Technology news

• Updated: Buying guide: Best keyboard: top 10 keyboards compared

  17-06-2015 23:25
  
  IntroductionKeyboards matter more than you might think. Sure, they are the most prosaic of peripherals, so we tend to take them for granted. But given the sheer percentage of our lives that we spend hacking away at them, finding the right ones can be surprisingly beneficial – may even smoothing off the rough edges of our daily grind.When you set out to buy a keyboard, you'll be confronted by a surprising amount of diversity – there are cheap and pricey ones, mechanical and membrane ones, wir
  
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• Canada government websites hacked

  17-06-2015 22:36 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Multiple Canadian government websites have been brought back online after they went dark for several hours in a hacking attack.
  
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• Uber dealt employee blow by US ruling

  17-06-2015 21:27 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An Uber driver in California is deemed an employee, not a contractor, in a ruling that could mean higher costs for the app-based taxi service.
  
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• Google-owned Nest launches HD camera

  17-06-2015 20:48 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The new camera can sense movement in a user's home and alert them via their smartphone. The firm also updated its existing products.
  
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• Review: HP Spectre x360

  17-06-2015 20:45 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Introduction and designIf it transforms, it’ll probably look ugly. This is basically the precedent that has been set by anything that can change from one form to another from Transformers realized as toys to even real-life amphibious and flying cars. This hasn’t been more true than with 2-in-1 laptops, which for the most part have failed to gracefully walk the line between laptop and tablet.The Surface Pro 3, for instance, comes at the hybrid machine problem as a tablet first, which makes it
  
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• Review: BenQ EW2440

  17-06-2015 16:05 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Intro and designBenQ is looking to add its Midas touch to the EW2440 ($220, £140, AU$285) with a golden edition. Fortunately, the tone is more subdued than gaudy, and the result is a monitor that still maintains professional and understated aesthetics, but with an added splash of color.With a 1080p full HD panel, the EW2440 doesn't come with frills, such as 3D display, built in color calibration or touch support. The EW2440 competes against monitors with screen sizes ranging between 21 and 27 i
  
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• VIDEO: 'How HoloLens will change your world'

  17-06-2015 15:30 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Microsoft's Kudo Tsunoda speaks to Rory Cellan-Jones about HoloLens, the company's augmented reality venture.
  
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• Apple in news app blogger row

  17-06-2015 14:49 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Bloggers say they have been invited to join Apple's news app by email and will be automatically bound to its terms unless they opt out.
  
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• Sony fail to dismiss hacking action

  17-06-2015 14:29 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Nine former employees of Sony Pictures Entertainment gain permission to sue the company for negligence over last year's cyber hack.
  
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• Do we really want to keep all our digital eggs in one basket?

  17-06-2015 14:20 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Lastpass hack reopens debate around whether using password managers is the best way to minimise the risk of being compromised online.
  Are password managers the safest way to guarantee digital security? The recent hack of market-leader LastPass has reopened a debate that many thought had been put to bed.In theory, password managers, which let users securely store and sync their usernames and passwords so they can log into websites and services, should improve internet security.Continue reading...
  
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• Dear Twitter (and everyone else), please end your obsession with autoplay!

  17-06-2015 14:04 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Autoplaying videos, gifs and Vines look pretty, sure, but battery life, mobile data allowances and smartphone performance are all far more important to usersTwitter has just introduced auto-playing video, Vines and gifs on mobile. “Oh great!” you may say: “Just what we needed! … more things to, er, chew through our data and battery life?”To be fair to Twitter, you can opt out and revert to click-to-play (see below), but Twitter could have just made autoplay opt in. Instead it is forcin
  
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• E3: Nintendo 'willing to take risks'

  17-06-2015 13:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The games maker says it is still willing to take 'risks'
  
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• Wheels on the Bus beats One Direction in Little Baby Bum's YouTube rise

  17-06-2015 13:46 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  British channel’s compilation of nursery rhymes has been watched more than 655m times, sending it into the top 30 YouTube videos of all-timeThe wheels on the bus go round and round... and those wheels have helped British YouTube channel Little Baby Bum overtake One Direction’s biggest hit on the video service’s all-time views chart. Related: Little Baby Bum: how UK couple built world's fifth-biggest YouTube channelContinue reading...
  
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• VIDEO: YouTube to launch Twitch gaming rival

  17-06-2015 13:43 via bbc.co.uk
  
  YouTube announces it is to launch a dedicated section devoted to gaming, and many suspect it could topple Twitch's crown.
  
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• VIDEO: Tokyo man takes giant tortoise for walkies

  17-06-2015 13:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Japanese man Hisao Mitani takes his pet, giant African tortoise for a walk on the streets of Tokyo.
  
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• Review: Acer Aspire ES1-512

  17-06-2015 13:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Introduction and performanceOne particular Acer laptop is a hot seller at Amazon and Argos – the entry-level Acer Aspire ES1-512 tops the leader board at both retailers, and this is the model we're reviewing today.The Taiwanese manufacturer chose to stick to a tried-and-trusted formula of bundling as many features as possible for as low a price as it could manage, although in the case of the ES1-512, that price can fluctuate by more than a quarter at the same vendor, depending on when you buy.
  
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• Brigade: new social network from Facebook co-founder aims to 'repair democracy'

  17-06-2015 13:00 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Sean Parker invested several million dollars in the start-up last year, and he and CEO Matt Mahan believe they can inject life into Americans’ sense of civic dutyLast fall, Sean Parker, the technology billionaire behind Napster, Facebook and Spotify, invested several million dollars into a risky stealth start-up, Brigade, which has the ambitious aim of increasing mass civic participation.He takes comfort in the fact that Brigade’s wide-eyed goal “is a little bit more achievable than it may
  
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• DuckDuckGo traffic soars in wake of Snowden revelations

  17-06-2015 12:59 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Founder of privacy-focused search engine says company can build on audience – and takes a swipe at GoogleDuckDuckGo has recorded a 600% rise in traffic enjoyed in the wake of the Edward Snowden revelations two years ago.The site, which does not track user data, now handles some 3bn searches a year - although that is only about the same volume that Google processes in 24 hours. Continue reading...
  
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• Sonos keen to support Apple Music alongside Spotify and other rivals

  17-06-2015 12:45 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Audio boss John MacFarlane thinks iTunes successor will be a ‘first shot heard around the world’ to raise demand for streaming musicConnected-audio firm Sonos hopes it will be able to strike a deal with Apple to stream its upcoming Apple Music service into the living room, according to chief executive John MacFarlane.His company’s wireless speakers and hi-fis can already play music from streaming services including Spotify, Deezer, SoundCloud, Google Play, Rdio, Tidal and Mixcloud, with Ap
  
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• Groundhog day for RBS as IT glitch leaves customers with payments delays

  17-06-2015 12:25 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  RBS customers are still waiting for payments to turn up, despite the technical problems being sorted.
  
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• Cohesity comes out of stealth with $70 million in VC funding

  17-06-2015 12:00 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Storage startup Cohesity has emerged from stealth and announced its early funding. The company wants to reinvent secondary storage and take on dark data.
  
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• Review: Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246)

  17-06-2015 12:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Introduction and Features Making a digital camera that shoots only in black and white might seem like a stroke of madness to most people, but German prestige camera brand Leica seems to think it is such a good idea it has introduced an updated version of its existing Monochrom rangefinder. The new model is called the M Monochrom (Type 246) and brings with it a collection of dramatic improvements over the first model. Since that original Monochrom was launched in 2012, Leica has made some signifi
  
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• Bon Iver criticises Apple's new streaming service – and praises Spotify

  17-06-2015 11:50 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Justin Vernon took to Twitter in support of Spotify – but says physical media is still betterJustin Vernon, bandleader of the Grammy-winning Bon Iver, has criticised Apple’s recently announced streaming service Music and put his support behind Spotify – but, perhaps befitting his indie-rock credentials, he stated that physical LPs are still best of all.Quoting a Fact magazine article, he wrote on Twitter: Continue reading...
  
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• Eight essential apps for Muslims observing Ramadan

  17-06-2015 11:23 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Avoiding eating, drinking and getting angry before sunset is tough during fasting month – but these apps can help keep prayer time, habits and diet in checkThe alarm on your phone buzzes at 2:39am. Bleary eyed, you wolf down your toast and sip your water in the last minute before the day of fasting begins. No eating, no drinking, and no getting angry before sunset. You roll your eyes as your phone pings with notifications of yet another message with a mosque emoticon, or a cheesy “I have a d
  
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• The internet of seals: how sensors for elephant seals tackle climate change

  17-06-2015 11:00 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Smart connected trackers are making it easier to study animals – and find out how the world is reacting to global warming
  The first time Michael Fedak told other researchers he wanted to study climate change by fixing satellite-connected sensors to the heads of deep-diving ocean mammals, the University of St Andrews biology professor was laughed at.
  But for the past decade, elephant seals have been collecting data from the depths of the ocean via sensors and transmitters stacked on their heads
  
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• Hospitals and GPs to start providing free Wi-Fi

  17-06-2015 10:23 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Government looks into viability of turning whole NHS estate in England into massive free Wi-Fi zoneEvery hospital and GP surgery in England is likely to start providing free Wi-Fi in a move by the NHS to keep patients entertained and help doctors and nurses use much more technology in their work.
  The government’s National Information Board (NIB) has commissioned a feasibility study into the viability of turning the whole NHS estate in the country into a massive free Wi-Fi zone. Continue readin
  
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• 20 best new iPhone and iPad apps and games this week

  17-06-2015 10:23 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Loopimal, Alexi, Detour, Relook, Tiki Taka Soccer, You Must Build a Boat, Fallout Shelter, Angry Birds Fight! and moreWelcome to this week’s roundup of the latest, greatest new iPhone and iPad apps and games. All prices are correct at the time of writing, with “IAP” indicating use of in-app purchases. Continue reading...
  
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• 'I'll be back 200 yards': new GPS features Arnold Schwarzenegger as Terminator

  17-06-2015 09:55 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  The actor has lent his halting Austrian tones to navigation app Waze for a selection of customised robotic driving instructionsArnold Schwarzenegger’s new role will see him play a virtual driving instructor – issuing voice commands via in-car navigation system Waze.Related: Arnold Schwarzenegger on Terminator Genisys: ‘I’ll be taking a beating or two’Continue reading...
  
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• App Engine for PHP moves out of beta phase

  17-06-2015 08:20 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Google's support for PHP on its App Engine service has officially made it out of beta and become generally available.
  
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• What is Snapchat? CEO Evan Spiegel explains it all for parents

  17-06-2015 08:03 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  ‘Pictures are being used for talking,’ says social app’s boss, as he tries to help people understand why children are taking ‘a zillion photos’What is Snapchat? A question asked by a growing number of parents over the past couple of years, as they noticed their children flocking to the social app. Now its chief executive Evan Spiegel has provided an answer.In a surprisingly-grainy video uploaded to Snapchat’s YouTube channel, Spiegel attempts to answer the question “what is Snapcha
  
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• E3 2015: Virtual reality headsets from Oculus, Microsoft and Sony game it out – video

  17-06-2015 07:55 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Virtual reality is front and centre at the opening of the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2015 - better known as E3 - in Los Angeles, with Oculus, Sony and Microsoft all lined up to make it a technology battleground. Dan Ackerman, a senior editor at CNET, the online technology and consumer electronics review site, believes user-friendly VR might finally be here Continue reading...
  
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• Dutch startup plans first 3D printed steel bridge to span Amsterdam canal

  17-06-2015 05:12 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  A Dutch startup has unveiled plans to use robotic printers to weld the structure drop-by-drop in the first large-scale test of the technologyA Dutch startup has unveiled plans to build the world’s first 3D-printed bridge across an Amsterdam canal, a technique that could become standard on future construction sites.
  Using robotic printers “that can ‘draw’ steel structures in 3D, we will print a (pedestrian) bridge over water in the centre of Amsterdam,” engineering startup company MX3D
  
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• Fronde poised to announce further revenue decline

  17-06-2015 04:29 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Changes in the way government agencies procure IT services have impacted Fronde's core Wellington business.
  
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• HTC to deploy advertisements to users' home screens

  17-06-2015 04:06 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  'Native promotions' have made their way into HTC's home-screen news feed, BlinkFeed, for users in five countries.
  
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• Asia-Pacific consumers are confident mobile shoppers: MasterCard

  17-06-2015 03:37 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  MasterCard's latest mobile shopping survey for Asia Pacific has revealed that consumers in China, India, and Taiwan are the most confident mobile shoppers in the region.
  
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• Hands-on review: E3 2015: Xbox Elite Wireless Controller

  17-06-2015 03:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  The Xbox Elite Wireless Controller is going to level up the skills of Xbox One and Windows 10 gamers later this year with a better feeling, more complex gamepad.As soon as I wrapped my hands around the E3 2015 prototype, I could tell right away that was meant to be a performance-class take on Microsoft's console-bundled controller. Serious gamers need apply.It has more trigger buttons, configurable inputs, a better grip and a heavier feel. All of this makes it fit for pro-level gamers and anyone
  
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• Piracy site-blocking Bill clears Australian House

  17-06-2015 03:03 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Legislation that would see copyright holders able to have sites blocked with a Federal Court injunction is one step closer to becoming law.
  
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• Unleashed Software secures AU$4.5m in capital for expansion plans

  17-06-2015 02:14 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Unleashed Software has now received a total of AU$16.5 million from investors since the company was established in 2009.
  
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• VIDEO: How to make a virtual reality game

  17-06-2015 01:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  BBC Click talks to the Sony London Studio about the techniques behind making a virtual reality game
  
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• The F Factor: Simon Cowell launches search for young tech talent

  17-06-2015 01:01 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  The X Factor supremo links up with Founders Forum to offer prize of £10,000 and the chance to pitch to business leaders including Google boss Eric SchmidtSimon Cowell is turning his attention to a new talent search – trying to find young technology entrepreneurs.The X Factor supremo, who unveiled Rita Ora and Nick Grimshaw as the new judges on his show on Tuesday, has joined forces with the Founders Forum which includes businessmen such as TalkTalk boss Charles Dunstone in the hunt for tech t
  
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