Technology news

• The dress quandary: 'It's an illusion. But everything is an illusion'

  27-02-2015 23:41 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  White and gold, or black and blue? People on the internet can’t seem to make up their minds – and perception researchers can’t agree either Continue reading...
  
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• Uber says security breach affected about 50,000 drivers

  27-02-2015 23:36
  
  A security breach at car service Uber may have disclosed the names and driver's licence numbers of about 50,000 drivers across multiple states, the company said in a statement on Friday. The data breach involved current and former Uber drivers, and the company has notified attorneys general in states where those drivers live, including California. Uber also filed a lawsuit in a federal court in San Francisco on Friday against the unnamed individual who accessed the company's files. Ube
  
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• VIDEO: The chair that assembles itself

  27-02-2015 23:35 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are examining the possibilities of self-assembly.
  
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• Uber data breach may have affected up to 50,000 people

  27-02-2015 23:31 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Third parties may have reportedly gained unauthorised access to driver names and license numbers after security breach last year Continue reading...
  
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• Apps in pockets, bums on seats

  27-02-2015 23:20 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Keeping cinema affordable after Orange Wednesday's demise
  
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• Net neutrality activists celebrate internet victory with grumpy cat parade

  27-02-2015 23:20 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Open internet supporters fly plane with banner reading ‘Comcast: don’t mess with the internet’ after FCC voted to approve strict rules to keep the internet free Continue reading...
  
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• Uber security breach may have affected up to 50,000 drivers - LA Times

  27-02-2015 23:06
  
  (Reuters) - About 50,000 of Uber's driver names and licence numbers may be in the hands of an unauthorised third party due to a data breach that occurred last year, Los Angeles Times reported, citing the ride service provider's managing counsel of data privacy. The company could not say how the security vulnerability was first discovered because the matter is currently under investigation, according to the report. Uber was not immediately available to comment. (Reporting By Subrat Patn
  
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• Obama pitches privacy bill, Democrats say it falls short

  27-02-2015 22:32
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid "rapid growth" in the collection of data on Americans, the White House on Friday proposed legislation that calls on businesses to do more to help consumers protect their personal information.
  
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• Google's new headquarters: an upgradable, futuristic greenhouse

  27-02-2015 22:08 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, the company’s new California headquarters are glass domes set in a supercharged pastoral dream – with WiFi Continue reading...
  
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• Miss Sweden quits as face of Kazam, saying it 'went too far' with banned ad

  27-02-2015 21:06 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Camilla Hansson says she will not renew her contract after the UK advertising watchdog ruled that the mobile phone maker’s campaign objectified women
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• News Guide: What the FCC's 'net neutrality' vote means

  27-02-2015 20:49
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Internet activists scored a major victory after the Federal Communications Commission agreed to rules that would ban service providers from creating Internet fast lanes.
  
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• Cook says Apple Watch will replace car keys - Telegraph

  27-02-2015 20:46
  
  (Reuters) - Apple Watch will replace your car keys and its battery will last the whole day, Apple Inc's Chief Executive Tim Cook told the Telegraph in an interview. The watch is designed to replace car keys and the clumsy, large fobs that are now used in many vehicles, Cook told the newspaper. Its battery will last the whole day, and will not take as long to charge as an iPhone, the report quoted Cook as saying. Apple Watch will also work as a credit card through Apple Pay, Cook told the pa
  
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• Republicans strike back: FCC member invokes Star Wars in net neutrality fight

  27-02-2015 20:08 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Republican Ajit Pai quotes Emperor Palpatine, of Star Wars’s evil galactic empire, in attack on new broadband rules regulating the internetRepublicans invoked Star Wars’s evil galactic emperor in their attacks on new broadband regulations on Friday, warning that the public and Silicon Valley were in for an unpleasant surprise.Quoting Emperor Palpatine, Republican Ajit Pai, a member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), said: “Young fool … Only now, at the end, do you understand
  
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• Cook says Apple Watch might replace the need for car keys - Telegraph

  27-02-2015 19:30
  
  (Reuters) - Apple Inc's latest product, the Apple Watch, might replace the need for car keys, Chief Executive Tim Cook told the Telegraph in an interview. The watch's battery will last the whole day, and will not take as long to charge as an iPhone, the Telegraph quoted Cook as saying. Apple was not immediately available for comment. The company has scheduled a special event on March 9, where it will showcase the Apple Watch and that will be launched in April, the report said.
  
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• The science behind the dress colour illusion

  27-02-2015 18:41 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Why do some people see #TheDress as blue and black, and some as gold and white? Continue reading...
  
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• White House drafts privacy bill, consumers push for more

  27-02-2015 18:32
  
  The White House this week circulated legislation aimed at encouraging U.S. businesses to do more to protect consumer privacy. But privacy advocates were pushing back even before its release, saying it ...
  
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• XLR-One: Meet the 3D-printed robot companion that talks, tutors your child and DJs parties

  27-02-2015 18:05
  
  A graphic designer and florist has created a customised 3D-printed personal robot companion that has a huge range of abilities - from entertaining users by talking and dancing, to being a party DJ or a home security patrol guard - but without a hefty price tag.
  
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• Europe's big telecoms roar back to health, worrying rivals

  27-02-2015 18:04
  
  By Leila Abboud, Harro Ten Wolde and Julia Fioretti PARIS (Reuters) - Europe's big telecom firms are back to rude financial health after years of poor results and regulatory pressure, drawing crowds of new investors and protests from rivals who worry the formerly state-owned companies may rebuild their monopolies. Germany's Deutsche Telekom and Spain's Telefonica have predicted that revenues will grow this year, while France's Orange and Norway's Telenor have promised hi
  
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• Has the world become too visual?

  27-02-2015 17:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Has the world's addiction to images gone too far?
  
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• Lenovo to allay security concerns with free McAfee LiveSafe

  27-02-2015 17:51
  
  (Reuters) - China's Lenovo Group Ltd on Friday said it will offer free subscriptions to Intel Corp security software to customers who bought laptops that were shipped with a program known as "Superfish," which made PCs vulnerable to cyberattacks. Security experts and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recommended the program be removed because it made users vulnerable to what are known as SSL spoofing techniques that can enable remote attackers to read encrypted web traffic,
  
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• Review: Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 with AnyPen

  27-02-2015 17:42 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Introduction and designCapitalizing on the stylus craze to give tablet owners more precision input, Lenovo asks users of its $299 (£195, AU$385) Yoga Tablet 2 with Windows to not only touch and poke at the screen, but to key it, stab it, and slash it with almost any metal object. Though Lenovo is merely iterating on its Yoga Tablet design, the real highlight - and really what distinguishes the tablet from others in the crowded space - is its AnyPen technology. With AnyPen, the Yoga Tablet 2 own
  
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• Lenovo to offer free subscription to McAfee LiveSafe service

  27-02-2015 17:18
  
  (Reuters) - Lenovo Group Ltd said it will offer users of its PCs pre-installed with "Superfish" software a free 6-month subscription to McAfee LiveSafe service to remove security concerns. The Chinese computer and smartphone maker's announcement comes a week after the U.S. government advised Lenovo customers to remove "Superfish", saying it makes users vulnerable to cyberattacks. Lenovo on Friday said it will henceforth "significantly reduce preloaded applications&q
  
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• Google scraps plan to block porn on Blogger

  27-02-2015 16:51
  
  (Reuters) - Google Inc has abandoned its plan to ban adult content on its blogging site Blogger after receiving negative feedback from users. Google will instead "step up enforcement" of its existing policy prohibiting commercial porn, Jessica Pelegio, the company's social product support manager, wrote on Google Product Forums on Friday. Bloggers can continue to tag any blog with sexually explicit content as "adult" that is placed behind a warning page. ...
  
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• Samsung's voice-recording smart TVs breach privacy law, campaigners claim

  27-02-2015 16:08 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  US consumer rights group Epic claims Samsung has breached the privacy of its users, and is demanding an FCC investigationSamsung could be investigated by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US following a complaint which claims its smart TVs record private conversations without informing users.US consumer rights organisation the Electronic Privacy Information Center (Epic) accuses Samsung of breaking federal privacy laws including the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Childr
  
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• What color is the dress? Question of perception captivates the internet

  27-02-2015 15:47 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Black and blue or white and gold? Divisive photograph has unified the internet in debate, and the controversy shows no signs of slowing downIs it black and blue, or white and gold? Related: The Guardian view on 'the dress' Someone registered all of these domain names tonight: pic.twitter.com/O0NJzToJu9#whiteandgold or #blackandblue? We found a way around science- you can have both! #TheDress #dressgate pic.twitter.com/5oj3ZTqOWk#thedress 'Definitely blue'.. pic.twitter.com/MkZ01cjDFN Continue re
  
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• Review: AMD FX-8320E review

  27-02-2015 15:36 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  When AMD tells us it's sending over a new FX-series CPU, we can't help the sudden rush of excitement. It's an automatic response, born of a time when a new AMD CPU had the potential to offer something genuinely competitive. But those days seem long gone. All we get now are half-hearted revisions of increasingly elderly chips.The FX-8320E is the perfect example of that. AMD released this chip late last year, along with the FX-8370E as a pair of lower-powered octo-core CPUs for the more power-cons
  
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• Cut music to 'an hour a day' - WHO

  27-02-2015 15:27 via bbc.co.uk
  
  People should listen to music for no more than one hour a day to protect their hearing, the World Health Organization suggests.
  
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• VIDEO: Wheel gives cyclists an extra push

  27-02-2015 15:23 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A power assistance device turns push bikes into electric hybrid bicycles
  
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• Uni hosts cyber-security conference

  27-02-2015 15:19 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Abertay University in Dundee is hosting Scotland's largest cyber-security conference, with support from government agency GCHQ.
  
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• Her Story: the computer game where True Detective meets Google

  27-02-2015 15:14 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Game designer Sam Barlow has created a new kind of crime adventure, which relies on subtext and perception rather than quick joypad skills In a cramped police interrogation room a woman is being questioned about her missing husband. Is he dead? Has she killed him? There are seven separate interviews, chopped up into short, teasing fragments, but the answers aren’t immediately obvious. It’s up the player to trawl through the video records and piece the mystery together. This is the bare bones
  
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• Passport website sues its customers

  27-02-2015 14:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An unofficial passport website has sued more than 150 of its own customers after they tried to cancel or refused to pay believing they had been misled.
  
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• The Dress, llamas and Net Neutrality: Is this the free internet we fought for?

  27-02-2015 14:48
  
  The email was from non-profit advocacy group Fight for the Future (FTTF), who were hailing the fact the Federal Communications Commission in the US had passed strong net neutrality rules to enshrine a free and open internet for all. Yes, the internet is a powerful tool that should be used for good and to help educate and inspire people, but if people want to spend time online arguing over the colour of a dress or the fate of a pair of renegade llamas, then that is entirely their right.
  
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• Google backs down over Blogger porn

  27-02-2015 14:33 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Google has changed its mind about forcing sexually explicit blogs on its Blogger platform to become private.
  
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• Apple faces iPhone patent lawsuit

  27-02-2015 14:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Apple is being sued by a company two days after it was told to pay the same firm $533m (£344m) for infringing patents.
  
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• ​TalkTalk security breach fuels bogus tech-support scam

  27-02-2015 13:55 via zdnet.com
  
  Phoney tech support Fraudsters are using TalkTalk's stolen client database to convince customers into handing over online banking credentials.
  
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• Twitter has tripled the size of its team handling abuse reports

  27-02-2015 13:38 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Social network is also introducing more features to deal with harassment, including impersonation and doxingWhen Twitter boss Dick Costolo vowed that his company was ready to “get a lot more aggressive” about tackling harassment on its network, details were thin on the ground. Now Twitter has revealed some of its specific plans.The company is introducing new tools for its users to report examples of impersonation and doxing – the sharing of “private and confidential information” – wh
  
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• Google buys .app web domain for $25m

  27-02-2015 13:24 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Google has purchased the website address .app in an auction held by the organisation which assigns web domains.
  
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• Ericsson sues Apple to block iPhone and iPad sales in the US over patents

  27-02-2015 13:20 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Swedish mobile pioneer lodges complaint with US international trade commission, saying Apple uses its technology ‘without a licence’
  Swedish telecoms firm Ericsson has filed seven new lawsuits against Apple and a complaint with the US international trade commission (ITC) in an attempt to block the sale of the iPhone.The lawsuits filed in Texas allege Apple’s infringement of 41 different Ericsson patents covering the technologies integral to 2G, 3G and 4G mobile connection standards. Relate
  
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• Sid Meier interview: 'Learning is part of any good video game'

  27-02-2015 13:06 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  The Civilization creator talks about galactic exploration, childhood inspirations, why he’s happy to avoid freemium – and dinosaurs Continue reading...
  
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• ​Apple takes 89 percent of all smartphone profits worldwide

  27-02-2015 13:01 via zdnet.com
  
  With a 20 percent share of all smartphone shipments in Q4 2014, Apple took nearly all the industry's profits. It's a situation that could could spell trouble for Google.
  
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• Google backtracks on porn ban in Blogger

  27-02-2015 13:00 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Heeding ‘ton of feedback’ from users, company announces it won’t implement changes, but steps up enforcement of existing policy on sexually explicit content
  Google has backtracked on plans to ban sexually explicit images from its blogging platform Blogger, in the face of widespread opposition from users.The company had initially announced a ban on “sexually explicit or graphic nude images or video”, with just a few exceptions for content which offered “a substantial public benefit, f
  
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• China censorship sweep deletes more than 60,000 Internet accounts

  27-02-2015 12:32
  
  Some of China's largest Internet companies deleted more than 60,000 online accounts because their names did not conform to regulations due to take effect on Sunday, the top Internet regulator said. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Tencent Holdings Ltd, Baidu Inc, Sina Corp affiliate Weibo Corp and other companies deleted the accounts in a cull aimed at "rectifying" online names, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said. The purge is notable as a step toward China's governm
  
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• Microchip hand implants offered to Swedish office staff - video

  27-02-2015 12:14 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  A new office block in Sweden is offering workers the chance to have a microchip implanted under their skin to allow them to access to various services within the building. The tiny chip, the size of a grain of rice, is implanted in employees hands, allowing them to open doors, or use the photocopier, without a traditional pass card Continue reading...
  
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• VIDEO: Is 2015 the year of 'eye-tracking'?

  27-02-2015 12:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The BBC's Richard Taylor looks at "eye-tracking" technology which could be used in gaming, entertainment and healthcare, and asks if it could go mainstream.
  
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• US-Bangladesh writer hacked to death

  27-02-2015 12:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Attackers hack to death a US-Bangladeshi blogger who campaigned for a secular society, sparking a protest by hundreds of students.
  
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• Robear: the bear-shaped nursing robot who'll look after you when you get old

  27-02-2015 11:52 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Japanese robot can lift patients from beds into wheelchairs or help them to stand up, promising ‘powerful yet gentle care’ for the elderlyA number of companies have explored the idea of humanoid robots as future home-helpers for elderly people. The latest experiment from Japan is distinctly more bear-shaped, though.Meet Robear, an experimental nursing-care robot developed by the RIKEN-SRK Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research and Sumitomo Riko Company. Related: Meet the r
  
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• Stockholm: Microchipped office workers feel 'very modern' using hand-implanted chips to open doors

  27-02-2015 11:46
  
  The radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip is made from Pyrex glass and contains an antenna and microchip, with no need for batteries. Each hand-implanted chip currently also enables staff at the office complex, opened at the end of the January, to operate a photocopier and swap contact details via a smartphone. Co-founder and CEO Patrick Mesterton said his office complex was the ideal location to test such a technology. "The chip is about 12mm in size and put in with a syringe," h
  
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• Apple Watch launch event announced for Monday 9 March

  27-02-2015 11:44 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Apple’s foray into wearable tech comes one step closer with San Francisco keynote date confirmedApple has invited worldwide media to an event on March 9, where the firm will announce launch plans for its Apple Watch.“Please join us for an invitation-only event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco on Monday, March 9, at 10am,” the invite reads. An event will also take place simultaneously in Berlin. The invite carries the strapline “Spring forward”. Continue
  
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• Account data stolen in TalkTalk hack

  27-02-2015 11:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  TalkTalk customers are being warned about scammers who managed to steal account numbers and names from the company's computers.
  
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• Harrison Ford back for Blade Runner

  27-02-2015 11:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Harrison Ford will reprise his role as police officer Rick Deckard in the forthcoming Blade Runner sequel, it is confirmed.
  
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