it is called “mining”, for old times’ sake. What it actually involves is using computers to perform unfathomably complicated calculations to create cryptographic “hashes” – codes that are, in practical terms, uncrackable. Continue reading...
Future EV designs offer drivers more space and leisure, with fewer parts making production more sustainableTake any petrol car sold today and show it to a mechanic working on a Ford Model T 100 years ago and there is a fairly good chance they would understand roughly how it works. An internal combustion engine at the front turns the wheels, carrying a driver behind a steering wheel, some passengers and luggage.The advent of electric cars changes everything. No longer will the shape of the car be defined so rigidly by bulky engines, exhaust gas handling or driveshafts. At the same time, digital technology promises to replace everything from rear-view mirrors to the human driver. Never has the car industry had to cope with so many changes all at once. Continue reading...
The street photographer was in the right place at the right time to capture this beachside sceneIf you look closely under the red umbrella at the centre of this photo, you’ll see four distant feet. The anonymous duo they belong to had just taken off on a parasailing trip above the sea at Nice in the south of France, captured by Hannibal Renberg with his iPhone 10 while on holiday.“I was walking down the Promenade des Anglais and noticed these people on the bench. They were by the beach in high summer, but with umbrellas up. Just below them is the canopy belonging to a parasailing company, and they seemed to be watching the world go by. It was serendipitous timing to capture the parachute in flight where it is. I only had time to get a couple of shots.” Continue reading...
Airbnb and its competitors have made tourism a year-round prospect in many places, but locals say that locks them out of the rental marketTourism is the lifeblood of Kangaroo Valley. Travellers flock to the lush greenery of the New South Wales town for the trails, rivers and wineries. It also hosts folk and arts festivals, is a popular wedding spot, and is a short drive from south coast beaches.But Kangaroo Valley finds itself in a bind brought on by its own popularity – it’s almost impossible to find somewhere to live there. Continue reading...
Hospitality businesses look to hi-tech gadgets amid staff shortages after Covid pandemic and BrexitAs worker shortages are felt across the hospitality sector, the owners of the Bella Italia chain are turning to robots to provide table service to customers.Big Table Group, which also owns Café Rouge and Las Iguanas, is testing out the robot at its Bella Italia restaurant in Center Parcs Whinfell Forest in Cumbria, in the first such trial by a big restaurant chain. Continue reading...
‘Effective duopoly’ holds back Britain’s tech sector and restricts customer choice, says CMAThe UK competition watchdog is considering launching an investigation into Apple and Google’s dominance of the mobile browser market after finding that the companies have a “stranglehold” on a range of areas including app stores.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) indicated that action was needed, saying that otherwise the companies were likely to strengthen their grip on the sector, which would further restrict rivals and dissuade innovators. Continue reading...
Modernised version of 2013’s landmark PlayStation game will be out in SeptemberThe classic 2013 horror game The Last of Us is being remade for PlayStation 5 and PC, developer Naughty Dog has announced. Retitled The Last of Us: Part I, the new version will be released on 9 September on PS5 and later on PC.The Last of Us follows widower Joel and teenager Ellie across a ravaged US in the wake of a pandemic that has turned most of its population into zombies, and won acclaim for its unflinching devotion to storytelling as well as the performances of its cast. It was a landmark game of the PlayStation 3 generation, and was remastered for PlayStation 4 in 2014. Continue reading...
Regulators to look with enhanced scrutiny after cars with driver-assistance function crashed into parked emergency vehiclesUS federal regulators are deepening their investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot function after more than a dozen Tesla cars crashed into parked first-responder vehicles over a period of four years.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Thursday it was upgrading its preliminary investigation, which launched last August, to an “engineering analysis”, which is taken before the agency determines a recall. Continue reading...
New setting will allow users to set enforced breaks once chosen daily limit on uninterrupted use is reachedTikTok addicts will be able to further limit their time on the app, the company has said, with a new pair of screen-time settings coming to the service imminently.Like many of its competitors, TikTok already allows users to set a maximum screen-time allowance for each day, to help them stop idling away hours at a time scrolling through the “for you” page. Continue reading...
by Fleur Britten Acting deputy fashion editor on (#604ET)
World’s largest online retailer launches Luxury Stores featuring clothes by Elie Saab and AltuzarraAmazon shoppers in Britain can now add high-fashion purchases, such as a four-figure Peter Dundas evening gown or a Christopher Kane slingback heel, to their digital shopping baskets.The world’s largest online retailer has launched its Luxury Stores at Amazon division in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, having opened a US version in 2020. Continue reading...
Network ready to provide stream of daily data after world’s richest man threatened to pull out of $44bn purchase if Twitter refusedTwitter is preparing to comply with Elon Musk’s demand for data on fake accounts, after the Tesla chief executive threatened to walk away from buying the business if it refused.The social media company will provide the world’s richest man with access to a stream of data comprising more than 500 million tweets posted every day, according to the Washington Post. A number of companies already pay for access to the data, which includes a real-time record of tweets, the devices users tweet from and information about the accounts that tweet, the Post reported. Continue reading...
UK-based e-commerce boss Joshua Ma to step back from role, according to reportsTikTok says it is investigating remarks allegedly made by a senior executive disparaging the concept of maternity leave, amid reports he is stepping back from his role.Joshua Ma, the head of the company’s e-commerce division across Europe, told staff that as a “capitalist”, he “didn’t believe” firms should offer maternity leave, according to a report in the Financial Times on Wednesday. Continue reading...
The comedian and musician shares his favourite online japes, including a Lana Del Rey love song to Stuart Little, a pigeon at Pride and a Lee Lin Chin blooper
In this week’s newsletter: Apple’s CarPlay updates put a dizzying amount of information at a driver’s fingertips – for good or bad. Plus, Elon Musk continues to try not to buy Twitter
Have teenagers taken control of publishing? With some authors notching up a billion views, we look at how TikTok is electrifying the world of books – creating bestsellers, reviving classics and rescuing neglected genresIt’s four o’clock on a sunny Saturday afternoon and the Krispy Kreme doughnut stall is doing a brisk trade at Lakeside shopping centre, a huge mall in Essex. But a few metres further along, young shoppers are salivating over a different sort of treat. A girl in a silky red dress runs her fingers along the spines of nine novels by bestselling YA author Colleen Hoover, while a couple of twentysomething men in biker jackets pore over shelves of manga comics. They’re in a Waterstones that has been laid out like a pick-and-mix stall, with brightly jacketed paperbacks piled on round tables, or grouped seductively in booths, under headings such as “Romance” or “LGBTQ+”. Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper – a graphic novel series about a love affair between two schoolboys that’s now a Netflix show – has a table to itself.All this is down to #BookTok, a niche on the platform TikTok that became a social media sensation in the early months of Covid, and has been gathering momentum ever since. “We used to rely on millennials,” says the store’s 30-year-old manager, Peter. “But now the majority of our customers are teenagers, who have money and influence and want to find their own stories. A lot of black and Asian authors are coming through. I always wanted to have an LGBTQ section and now it wouldn’t make sense not to. It’s exciting. You can see publishing changing. It’s made it fun to come into work.” Continue reading...
Bloc agrees move to legally require all smartphones to use common charger within two yearsThe EU has paved the way for all smartphones to be legally required to use a USB-C port for charging, a move that could be a headache for Apple, whose iPhone is the only main brand smartphone without this type of connection.The EU’s agreement will apply from autumn 2024 for all smartphones sold in the bloc, a decision that could substantially impact Apple as the iPhone uses Apple’s lightning port for wired charging. Continue reading...
In the next version of the Apple app, you’ll be able to click ‘unsend’ and your message will disappear. Could this be the end of the drunken text?Name: Unsending.Age: Brand new, long overdue. Continue reading...
Worldwide developer conference begins with changes to iPhone operating system and redesigned version of cheapest laptopApple is taking on Klarna and ClearPay with a new “buy now, pay later” feature for iPhones, the company has announced at its worldwide developer conference.The company is also redesigning the iPhone’s lock screen, in the most substantial visual redesign the operating system for iPhones has received since the introduction of the iPhone X, and introducing a new version of the MacBook Air built around its M2 chip.The Messages app will allow users to edit, or even recall, iMessages sent in error.Dictation has been redesigned to make it easier to switch between dictating text and editing it with a keyboard.Live text will now work with video, letting users cut and paste text from a paused video still.Apple Maps lets users add multiple stops to a route, and sync them between iOS and Macs.A new “shared photo library” allows families to seamlessly bundle all their pictures taken together in one shared online library.“Safety Check” lets people leaving abusive relationships sever all access given to other people with one click.The Fitness app, once limited to users with an Apple Watch, will now be on iPhones too, tracking steps and movement.“Continuity camera” lets you use your iPhone as a webcam for any Mac computer. Continue reading...
Company accused of refusing to provide sufficient information about number of false usersElon Musk has accused Twitter of committing a “material breach” of his $44bn (£35bn) agreement to buy the company and has threatened to terminate the deal, in the clearest indication yet that the world’s richest man is preparing to walk away from the takeover.Musk’s lawyers have written to Twitter accusing it of refusing to provide sufficient information about the number of false users on the service, as part of a simmering dispute over the number of spam and fake accounts that populate the platform. Continue reading...
New computers, iPad overhaul and expanded Messages app on the cards, with AR glasses a possibilityApple is to reveal details of the software updates coming to its phones, tablets and computers, in the company’s annual worldwide developers’ conference (WWDC).But while new computers, an expanded Messages app, and an overhaul of the iPad’s software to make it more like a laptop are all on the cards, the biggest question mark on Monday is whether Apple will show any evidence of its forthcoming augmented reality – or AR – glasses. Continue reading...
If successful, the store in Towson, Maryland, would be the first to unionize at the US tech companyWorkers at an Apple store in Towson, Maryland, are set to begin their in-person union election on 15 June and, if successful, the store would be the first to unionize at the US tech company.Workers at the Maryland store – calling themselves the Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (AppleCore) – went public on 3 May with their intent to hold a union election, with the assistance of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), shortly after an Apple store in Atlanta filed for a union election. Continue reading...
From epic data mining to shocking failures of content moderation, Meta’s COO passes on a vast clean-up jobIf you are reading this, odds are that you are one of the 2.87 billion daily users of the products offered by Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. If you are not using any of these products, you are connected to people who do use them. And this connects you to Sheryl Sandberg, who resigned last week from her role as Meta’s chief operating officer.Even if you have never met her, interacted directly with her or read her books on corporate feminism or bereavement, Sandberg has had an impact on your life. She’s not the only reason that our data is tracked online, whether we use Meta’s products or not. Many others have helped to create and exploit an entire industry that profits from our data. What’s more, lawmakers and regulators worldwide have done little to stop this, in no small part because companies like the ones Sandberg helped run spend millions of dollars every year lobbying to prevent or water down any attempts at regulation. Continue reading...
German carmaker says move due to a potential problem with the braking systemMercedes-Benz has announced it is immediately recalling nearly one million older vehicles worldwide due to a potential problem with the braking system.Germany’s federal transport authority (KBA) said that the recall affected cars built between 2004 and 2015 of the SUV series ML and GL, and the R-Class luxury minivan. Continue reading...
A new wave of enthusiasts are eschewing the multi-megapixel convenience of digital photography in favour of an older, slower, ‘magical’ techIndi Shields first discovered film in the drawer of her childhood home. “The first film camera I picked up was my great grandfather’s,” she says. “It felt so special to hold it and use it in the same way that he used to. Even though I never got to meet him.”While Shields was already taking analogue photographs before the pandemic began, the way she used it shifted during lockdowns. Where once the camera would only come out at big events like birthday parties, she found herself snapping away at “mundane things like my friend watching TV on the couch or the tunnel I walk through to get to the train – just because these are sweet little moments I want to look back on or remember in five or 10 years.” Continue reading...
A lot of investors don’t understand their liability, warn tax agents, while others call for the complicated Australian system to be overhauledAs tax time approaches in Australia, cryptocurrency investors have been warned to begin working out what they owe.Some lessons can be drawn from the recent US tax season, where some enthusiasts found themselves with a tax bill that exceeded their earnings after the recent crypto market crash. Continue reading...
US farmers’ struggles for the right to fix their own, now highly computer-controlled equipment, have implications for us allIt was one of the few pieces of cheery news to emerge from the war in Ukraine. Russian looters, no doubt with the assistance of Russian troops, stole 27 pieces of John Deere farm equipment, worth about $5m, from a dealership in Melitopol. The kit was shipped to Chechnya, where a nasty surprise awaited the crooks. Their shiny new vehicles had, overnight, become the world’s heaviest paperweights: the dealership from which they had been stolen had “bricked” them remotely, using an inbuilt “kill-switch”.This news item no doubt warmed the cockles of many a western heart. But it would have raised only hollow laughs from farmers in US states who are customers of John Deere and are mightily pissed off, because although they have paid small fortunes (up to $800,000 apparently) for the firm’s machinery, they are unable to service or repair them when they go wrong. These gigantic vehicles are no longer purely mechanical devices, but depend on lots of electronic control units (ECUs) to operate everything from the air conditioning to the driver’s seat to the engine. The ICUs run software that is essential to the operation, maintenance and repair of the machine. But only John Deere has access to that computer code and without employing a company technician the tractor’s software won’t even recognise (let alone allow) replacement parts from another manufacturer. Continue reading...
The 21st century will be make or break for humanity, says Oxford University transhumanist Elise Bohan. If we get it right, she thinks we might find something better
The robotic electric cabs will be restricted to less congested times and places until regulators can assess its safetyCalifornia regulators on Thursday gave a robotic taxi service the green light to begin charging passengers for driverless rides in San Francisco, a first in a state where dozens of companies have been trying to train vehicles to steer themselves on increasingly congested roads.The California Public Utilities Commission unanimously granted Cruise, a company controlled by automaker General Motors, approval to launch its driverless ride-hailing service. The regulators issued the permit despite safety concerns arising from Cruise’s inability to pick up and drop off passengers at the curb in its autonomous taxis, requiring the vehicles to double park in traffic lanes. Continue reading...
US regulators investigating hundreds of reports that self-driving models 3 and Y have braked on highwaysMore than 750 Tesla owners have complained to US safety regulators that cars operating on the automaker’s partially automated driving systems have suddenly stopped on roadways for no apparent reason.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revealed the number in a detailed information request letter to Tesla that was posted on Friday on the agency’s website. Continue reading...
Email to executives also calls for hiring freeze at electric car maker, which has 100,000 staff worldwideElon Musk is considering a hiring freeze and job cuts of up to 10% of staff at Tesla because he has a “super bad feeling” about the state of the economy, according to an internal email seen by Reuters.Tesla currently has about 5,000 job openings advertised worldwide, and 100,000 employees. The email was sent to Tesla executives late on Thursday with the subject line “pause all hiring worldwide”, and comes days after Musk ordered all employees to return to the office for at least 40 hours a week or face immediate termination. Continue reading...
This seductive sandbox attracts Washington lawyers and real-life rocket scientists to a safe space for virtual villainyAs the roar of revellers reverberates around a rowdy Reykjavik, you would be forgiven for thinking this was an average Friday night. Yet among the bearded Icelanders quietly sipping their Einstök is a different kind of drinker: multiplayer spaceship game EVE Online’s intergalactic elite. On one May weekend each year, this island becomes the playground of the world’s most devoted gaming community.For those who don’t know their Minmatar from their Caldari, EVE Online is a hugely complex player-led video game, a virtual spaceship sandbox where – in the right hands – spreadsheets are as powerful as space fleets. Its complex history has been written by its players, with numerous fascinating tales of wars, betrayals and heists. Because the developers of the game rarely interfere, EVE is an experience that often feels less like a video game and more like a libertarian social experiment. As such, it attracts an intellectual – and extremely driven – player base. Continue reading...
The return of the hit zombie sequel topped the bill during online showcase, which also featured a new Final Fantasy 16 trailerThe long-awaited remake of acclaimed zombie adventure Resident Evil 4 was the highlight of Sony’s State of Play online showcase on Thursday evening.The 2005 original marked a radical change in direction for the Resident Evil series, with a new focus on action and a refreshed “behind-the-shoulder” camera view to replace the creaking third-person visuals. A story posted on Sony’s blog following the half-hour long event, promised that the remake would preserve the essence of the game while “re-imagining” the story, modernising the visuals and updating the controls. The teaser for the game also promised virtual reality content for the PlayStation VR headset. A release date of 24 March 2023 was given. Continue reading...
Ex-employee of the NFT marketplace, Nathaniel Chastain, charged with wire fraud and money launderingAn ex-employee of the leading non-fungible tokens (NFT) marketplace has been charged with wire fraud and money-laundering offences in a sign that US law enforcement will no longer turn a blind eye to the crypto economy.Nathaniel Chastain left his job as a product manager at OpenSea, the largest marketplace for NFTs – the unique crypto assets used to denote ownership of items such as digital art – after being accused of insider trading. Continue reading...
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