Technology news

• Man charged after jumping zoo fence to pet cougars – and posting video

  25-07-2015 21:02 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Columbus Zoo and Aquarium presses charges against Joshua Newell, 35, after clip shows affectionate meeting with big catsOhio zoo officials say they are pressing charges against a man who jumped a fence to pet cougars, then posted a video on YouTube. The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium said the Delaware County sheriff’s office has charged a suspect with a misdemeanor count of trespassing. Sheriff’s spokeswoman Tracy Whited said 35-year-old Joshua Newell was served on Friday with a summons to appear
  
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• Running Man of Tech: Colin Jackson: stop running if you want to get faster

  25-07-2015 16:55
  
  Giving Jackson a high fiveThere's a trend in wearable technology to keep imbuing more devices with ever greater technology to give us more data about how fit we're getting.That's why I was standing in Regent's Park in London at the centre of a dusty running track with Colin Jackson, learning about how many sensors Sony's new Smart B-Trainer has packed in.You can read more about that in my hands on Sony Smart B-Trainer review, but it seems to me there's too many data points, and not enough pointi
  
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• Phone Week: Do you really know everything your phone is tracking on you?

  25-07-2015 15:30
  
  Your mobile phone already knows where it is, how you're holding it, what you're saying to it and how fast you're moving.Yet with significant improvements in mobile sensor technology just around the corner, this is only the beginning chapter in the era of self-aware devices and continuous data logging. There's much more to come.We're now used to phones and tablets recognising when they're being held upside down and flipping the screen accordingly, but even this kind of technology is a relatively
  
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• Space camp has kids reaching for the stars – and Mars – despite Nasa struggles

  25-07-2015 13:00 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Experts say the US has hit a low point in its storied space history, but that hasn’t stopped thousands of children from spending their summers learning about the cosmos – and hoping, perhaps, to be among the first on the red planetRecent evidence, at least, would seem to suggest that space camp – that all-American rite of passage for generations of young math wizards, science geeks and wannabe astronauts – ought to have disappeared into a black hole by now.Nasa doesn’t launch humans in
  
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• The PC Gamer: Why Windows 10 isn't the PC gaming saviour it's cracked up to be

  25-07-2015 12:30
  
  IntroductionIt's almost time! Yes, in less than a week Microsoft will be releasing Windows 10, no doubt the finest product to casually jump a sequel since Leisure Suit Larry 4: The Missing Floppies.It's likely to be much more popular with gamers than Windows 8 was, if only for two reasons: being free, and not being Windows 8. Hopefully the decision to make an OS based on computers we actually have rather than the fancy touchscreen ones Microsoft wants to sell us will pay off. Yes, it's a crazy,
  
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• Hands-on review: UPDATED: ZTE Axon

  25-07-2015 12:17
  
  Update: the full ZTE Axon review will be published Monday, ahead of the unlocked phone's July 27 release date.ZTE isn't just backing championship NBA teams in the US, it's also backing a high-end phone dubbed the Axon.This Android 5.0 Lollipop handset, teased for a month with mysterious marketing campaign, is part of the Chinese manufacturer's "plan to define an affordable premium handset.""Affordable" and "premium" are typically polar opposites in the world of smar
  
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• WEEK IN GAMING: Week In Gaming: When is a game not really a game?

  25-07-2015 12:00
  
  Some games are not games, but no one really caresIt's a strange argument, and one that comes around with the regularity of a news story involving politicians and sexual deviancy: some video games are being marketed as video games when they (gasp) might not be. The argument is strange because there isn't really a proper definition of video game yet - it's a medium in its infancy, relative to things like music, film and books. In fact, when films first started out, they were silent and in black an
  
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• How to merge OS X contacts into an existing list

  25-07-2015 12:00
  
  Let's find out how to add a new list of contacts to your existing contacts list on Mac.QuestionI'm in a Mac-users group, and I'd like to add a file with my fellowmembers' contact info to my existing contacts book. All the info hasbeen exported as an archive, but when I try to import it, I get awarning stating that all existing contacts will be erased. How do I addthe contacts without wiping out the old ones?AnswerInstead of exporting the contacts as an archive, select all thecontacts and click F
  
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• Google, Amazon, NASA working on air traffic control for drones

  25-07-2015 11:43
  
  Everyone loves drones: news crews, amateur enthusiasts, Amazon. But these tiny Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are causing plenty of headaches as pilots drift too close to airports and get in the way of the emergency services.Something has to change. Google, with a little help from its friends, wants to build an intelligent air traffic control system for drones to prevent mid-air collisions, the company has revealed to Bloomberg.More than a dozen companies are on board according to the report, i
  
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• Intel's Skylake expected to bring stamina and speed to your laptop

  25-07-2015 09:37
  
  Leaked Intel presentation slides show what is believed to be Skylake's improvements over the company's current Fifth Generation Broadwell processors. The new Skylake chips, expected later this year, will deliver faster processor compute performance, better graphics and longer battery life.Skylake will be Intel's Sixth Generation processor architecture. Intel will have three different mobile chips – Y-Series, U-Series and H-Series – as well as the desktop-class S-Series for this generation. T
  
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• Can multinationals trust the cloud with precious corporate data?

  25-07-2015 09:30
  
  Introduction and perceived weaknessCloud computing is elastic IT. Whether scaling-up or upgrading, the size of a company's infrastructure can now be changed in seconds by relying on a cloud provider having spare capacity in its data centres. However, put all of your data in the cloud and slow and unreliable connections can be a giant drawback. Add the worry that cloud-based corporate data might not be safe from cyber-attacks, and the cloud can begin to lose its shine. For a company that works ac
  
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• In Depth: What's next for Netflix's streaming tech?

  25-07-2015 08:00
  
  To paraphrase the Great Book, Netflix is big. Really big.From its humble beginnings mailing DVDs out to folk tired of trekking down to Blockbuster (who?) to its ever-growing video streaming service, Netflix has become a vast global player in the media game. This year will see the service rolling out in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Japan, with plans to go global next year.Not only is Netflix serving us a steady diet of content to binge on, but is also commissioning its own successful shows and now,
  
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• BT sticks the boot in with ‘opt-out’ sports package

  25-07-2015 07:59 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Previously free sorts package will automatically cost broadband users £5 a month, unless they register to say otherwiseBT phone and broadband customers who signed up for the “free” sports package over the past two years will soon find themselves paying £5 a month for the service – unless they opt out.The telecoms giant is launching a revamped sport channel in August, and while the service will be free to BT’s television customers broadband-only users will be required to pay. Conti
  
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• On the road: Honda CR-V – car review

  25-07-2015 07:00 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  ‘If you had a single mattress to take to the dump, you’d be made up’Nobody chooses to be a person who makes up slogans for cars: you have to try not to get too hung up on them. But Honda’s “the power of dreams” infuriated me as I drove the CR-V. It swam around my head. “Nobody would ever dream this!” I shouted as the stertorous automatic gear change dragged me clumsily along. “Not unless they’d eaten blue cheese and gone to sleep thinking about Talgarth Road.�
  
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• Internet firms face 'tax crackdown'

  25-07-2015 06:35 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Internet companies may have to provide more information on people and businesses who sell goods and services online, in a crackdown on tax evasion.
  
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• UK music streaming passes 500m mark

  25-07-2015 03:19 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A surge in music streaming in the UK sees it pass 500 million streams in a week for the first time - almost double the amount of this time in 2014.
  
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• Will Indians have to pay for WhatsApp?

  25-07-2015 01:52 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A telecom report raises hackles in India
  
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• UK music streaming hits high note of 500m songs per week

  25-07-2015 01:01 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Ed Sheeran, Mark Ronson and Rihanna helping to drive the boom in audio streams on services such as Spotify, Deezer and Google Play The revolution in the way we listen to music has passed another landmark, as more than 500m songs were streamed online in the UK in a single week, with Mark Ronson, Ed Sheeran and Rihanna among the most popular artists.The 505m audio streams in the chart week ending 16 July is the first time the number of weekly streams on services such as Spotify, Deezer and Google
  
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